DESE 'Common Criteria' - For All Schools EXCEPT MVRCS!

We came across the following information at (http://www.doe.mass.edu/charter/guides/commoncriteria.pdf) and thought that it was interesting and worth sharing. The document that it was contained in was described as the ‘common school performance criteria’ from the DESE. Given our most recent blog regarding what we felt to be a less than adequate concern level on behalf of Jeff Wulfson at the DESE, it is interesting to see what MVRCS SHOULD be being evaluated on.  

Comments we found most interesting have been bolded while our comments are in red.

The Common School Performance Criteria (Criteria) have been developed using the three guiding areas of charter school accountability defined in the current regulations, 603 CMR 1.00 – faithfulness to charter, academic success, and organizational viability.

The purposes of the Criteria are:

to bring alignment to the criteria used across all aspects of charter school accountability, from the application process to the renewal process;

to provide charter schools with clear guidance about how the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (Department) defines charter school success and on what basis charter schools will be evaluated; and

to clarify the connections between charter school accountability and state and federal accountability standards.

There is a wide range of sources of evidence that will provide the data to help charter schools, the Charter School Office, and the Commissioner and Board of Elementary and Secondary Education know if a charter school has met performance expectations. A partial list of evidence sources is attached after the Criteria.

            Unfortunately, the wide range of sources that are listed at the end of this document DO NOT include concerned parents other than those chosen by the school to participate in an interview.

Mission, Vision, and Educational Philosophy
The school is faithful to the mission, vision and educational philosophy defined in the charter application and any subsequent approved amendment(s).

           We once again find ourselves drawn to the Mission Statement from the 2003-2004 Annual Report and wonder how true the Board is staying to their original mission statement. If, as is stated below, ‘that a first rate education is the birthright of every child’ then why is has the lottery and waitlist come under such scrutiny these past few years and why are only certain families permitted entry? We’re also not seeing anything in this mission statement (or even the most recent one) pertaining to creating a school that places athletic facilities above academic needs.

MISSION STATEMENT
To establish a school which provides the opportunity of a world-class education. The prime characteristics being a well mannered disciplined and structured academic environment. One which promotes and incorporates certain core virtues, as well as, our common American culture, both which are embodied in our Declaration of Independence and our United States Constitution.
The Mystic Valley Regional Charter School was founded on the following principal:

·          That a first-rate education is the birthright of every child,

·          That all children can learn,

·         That every child should be challenged to reach his or her full potential.

The overachieving goals of the school are to:
•
Demonstrate the heights of academic achievement that public schools can routinely attain when the advantages of charter school governance are coupled with new academic standard,
•
Offer area families new choices in public education,
•
Create new professional opportunities for teachers that permit them to succeed,
•
Graduate well educated, civic minded, principal adults capable of thoughtful, logical reasoning.

AYP
The school makes Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) in the aggregate and for all statistically significant sub-groups.3
The school does not have a status for accountability purposes of Improvement, Corrective Action, or Restructuring.

          But the school does, and has had a status of Corrective Action and/or Restructuring yet nothing is done about it.

Diverse learners
The school provides services for all students, including English language learners and those with disabilities and/or special education needs, as required by law.
The school implements and follows a Department approved recruitment and retention plan.

            Yes, another big one in our book. The DESE has ruled in a hearing that MVRCS was not providing an adequate education for a student, parents and teachers have filed numerous complaints with the DESE, and we have been in contact on several occasions YET NOTHING HAS CHANGED.

As for the ‘approved recruitment and retention plan’, the DESE has ‘directed’ MVRCS to place recruitment ads in languages other than English yet to our knowledge, they have not.

Professional climate
Teachers are provided with feedback and guidance that leads to improved instructional practice and student achievement.

Teachers can’t approach any Administrator at the school for assistance without it being used against them. Teachers receive less than adequate training and guidance in issues pertaining to Special Education matters.
The school implements a professional development plan that effectively addresses the needs of teachers.

Little attention is given to ‘professional development’ other than the hearing more of the same from the Administration. At no time do they have outside speakers come in to speak on matters that would matter or make a difference to the teachers professionally.

