State Study Panel Hands High Marks to Charter School

By JAMES KINSELLA
Gazette Senior Writer

A state education inspection team has given a mostly glowing
evaluation of the Martha's Vineyard Public Charter School in West
Tisbury.

The team's 42-page report, based on a visit to the school from
Oct. 31 through Nov. 2 last year, will be among the information
considered by the state board of education at its Feb. 28 meeting in
Malden on whether to renew the school's charter for the next five
years.

The team found that the school outperformed the state on most grade
levels and subjects covered by the Massachusetts Comprehensive
Assessment System (MCAS) tests; that the school had improved in
academically weak areas since its last charter renewal; and that the
school is notable for its high faculty retention rate and collegial
environment.

The school opened in 1996, after the Vineyard was one of seven
communities in the commonwealth selected from three dozen applicants to
launch a charter school under the provisions of the Massachusetts
Education Reform Act. The first year 60 students enrolled, ages 10 to
15. Today the school, located at the edge of the North Tisbury business
district on State Road in West Tisbury, enrolls 159 students from
kindergarten through grade 12 from throughout the Vineyard. The school
applied last August to renew its charter for another five years.

The charter school has 18 classroom teachers, nine teaching
assistants and other workers who provide direct services to students.
The school's student-teacher ratio is 8.4 to 1.

The state evaluation team conducted 20 class observations and
interviewed 30 staff members, either individually or in focus groups.
The team also did focus group interviews with parents, students, school
leaders and the board of trustees.

"We were pleased with the report," school principal
Robert Moore said yesterday. "It's always a healthy
experience to have outside people come in to take a look at our work:
the students' work, the teachers' work, and the work of the
administration."

State education commissioner David Driscoll will provide the state
board with a package of information on the school including the
inspection report and a financial audit. Mr. Driscoll is slated to
recommend to the board whether to renew the charter.

Mr. Moore said he plans to attend the Feb. 28 state board meeting
with Sam Berlow, president of the school board of trustees.

The team, he said, evaluates whether the school is viable
academically and financially, whether the school is sticking to its
mission statement, and whether the school is disseminating its work to
the outside world.

The report made note of the strong academic performance at the
school, which outpaced the state on most grade levels in English
language arts, math, science, technology and engineering.

"The team found that the school made improvement in weak areas
since the time of the last charter renewal, generally outperformed the
state, and outperformed other Island schools on several MCAS
tests," the report states.

The team also found that the focus of the academic program is to
cultivate the intellectual and social growth of each student. Further,
the team found that the school "rigorously monitors the
performance of all students in order to modify instruction and to
provide additional instructional support." Support staffers help
the school provide individualized instruction.

Moreover, the report said teachers at the school help develop
self-directed learners through methods that stimulate excitement and
curiosity in students.

The team also found that the school's mission to create a
setting that will cultivate lifelong learners in a multi-age,
project-oriented setting is backed by its policies and overall program,
and that the entire school community supports that mission.

The team said the school has a high faculty retention rate of 90 per
cent and a collegial environment. That has allowed the school to orient
and coach teachers, although a number of formal structures are not in
place to guide teachers to meet the school's standards.

Among concerns noted by the inspection team is the lack of
documentation on the school's internally developed curriculum.
"The school offered no explanation why the school did not provide
requirements regarding the organization and recording of curriculum
units so they could easily used and adapted by another teacher,"
the report stated.

As for financial issues facing the charter school, school leaders
expressed concern about possible reductions in state aid during changes
in the funding formula, and a cap that limits school district
contributions to the charter school to nine per cent of its per-pupil
expenditures. The school reports the cap keeps out 10 to 12 students per
year, which costs the school $150,000 annually.