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Whole School Paper

A Place of Second Chances:
Lowell Middlesex Academy Charter School

By Joseph R. Dolan, Ed.D.

Lowell Middlesex Academy Charter School

Massachusetts Charter School Association
Exemplary Whole School Model Dissemination Grant

2002

The City of Lowell, Massachusetts, the birthplace of the American industrial revolution, is located about an hour northwest of Boston and is rooted in a distinct historical tradition. More than one-hundred years after this revolution was founded in Lowell, the vestiges of it are still visible in the refurbished factories, businesses, churches, and New England-style two-and three-family homes that were originally built in and around the Merrimack river, which runs through the heart of the city.

The city, however, has changed since the currents of the Merrimack powered the textile factories. Once home to Irish, Italian, and Greek immigrants, Lowell is now the home to individuals and families from Southeast Asia, particularly Cambodia and Vietnam. At one time a city of industrialization, it is now a city of small businesses, technology, a thriving college and artistic community, a minor league baseball team, with its new baseball stadium, and various social service agencies that serve the elderly and the poor.

Lowell is also a city that has struggled with a number of vexing problems: poverty; crack cocaine and the heroine trade, which became evident in the 1980s and 1990s; high rates of unemployment and illegitimacy, and, among the younger generations, the emergence of gang activity and its violent ramifications. In the early 1990s, the Lowell Police Department and the local District Attorney began to arrest and convict drug dealers and prostitutes (who readily practiced their trades in the downtown area) and identify and arrest gang members for misdemeanors as well as felonies. Thus many gang members have criminal records as adolescents and are known by the police department and juvenile justice system.

In the past ten years, the city has recovered from its economic downturn. According to state statistics, the unemployment rate in the city reached 12% in 1991 and 1992 but has shown a steady decline since then: In 1997 the rate was 5.1% and in 2000 it reached 3.3% (Laborforce 2002). At any time during the work day, the downtown area of Lowell is busy with activity as out-of-town professionals and city residents visit law firms, family-owned restaurants and delis, family physicians, Middlesex Community College’s classroom buildings, the Barnes and Noble Bookstore, Enterprise Bank, Dunkin Donuts, and La Boniche, an upscale French restaurant.

Despite the evidence of urban renewal, the illegal drug industry continues to find a market in the young people of Lowell. The city’s drug dealers, who operate more surreptitiously than in earlier decades, traffic in new and more trendy designer narcotics such as ecstasy (which produces an extreme feeling of euphoria that can last for 8-10 hours), "G" (a muscle relaxant that can be mixed with water and consumed for maximum effect), and oxycontin (a prescription drug normally given by physicians to people in extreme physical pain). Marijuana, which is glamorized in adolescent popular culture, continues to be the drug of choice for many young people of Lowell.

It is within this changing social context that the roots of Lowell Middlesex Academy Charter School can be found. In the 1980s, public officials and school leaders in the community needed to deal with a rising high-school dropout rate and its consequences for city life: an uneducated youth population embedded in despair, poverty, unemployment, and crime. In 1989, the superintendent of schools in Lowell approached administrators at Middlesex Community College to discuss how the college could help the city address the high-school dropout rate, which was running at about 30%. At first, the college agreed to operate an after-school dropout prevention program on campus. Then, with the passage of the charter school legislation in 1993, the college decided to submit a charter school application, proposing to transform the after school program into a fully funded public school dedicated to educating students who were out of high school. Charter school status was granted in 1994.

Lowell Middlesex Academy Charter School’s mission statement, which was part of its orgininal charter proposal (1994) and which is printed each year in the school’s Annual Report, establishes the formal vision for the school and its students:

The mission of Lowell Middlesex Academy Charter School is to enable its students to achieve academic, social, and career success. This supportive school community identifies, encourages, and develops interests and abilities while acknowledging and respecting each student’s personal and cultural identity.

Because the school began as a dropout prevention program, its founders had background knowledge about the challenges associated with the kinds of students the school would serve. The founders knew that while some students leave school for academic reasons, many leave for issues related to family and social circumstances: drug and alcohol abuse (by the students and their family members), abandonment, physical and sexual abuse, poverty, and out-of-wedlock childbirths. The founders also knew that the school would serve many students who were on probation for criminal offenses or had spent time in youth detention.

All of these issues, separately or in combination, make it very difficult for students to remain in school and graduate. While the school has defined academic and non-academic goals, the work of teachers and administrators is motivated by one overarching, tangible goal: To help students earn a high school diploma and enter a career and/or college track.