Teachers are provided with structures for collaboration.
The school establishes a professional climate resulting in a purposeful learning environment and reasonable rates of retention for school administrators, teachers and staff.

The retention issue at MVRCS is as joke. With Neil Kinnon believing a monkey could do what teachers do, it is no wonder that they feel underappreciated and disrespected. Again, the only retention plan in place is to hire and retain as many friends and family members as possible – regardless of their abilities or qualifications.

Curriculum
The school’s curriculum is documented, articulates the skills and concepts that all students must know and be able to do to meet state standards, is aligned horizontally and vertically, and supports opportunities for all students to master these skills and concepts.

The part we find interesting here is ‘ALL STUDENTS’….yes, Kathy Kinnon that means those students that have IEP’s and require additional services. Unfortunately we’ve been noting how few of the Special Education students actually pass the MCAS tests.

Decision making and communication
The school has clear and well-understood systems for decision-making and communication. These systems result in a common sense of purpose for all school constituencies.
               

                A ‘clear and well-understood systems for decision-making’ ----yes, all decisions are made by Neil Kinnon and based on his many years of formal education and training within an educational setting. Oh yes, that’s right, he doesn’t have ANY formal education or training in School Administration OR teaching (in fact, he doesn’t have any respect for the profession of teaching!).

Roles and responsibilities
The school defines and delineates clear roles and responsibilities among board and staff.

In one of the annual reviews the reviewer made mention of his concern for the lack of delineation between the Board and the day to day operations of the school.

Board oversight
The board of trustees makes use of best practices to hire (an) effective school leader(s).

Yes, friends and family members who agree to follow the orders of Neil Kinnon
The board of trustees regularly and systematically assesses the performance of (the) school leader(s) against clearly defined goals and makes effective and timely use of the evaluations.

Yes, the Board assesses the performance of school leaders in a very unbiased, honest, and ethical manner……EXCEPT of course those members of the friends and family club. How  Neil Kinnon can assess his sister in law , brother, childhood friend, friends of friends, etc. in an unbiased, truthful, ethical manner is beyond us…..because it doesn’t happen!

The board of trustees operates with a clear set of goals for the school and has developed a set of tools for understanding progress toward meeting those goals.

The board of trustees manages the school in a manner that ensures academic success, organizational viability, and faithfulness to the terms of its charter.

Is a response even necessary for this one? As long as you leave out corruption, unethical behavior, conflicts of interest, putting sports before academics, and back room deals, no comments are required.

School leadership
School leaders administer the school in a manner that ensures academic success, organizational viability, and faithfulness to the terms of its charter.

Are we referring to Dr. McCleary who is given little say beyond the art that is placed on the walls or Chris Finn who has the job only as a result of his childhood friendship with Neil Kinnon (yes, a Business Manager would naturally progress into an Assistant Director position - - - right?). Oh, what about Kathy Kinnon who does little besides make sure she is at the Chinese Buffet on Chinese New Years? Note to Kathy Kinnon….faithfulness to the terms of the charter would mean that all the students receive an education, even those who are on your poorly written IEP’s.

Organizational planning
The school has realistic plans for program improvement, possible future expansion, and adequate facilities based on evaluation and analysis of data.

We like ‘adequate facilities’ on this one….yes, they’ll have adequate athletic facilities and really, who cares about adequate facilities at the lower campus. So they’re a little cramped in there, just think how great it will be to have a state of the art athletic facility for yet another friend or family member to manage!

Family engagement
The school involves parents/guardians as partners in the education of their children.
Families and students are satisfied with the school’s program.

Yes, parents are partners as long as they remember that Neil Kinnon has the final say and that he ‘doesn’t have to have open meetings’ for them.

Coordinated Program Review

The school receives minimal findings in the Coordinated Program Review (CPR) process and immediately addresses any areas of non-compliance.

Funny, some issues have been addressed and re-addressed in multiple year visits yet no corrective action has been taken. Board of Trustees issue for one.

Safety
The school establishes and maintains a physically safe environment for students and staff.
The school establishes an environment free from harassment and discrimination for students and staff, and effectively addresses the social, emotional, and health needs of its students.

