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Whole School Paper
MATCH Charter Public High School:
By Danny Clark, Grantwriter
Keeping the Promise: The Massachusetts Charter School Dissemination and Replication Project. Massachusetts Charter Public School Association 2007
ABSTRACT This paper highlights and documents the successes and best practices of the MATCH Charter Public High School, a highly successful charter school located in Boston, MA. The school serves a low-income, almost exclusively minority population. Through intensive tutoring, high academic and behavioral standards, and a close-knit community culture, MATCH pushes students to achieve success in college and beyond, even those students who arrive at the school several grade levels behind in reading and math. The paper includes suggestions and advice for implementation of the school’s best practices as well as a description of the benefits and drawbacks of its charter school status. HISTORY Our founder, Michael Goldstein, designed the MATCH School as his Master’s Thesis in educational policy at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. Goldstein believed that elementary and middle-school students in Boston had many educational options: local public schools, charter schools, pilot schools, exam schools, and private schools. However, few options existed for students who had reached ninth grade and were so far behind, skill-wise, that they were on track to fail the MCAS, possibly drop out of high school, and certainly not succeed in college. Therefore, the MATCH School was created to offer hope to these students that it was not too late by ninth grade to still succeed academically and go to college. Goldstein envisioned an extended-day school program that combined academic learning with special media projects. Our school's original name, Media and Technology Charter High School, reinforced Goldstein's vision of students using media to enhance learning; for example, they could design a web site to explain the Civil War or create a radio documentary on solar systems. Goldstein believed that students who worked relentlessly hard on both academics and media would fulfill the school’s mission - not just admission to college (easy), but continuing success in college (statistically rare for inner-city students) (First in the Family, n.d.). In 2000, four years after Goldstein graduated from Harvard, MATCH opened in rented classroom space at Temple Ohabei Shalom, on the border of Boston and Brookline, just one mile from our current location. Our inaugural class drew eighty freshmen out of a lottery of 240 applicants, and we added a grade each year. In 2002, MATCH purchased and renovated a near-empty warehouse near the Boston University campus, converting it into a “green” building with automatic lights and solar panels atop the roof. Given the financial constraints of charter public schools (they must assume all facility purchase and renovation costs) our school had no library, no gym, no art or music rooms, and very little office space. However, what we did have was a “family” culture, which made it possible to put up with crowded offices and multi-purpose spaces. With our rigorous academic and media program still intact, we forged ahead at our new location. Parent demand for our school continued to grow, as word got out that our MCAS scores were higher than those in every other open admission high school in Boston. However, many students who passed MCAS did not reach the higher promotion standards set by teachers. This led to attrition, as students chose to leave MATCH, rather than be retained. It also led us to a dilemma: Our mission of college success demanded that all our extra academic time be devoted to preparing students for the rigors of college-level courses. Fully focusing on this aspect of our mission left little time to implement the original vision of our charter: a long school day, with traditional subjects enriched by media and technology projects. Students arrived from their sending middle schools with such low skills in reading, writing, and math that enrichment was only possible for a few. In addition, it became challenging to attract and retain media and technology teachers in an environment where basics like reading, writing, math, history, and science took up all available time. Teachers would apply to the school and emphasize their technology backgrounds when in truth, the school was seeking teachers with four qualities: a no-excuses ethic, relentless in pushing students to do their work, a commitment to building relationships with students and families, and knowledge of how to structure their teaching to engage and teach all students effectively. Thus, we began to question our original educational model. In 2004, the same year we celebrated our first graduating class, we made a dramatic change, requiring all juniors and seniors to take Advanced Placement courses in preparation for college, and reducing and ultimately eliminating the media program. To assure that students would have the skills to meet our even more rigorous academic requirements, we instigated a dramatic high-dosage tutoring program. By 2006, with the vision of “media and technology” virtually absent from the curriculum, we changed our name to the MATCH Charter Public High School. DEMOGRAPHICS Our student demographic is similar in race, ethnicity, socio-economic level, and family structure to the demographics in most Boston public schools. The racial breakdown of the BPS district is 42% African-American, 34% Hispanic, 14% Caucasian, and 9% Asian (Boston Public Schools Communication Office, Enrollment, 2007). The MATCH student body has a slightly higher percentage of minority students, with 69% African-American, 23% Hispanic, 4% Asian, and 4% Caucasian during the 2006-07 school year. (See Appendix A: MATCH Fact Sheet) We center our recruitment efforts on students from low performing middle schools who are in danger of failing academically. As a result, MATCH students come predominantly from four Boston neighborhoods: Roxbury, Dorchester, Mattapan, and Hyde Park. Due to the distance of these neighborhoods from the school, many travel an hour or more by public transportation each way to attend our school. The percentage of students from low-income families is similar to the percentage in Boston Public Schools, with 71% of students coming from families qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch (Boston Public Schools Communications Office, The Boston Public Schools at a Glance, 2007). The majority of MATCH students come from single-parent households. Although we actively recruit students from the lowest-performing middle schools in Boston, many of the high-achieving charter middle schools and after-school programs encourage their students to enter our lottery. Therefore, each year, our incoming class is usually comprised of a mix of students coming from traditional district schools, charter schools, and exam schools. The starting MCAS scores of arriving ninth grade students are roughly the same as BPS averages (Match Charter Public High School, 8th Grade MCAS, 2006; The Boston Globe, Boston Public Schools MCAS, 2007). MISSION, GOALS, AND OBJECTIVES The MATCH School prepares Boston students who have not been led to expect a university education and who are at risk of academic failure to succeed in college and beyond. We reverse underachievement through a combination of strategies:
Courage, discipline, and perseverance are the core values that guide us in fulfilling our mission. Our primary goal is for all of our students to attain a four-year college degree. Many of our students aim to be the first in their families to achieve this goal, reversing an intergenerational cycle of poverty that has plagued many communities in Boston for decades. Our school also has a broader goal of influencing educational policy by disseminating best practices and attracting young professionals to the urban education field. We do this in a variety of ways:
In this way, we hope not only to influence the small number of students who attend MATCH, but also to provide educators across the country with a successful model for educating inner-city students. KEYS TO OUR SUCCESS Following are the strategies that have been critical to our success: Individual Attention and Tutoring Individual attention and tutoring has been a key component of MATCH throughout our history. In the early years we engaged college students as work-study tutors through partnerships with local colleges, and over the last three years we have supplemented this tutoring with the MATCH Corps, a one-of-a-kind tutoring program that provides every student at MATCH with at least three hundred hours of individualized tutoring each year. We now have three separate tutoring programs that serve our students during the entire school year, as well as in the summer. MATCH Corps Tutoring Program: The MATCH Corps was established in 2004 to provide increased academic support for all students. The MATCH Corps is made up of 45-50 recent college graduates from top universities across the country who each devote one year of their lives to tutoring 4-6 students daily in two-hour blocks. In addition, they serve as teaching assistants, run clubs, coach sports, and provide extra tutoring as needed. In exchange for 50-60 hours of work per week, MATCH Corps members receive a $600/month stipend and housing in a dormitory on the third floor of the school. The program brings young college graduates from top universities into the front-lines of urban education, and often results in their pursuing educational careers, a goal related to our overall mission. Hiring MATCH Corps tutors is a highly selective process; each year more than four hundred applicants apply for 40-45 available positions. Tutors are recruited through job-search engines such as Idealist.org and through job postings and fairs coordinated through university career services offices. Potential tutors apply by submitting a resume along with their SAT and AP scores, since part of their job consists of preparing students for these exams. If qualified, they receive a telephone interview, and then advance to an on-site interview where they tutor two students and meet with the Principal and the MATCH Corps Director. This process has resulted in a highly-qualified Corps with superior GRE scores and college GPAs. The corps is more selective than any graduate school of education in the nation, with the exception of Stanford (MATCH Charter Public High School, 2005). Once hired, MATCH Corps tutors receive an intensive three-week training that includes a broad overview of the strategies used to address the urban education crisis in America, specific instruction in tutoring and mentoring students, a review of course materials and MATCH School policies, and an introduction to teachers and staff. Once the school year starts, tutors receive periodic “refreshers” in various subjects to assure that they have a full understanding of the subject matter that students are learning in class. MATCH Corps tutors of freshmen and sophomores focus on remediation and basic skills, which allows teachers to focus on teaching new material in the classroom. MATCH Corps tutors also work hard to build in-depth relationships--with their students, and with parents and guardians, since an important aspect of our strategy for success is to establish a strong bridge between home and school. By the time our students reach their junior and senior years, our tutoring support switches from an emphasis on developing basic skills to an emphasis on mastering AP and college-level coursework. Members of the Corps also provide an immeasurable amount of support to teachers by serving as teaching assistants (TAs). TAs run review sessions after school and on weekends, work with individual students who are struggling with the material, run tutorials on Fridays for students who fail Thursday Assessments, and reduce the workload on teachers by helping with grading and preparation of lessons. Having such academic support available to students gives teachers the capability to challenge them to reach even higher standards. The Corps was born partially out of a need to reduce the attrition level within the school. Because of the high academic standards and the stringent failure policy (students must receive a grade of C- or better to pass, and must repeat the grade if they fail two or more courses), many students faced with retention at MATCH chose to leave, so they could advance to the next grade at a school with less strict promotion polices. We started MATCH Corps hoping that more students would pass because of the individualized attention and support, and that those students who did not pass would choose to remain at MATCH because of the relationship established through hundreds of hours of tutoring time. Since the inception of the MATCH Corps, overall attrition has been reduced by nearly fifty percent, and only twenty-seven percent of the students (7 of 26) who had to repeat a grade after the 2005-06 year chose to leave. The MATCH Corps is overseen by a MATCH Corps Program Director who currently serves as the assistant principal of the school. The Program Director’s role includes overseeing all tutors, arranging logistics of after-school programs and tutoring, providing tutor development training, and staying abreast of all issues involving students, so that necessary information is communicated to tutors. Additionally, she must be aware of all issues involving the school in order to act as point-person for the tutors to turn to with any problems. The staff person currently in that position, Lisa Hwang, is incredibly organized and motivated, and is integral to every aspect of our school. As one staff member noted in a school-wide survey, “From cultivating relationships with students and their families to managing the complicated logistics of scheduling, Lisa Hwang plays a part in all of the success that we have had” (Massachusetts Charter Public School Association, 2007). The salary of the Program Director, as well as the stipends of twenty-five MATCH Corps tutors, is paid by AmeriCorps. In addition to their MATCH responsibilities, the AmeriCorps-funded tutors serve approximately ten hours per week at three traditional Boston public schools: English High School, Brighton High School, and Edwards Middle School, where they tutor students in core subjects and in MCAS prep. Each of these tutors also volunteers 340 hours during the year in various community-related projects as part of the AmeriCorps partnership. In exchange these tutors are paid slightly more than non-AmeriCorps MATCH Corps tutors. The collaboration with AmeriCorps provides a great opportunity for tutors to get involved in different communities around Boston. AmeriCorps MATCH tutor projects have included painting a mural at a T station, planting flowers and picking up trash at schools and parks, volunteering at soup kitchens and homeless shelters, and coordinating a mentoring program that connects minority law students with Boston youth. Many of these projects also involve MATCH students, providing them with an immeasurable learning experience about the rewards of giving back to the community. As an example, Chris Hawkins, a MATCH Corps Tutor during the 2006-07 school year who also was a member of AmeriCorps, led a community service organization called “VolunteerCorps” whose expressed purpose was to provide community service opportunities to MATCH School students and foster civic engagement through volunteerism. Typically active on weekends, the VolunteerCorps served 320 hours at more than fifteen various non-profits and events, including the Greater Boston Food Bank, Boston Medical Center, Thanksgiving Canned Food Drive, and Boston Cares. Thirty students, approximately fifteen percent of the student body, participated throughout the year. Their efforts bolstered organizations that serve the homeless, HIV/AIDS victims, the environment, the hungry, low-income and orphaned children, and the elderly. The MATCH Corps also serves our school's broader mission of attracting young professionals to the field of education, especially urban education. As the MATCH Corps network grows, we are making an effort to track and follow former tutors, both to support them in their future endeavors, as well as to provide them with a professional network of contacts. As part of this effort, we compile a yearly update on what former MATCH Corps members are currently doing. Although none of the tutors from either of the first two years of the MATCH Corps were education majors upon joining the MATCH Corps, forty-eight percent of these