If students are to earn a high school diploma and be successful in the world of work or college, they need to learn to read with good comprehension, write with clarity, and think critically. Enabling students to do just that is the school’s primary academic goal. As a result, the school’s courses in the humanities are specifically designed to develop literacy and conceptual thinking skills.

Students at Lowell Middlesex Academy Charter School (LMACS) are required to complete courses in English, and World History and American Social History. The English curriculum is similar to that of the traditional public high school; students read short stories, poems, novels and plays, learn important literary terms, and write five-paragraph essays. The World and American History curricula are also similar to those of traditional high schools, but, in order to "hook" students on history early in the school year, American History is taught in reverse chronological order.

Over the past three years, the teachers at LMACS have utilized rubrics to evaluate and grade student papers and to help students learn the characteristics of a quality paper and improve their writing. Some teachers use a 5 to 1 scale, with 5 representing an excellent paper and 1 a failing paper. Still other teachers utilize the rubric used to score the MCAS: Advanced, Proficient, Needs Improvement, and Failing. Because rubrics describe the qualities of various levels of academic work, they serve as formal evaluation tools and are more useful to students than an unwritten or informal set of criteria developed by a teacher. The rubric is one important way to mirror the knowledge and skills students need to perform well on the MCAS. See Appendix A for a sample LMACS rubric for American Social History.

The school’s second academic goal is that students develop the ability to do mathematics with skill and precision. For many of our students, inconsistent school attendance in middle and high school adversely affected their math skills. To address this problem, the school instituted a self-paced math program. At the beginning of each school year, the mathematical comprehension of new students is tested. The results of the tests are used to help staff place students in one of the three math courses in the self-paced program: Pre-Algebra, Algebra I, or Algebra II. Each course is divided into a number of units (from 8 for Algebra II, to 14 for Pre-Algebra). At the end of each unit students must pass a test with a score of 80 or better in order to study the next unit. Moreover, for the class of 2003, students must complete Algebra II to graduate. This is a new requirement, instituted because the faculty feels that if students are to be prepared for college-level work, they need to perform at the Algebra II level.

In January 2000, LMACS was invited by the Massachusetts Charter School Resource Office at Pioneer Institute to join in a three-year professional development program led by The Leadership Academy. The Leadership Academy is an outgrowth of the groundbreaking work of Dr. Lorraine Monroe, a national and international consultant who founded and served as principal of the Frederick Douglass Academy, a highly effective middle school and high school located in central Harlem.

The goal of the training is to improve teaching methodology, classroom organization, and overall organizational effectiveness. The program includes site visits, workshops, and a retreat during which teachers are trained to use the black board configuration (B.B.C.), which organizes classroom time around a set of learning standards and activities that are rooted in the curriculum. Administrators are trained to use the building level action plan (B.L.A.P.) as a way to identify and resolve organizational issues that may arise.

Since the school opened in 1995, faculty and staff have recognized that students need to learn the values necessary to be productive students and workers and happy and well-balanced adults. The values of the school are explicit: respect, achievement, responsibility, truthfulness, unity, courage, love, freedom, peace, and justice. In fact, these values are visibly displayed on the archway leading out of the school’s main office, and they are printed on laminated cards that are given to students.

The school’s values are also celebrated at monthly assemblies where faculty, staff, students, and sometimes guest speakers make presentations, illustrating how these values are applicable to the lives of students. Each month a different ethical value is celebrated (such as respect in September, truthfulness in December, and achievement in April). The ethical value of courage is celebrated in October with a hiking trip to Mount Monadnock in Jaffrey, New Hampshire. Students, many of whom have never hiked, make the hour climb to the top of the mountain with faculty and staff. This climb has great symbolic importance: Climbing a mountain and earning high school diploma require hard work, commitment, persistence, and courage.

In November of 2001, to celebrate the ethical value of responsibility, the Mayor of Lowell, Rita Mercier, was invited to speak to students about civic responsibility. She talked about her life growing up in Lowell in a working class family, a family similar to that of many of our students. She told students that after raising her family, she decided run for city council and then Mayor. She explained that she was a "regular" person who did not go to college but wanted to make something of her life and that politics allowed her to achieve that goal. At LMACS we feel it is important for students to meet individuals who have overcome obstacles in their own lives in order to achieve something important. It sends a signal to students that they too can achieve if they act responsibly and courageously.

