NEASC Fifth Year Focused Visit
New England Association Of Schools And Colleges
Commission On Technical And Career Institutions
Old Colony Regional Vocational Technical High School
Fifth Year Focused Visit - March 17-19, 2003
Visiting Committee
Nikitoula Menounos, Chairperson
Norwich Regional Vocational Technical School
590 New London Turnpike, Norwich, CT 06360
Scott Behling
H.C.Wilcox Regional Vocational Technical School
298 Oregon Road, Meriden, CT 06451
Pedro Bento
Cape Cod Regional Technical High School
351 Pleasant Lake Avenue, Harwich, MA 02645
Table of Contents
Introduction
Significant Changes
Disposition of Visiting Committee Recommendations
School and Community/Philosophy & Goals
School Staff and Administration
Plant & Equipment/School Facilities
Summary
Compliance with the Commission's Standards of Membership
Commendations and Recommendations
Introduction
The Old Colony Regional Vocational Technical High School is located on 85 acres of land in Rochester, Massachusetts, and central to the five towns it serves. The school was originally opened in 1975 and was designed to accommodate 535 students. At its peak in 1980, it enrolled 597 students and currently has an enrollment of 539 students. The enrollment of the school has experienced a nine percent (9%) increase over the previous years due primarily to the aggressive recruiting program initiated by the school and the addition of an After School Sixth Grade Program to orient students to Old Colony's offerings.
Thirteen occupational programs are available to day students.
The most recent decennial evaluation of the school took place in March 9-12, 1998, when a team of educators assembled by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges visited the school to conduct an extensive evaluation of the school and its programs. The team compiled commendations and recommendations for the staff at Old Colony to review and address consistent with the NEASC policies and procedures. Following review by the Commission on Technical and Career Institutions, a vote was taken by the Commission to continue accreditation with a Two-Year Progress Report due March 15, 2000, and a focused visit to take place in the Spring of 2003.
In preparation for the Fifth-Year Focused Visit, the staff at Old Colony prepared a thorough report detailing the status of each recommendation contained in the 1998 evaluation report, as well as in the 2000 Two-Year Progress Report. The Fifth-Year Focused Visit took place on March 17-19, 2003 and was conducted by a team of three evaluators assembled by the Commission on Technical and Career Institutions. The team conducted its evaluation through a thorough review of documents submitted in the report, interviews with administrators and other key personnel in the school, representatives of the student body, and many faculty members.
The Focused Visiting Committee visited all shop areas and briefly observed the conduct of classes and general appearance and layout of each teaching area. The team interacted with faculty and students throughout the visitation. This tour and other observations throughout the visit were sufficient for the team to gain insight into general maintenance, cleanliness, and operation and organization of most instructional programs.
The Focused Visiting Committee is grateful for the hospitality extended by the students and staff at Old Colony and for the courtesy and cooperation extended during the visitation. Physical accommodations and workspace were appropriate and students and members of the school staff extended the team every possible courtesy.
Significant Changes at Old Colony
The Fifth-Year Focused Visit Report identifies the following items as worthy mention:
- Establishing a student portfolio for a graduation requirement. Students compile their portfolios with the assistance of instructors, guidance counselors and administrators. Students collect, compile and maintain examples of the achievements, abilities and skills which would be useful for prospective employers.
- Implementing an alternative Detention program that has reduced the school's suspension rate. The alternative Detention program takes place two days a week for three hours a day (2:20-5:20). The students who are assigned to alternative Detention participate in the Positive Decision Making Program.
- Increase in female enrollment from the decennial visit by 23 students.
- Increasing student preparation for the MCAS testing by aligning curriculum with the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks. Incorporating integrated curriculum between trade and academics, purchasing Success Maker Software for students who receive SPED Services and MCAS Remediation and offering a summer program for students to enhance their Math and English skills to be successful on the MCAS.
- Designing a Faculty Handbook that has been distributed to staff.
- The CCC Computer Lab was installed in the school's library. This CCC Lab is used to assist students who need remediation in the areas of Math and English.
- For the House & Mill Carpentry Program a CNC router for the shop has been purchased. Teachers were also provided training in the use of the CNC router.
- The Welding/Metal Fabrication Shop was painted from floor to ceiling and cleaned.
- The Crisis Plan was reviewed, revised and distributed to each Department.
Disposition of Visiting Committee Recommendations
The Visiting Committee to Old Colony identified a total of 132 recommendations in the Decennial Report compiled March 1998. The statistical information contained in the Fifth-Year Focused Visit Report completed in March 2003 indicates the disposition of each of those items.