tutors (40 of 84) are still involved in education in some capacity, either as teachers (60%) or in an administrative capacity (MATCH Charter Public High School, Former MATCH Corps Network, 2006). Weekend Tutoring Program: In addition to the two hours of daily tutoring that every student receives through the MATCH Corps, all sophomores receive four hours of tutoring each weekend for twenty-five weekends in math, English, and biology. The focus on skills in these three areas coincides with preparation for the tenth grade MCAS exams. A full-time staff member oversees the program, and MATCH staff and teachers create the curriculum. Students from Boston College, Boston University, Harvard, MIT, and Wellesley serve as tutors for this program, with each college picking up the majority of the expense through the federal work-study law that requires that seven percent of all work-study wages be devoted to local community programs. The program provides rewarding and engaging work for college students, and MATCH students reap the benefits of working with intelligent, motivated college students from top colleges in the Boston area, who, like the MATCH Corps tutors, serve as role models for them. Weekend tutors are overseen by the Weekend Tutoring Director and by MATCH teachers who circulate during weekend tutorial sessions to help tutors explain difficult concepts, manage student behavior, and ensure overall tutor quality. MIT Summer Academy: To help assist new students in adapting to our school's high academic and behavioral expectations, we joined with MIT to create a mandatory five-week summer academy for all incoming freshmen. Held on the MIT Campus, the program enlists MIT students to provide four hours of daily tutoring in basic math and reading skills. Freshmen also receive one hour of “culture” class to learn our rules and behavioral guidelines. Since all MATCH dress code and behavioral rules and consequences apply at the MIT Summer Academy, freshmen become familiar with our Code of Conduct prior to entering our school, easing the transition into our school culture before the school year begins. Current students who have failed one or more classes must also attend the MIT Summer Academy for intensive tutoring. Students can graduate from the Summer Academy if they have only failed one class and can pass the final exam at the end of two weeks. Otherwise, they must stay for the entire five weeks. Upper-classmen who fail the final exam after the five-week Summer Academy are required to repeat the year. All students who failed two or more classes must attend Summer Academy and repeat the school year, regardless of whether they pass the final exam at the end of Summer Academy. The purpose of this is to better prepare these students for the following school year through focusing on specific difficulties in a one-on-one tutoring setting. The theory is that students who fail more than one class possess significant skill deficits, and every opportunity to erase these deficits must be utilized. Summer Academy is not intended to be a punishment for poor academic achievement during the school year; rather, it is a necessary step to help students become truly college-ready. High Academic Standards Our philosophy is grounded in the belief that all students can achieve at very high levels, regardless of past academic success or failure, and that given high expectations, students will rise to meet them. This idea pervades all work at MATCH, and is implicit in student-staff interactions. We constantly push our students to achieve to the highest standards possible in order to ensure that once they get to college, they are as well-prepared as they can be to handle the rigors of college academics. Green and Winters (2005) define college readiness by three standards: (1) earning a high school diploma, (2) completing the minimum amount of coursework required by minimally selective four-year colleges, and (3) reading at a level of basic literacy. According to a study by the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, only twenty-three percent of African-Americans and twenty percent of Hispanic students graduate high school prepared for college (Green & Winters, 2005). Additionally, only forty-one percent of African-American students and forty-four percent of Latino students who enter college earn a degree within six years (The Education Trust, 2006). To ensure that all students graduate from MATCH prepared for the rigors of college-level coursework, we provide a challenging curriculum that focuses on mastering basic skills during the first two years and then moves on to college-level work during the last two years. This curriculum includes:
AP For All Initiative: This requirement, which we instigated in 2004, is based on the belief that all students, not just top-performing students, can benefit from taking highly challenging courses, and that even if a student may not pass the AP exam, he/she will make great strides in being prepared for college by doing college-level work. In order for all students to meet the high standards of AP-level coursework, we hold after-school review sessions with teachers or tutors, and conduct regular assessments to check each student’s progress. This structure allows teachers to stay on track with their curriculum, reserving after-school time, rather than class time, to assist students who may be lagging behind. The assessments allow AP teachers to target what each student needs in order to be successful and to put the supports in place to allow them to succeed. Tests and Assessments: Our school relies on tests and assessments to help us determine what students have learned and what subject areas teachers have taught effectively. Tests and assessments help staff direct curriculum development to assure that our students meet our high academic expectations, and provide feedback to teachers on how to make the teaching of a lesson or a unit more effective. Promotion Standards and Proficiency Tests: Our school adheres to a strict grading policy for advancement to the next grade. As previously stated, at MATCH, a grade of “D” is not considered passing, and if a student fails a course, he/she must attend Summer Academy for the course failed. If a student fails two or more courses, then he/she must repeat the grade as well as attend Summer Academy. Because of the extra academic support and attention that students receive through tutoring, it is possible that students might pass all of their classes but still not have mastered grade-level math and writing skills. To ensure that students have the skills they need to be successful in school, we require students to pass grade-level proficiency tests. Since these tests assess skills, not knowledge, they are not tests that students can “cram” for, and passing them ensures that students are academically prepared to succeed in the next grade before moving on. We assure that students have basic math skills by requiring that all freshmen pass a math proficiency test with a score of at least 90%. The math proficiency covers basic math topics such as multiplying and dividing fractions and decimals, percents, measuring, and word problems. The pass rate is set at 90% because the concepts tested are at a sixth grade level, and to be successful in Algebra, Trigonometry, and Calculus, students must be proficient in basic math. Students have four opportunities throughout the year to pass the test, and if they do not pass the exam by the end of the school year, they must attend Summer Academy where they will get a fifth chance to pass it. If by the end of Summer Academy, a student does not pass the math proficiency test, he or she must repeat the school year. Students in all grades must also pass a Writing Proficiency with a grade of at least 70%. The Writing Proficiency is an essay, usually in response to a prompt or book that students are reading in their English class, that requires students to use their writing and critical thinking skills. The Writing Proficiency has higher standards for each year, as more analysis is required of students as they progress through the grades. High Behavioral Standards In order for students to learn effectively, an atmosphere that is conducive to learning must be established and maintained: in the classroom, in the halls, and outside of the school. We rely