We celebrate the ethical value of freedom each May, which is symbolic because May comes at the end of the school year, and students are either graduating or preparing for the summer vacation. In 2002, the school invited former graduates of Lowell Middlesex Academy to talk about life after high school. One young woman, who graduated in 1998, explained that in order for her and her baby to live a better life in future--and thus have more freedom--she needed to complete college, which required her to balance the responsibilities of family life, work, and school. At LMACS we feel it is important to make connections between our current and former students, who can teach current students about ethical values in ways that faculty members cannot.

For many students the values of the school, particularly achievement and responsibility, are antithetical to their own values. The faculty and staff spend countless hours advising students on the consequences of their individual choices and the importance of taking responsibility for their actions inside and outside of school. The school embraces specific values in order to develop a sense of community and to give the school integrity. However the process of inculcating values is often an arduous task; it requires teachers who are patient and dedicated to both the academic and social development of students.

Along with monthly assemblies, the school’s non-negotiable rules and discipline system are formal ways that teachers and administrators instill the school’s ethical values. The school’s non-negotiables define the behaviors that the school will not tolerate under any condition: fighting, weapons or drug possession, blatant disrespect of faculty, staff, administrators, or peers, and destruction of school property. By prohibiting these behaviors we help create a peaceful school environment built on mutual respect and decency.

For those students who do not comply with the school’s rules, the discipline system is designed to get students back on track. For minor offenses such as poor attendance or low productivity in class, students may have a peer review. At the beginning of the year a faculty member works with a group of students, so they can become peer leaders. In the peer review peer leaders meet with students, discuss the behavioral issues at hand, and offer recommendations for improvement. At LMACS faculty and administrators believe that discipline is highly effective when students make demands on each other.

It is often difficult to sustain the practice of conducting peer interventions, however. Students are sometimes unwilling to discipline their peers. Often the faculty coordinator is managing many other duties at once and cannot completely focus on developing peer leaders, and still other times students simply do not want to make the commitment to becoming peer leaders. The biggest challenge is setting aside sufficient time during the school day for students to meet with other students under the direction of the faculty advisor. During the 2002-2003 school year we extended the advising period to 45 minutes, one day a week, and hopefully this schedule change will remedy the situation.

The second phase of the discipline system is staff intervention. Students who are experiencing chronic attendance problems or very poor academic performance meet with the entire faculty to discuss the problem. At these interventions, faculty members are asked to comment on the student’s academic performance and attendance in class. The comments made to students are honest: Teachers compliment students for their talents and abilities, but they also admonish students for poor performance or effort. Teachers do, however, focus on the behavior of students and not on the students themselves. At the end of the intervention, faculty make specific recommendations as to what students can do to improve their behavior or performance.

During the 2001-2002 school year the faculty recommended that students, with the assistance of their advisor and the school’s assistant director, create contracts that outline what students must do to improve, the support the school will provide, and the consequences students will face if they do not comply with the terms of the contract. See Appendix B for a sample Graduation Contract.

If a student is involved in fight, is in possession of drugs or alcohol, or is blatantly disrespectful to a teacher or administrator, an ethical review is convened. The ethical review is the third phase of the disciplinary process. Sometimes students have had a number of staff interventions before an ethical review is called; sometimes they have not. At LMACS we feel that if the behavior egregious, it must be addressed immediately and in a serious forum.

During an ethical review the student, the student’s parents or designated adult (DA), teachers, and the assistant director are present, and the particular incident that caused the review is addressed. The assistant director outlines the issues that led to the review and hears from the student’s teachers regarding academic performance and attendance. The student has the opportunity to respond--refuting the facts, providing an alternative explanation, or simply apologizing and accepting responsibility. After this discussion, the student and his parent or DA are asked to leave the room while the faculty deliberates and reaches consensus on the disciplinary action to be taken. After the deliberation is completed, the student, and his or her parent or DA, is asked to return to the room to hear the faculty’s decision. The ethical review is serious because it is through this forum that the faculty may recommend a short-term suspension or an expulsion from the school.

It is important to emphasize that all of the school’s teachers meet with students at staff interventions and ethical reviews. Students need to know that when disciplinary action is taken the faculty is united regarding the decision: All faculty members share the same expectations for how students should behave, and they are serious about the school’s rules and ethical values. Having all faculty present is also an important way to let students know that teachers care about students’ academic, social, and emotional development, and they support students in their endeavor to earn a high school diploma.

