Commentary by Frank Schroth

At the end of July the superintendent recommended that a cap be placed on 1st enrollments in the French Immersion program. It is October and the School Committee has yet to vote on the recommendation. And, based on past comments,  it is likely they will continue to kick that vote down the road when they meet this evening.

The Superintendent’s recommendation was brought on by the French Immersion program’s incredible popularity. A significant number of this years incoming 1st graders chose French over English resulting in imbalanced enrollments across schools. Glover has 3 French classes with 67 1st graders vs 1 English class with 20. District wide there are 200 students in 1st grade French and 112 in English as of September 14, 2012 according to figures released by the Administration. Balancing this across 4 neighborhood schools has been a challenge and required a small number of families to either change their choice or attend an auxiliary class in another school.

The Superintendent enlisted the support of a parent (Laura O’Dwyer, a Statistics professor from Boston College) to review and assess the enrollment numbers. She gave a thorough presentation, comparing MCAS results etc. Her summary of findings were:

• On average, scores in the French program were higher than scores in the English program
• 
  Families self-select into a program therefore valid comparisons are compromised by self-selection issues
  • There are (measured) demographic differences between the students in the two programs
  • 
    There are likely to be unmeasured differences between the characteristics of the students in the two programs (e.g., parental aspirations, parental involvement etc.)
• 
  Overall, the gap between the English and French program scores decreased when students were matched on gender, minority status, low income status and IEP status

The presentation concluded that the student assignment process needed to be changed for two reasons. 1) “The change in enrollment trends has produced an imbalance that limits the district’s ability to create optimal learning environments for all students within our schools, programs,
and classrooms.” And 2)
“Student Achievement
Student achievement data over time indicates an
achievement gap between the French and English programs that can be associated with the imbalance of demographics between the programs.”

Consequently, the Superintendent’s recommendation is:

In order to continue to offer two robust programs for Milton Public School students the district should adapt the current Lottery system and implement a “Lottery/ Capping” model as developed by the 2010 World Language Committee to ensure a quality educational environment for all children through balanced program enrollment.

(The complete text of the presentation can be found here.)

A significant impact of the enrollment trends in on the co-taught classes. Co-taught classes integrate students on IEPs into a class that is, well, co-taught. There is a Special Needs teacher and a regular teacher. There is also the notion of role models, students chosen to demonstrate good learning behavior etc. However, the low enrollments reduce the pool of role models significantly and jeopardize an important aspect of the program. There is also a financial dimension to this. Not only is the co-taught model a demonstrated formula for educational success for all students involved; it saves the town thousands of dollars by avoiding the need to send students out of district to have their educational needs met.

The school committee has not acted on the recommendation. No motion has been made; no vote has been taken. They ask for more data, more options, etc. In doing so they place an unnecessary burden on the school administration and faculty, a burden that consumes precious resources of time and personnel. The goals of this additional information, not well articulated, will not change the facts that are known. The programs are imbalanced and capping is one solution to addressing it.

If the members of the committee disagree with the recommendation then say so. This would logically come up in a discussion after a motion has been made. If they think there are alternatives (and there are) then they should suggest them, explain why they will function better, and ask that they be explored. For example, the schools could combining 1st and 2nd grades. That could provide flexibility and accommodate increased French demand. It is doubtful that anyone wants to pursue that seriously; but it is an option.

In delaying the vote, while not offering constructive alternatives to capping, the School Committee prolongs the anxiety and stress on families, the festering of unhealthy, contentious feelings in the school community, and resource consumption on the part of admin and faculty that could be better spent on other pressing issues such as one flagged by member Walker regarding lack of progress by African American population in MCAS results. And . . as member Pavlicek has stated, this is no easy action to implement. There will be complicated and unknown aspects that have not be accounted for. However, the execution of the process is not the same as the endorsement.

The committee needs to take the vote. Granted, not everyone will be happy. That is a given; but in doing so they can state their positions, argue for alternatives and raise credible objections (or not), and hopefully take a meaningful step in moving this forward. It is time for them to take some responsibility in this and not push it all onto the Administrative team. As member Walker stated at the last meeting, “It is time for less talking and more doing”.  Agreed.