Addressing Systemic Factors in School Performance in CPS
December 3, 2024
Achievement and Accountability Presentations Arc of previous meetings
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October 1
MCAS/Accountability Highlights (ELA & Math 3-8) & Celebrating Schools
October 15
MCAS Deep Dive, including High School & Science MCAS
November 19
Confronting our challenges & detailing next steps
December 3
Understanding the context contributing to school performance
Who/What to Why/How
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The Questions:
Guiding question: How do we maximize CPS students in higher performing seats?
What are the systemic factors that contribute
to disparate outcomes?
Defining Systemic Factors
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Focus 1: Persistence of Disparate Outcomes
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Focus 2:
Schools Requiring Significant Intervention
ELA MCAS, 2018-2024: Kennedy-Longfellow School
% of Students Meeting/Exceeding Expectations
Average ELA MCAS Growth | |||||
| 2018 | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
ELA Growth | MODERATE- LOW | MODERATE- LOW | MODERATE- HIGH | MODERATE- HIGH | MODERATE- LOW 6 |
KLO’s ELA MCAS achievement dipped to a five-year low in 2024. Growth has fluctuated within the moderate category over time.
ELA MCAS, 2018-2024: Fletcher Maynard Academy
% of Students Meeting/Exceeding Expectations
FMA’s ELA MCAS achievement dipped to a five-year low in 2024.
Growth has consistently been moderate-high.
Average ELA MCAS Growth | |||||
| 2018 | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
ELA Growth | MODERATE- LOW | MODERATE- HIGH | MODERATE- HIGH | MODERATE- HIGH | MODERATE- HIGH 7 |
Math MCAS, 2018-2024: Kennedy-Longfellow School
% of Students Meeting/Exceeding Expectations
Average Math MCAS Growth | |||||
| 2018 | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
Math Growth | MODERATE- LOW | LOW | LOW | MODERATE- HIGH | LOW 8 |
KLO’s math MCAS achievement has been more consistent. However, three of the last five years KLO had low growth.
Math MCAS, 2018-2024: Fletcher Maynard Academy
% of Students Meeting/Exceeding Expectations
Average Math MCAS Growth | |||||
| 2018 | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
Math Growth | MODERATE- LOW | LOW | MODERATE- HIGH | MODERATE- HIGH | HIGH 9 |
FMA’s math MCAS achievement has been more consistent.
Post-COVID, FMA has had moderate-high and/or high growth.
% of High Needs Students by School (2024)
Avg. of schools: 55%
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Grades 3-8 2024 ELA MCAS Results:
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ELA
% of Students Meeting/Exceeding Expectations
+ % of High Needs Students Enrolled (sorted by High Needs)
The percentage of high needs students ranges from 34% to 86% across CPS schools.
High Needs: A student is considered high needs if they are designated as:
low income, an English Learner or Former English Learner, and/or a student with disabilities.
Grades 3-8 2024 Math MCAS Results:
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MATH
% of Students Meeting/Exceeding Expectations
+ % of High Needs Students Enrolled (sorted by High Needs)
And … we see a wide range in outcomes across our schools.
High Needs: A student is considered high needs if they are designated as:
low income, an English Learner or Former English Learner, and/or a student with disabilities.
Systemic Factors
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Continuum of Control
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Infrastructure (capacity)
Controlled Choice Policy
Class size
(contractual) Geography Enrollment Trajectory Enrollment
Staffing Resources Waitlist Policies Transfer Policies Start & End Times
Preschool & Matriculation Policies
Specialized Instructional Programs
Specialized High-Need Support Programs
Concentration of High-Need Populations
Number of Schools Performance Perception Demand
Infrastructure (condition)
Most Important
Systemic Cause and Effects on a District
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A school district with a controlled choice policy premised on demand, with a declined but steady enrollment, with a strict contractual limit on class size
is likely to experience disparities with respect to enrollment at individual schools that can be exacerbated by flexible transfer policies leading to disproportionate rates of attrition and churn.
Systemic Cause and Effects on a School
is likely to see depressed demand under a
choice-based system that can be exacerbated by disadvantageous logistical considerations like
after-school care or extended day programming.