If students are to pursue the school’s academic and non-academic goals, they must come to school on a very regular basis. Regular attendance demonstrates that students are behaving responsibly and that they are committed to a achieving a high school education. For many of our students, however, it is difficult to commit to attending school regularly. They must be constantly scolded, praised, and cajoled to come to school. If they are not in school, a phone call is made to their home to inquire about their absence. As indicated, chronic poor attendance can lead to a staff intervention or an ethical review.

During the 2001-2002 school year the school implemented an attendance policy that requires students to maintain at least an 85% attendance rate. If students do not make this goal, they automatically fail their courses, even if they have a passing grade, which is a 70. Although this may seem a generous standard, many of our students have averaged 15-20 absences a term at their previous high schools. For them, 85% attendance at school is a real challenge. Many students, however, are willing to make this commitment once they realize that the school is serious about this standard and will fail them if they do not follow the attendance rule. During the 2001-2002 school year, the attendance rate was 87% and in May and June the rates reached as high as 90%.

The success of Lowell Middlesex Academy Charter School is based on four interrelated elements: (1) The relationship between the school’s mission and academic program; (2) the relationship between teachers and students; (3) the small school environment and shared decision making between faculty and administrators; and (4) the charter school’s relationship with Middlesex Community College.

As sociologists in the field of education and elsewhere have long argued, if a school’s goals are vague and difficult to measure, it becomes difficult to direct the work of the school’s teachers and to evaluate the effectiveness of that work. An effective school must have clearly defined goals that are widely shared by its members. Unlike the traditional public high school, which tends to have multiple and general goals, LMACS’s mission is very specific to the academic and social needs of high school dropouts. It is the basis for the school’s academic program, the recruitment and retention of personnel, the use of resources, and it directs the day-to-day work of faculty, staff, and students.

It is within the academic program that the mission of the school becomes visible. First, all students are exposed to a core curriculum that includes courses in math, English, history, and science. Moreover, faculty and staff understand that many students have difficulty making good life choices, and many students are driven in their personal lives by real or imagined crises that must overcome if they are going to graduate from high school. In addition to core courses, students are required to take the following classes: Parenting, Non-Violent Conflict Resolution, Life Skills, and Ethics. These courses are designed to help students understand the challenges of child rearing, how to handle violent or potentially violent and conflict-oriented situations, how to manage the day-to-day stresses of life, and how to behave with a sense of integrity.

Finally, students take a course entitled "Senior Seminar" that prepares them for life after high school, as college students or as workers. Ideally, students who leave LMACS have made a decision about their career or the college they will attend.

At LMACS, teachers are not only responsible for teaching in their subject-area specialty; they are also responsible for mentoring a group of students until graduation. Each day each teacher meets with a group of students during an advisory period. Each advisory period has a particular theme, and during it teachers/advisors discuss with students particular issues related to that theme. For example, on Monday the advising period is dedicated to inspirational stories of individuals who have overcome obstacles to achieve something important. On Tuesday, advisors discuss with their students the school’s ethical values. On Wednesday, the discussion between advisors and students is about how to develop the habits and skills necessary to be successful at work.

Finally, Thursday is "Success Thursday." Students who have perfect attendance from the previous week and do not have a weekly grade lower than a 70 are invited to a party in the student lounge with food and drinks. The director also awards them a certificate for academic achievement and attendance. While these students celebrate, the other students and their advisors discuss how to be successful in school.

The teacher/advisor model requires that teachers have the pedagogical and interpersonal skills necessary to motivate students to come to school and graduate. Teachers who work with LMACS students have to be highly dedicated to their work; they must not be afraid to teach students a set of values that are necessary for school success, and they must be demanding but compassionate, and flexible enough to allow students the time to reach standards of behavior and academic achievement. For the past six years, Lowell Middlesex Academy has been fortunate to have highly dedicated and caring teachers who are competent professionals and decent people.

A good example of the kind of effect that a good teacher can have on a student is the case of a recent graduate, who was often difficult to motivate and seemed apathetic about his time at LMACS. In a letter to his advisor, Mr. Phillips, written in the summer of 2001, he wrote:

"Without the help of LMACS faculty and you I don’t think I could have made it this far. I never had a bond with a teacher until I met you. This was the first time I could actually talk to a teacher and they would listen to my problems and try to help me through them. You were a huge inspiration. . . . the whole time . . . thank you."

At LMACS, we feel a small school environment is essential for student and school success. Because the school has only 104 students, it is possible for faculty and staff to know all students by name, to know something about their backgrounds, and to know their academic strengths and weaknesses. Teachers can build the trusting, caring, and respectful relationships necessary to motivate students to attend school and ultimately graduate with a high school diploma. Because of our small environment teachers can also give students the high degree of personal attention needed to help them become mature graduates. Because many students have not received this kind of attention in their family or personal lives, personal attention from faculty is integral to their social, emotional, and academic growth.