heavily on our code of conduct (see Appendix D) to advise students of what behaviors are not acceptable as well as to inform students of the consequences for those behaviors. Seventy adult staff members assure that our code of conduct is strictly upheld at all times, and all staff have the full backing of the administration when reprimanding a student. Listings of the “Top-Ten Non-Negotiables” (see Appendix E) also appear in every classroom, serving as a constant reminder to students of what is expected of them. Prior to beginning their first year at MATCH, all freshmen are required to attend the Principal-led culture class at Summer Academy where they study and are tested on the non-negotiables and the code of conduct. All students and their parents must sign a contract at the beginning of each school year in which they agree to abide by the rules outlined in the code of conduct. All student behavioral problems are quickly addressed by the principal and/or Dean of Students. If a student is sent out of class, there is immediate follow-up by the administration to work out the issue, with parent involvement, if necessary. Since we maintain constant communication with parents, and require their approval and support of our code of conduct, parents act as our allies in shaping student behavior. We keep parents involved and informed through informal phone calls and hold meetings with the student, his/her parent, and the principal to discuss behavioral issues as needed. Since MATCH is such a small community, we are able to use the staff-parent relationships we have established to help us provide leverage in dealing with student behavioral problems. The most critical aspect of maintaining high behavioral standards, however, is by upholding the rules that are established. Our Executive Director, Alan Safran, often says, “Do what you say you are going to do” (A. Safran, personal communication, MATCH Corps Summer Training, August 13, 2007). This is essential in dealing with student behavior, because inconsistency in application of rules leads to behavioral problems and push-back from the student. Therefore, it is part of our culture to adhere to the code of conduct as strictly as possible to ensure that small problems do not become large problems. We operate under the theory that if we make a big deal about little things, those little things do not become big things. Despite our best efforts to inform students of the consequences for their behavior, inevitably some students get into trouble. We attempt to give students several chances to change their behavior while, at the same time, imposing consequences. Very serious consequences that demand immediate expulsion, such as a weapons violation or a fight within the school, are exceedingly rare, with an average of less than one per school year of each of these types of violations. For less serious offenses such as disrespect towards a staff member or excessive accumulation of demerits within a week, students receive academic violations. Eight academic violations leads to expulsion, but prior to expulsion, upon receiving the fifth, sixth, and seventh academic violations, parent meetings are held with the administration and student, and behavioral contracts are signed. It is made clear to students what actions are unacceptable, and we do everything in our power to give students the opportunity to change their behavior while maintaining high expectations. Strong Relationships and Community “Kids don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care” --Charlie Sposato, Founding Principal Relationships with students are the cornerstone of our school community. Our small size allows all staff members to know the name of every student. Teachers are encouraged to form relationships with students and to adopt a mentoring role in addition to their educational role. The intensive tutoring provided by the MATCH Corps creates strong relationships between students and tutors, and ensures that all students have at least one positive adult relationship in their lives. The safe environment promoted by our consistent enforcement of our strict Code of Conduct is framed as a way of maintaining a positive and supportive community. Student altercations are treated as disruptions with an impact on the entire community. Further contributing to the community aspect of our school, the Principal, Jorge Miranda, greets every student in the morning when he or she arrives at school with a handshake and two questions:
Reinforcing our message at the door each day helps to re-focus students who struggle with motivation or behavioral problems. A quick reminder as to why the student is at school often corrects minor issues before they develop into larger problems. The personal, physical touch involved in the handshake is important in helping students feel that the school is a family, and that the entire staff regards what happens within the walls of the school as of paramount importance. Principal Miranda also says goodbye to each student as he/she leaves school at the end of every school day, asking them to state one academic fact that they learned that day. Parental involvement is also a key component in our community. Prior to the beginning of each school year, Principal Miranda calls the parents of every incoming freshman student to introduce himself and to establish a relationship with the family. Tutors call home once a week to check in with parents about how their child is doing, and teachers call home about once a month to inform parents on their students' progress. This is all done to create and maintain a strong sense of community within the school. Students may initially resent having the school constantly calling home, but they soon realize that these phone calls take place because teachers, tutors, and administrators truly care about every student. Students and parents appreciate that teachers and tutors also call home when students do well and should be praised, not only for poor grades or behavior. These relationships are critical when serious behavioral issues arise. When students receive an “academic violation,” which usually involves some form of disrespectful behavior towards a staff member or another student, and parents are called into the school to meet with the Principal, the staff member(s)/student(s) involved, and any other related parties, the relationship that has been previously established with the parent helps to avoid an “us versus them” mentality between the student/parent and the school. Because we see ourselves as part of a community united by our mission, these conversations instead take the tone of “How can we all work together to improve this situation?” Therefore, rather than adversarial, tense situations, these meetings are typically positive, rewarding experiences, fostering our sense of community. Student Motivation: When students arrive at MATCH, we do not assume that they will have the intrinsic motivation to put forth all of the effort required to succeed academically. Instead, we are prepared to continually push every student. A student walking the halls each day will be constantly reminded and motivated by our school's mission and community-based message. A sign over the Big Hall states:
The message that “what we do is important” is infused into our culture. We constantly celebrate academic achievement, working hard to foster a positive environment around academic success. In the lobby, students are inspired by pictures of the Students of the Month. These students, along with others on the Honor Roll are publicly recognized at whole school assemblies, which parents and family members often attend, and their names are entered into a raffle for gift cards to local stores. We hold rallies before the state MCAS exams in which older students challenge the younger students taking the MCAS to outdo their success. We make a practice of rewarding students who perform well on other important tests and assessments, such as the practice SAT exams, which are administered throughout the year, and the math proficiency test. We share student test scores among staff so teachers and tutors can congratulate students who perform well and give encouragement to students who have not yet achieved the standards we expect. High-Quality Teachers, Tutors, and Staff Our ability to attract high-quality staff is due in part to our status as a charter school, but is more closely related to our dedication to continuing to fulfill our school's mission of enabling students to achieve academic success. In their year-end interviews with the administration, many teachers indicate that they are willing to work longer hours because they can effect change and make a positive impact on their students’ lives (MATCH Charter Public High School, Staff Year-End Surveys, 2006). Similarly, in their year-end surveys, many tutors cite the opportunity to form close relationships with students on whom they can have a significant impact at a critical point in their transition to adulthood as their motivation to work at MATCH (MATCH Charter Public High School, Staff Year-End Surveys, 2006). During the hiring process, the administration, current staff, and students clearly lay out the high expectations and demands of teaching and tutoring at MATCH. Applicants are warned that working with our students requires long hours and relentless dedication to their success. Thus, before joining the MATCH community, teachers and tutors must be clear that they are committed to the school and its ideals, and can accept our demands and expectations. In return, we provide an opportunity for teachers' and tutors' passions to be channeled into student learning, and this translates into a close-knit working community. The MATCH Corps provides a valuable pipeline for staff and teaching positions, supplying our school with a continuous pool of young, motivated talent. The staff is almost exclusively under the age of thirty-five, and the lack of significant family attachments or responsibilities plays heavily into the staff's willingness to work late and on weekends. The relationships that are created with the students also add incentive for the staff to put in extra time and effort because our entire community genuinely cares for our students, and wants to see them succeed. It also becomes far easier to work overtime when the overwhelming majority of the staff is working overtime as well. The content and material that must be covered in each class is proscribed by Massachusetts state standards and further structured by mapping backward from the AP tests in each subject area. However, teachers are given a great deal of freedom about how to create effective lessons. This is done in conjunction with the other members of the department and with the ultimate approval of the department head and the instructional leadership team. The value of giving teachers freedom in creating curricula was reinforced by Founding Principal Charlie Sposato’s theory that you don’t teach your subject, you teach your personality (C. Sposato, personal communication, MATCH Corps Summer Training, August, 15, 2005). Giving teachers freedom to create their own methods of teaching allows teachers’ passions and individual personalities to shape the curricula and tone of the classroom, and also helps enhance their dedication to meeting the extensive requirements expected of them. Teachers also appreciate the opportunity to develop their skills and gain constructive feedback through the Rounds program, in which all teachers observe and are observed by other teachers. After the observation, teachers offer each other feedback in a small group setting, free from any administrative oversight. This encourages a reflective nature within teachers, and encourages them to continue honing their craft. Founding Principal, Charlie Sposato also serves as a consultant and mentor to new teachers, observing classes and offering advice and encouragement. During weekly cluster and departmental meetings, teachers discuss potential student problem areas and possible strategies to reach students.Additionally, time is programmed into teachers’ days to meet with each other and with administrators for professional development. Our teachers only teach four periods per day to allow adequate time for lesson preparation and professional development activities. Extended Day The MATCH School day runs from 8:30 a.m. -5:00 p.m. Monday through Thursday and from 8:30 a.m. -1:00 p.m. on Friday. The extended school day sends the message to students that there is a lot of important learning to do and a lot of time will be spent to ensure that it is learned well. Students are therefore encouraged to stay after school every day to work with tutors or teachers on homework until 7:45 p.m. at night. Under a new program instituted this year, students who are failing or identified as at-risk of failure are required to stay after school until all of their homework is completed and has been checked by their tutors. This message of urgency and importance around learning is continually reinforced in tutorial and in the classroom. There is no downtime in tutorial or in class, and students who disrupt learning time are told, implicitly and explicitly, that there is no time to waste on non-academic matters. The extended day also has benefits in that it keeps students occupied during times that parents are often not at home, lessening the potential for them to engage in dangerous activities. Because of the intense academic schedule and long hours, most students do not have time to hold a job during the school year, although some do manage to work on the weekends. To those students from families whose economic situation encourages them to work, we reinforce the message that the long-term financial benefits of a college education far outweigh the immediate need. This is, however, a difficult situation for many of our students and their families. Leadership In studying these many aspects of our school that contribute to the success that we have achieved thus far, it becomes very easy to overlook the leadership that puts the policies and programs listed above into practice. Our Executive Director, Principal, and Vice Principal can be found at the school at all hours of the day and night working on the planning and attention to detail needed to implement our programs successfully. Additionally, our leadership is supported by a very active Board of Trustees comprised of eleven individuals with a broad range of experience in education, technology, venture capital, real estate, law and business, who serve as mentors to key school leaders and assist administrators in raising funds for special programs. Most importantly, every aspect of our school reflects the personality of our founding principal, Charles Sposato. Our entire underlying philosophy was shaped by the charismatic leadership he provided from the opening of our school until June 2006, and his influence pervades all aspects of our school culture. Charlie emphasizes personal relationships above all else--with parents, students, teachers, tutors, and staff, and he makes an instant connection with everyone he encounters. He develops rapport with students that plainly exhibits his love and affection for them while also communicating that he will accept nothing but their very best. Though Charlie had no administrative experience when he began his tenure as principal, the staff quickly became utterly devoted to his style, which is honest, open, and direct, while still exceedingly heartfelt. Former parents, students and staff continually return to the school to see him, and despite his diminished role in the school now as a consultant supporting new teachers and the transition to our new principal, Charlie's leadership lives on in the way we emphasize parent involvement and relationship-building between students and staff. Our new principal continues to meet students at the door each morning because Charlie believed that knowing each student was a far more effective security measure than metal detectors could ever be. Despite the hustle and bustle of the daily grind at school, the intimate atmosphere that Charlie established has been maintained. More than any other quality, Charlie exudes love, and while it seems strange to write that word in an academic paper, there is no other word that can describe what Charlie has brought to MATCH. MEASURES OF SUCCESS We measure our success in the following ways: Standardized Test Results Our MCAS scores are significantly higher than statewide averages, both in the percentage of students passing the MCAS exams, and the percentage of students scoring proficient or advanced on the MCAS exams.