The Focused Visiting Committee has reviewed the recommendations and the school's responses and believes that the school has done a commendable job of addressing the areas of concern. The administration and staff have approached the task with seriousness and thoroughness.
A graphic representation of the disposition of each item is illustrated below.
Action Items Analysis By Status Category
Disposition of Committee Recommendations
- The Commission highly recommended that the school develop a plan to better coordinate the academic program with regard to budgets, curriculum and course scheduling. As part of this review, consideration should be given to employing an academic coordinator. Due to budget restraints, there is no academic coordinator. The Assistant Superintendent Director is responsible for the academic program. Concern in the academic area seems to be in developing a more flexible schedule for students. Teachers spoke about tracking concerns. For example, if a student needs to be moved to a lower math class, the student's entire schedule is adjusted to a lower track even if the student shows potential for a higher track in English.
- In this age of information transfer, the school should pay increased attention to the question of access to the library and media center by faculty and staff so that the center can become a indispensable part of the teaching and learning culture of the school. Thus a library/media center development plan should consider how the school can staff itself and make necessary curriculum adjustments to make the center part of the learning culture of the school on a full-time basis. Following the Massachusetts School Library Media Association standards for School Library Media Centers, a full-time aide is suggested, currently due to budget cuts, this position does not exist. For a school of its size, the Library Media Specialist serves the schools' current needs. The library is opened during every period of the day except for the first lunch wave(school media specialist lunch). The library media center is opened for extended time on Thursdays once a week for 1 hour after school. Teachers do schedule their classes for research in the library media center. Since the decennial evaluation, the library has added 24 computers bringing it to a total of 35 computers.
- The Commission requires that its member institutions engage in effective planning and assessment practices. The Commission is particularly concerned that the school adopt an assessment model, designed to provide feedback, to improve the effectiveness of teaching and learning at the school. The Commission therefore recommended that the school begin its assessment model design for implementation by the date of the Commission's mandatory focused visit in 2003. Currently, the assessment model that the school is using is the alignment of their curriculum to meet the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks, so that students pass the MCAS. The school uses for its baseline the Stanford Achievement Test for 9th graders. Once student results are in for the MCAS, the school then assesses student results and adjusts remedial support. This type of assessment is the only model the school is using. The team recommends that the assessment model also focus on the teaching, and that the assessment model be shared among the faculty. The team also recommends that an assessment model be used in the trade area as well as academics.
- The school should engage in more formal shared planning and organization by members of the administration, faculty and community. As part of this process, the school should design a plan to schedule meetings with the faculty in whole or by department to engage the entire school community in those decisions that will lead the school to excellence. Since the decennial evaluation, there have been faculty meetings on a needs basis usually averaging every other month. Department Meetings have not been formally scheduled. The teacher's contract allows for 1 meeting a month. The committee recommends that 1 meeting a month be scheduled. The committee recommends that administration decide how to use the monthly meeting time.
- The school should publish a faculty, staff handbook, update it annually and distribute it to faculty and staff. A faculty handbook has been developed, published and distributed.
Addition from the Two-Year Report:
- The school should implement a student information system.
Old Colony has implemented School Pro and this program has been updated. The school has also been implementing SIMS.
School and Community/Philosophy and Goals
The visiting committee reviewed the material presented in the School and Community section of the 1998 evaluation report. The report speaks to the school serving communities that are predominately white, Non-Hispanic and the population of the school reflects these demographics. Enrollment over the past five years has increased by 39 students. There has also been a significant increase in the female enrollment by 23 students.
Communication with the parents and community has been very positive. The school sends out to all parents a newsletter 3-4 times a year. The school operates a Web Page that is maintained by students and has received awards. The web page includes teacher links, a listing of activities and clubs, and many pictures of students engaged in the learning process. Also an Alumni contact list is available on the web page.
The visiting committee had the opportunity to meet with students. The students spoke with pride in their school, felt that Old Colony provided them with a positive learning environment and felt that teachers and administration cared about them.
The visiting committee reviewed the Philosophy and Goals statement that was adopted prior to the 1998 decennial visit. Currently the Philosophy and Goals statement has been revised in the area of State and Federal Protective Categories which has been added to the student handbook as well as the faculty handbook. The Philosophy and Goals are reviewed yearly. The visiting committee believes that this document continues to be relevant to the mission of the school and that it represents a reasonable statement which serves as basis for current programs and activities.