The small school environment also allows teachers and administrators to collaborate in organizational decision-making. Each Tuesday and Thursday, for example, teachers meet from 12:30-1:30, while the students have lunch at the Middlesex Community College cafeteria. They discuss the progress of students and make recommendations as to how to help those who are having difficulty (in a variety of areas, especially attendance). Parents may be called or tutoring arranged.

On Fridays the faculty meet from 9-11, and students come to school for tutoring from 11-2. During the Friday meetings, thirty minutes to an hour of time is dedicated to discussing "house keeping" issues such as the calendar of events for the up-coming week or month, and the rest of the time is spent on professional development or discussing a policy issue, such as increasing the math requirement for graduation from Algebra I to Algebra II.

In addition to this formal system of gaining faculty input, administrators often check with teachers throughout the school day and at faculty meetings as to how to proceed on important school matters. The faculty are involved in all-important decisions except for those regarding the budget. This kind of formal and informal decision making is different from what generally happens in larger schools. In big schools, faculty may have input into their program area, and some may be on advisory councils whose decisions influence administrators, but at LMACS, faculty are directly involved in the day-to-day planning and operation of the school. This kind of input allows teachers to feel a sense of ownership in the school, and it creates strong relationships between faculty members and between teachers and administrators.

An important source of support for the charter school comes from the faculty and administrators at Middlesex Community College. As indicated, the charter school began as a dropout prevention program at the college and, in its early years, the school was located at the college free of rent, thus conserving important resources for the development of the charter school. Currently, the college allows LMACS to use its cafeteria, science facilities, and library, and it allows our best students to take classes at the college free of charge.

Carol Cowan, President of Middlesex Community College and chairperson of the LMACS Board of Trustees, is dedicated to admitting our students to the college, helping them succeed, and improving the quality of life in Lowell. The college’s Vice President for Student Affairs serves as the secretary of the school’s Board of Trustees, and the college’s Chief Financial Officer serves as the board’s treasurer. Both are available to guide the school’s administrators on personnel policies and budget preparation and implementation.

Most importantly, the college has powerful symbolic value: By attending school on a college campus, students can see, on a daily basis, the connection between a high school diploma and a college education. As they use the college’s facilities and mix with the students there, they can imagine themselves as students at the community college. They are not just high school students but students in preparation for college.

Perhaps the most important indicator of Lowell Middlesex Academy Charter School’s academic success is student scores on the MCAS, which have improved steadily since 1999. In 1999, 22% of LMACS students scored in the failing category on the test of English and Language Arts, and 80% failed the math category on the test. In response to these poor test scores, particularly in math, the school’s director, curriculum coordinator, and teachers developed a Building Level Action Plan (BLAP) to improve test scores. The BLAP established a goal for MCAS achievement: to cut the failure rate 50% in one academic year--from 80% in 1999 to 40% in 2000. The plan also outlined the programs the school would implement to reach this goal:

• a self-paced math course,

• weekly meetings between students and their advisors to work on a MCAS math problem,

• an MCAS prep course for all students,

• monthly "Math Knowledge Bowls," complete with prizes and public recognition for winners,

• the development of a school-wide culture that embraced achievement on the MCAS, including posters, pencils, and referring to students who are to take the MCAS as "MCAS Crushers."

This plan and the work of faculty, staff, and students proved successful. As reported in the LMACS Annual Report (2001-2002), in 2000 the failing rate on the math section of the MCAS was cut in half, with 40% of students scoring in the failing category. Student scores on the English and Language Arts section also improved: 6% scored advanced, 45% scored proficient, 45% scored in the needs improvement category, and 4% scored in the failing category.

For their work and achievements, faculty, staff, and students have earned recognition. In the spring of 2001, LMACS received an Edgerly School Leadership Award, for improvement in MCAS scores in mathematics. The award included a $10,000 grant, which the school used to buy computers for its teachers and to pay them a bonus. In addition, Mass Insight Education and Research Institute, an organization that focuses on improving student achievement in Massachusetts’ public schools, designated LMACS a Vanguard school. The Vanguard designation is given to schools based on improvements in student performance. At LMACS it was given based on the successful school-wide plan put into place during the 1999-2000 school year to improve MCAS scores. The school received a bright yellow banner recognizing the Vanguard designation. It hangs outside the student lounge to remind students that diligence leads to achievement and that achievement is a worthwhile value.