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A school serving a disproportionately high-need population
that is experiencing chronic performance challenges evidenced by measurable outcomes data…
Systemic Goals
A school district with declined but steady enrollment in a demand-based school choice context that has significant disparities in outcomes data
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is obliged to be strategic
and proportionate in its assignment
of all students, but particularly its high-need populations to maximize the number
of high-performing seats across the school district.
KLo and FMA: Compare and Contrast
| Kennedy-Longfellow School | Fletcher Maynard Academy |
High Need Population | 86 % ( # 1) | 83 % ( # 2) |
2024 State Accountability Percentile & Progress | 23; moderate progress | 45; substantial progress |
2024 ELA MCAS: % of Students Meeting/Exceeding | 17% | 26% |
2024 ELA Growth | Moderate-Low (40) | Moderate-High (59) |
2024 Math MCAS: % of Students Meeting/Exceeding | 29% | 34% |
2024 Math Growth | Low (35) | High (64) |
Facility Capacity | 28%% | 78% |
Demand | 10yr avg. of 12th of 12 | 68% chosen by families identifying as low income 18 |
KLo and FMA: Two Distinct Paths
Kennedy-Longfellow School | Fletcher Maynard Academy |
historical and contemporary context to determine specifically what role the school can and should play within Cambridge Public Schools going forward.
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i.e. African American students, needs to be studied closely and possibly replicated.
|
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% Students Designated under McKinney-Vento Act (Unhoused)
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Systemic Factors re: Kennedy-Longfellow (KLo)
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Issue | Impact |
Controlled Choice Policy (transfer, waitlist policies) | Kennedy-Longfellow lacks demand and suffers from significant reputational harm. |
Student Enrollment | Low enrollment necessitates disproportionate mandatory assignments. |
Enrollment Trajectory | Population studies and census data does not indicate likelihood of increased enrollment. |
Class Size Limitation | Small strands at all schools with hard caps on class size exacerbate proportion of mandatory assignments. |
Churn/attrition | Lack of choice-based assignments feeds further churn and attrition at disproportionate levels. |
Systemic Factors re: Kennedy-Longfellow (KLo)
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Issue | Impact |
Concentration of high-need population of students | Mandatory assignment skew significantly toward high-need demographics, resulting in significant imbalancing that undermines SES policies. |
Specialized programming placements to support high-need students. | Despite some geographic synergy, the primary driver with respect to SEI programming placed at the KLo is available space. |
Facilities infrastructure (conditions) | The facilities condition assessment essentially ranked the KLo building first with respect to urgency for renovations and repair. |
Facilities infrastructure (capacity) | KLo occupies the second largest building (pre-new construction) in the district despite being the smallest (enrollment) elementary school. |
Specialized program placement (thematic instruction) | Potential synergy with specialized instructional programs, i.e. language immersion, lacking. |
Systemic Factors re: Kennedy-Longfellow (KLo)
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Issue | Impact |
After-school and extended day programs | Limited options and lack of core content incorporated into extended day programs. |
Demand | KLo demand under existing Control Choice policy is lowest in recorded history. |
School performance | Achievement, accountability, and growth data are effectively at low points when compared to all other schools across CPS. |
Staffing resources | Reflective of the disproportionate high-need population of students KLo is serving, CPS has invested and/or retained significant resources in recent years, but specific strategy as to the basis of the investments is wanting. |
Start and end times tier | KLo is situated near other elementary schools on distinct start/end time tiers, which may have exacerbated its demand issues. |
Kennedy-Longfellow School: What can we do?
The CPS leadership team has deliberated extensively over the circumstances surrounding the Kennedy-Longfellow with respect to achievement data, facility condition, enrollment trajectory, and overall posture within the district.
The status quo is unacceptable.
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Back to guiding question:
How do we maximize the number of high-performing seats?
We believe there are very limited options with regard to KLo’s sustainability as an individual school community.
Kennedy-Longfellow School: What can we do?
high-need programming and opportunities for instructional synergies to maximize academic benefits to all students
of all employees
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Discussion
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