College Acceptance Rates and Alumni Success in College Every member of our first three graduating classes (2004, 2005 and 2006) was accepted into a four-year college or university. Schools that have accepted our students include Boston College, Brown University, Duke University, Georgetown University, Smith College, and Spelman College. In addition, as of February, 2007, eighty-one percent of our alumni are still in college, making them on track to far exceed the nationwide averages for low-income students who enter college and eventually earn a degree (First in the Family, 2007). Student Demand School demand has steadily risen since the inception of the school. In 2007, a record-high 641 students entered the lottery for sixty-seven spots in the incoming freshman class. Attendance Rate We have maintained an attendance rate of 96% over the previous two school years. It follows logically that if a student is not in school, he/she will not learn, and thus MATCH holds a rule that any student with twenty or more absences in one school year must repeat the grade, regardless of whether the absences were excused or unexcused. However, it is the extra effort and time needed to make up missed classes, rather than the policy, that motivates our students to attend school. Qualitative Measures In addition to these objective measures, we consider parent satisfaction and press recognition as further evidence of our success. Parents rated their satisfaction with the school as a 9.2 on average on a scale of 1-10 following the 2005-06 school year, compared to a rating of 6.7 given to students’ former middle schools (Match Charter Public High School, Parent Survey, 2006). Additionally, MATCH has been featured in many publications including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Boston Globe, The Boston Herald, and on CNN and NPR. Our school is also gaining a reputation among college admissions offices for preparing students to succeed in college, as shown by the increase in the number of college admissions counselors requesting visits and opportunities to meet our students. Lastly, many staff, in a school-wide survey, cited subjective views of student improvement and comparison to previous schools they worked at, or comparison to other schools in Boston as evidence of our success (Massachusetts Charter Public School Association, 2007). All of these factors collectively re-affirm that the school is making a difference in the lives of our students. IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGIES The most difficult aspect of implementing any of our best practices would be creating the necessary staff buy-in to successfully carry out the change. Every aspect of our school that contributes to our success is personally invested in by our staff members because they believe in our mission, and they believe that our strategies will help students achieve our goals for them. This is not to say that staff are completely satisfied with the present structure of our school. On the contrary, we are constantly re-evaluating programs and strategies in order to maximize our effectiveness. Despite any disagreements, the entire staff works together towards our common mission and relays a consistent, positive message to the student body. The staff continually pushes the mission of college success, holds students to high academic and behavioral standards, and upholds the Code of Conduct. In addition, our staff members work together to build strong relationships with students, parents, and each other. Inconsistent delivery of any aspect of these best practices would result in a significant weakening of the impact of our practice. Though very difficult to achieve, creating consistency among staff members regarding implementation of school policies is essential. If students learn which teachers and staff members are strict on policies, and which are lax, this can create division among the staff and allow students to slip into behaviors that are unwanted or destructive to our school culture and atmosphere. Consistency among the staff is built from the time staff is recruited and hired. We communicate our expectations of consistency to staff during the application process and again during initial staff training. School leaders monitor and reinforce consistency through regular “walk-arounds,” where they and other staff members observe teachers interacting with students. The best way to create staff buy-in to our school mission and policies is difficult to formulate. The key to our success has been that our staff is largely internally motivated to achieve to high levels, and holds itself to a higher standard than the administration would hold them to. Perhaps this has been due to our highly-effective leadership, or perhaps it has been the result of our efforts to hire passionate and intelligent teachers and tutors. Our charter school status, which allows for fewer hiring restrictions, may also be a factor in our ability to attract the staff we need to achieve our mission. Our hiring process involves a telephone interview, an on-site interview, and a sample lesson or tutorial. Administrators, teachers, and students observe the prospective teacher or tutor, and rate the session. Finally, our open-door policy, which allows teachers, tutors, and staff to shape or change school policies to address acute needs when necessary, fosters staff investment in the school and avoids potential areas of frustration. The administration has adopted the philosophy that the possibilities of what our school can do are limitless. As one teacher stated in a school-wide survey, the administration constantly asks, “What can we do to help you do your job better” (Massachusetts Charter Public School Association, 2007). However, with this attitude comes an assessment system that is focused on outcomes, not on inputs. All innovative ideas must produce measurable results in order to be sustained. We do not evaluate based on effort, but on results - a philosophy that trickles down from the administration all the way to the students. It is not enough to try; students must succeed. This is the backbone of our “No Excuses” philosophy. In striving to do everything possible to enable students to succeed, the administration recognizes that the demands of working at MATCH will generally not lead to long-term tenures of staff. Teachers typically stay at MATCH for 3-4 years. Only one teacher has been with the school since it opened in 2000. We warn potential teachers and tutors about the time demands required with the job, so that acceptance of the job, which is equated to buy-in of the mission, is done with the understanding that there will be many long nights and weekends. However, we recognize that this type of dedication is difficult to sustain over several years with growing pressures of family and desire for outside interests. Parents, students, and administrators accept this, because we know that most people are not capable of continually putting in the long hours needed to ensure that students succeed. Thoroughly training new teachers