From the period 1998 to 2001, LMACS students have steadily improved their performance on the English Language Arts portion of the MCAS, with no student failing this section of the test in 2001. Fifty percent of students scored in the needs improvement category and 50% scored at the proficient level. In addition, higher percentage of students scored in the proficient category this year than in previous academic years.

Not only have LMACS students improved their MCAS scores, our students’ success, on average, are better than state averages, with LMACS students performing considerably better than state averages in 2000 and 2001. In 2001, 100% of our students who took the MCAS test of ELA scored at the needs improvement level or higher, while 82% of students scored at this level statewide. No student at LMACS failed the test of English, but 18% of students statewide failed the test. See Appendix D for graphic representations of student scores on the English and Language Arts component of the MCAS over a four-year period, from 1998 to 2001, in school and as compared with state averages.

On the math section of the test, LMACS students have made their most dramatic improvement. In 1998, 85% of LMACS students failed mathematics, but in 2001 only 25% failed the test. In 1998, only 16% of students scored in the needs improvement level or higher, but in 2001, 75 % of students scored at needs improvement or higher.

As on the ELA tests, not only have LMACS students improved their mathematics scores, they have begun performing better than the state average. In 1998 and 1999, MCAS mathematics scores were lower than the state average. In 2000, LMACS student for the first time performed better than the state average, with 60% scoring at the Needs Improvement level or higher as compared to 55% statewide. In 2001, 75% of LMACS students scored at the Needs Improvement level or higher, the same as statewide averages. LMACS students increased their scores in mathematics by 15% from 2000 to 2001. See Appendix E for graphic representations of improvement over time in MCAS mathematics scores, in school and as compared with state averages.

According to Greenberger and Dedman, Boston Globe, 2 November 2002, the achievement of LMACS students on the spring 2001 MCAS tests is far better than expected, given the socio-economic status of the students in the school. According to the Globe, Lowell Middlesex Academy is one of the best in the state at adding value to its students’ education.

The College Board Computerized Placement Tests (ACCUPLACE)

The school also uses the College Board Computerized Placement Tests (ACCUPLACE) to measure student learning and school performance. This test is also used by Middlesex Community College to admit its students. In order to graduate, all LMACS students must receive a score of 68 in reading comprehension, which denotes readiness for college level reading. A score of 55 in Algebra denotes placement in college-level algebra. The test is given to all LMACS seniors in September, January, and June. In the past three years LMACS students have shown consistent and dramatic gains in ACCUPLACE test scores.

During the 2000-2001 school year (from September to June), students showed an average increase on the ACCUPLACE test of 11% on the test of reading comprehension, 21% on the test of arithmetic, and 55% on the Algebra test. In addition, 32 students graduated in June of 2001. Of that group, 18 students were accepted at Middlesex Community College, one at Regis College, and one at Lasell College; two students joined the military, and 10 students entered full-time employment.

During the 2001-2002 school year, the Accuplace scores of students were also largely positive. On average, new students who entered the school in September 2001 improved their scores on the ACCUPLACE tests of reading comprehension, arithmetic, and algebra. On average, students who entered the school in September of 2001 had a score of 57 in reading comprehension and ended the school year with an average score of 67, a ten-point increase. This average score is only one point less than is needed to qualify for entrance into Middlesex Community College.

On average, students who entered the school in September 2001 had a score of 43 in arithmetic and ended the school year with an average score of 57, a 14-point increase. On the test of algebra, students had an average score of 17 in September of 2001 and ended the year with an average score of 21, a 4-point increase. See Appendix F for graphic representations of improvement in ACCUPLACE scores in reading comprehension, arithmetic, and algebra, for the 2000-2001and 2001-2002 school years.

By the 2001-2002 school year, LMACS ACCUPLACE scores had improved so much that all students who graduated in June of 2002 received the score necessary to be accepted at Middlesex Community College. The graduating class of 2002 demonstrated a high degree of achievement in reading comprehension, with an average entrance score of 76 and an exit score of 81, 13 points higher than the performance standard need to enter Middlesex Community College.

But it is in the area of mathematics that the school has added the greatest value to our graduates’ education. On average the graduating class of 2002 had an entry score in arithmetic of 51 and an exit score of 85, which is a 34-point increase. On average, the class of 2002 had an entry score of 26 in Algebra and an exit score of 71, a 45-point increase. The average score of 71 is 15 points higher than the performance standard needed to enter Middlesex Community College.