School Staff and Administration
The visiting committee found school staff to be competent, knowledgeable, and dedicated to their school. The administrative staff is talented and experienced, and the school is adequately staffed except for a few minor exceptions noted below.
Staffing, particularly as it relates to academic coordinator must be addressed. A portion of science instruction is taught by related trade instructors. The committee recommends that science instruction be evaluated.
The committee also recommends that a school committee be formed to address scheduling needs.
Plant and Equipment/School Facilities
The Focused Visiting Committee had a number of opportunities to tour the physical plant, once in a formal setting and several as we visited and observed various programs and activities. The school is well maintained, clean and conducive to learning. All program areas were functional and there were no obvious problems or safety issues.
All recommendations from the decennial evaluation have been completed.
Summary
The Focused Visiting Committee compliments the school staff and administration on the progress they have made in addressing the recommendations made by the 1998 Decennial Team. Recommendations contained in the evaluation report have been addressed in a timely manner, with 73% completed. The recommendations from the Commission that have not been completed from the Decennial evaluation and Two Year Report are as follows:
- The Commission highly recommends that the school develop a plan to better coordinate the academic program with regard to budgets, curriculum and course scheduling. As part of this review, consideration should be given to employing an academic coordinator.
- The Commission requires that its member institutions engage in effective planning and assessment practices. We are particularly concerned that the school adopt an assessment model, designed to provide feedback, to improve the effectiveness of teaching and learning at the school. The Commission recommends that the school begin its assessment model design for implementation by the date of the Commission's mandatory focused visit in 2003.
- The school should engage in more formal shared planning and organization by members of the administration, faculty and community. As part of this process, the school should design a plan to schedule meetings with faculty in whole or by department to engage the entire school community in those decisions that will lead the school to excellence.
The committee agrees to the following outline of compliance with Commission standards:
Overview of the Institution's Compliance with the Commission's Standards of Membership
- School Philosophy and Goals Excellent
The school has a separate clearly stated philosophy which is approved by the school community. The philosophy and goals have been developed by committee and have been published in the student and faculty handbooks.
- School and Community Relations Excellent
The school has a planned program of school and community relations to promote appropriate communications and interactions. The school has an award winning web site and supportive trade advisory committees.
- School Staff and Administration Good
The school staff and administration are very dedicated to the mission of the school. School staffing needs should be evaluated as to offer flexibility with the academic scheduling and consistency to meet the needs of the academic program.
- Plant & Equipment/School Facilities Excellent
The school site supports and enhances all aspects of the educational program and is maintained to ensure a safe, sanitary and attractive environment to support educational activities.
- Educational Program Good
The school offers a carefully planned curriculum that is consistent with the mission and which reflects the needs of the students, community and business/industry. The scheduling of academic courses as they relate to student ability level should be evaluated.
- Education Media Services Excellent
The school has resource centers containing reference and library materials and provides access to databases to support the instructional programs. The addition of computers to the library allows students to access information for learning purposes.
- Student Services Excellent
Provisions are made for adequate student health services. Health records are maintained on file, a referral process is available for health services. The school guidance department offers comprehensive personal services, academic counseling, career counseling, career placement, personal counseling and coordinates the recruiting of new students.
- School Atmosphere Excellent
The school develops a culture of learning which contributes to effective educational programs. Student morale demonstrates pride in achievement and reflects a school unified in spirit. A safe and secure environment is evident for all students.
- Student Records Good
Student records are kept on file in the guidance office. Student records should be kept in a fireproof file cabinet in a secure area.
- Finance and Business Operations Excellent
The financial resources of the school are capable of sustaining a sound educational program consistent with its stated philosophy and goals. The administration receives input from staff on budgetary purchases.
Commendations And Recommendations
The Focused Visiting Committee has agreed on the following commendations:
- Establishing a Student Portfolio for a graduation requirement.
- Aligning curriculum with the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks, which includes, purchasing Success Maker Software to be used with students who receive SPED Services and MCAS Remediation, scheduling integrated curriculum time that incorporates trade and academics, instituting a Summer Program for students to enhance their Math and English skills.
- Reducing the school suspension rate by implementing alternative Detention.
- Completion of 73% of the recommendations of the decennial review team.
The Focused Visiting Committee has agreed to the following recommendations:
- The administration schedule 1 monthly meeting and they decide how to best use this meeting time.
- A committee be formed to evaluate the scheduling of students.