No discrimination in this school but if a student does do well they use systematic elimination. That isn’t discrimination is it….? Really?

Employee qualifications
Employees of the school meet all applicable state and federal qualifications and standards.

Ok so only 55% of the teachers are truly qualified (i.e. certified to teach in Massachusetts), oh well.

Great Job....But...

When we first heard about the pipes bursting at the school this past week, we felt not only the students but for the burden and logistical nightmare that we envisioned the Administration, teachers and staff members had to deal with. We must say that with the exception of providing parents with more concrete, precise information and on-going updates, we were impressed at how they managed to continue for the most part with their daily (although with an element of chaos) schedules and tasks. Communication issues aside (which no one should be surprised at since communication is not one of the Administrations strengths), we were impressed with their coordination and efforts. On the positive side, the new email, text, voicemail notification system the school has put into place proved itself useful and effective in communicating what information was shared with parents.
We must say that when we initially heard about the burst pipe we didn't begrudge the Administration or Board as we felt that any school could be subjected to the same unfortunate event. The fact is that pipes do burst as a result of cold weather, especially older pipes in older buildings.The one point we would make is that we (parents, Administration, and the Trustees) are all well aware that the building is old and in less than ideal condition. That being said, it is circumstances such as this that make us question the Boards rational in putting an athletic facility before the academic facility and needs of the students in the lower school. We've mentioned before that we do not feel as though the building of the athletic facility is truly in alignment with the Mission Statement of the school and this unfortunate event has reconfirmed our belief. While athletics is part of a well rounded educational experience, a new athletic facility would be much more appreciated and valued if the students of the lower school were not in a building that they have clearly outgrown and that is in such dire shape. The fact that the athletic facility is not attached or near either the lower school or HS facility is even more troublesome. Being that the athletic facility will not be easily accessible to students of either building, it would be of limited usefulness should another unfortunate event such as last weeks reoccur. Yes, the students could be bussed to the facility as they were last week but the logistics would be even more troublesome and challenging. It would have also been nice if an athletic facility were attached to one of the facilities so that all of the students would have the opportunity to use it for PE classes. It seems unfortunate and misguided that the Board has chosen to put the needs of their athletes in front of the needs of all of their students and their Mission Statement and Charter.
As a side note and very much unconfirmed, we have heard that the Forestdale school may be being closed by the City of Malden and that that building may therefore become available for the students of MVRCS in the future. We have no reliable source regarding this possibility but have heard rumblings. We're not sure if that is a good thing or bad for MVRCS and/or the students and residents of Malden but felt it worth mentioning. Could this possibly be yet another backroom deal that occurs as a result of the obvious conflict of issues regarding Neil Kinnon? Yes, probably.

As an afterthought regarding the building of the Athletic facility and how we do not feel that it is staying true to the Charter or Mission statement of the school, we feel it is worth mentioning that we are equally as disappointed in the DESE in their oversight of this issue. One parent has shared with us that upon hearing about the school purchasing property and/or the building of the Athletic facility they phoned the DESE to inquire as to whether this was permissible under the terms of the charter school laws. The DESE indicated that it wasn't 'illegal' and therefore nothing they could or would do regarding this matter.While we are disappointed with the DESE for not ensuring that the Board stay true to the Charter and Mission statement, it comes as no real surprise. As many of you know the school had been violating the numerous aspects of the Open Meeting laws that govern Charter schools for many years. During a Board of Education meeting on September 27, 2007, the following was noted (DOE Board of Education Meeting Minutes):

"In response to a question about the Mystic Valley Regional Charter School’s failure to comply with the state’s open meeting law, Associate Commissioner Wulfson said the Attorney General enforces that law, but the Department holds charter schools accountable and would point out such a problem."

Yet the school was permitted to continue violating the laws until just recently when the Attorney General began an initiative regarding Open Meeting laws. At not time did the DESE or Associate Commissioner Wulfson attempt to rectify the situation nor include corrective measures within their conditions for Charter renewal. We find this incredibly unfortunate, especially as many other issues continue to occur with no end in sight.