Charter School Status

An important issue facing LMACS is balancing school autonomy with an increasingly regulatory environment. Because the charter school is independent from the local public school system, it can establish its mission, develop its curriculum, change its daily schedule, establish its budget, hire and fire faculty, and set salary schedules without having to follow the protracted and bureaucratic decision-making process that often characterizes urban school systems. This kind of control over the school and its resources is particularly important as the school attempts to lower its drop-out rate (which was 30 % in 2000-2001 and 27% during the 2001-2002 school year and to continuously improve its MCAS scores, so more students score in the proficient and advanced categories.

Having an autonomous school also allows teachers and administrators to work together to establish a professional, collegial atmosphere rooted in the small school environment and shared dedication to the mission of the school. Often when a teacher’s union is present in a school, the atmosphere can be contentious and rule-driven, rather than collegial and consensus based. The task of building a school and trying to graduate very troubled students has bonded faculty members to one another: They often share stories of the school’s trials and tribulations in the early years, and they genuinely like and respect each other for working hard to make the school successful.

Nevertheless, because LMACS accepts state and federal money to support its program–which is almost entirely supported by per-pupil tuition payments to the school–it must follow state and federal regulations, a difficult task given the school’s limited resources and small size (104 students, 6 full time faculty, 2 administrators) and given the unique nature of the program and specific population served. Such regulations have increased over times and drive the school to act more like a traditional high school.

Consider, for example, how state and federal requirements complicate the work of the administrators at the charter school. The Title I, Special Education, MCAS Student Success, and Health Protection grants require the school to formally evaluate its program for effectiveness and to do an annual needs-assessment. The Charter School Office at the Department of Education requires the school to submit an annual report by August 1^st of each year. The Charter School Office and Title I Office monitor the school’s MCAS scores to determine the school’s success. Each unit also visits the school and writes a report on its effectiveness. The charter school office sends a team to visit the school in its second and third years of operation, and a renewal inspection team visits the school when the school is up for charter renewal. The Department of Education’s Program Quality Assurance Unit (PQA) sends a team to evaluate the school’s compliance with the laws governing Special Education and Title I every 5 to 8 years. While the Charter School Office evaluates the school for academic success, organizational viability, and faithfulness to the terms of its charter, the PQA unit evaluates the school for compliance with state and federal regulations.

To complicate matters, some state and federal regulations are not in line with charter school regulations. The new Title I law, for example, requires all teachers who work in Title I areas to be certified, but the state regulations governing charter schools require that teachers only pass the state teacher’s exam. While LMACS requires that all its students have Individual Learning Plans (a standardized document developed by the student and his or her advisor and referred to as an ILP), the Special Education law requires special needs students to have an Individual Education Plan (IEP). While the new Title I program requires students to have a school-parent compact, the MCAS Student Success program requires all students who fail the MCAS in either 8^th or 10^th grades to have an MCAS Student Success Plan. In theory, LMACS students could have an ILP, an IEP, a Title I compact, and an MCAS Success Plan.

This is not to suggest that any of these programs are not important. Each serves important educational purposes and provides the school with the resources needed to operate its programs.

Nonetheless, the unintended consequence of running a small school with a variety of programs is that the school’s administrators spend an inordinate amount of time reporting to various state agencies and monitoring compliance with state and federal regulations. Moreover, as regulations increase and administrators spend more time on traditional school tasks (especially paper work), it becomes more difficult for the administrators to act as instructional leaders, providing important professional development for teachers, improving the school’s curriculum, guarding against the school "drifting" away from its mission, and planning for school improvement in the long run.

Perhaps no other event at LMACS is more important or more celebratory than graduation. In June of 2002, the school graduated 33 students, the largest graduating class ever. The centerpiece of this event is a school tradition in which faculty recognize the graduates. Each teacher makes a public statement about each graduate for whom the teacher serves as an advisor. The teachers/advisors recall the struggles students had to overcome to graduate and how they have changed for the better since they arrive at Lowell Middlesex Academy; they share personal anecdotes and successes. The ceremony is very moving, providing those in attendance with an understanding of the hard work faculty and students must do to reach graduation. In a sense, the graduation is symbolic of all the school stands for. LMACS is place of second chances, a place of individual attention and personalized learning; we are a small school with a focused mission, to help students earn a high school diploma.

