High School Gets a Boost

Is Accredited for Next 10 Years By Visiting Team, Which Also Offers a ‘Snapshot' Look at Class Statistics

By CHRIS BURRELL

They praised teachers for retooling the curriculum and the principal for reaching out to the community with her monthly coffee meetings.

In the end, a 72-page report from the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) and the Commission on Public Secondary Schools has accredited the Martha's Vineyard Regional High School for another 10 years.

"This really is the highest rating they can give you," said principal Peg Regan. "They could have placed us on warning or on probation for anything, but just getting the accreditation is the greatest thing."

The report was sent to school leaders last August, but news of the accreditation arrived last week.

Winning accreditation, said Mrs. Regan, is an exhausting process. Last year, teams of teachers and administrators were assigned to evaluate and draft reports on eight areas of the high school operation, ranging from how students are graded to how well the school meets its own stated expectations.

The pressure point in the process came last April when 15 members of the regional accrediting team spent four days on the high school campus, shadowing students, observing classrooms and interviewing teachers and parents.

Their insights offered no surprises, but the report offers what Mrs. Regan called an "accurate snapshot" of the regional high school.

It is a school that is 85 per cent white, 7.5 per cent Hispanic, 2.8 per cent African American, 2.3 per cent Native American and 1.4 per cent Asian/Pacific Islander, according to the report.

The high school had what accreditors called an "honorable rate of attendance" for students: 93.8 per cent in the 2000-01 academic year. The teachers' attendance rate was 98 per cent.

Statistics from the Class of 2001 showed that 63 per cent entered four-year colleges while 22 per cent headed directly into the work force. Just under two per cent went into the military, and seven per cent attended a two-year or technical college.

The upshot from the commission sent down to review the Vineyard high school was that they were pleased. "The commission was impressed with many of the programs and services at Martha's Vineyard Regional High School," Pamela Gray-Bennett, director of the commission, said in a letter to Mrs. Regan.

The accreditation team was made up of educators from schools all over New England. "They followed kids through various programs. They asked for a random list of students so you're not sending them around with your National Honor Society," said Mrs. Regan.

The report singled out alternative programs such as the Rebecca Amos Institute (RAI) aimed at stemming the drop-out rate and the high numbers of high school students who take part in mentorships or work-study opportunities outside the classroom.

Three-fourths of all seniors take advantage of the chance to work as teaching assistants in the high school or to leave the campus for a part-time job or a mentorship at the hospital, a law office or the historical society.

But the NEASC commission also cautioned high school leaders not to rely on grant money to fund these initiatives. "There are budget implications from their recommendations," said Mrs. Regan.

The RAI program had received a $100,000 state grant last year that was cut to $40,000 this year. Funds for professional development are quickly depleted and then must come from money left over at the end of the school year, another area of concern noted in the report.

Time set aside for professional development is also an area that needs improvement, said Mrs. Regan. This year, there are only two half days set aside for workshops for teachers.

"We do not have the opportunities to meet and create interdisciplinary programs," said Mrs. Regan. "We could be using the vocational shop to teach physics but we need to take the time to plan that out."

The report can work like a road-map for changes and improvements.

"They want to force schools to become mission-driven rather than personality-driven or principal-driven," she said. "They want you to have a well-articulated mission that you follow and is measurable."

To Mrs. Regan, the accreditation document is not a stepping-off point for more accolades or awards from other organizations but a chance to look inside the school.

"I'm looking to fulfill internal goals like the retooling of senior year, to see where teachers want to go with teaching and where students want to see this school go," she said.

The report credited the high school for giving students a greater voice in school governance. It also praised the strides made in curriculum development.

More than 50 teachers have participated in the summer curriculum work called Understanding by Design.

The process starts with the question: "What should students remember six months after they finish the class?"

"It's a complex but very intriguing way to design curriculum. It honors the teachers and their deep thoughts about what they're doing," said Mrs. Regan.

The accreditation report raised very few critical points. Recommendations repeatedly called for school leaders to take steps toward making their mission and goals a reality.

But one basic facet of the high school did come under fire - the block scheduling system adopted five years ago. According to the self-study report delivered to NEASC, only 56 per cent of teachers and 61 per cent of parents feel that the schedule is the "best way to implement the curriculum."

Classes meet for 85 minutes every other day. Students are required to enroll in seven courses but may elect an eighth course.

Mrs. Regan was not surprised by the feedback. "Your schedule is always one of your controversial things. It's all about how you use time in the building," she said.

Teachers are frustrated when student-athletes, for example, miss four classes to attend games over a season. "That makes it difficult when you're teaching AP history," she said.

But the disagreements about block scheduling are not being ignored.

"We need to reexamine the schedule and we are also looking at student work that we consider to be exemplary," she said. "We need to begin to improve instruction by assessing student work together."