Newsletter

Focus: Accelerating Improvement through Inquiry 

Source: 
Boston Plan for Excellence
Description: 

The Focus newsletter provides on-the-ground examples of promising practices at work in Boston's schools. In this issue, teachers and administrators from three schools--Brook Farm Academy, the Rogers Middle School, and the McCormack Middle School--share how they have used student performance data to drive improvements in student outcomes.

application/pdf iconFocusSept2010.pdf

Focus: Making Data Public 

School year: 
SY2010-2011
Source: 
Boston Plan for Excellence
Description: 

BPE helps school teams make data public with eye-catching bulletin boards, progress letters to parents, and other communication tools. The ideas grew out of each school’s data-driven inquiry, as teachers and leaders became aware that they could get more dramatic results by engaging the whole school community--including students, parents, and outside partners--with data. This issue of FOCUS shares strong examples of data sharing from four schools, the Marshall and Blackstone elementary schools, New Mission High School, and Gardner Pilot Academy. Download a full set of samples and tips for sharing data.

Additional resources for making data public can be found here.

application/pdf iconFocusMakingDataPublicFINAL.pdf

Focus: Special Education 

Subtitle: 
Advice from Boston Practitioners
School year: 
SY2005-2006
Source: 
Boston Plan for Excellence
Description: 

A close-up look at good practices in supporting students with disabilities in three Boston schools, as well as the challenges school staff face.

application/pdf iconFocusSpecialEd2005.pdf

Focus: MyBPS Assessment 

Subtitle: 
What It Offers Boston's Teachers
School year: 
SY2004-2005
Source: 
Boston Plan for Excellence
Description: 

Teacher training manual for MyBPS Assessment, the district's intranet for accessing and analyzing student performance data.

application/pdf iconFocusMyBPS2004.pdf

Focus: Making Meaning 

Subtitle: 
Plugging Comprehension and Social Skills into Workshop
School year: 
SY2004-2005
Source: 
Boston Plan for Excellence
Description: 

Introduction (and critique) of the Developmental Studies Center's "Making Meaning" curriculum, including interviews with teachers who were piloting it with workshop instruction.

application/pdf iconFocusMakingMeaning2005.pdf

Focus: Relationships Matter 

School year: 
SY2004-2005
Source: 
Boston Plan for Excellence
Description: 

Results of student surveys on school climate and interviews with students in two high schools about the importance of student-adult relationships to their engagement with learning.

application/pdf iconFocusHSRelations2004.pdf

Focus: Workshop in the BPS 

School year: 
SY2003-2004
Source: 
Boston Plan for Excellence
Description: 

Description of how three Boston schools implement the workshop approach to instruction.

application/pdf iconFocusWorkshop2003.pdf

Focus: Formative Assessment 

School year: 
SY2003-2004
Source: 
Boston Plan for Excellence
Description: 

Overview of research on formative assessments and an introduction to BPE's Formative Assessment Pilot (the predecessor to FAST-R).

application/pdf iconFocusFormAssmt2004.pdf

Focus: Whole-School Change in Boston 

Subtitle: 
Where We Are Now 1999-2000
School year: 
SY1999-2000
Source: 
Boston Plan for Excellence
Description: 

Update on the status of Boston's whole-school improvement initiative, the district's effort to improve instruction and performance in all schools funded by the Boston Annenberg Challenge. Includes "plain talk" about each aspect of the initiative and a glossary of terms.

application/pdf iconFocusWholeSchChange1999.pdf

Focus: Instructional Time 

Subtitle: 
Teaching to Standards in 900 Hours/Year
School year: 
SY1999-2000
Source: 
Boston Plan for Excellence
Description: 

Highlights of the Consortium on Chicago School Reform's report on the use/misuse of instructional time in the city's schools, with summaries of related reports and interviews

application/pdf iconFocusTime&Standards1999.pdf