Dr. Joseph R. Dolan is the Assistant Director of Lowell Middlesex Academy Charter School in Lowell, Massachusetts. He has a B.A. in History and Social Science from Eastern Connecticut State University, an M.A. in Curriculum and Instruction from Fairfield University, and an Ed. D. in Educational Administration from Boston University, where he was a teaching fellow. He has taught in public and private schools, including a Japanese high school in Westchester County, New York. He has also served as Director of Charter School Accountability at the Massachusetts Department of Education.

Lowell Middlesex Academy Charter School

Middlesex Community College

33 Kearney Square

Lowell, MA 01852-1901

978-656-0170

Appendix A: LMACAS Sample Rubric

LMACS American Social History-2, Mr. Caragianes

(permission from author granted, September 2002)

Lincoln Essay Grading Rubric

The Lincoln essay you have been assigned is a mandatory part of this course. If you follow the grading guide, or rubric, below, and put in a good effort, you are sure to do well on this very important piece of work.

Maximum Number of points:    36    Points earned: _____________

In order for Kristy to graduate from Lowell Middlesex Academy Charter School, she must complete the following by June 13, 2002:

1. Kristy cannot be late or absent from any of her classes for the entire two-week period beginning on June 3, 2002 and ending on June 13, 2002.

2. Kristy must complete all of her work and achieve passing grades in Senior Civics, Environment Science, Biology, and American Social History.

3. Kristy may not return home for lunch; she must have lunch at the charter school, the cafeteria, or a restaurant in downtown Lowell.

4. During her free period, Kristy will study in the Middlesex Community College library.

5. To make up for her absences in Senior Civics and Biology, she must attend school each Friday until the semester ends for seniors on June 13, 2002.

I have read the above requirements and agree to comply with them or face the consequences for my actions.

Appendix C: LMACS ILP

Lowell Middlesex Academy Charter School

Individual Learning Plan

2001-2002

The mission of the Lowell Middlesex Academy Charter School is to enable its students to achieve academic, social, and career success. A supportive school community identifies, encourages, and develops interests and abilities while acknowledging and respecting each student’s personal and cultural identity. Upon graduation from LMACS, all students will have a competency-based high school diploma, a clearly demonstrated set of academic skills, experience in the workplace and/or community service, a clear awareness of the rights and responsibilities of U.S. citizenship, and a personal development plan for the years beyond high school.

Student: ____________________    Date: _________________

Advisor: ____________________

Designated Adult/Relationship to Student: _______________________________

Accuplace Results:    Date: ____________

RC __________     Ar _______     EA _______

MCAS Results:    Date: ____________

ELA _______     Math ___________     Science/TECH ________     History _________

Part I. Begin the ILP by reviewing the student’s school performance during the previous school term---grades, graduation competencies, attendance, teacher’s comments. Also review any pertinent life experiences. Identify what the student did well and why. Identify what the student had difficulty with and why.

• What was your greatest success in high school or middle school?

• What were the reasons for this success?

• What challenges did you face as a high school or middle school student that affected your academic performance?

• What were the reasons for these challenges?

• Specific Strengths

• Specific Challenges

• Have you ever worked? If so, where and for how long?

• As an employee, what are your specific strengths?

• As an employee, what are your specific challenges?

• In the long term, what kind of career do you want to pursue and why?

Part II. Complete the ILP by specifying those interests and abilities members of the school community can encourage during the coming school year. Identify specific strategies the student, his or her designated adult, advisor, and the entire school staff can use to facilitate the student’s growth and success.

Interests and Abilities to be encouraged and developed:

Interests and Abilities to be encouraged and developed:

Interests and Abilities to be encouraged and developed:

Student’s Strategies

Designated Adult’s Strategies

LMACS Staff’s Strategies

Chart I. LMACS MCAS scores: ELA 1998-2001
A: Advanced	P: Proficient	NI: Needs Improvement	F: Failing

Chart II. Percent of students who scored at the Needs Improvement level or higher on the MCAS Test of English and Language Arts: LMACS and state averages. 1998-2001

Chart III. LMACS MCAS scores: Mathematics 1998-2001
A: Advanced	P: Proficient	NI: Needs Improvement	F: Failing

Chart IV. Percent of students who scored at the Needs Improvement level or higher on the MCAS Test of Mathematics: LMACS and state averages. 1998-2001

Chart V: Average ACCUPLACE scores of new students: September 2001 and June 2002.

Chart VI: Entry and graduation scores for the Class of 2002: ACCUPLACE College Placement Test.

Laborforce, Employment, and Unemployment in Lowell. n.d. Retrieved May 2002 from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Division of Employment and Training Web site: www.detma.org/lmi/local/Lowell.html

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