The Center for Leadership Development The Center for Leadership Development (CLD) is the organization within the BPS that coordinates much of the system’s professional development. With support from the Barr Foundation, the CLD is experimenting with outreach efforts to new teachers. Recently hired teachers are: receiving new materials targeted to prepare them for the classroom, participating in sessions with veteran teachers and principals, and taking part in coursework that emphasizes content, process and cultural competence. Much of the content for these programs has been developed at the school level in response to a competitive mini-grant process administered by the CLD. Early indications are that this effort will increase both instructional quality and teacher retention.

Supporting success in grades K-12 is a focal point of Barr’s work in education. Urban children and youth, particularly those from poor and working class backgrounds, rely upon an effective public school system for essential knowledge and exposure to new perspectives.

While the Boston Public Schools (BPS) have made incremental progress over the past seven years, much remains to be done. Boston’s children and youth can still benefit from enhanced teacher skills, more prepared instructional leaders, more engaged stakeholders, and increased access to educational technology.

Primary Approaches

We are presently focusing our efforts on:

Developing Quality Educators.
Teachers—in particular new teachers—benefit from opportunities to learn from peers as well as other experienced practitioners. Better trained teachers are better able to instruct and engage students and to withstand the challenges of the job. As a result, they stay in the system longer, building the base of experienced educators. We work with the Superintendent’s Office, the Center for Leadership Development, the Boston Plan for Excellence, teacher training programs, and other organizations to invest in the capabilities of educators.

Supporting Constructive Stakeholder Engagement.
Genuine school reform needs input from parents and community members as well as from advocates, business leaders, and politicians. As a result, we work to support increased parental engagement and organizing. In addition, we fund critical research and its dissemination in the belief that a more broadly shared understanding of both the challenges to and proven solutions for the BPS will enhance the effectiveness of Boston’s education advocates.

Promoting the Smart Utilization of Technology.
Given technological advances in both hardware and software, there is enormous potential for instructors and students to benefit from new approaches to teaching and learning. Through support of groundbreaking pilot projects and talented volunteers who help schools maximize their existing technological tools, we hope to foster new, effective, and creative approaches to classroom instruction.

Desired Outcomes

We hope that through our collaboration with key stakeholders in the BPS to contribute to continuous improvement in the system, with particular focus on the following outcomes:

• More widespread use of effective models of professional development throughout the BPS
• An increase in the effectiveness and availability of quality teacher training programs and a related increase in the preparedness of prospective BPS hires
• Better retention of new teachers
• More diverse parent and student involvement in schools and policy making
• More broadly disseminated research and analysis
• Enhanced access to educational technology and the new instructional approaches it empowers.

Measures

The reform of a public school system is a process that takes decades—even with alignment of parents with public and private sector leadership. While we are mindful of expecting measures to tell the whole story of reform, we will be paying attention to the following:

• Quantity and quality of professional development opportunities for teachers
• Results from surveys, focus groups, and exit interviews detailing teachers’ satisfaction with training, school climate, and job performance
• New teacher retention rates
• Measures of student performance including, but not limited to, standardized test results as well as attendance, promotion, and drop-out rates
• Level of community participation in BPS Family and Community Engagement activities as well as diversity of citizen advocates for improved education
• Quantity and quality of technology initiatives in the classroom.
• Public policy changes that support enhanced quality

An Invitation

While our efforts are based on research and knowledge of the field, they remain our best bets. We’re eager to learn from your insights, experience, and creative ideas. We invite you to use our suggestion form if you have an idea you believe will further the strategy outlined in this section.