to follow the school’s rituals and structures, and immersing them in the school's overall culture has been essential in ensuring continuity and stability despite the rate of teacher turnover. CHARTER SCHOOL STATUS Our status as a charter school poses some challenges to the business of educating children, but in general, being a charter school makes the work significantly easier. Our primary challenges as a charter school revolve around funding issues and accountability. We are fortunate enough to have been able to purchase our own school building, but with this purchase comes a rather large mortgage that drives up the per-pupil spending numbers. Additionally, because space is highly-prized, we have no gymnasium in the school, making it difficult to provide adequate physical education for students. A significant amount of time and effort has been devoted to fundraising, as charter schools must finance their own building costs, but there is a silver-lining to this piece, as fundraising activities often serve to educate the general public about our mission, and bring new people into the world of urban education. In addition, our status as a charter school demands that we continually earn and publicize exceptional results. In order to continue to influence urban education policy, we must prove that the incredible strides our students make can be made by students in major cities all across the country. We must also repeatedly show that our students have entered MATCH with the same skills as other Boston Public School students in order to prove what they are capable of achieving. Therefore, while accountability in the traditional sense is not an issue at MATCH, as our students, to date, have performed well, in the larger scope of urban education reform, our high standards make accountability an issue. The benefits of the autonomy we gain from being a charter school are maximized at MATCH. We are able to house 40+ full-time tutors on the third floor of the school, require all juniors and seniors to take AP courses and college classes, and mandate sophomores to attend weekend tutoring sessions. The freedom to allocate resources to areas of need, the flexibility to constantly revise and improve academic programs, and the strict behavioral code with expulsion as the ultimate consequence are all integral to our success and attributable to our charter school status. While we do enjoy many benefits because of our charter school status, we believe that some of our best practices and lessons learned can be applied to other schools. Six specific replicable practices include small school size; leaders who are community-builders and relationship-driven; teachers who are relationship-driven; extended time in the day for individual academic attention for each student; time in the week for teachers and tutors to call home; and a full staff commitment to enforce rules consistently. THE CURRENT STATUS OF MATCH Despite our past success, we continue to face a number of challenges that need to be addressed before we can feel confident that we are truly giving all of our students the best education possible. These include: College Readiness: MATCH alumni have given feedback about the struggles they face upon entering college, which relate to difficulties in mastering writing, reading, and critical thinking skills. These deficits can be seen on the high school level through scores on Advanced Placement exams and on the SAT, as well as more subjectively in tutors’ and teachers’ feedback about student development and preparation for college. As a school we are struggling with figuring out how to take students’ intellectual development to the next level, and develop a curriculum that more effectively fosters higher-order thinking skills. Attrition Rate: The attrition rate of students has been a concern since our school started. In our first year, we had a 40% attrition rate, and even through great efforts over the last few years to reduce it, our attrition rate has stayed steady at about 21% over the last two school-years. The challenge that attrition poses is how to maintain high academic and behavioral standards while supporting students to reach those standards. In order to create an environment that is conducive to learning, we must maintain a strict code of conduct. However, adhering to our behavioral standards is very difficult for some students, who have not previously been exposed to such strict expectations and consequences. For the good of the community, though, these standards cannot be lowered, lest the school devolve behaviorally--and subsequently, academically. Similarly, our school’s academic standards cannot be lowered while still maintaining the mission of adequately preparing students for the rigors of college. Despite assurances to students and parents that MATCH will provide a better education and college preparation, the temptation of returning to a school where a student can advance to the next grade proves too great for many students and their families. While we would like to significantly reduce the attrition rate, the answer does not lie in lowering the standards so that fewer students are asked to leave or choose to leave. Instead, we have adopted the approach of finding better ways to ensure that more students are able to reach our high standards. To date, these ways have included the introduction of the MATCH Corps, improved parent communication to induce more students who are struggling behaviorally or academically to stay, and a mandatory Summer Academy for all incoming freshmen. These are all relatively new initiatives designed to improve student academic performance and behavior, and consequentially, reduce attrition. While we celebrate our students’ successes, and are thankful for the ability to share some of the strategies that we have found to be successful, we still believe that we have a long way to go before fully achieving our mission. As a school, we still search every day to find new methods of reaching our students and pushing our students to achieve to their highest potentials. This is an exhilarating, manic, and daunting task; yet, we embrace it whole-heartedly!
ABOUT THE AUTHORS: Danny Clark was a member of the 2005-06 MATCH Corps, and continued to work at the MATCH School during the 2006-07 school year as the Grantwriter and Development Systems Director . He also coordinated the SAT Writing program for the junior class . Mr. Clark received his Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from Salisbury University and his Master’s Degree in Liberal Arts from St. John’s University . He is currently studying anthropology in a graduate program at SUNY Stony Brook. Catherine Egan was a member of the 2005-06 MATCH Corps, and a member of the 2006-07 Corps Staff, during which time she helped coordinate the AmeriCorps program at the MATCH School . Catherine received her Bachelor’s Degree in English from the University of Rochester . She is currently in her third year at the MATCH School, this year working as the Grantwriter and Deputy MATCH Corps Program Director.
SCHOOL CONTACT INFORMATION: MATCH Charter Public High School www.matchschool.org
Appendix A: MATCH Fact Sheet
Mission The MATCH Charter Public High School prepares inner-city Boston students to succeed in college and beyond-including those who have no family history of college attendance. Courage, discipline, and perseverance are our core values. We reverse underachievement through a combination of innovation, relentless personal academic attention, and an old-fashioned “no-shortcuts” ethic. Background The MATCH School opened in September 2000 and serves 210 students, chosen by random lottery, in grades 9 through 12. We are a tuition-free, independent public school, and receive two-thirds of our operating support from the state. The rest must be raised privately. Student Body
Results
Recognition and Support
What Makes the MATCH School Succeed? Culture of Discipline and Learning: A set of non-negotiable rules creates a consistent culture with a focus on academics. Faculty and staff know every student; families are an integral part of the school’s work, and they receive a check-in phone call every week. Rigorous Academics: MATCH’s rigorous college preparatory curriculum covers traditional academic subjects. A “D” is not a passing grade, and there is no social promotion. All seniors take Advanced Placement classes and courses at Boston University, and all juniors take AP U.S. History. MATCH Corps: The MATCH Corps is a group of 48 recent graduates from top colleges across the country who dedicate a year to improving the lives of MATCH students in exchange for a modest living stipend and housing in the school’s third floor dormitory. Corps members prepare students for college success by providing them with 2 hours of personalized tutoring every day, received in addition to regular classes taught by experienced teachers. Extended Academic Programming: All students in Grade 10 receive 100 hours of additional weekend math and English tutoring in preparation for the MCAS tests. Summer Academy, sponsored by M.I.T. and the Nellie Mae Foundation, pairs M.I.T. tutors with struggling MATCH students in Grades 10-12 and with all 70 incoming freshmen.
Appendix B Student Course Schedule By Year
Appendix C Sample Freshman Daily Schedule
Sample Sophomore Daily Schedule
Sample Junior Daily Schedule
Sample Senior Daily Schedule
Appendix D Code of Conduct Handbook
Code of Conduct Handbook (in PDF format), click here to view
Appendix E NON-NEGOTIABLES
MATCH Students Must:
References The Boston Globe. (2007, October). Top ranked 10th grade districts. Retrieved October 15, 2007, from http://www.boston.com/news/special/education/mcas/scores07/10th_top_districts.htm The Boston Globe. (2007, October). Boston Public Schools 2007 MCAS results. Retrieved October 15, 2007, from Boston Public Schools Communications Office. (2006, September). Boston’s 10th graders accelerate climb to proficiency. Retrieved April 13, 2007, from http://www.boston.k12.ma.us/bps/news/news-9-27-06.asp Boston Public Schools Communications Office. (n.d.). The Boston Public Schools at a glance: Schools & students. Retrieved May 15, 2007 from http://www.boston.k12.ma.us/bps/bpsglance.asp#students Boston Public Schools Communications Office. (n.d.). Boston Public Schools: Enrollment. Retrieved May 14, 2007 from http://www.boston.k12.ma.us/bps/enrollment.asp Boston Public Schools Communications Office. (n.d.). Schools & students: Student demographics. Retrieved February 9, 2007, from http://www.boston.k12.ma.us/bps/bpsglance.asp#students The Education Trust. (Fall 2006). Education watch: Key education facts and figures. Retrieved April 4, 2007, from http://www2.edtrust.org/edtrust/summaries2006/USA.pdf First in the Family. (n.d.). Hard facts: Beating the odds. Retrieved September 14, 2007 from http://www.firstinthefamily.org/hardfacts Green, J. P. and Winters, M. A. (2005). Public high school graduation and college-readiness rates: 1991-2002. Retrieved April 25, 2007 from http://www.manhattaninstitute.org/html/ewp_08.htm Massachusetts Charter Public School Association. (2007). [Charter school project school questionnaire]. Unpublished raw data. Massachusetts Department of Education. (2005, September). Spring 2005 MCAS tests: Summary of state results. Retrieved May 16, 2007, from http://www.doe.mass.edu/mcas/2005/results/summary.pdf Massachusetts Department of Education. (2006, September). Spring 2006 MCAS tests: Summary of state results. Retrieved May 16, 2007, from http://www.doe.mass.edu/mcas/2006/results/summary.pdf Massachusetts Department of Education. (2007, September). Spring 2007 MCAS tests: Summary of state results. Retrieved October 15, 2007, from http://www.doe.mass.edu/mcas/2007/results/summary.pdf MATCH Charter Public High School. (2005). Annual report 2004-05. Retrieved April 14, 2007 from http://www.matchschool.org/publications/2005%20Annual%20Report.pdf MATCH Charter Public High School. (2006). Annual report 2005-06. Retrieved April 14, 2007 from http://www.matchschool.org/publications/2006%20Annual%20Report.pdf MATCH Charter Public High School. (2006). Parent survey 2005-2006. Retrieved April 13, 2007 from www.matchschool.org/publications/2006%20Parent%20Survey.pdf MATCH Charter Public High School. (2006). Former MATCH Corps network. Retrieved April 13, 2007, from http://www.matchschool.org/matchcorps/resources1.htm MATCH Charter Public High School. (2006). MCAS results vs. state September 2006. Retrieved April 13, 2007 from: http://www.matchschool.org/about/publications.htm MATCH Charter Public High School. (2006). [Staff Year-End Surveys]. Unpublished raw data. MATCH Charter Public High School. (2007). Annual report 2006-07. Retrieved September 14, 2007 from http://www.matchschool.org/publications/2007%20Annual%20Report.pdf MATCH Charter Public High School .(2007) . [Student demographics] . Unpublished raw data. MATCH Charter Public High School. (2007). [8th grade MCAS scores of 9th grade students]. Unpublished raw data.
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