Superintendent of Worcester Public Schools Brian Allen presented his goals for the new school year to the Worcester School Committee on Sept. 17, focusing on continuing momentum from his first year leading the district.
As with last year, the new goals are comprised of three district improvement goals, a student learning goal and a professional practice goal.
His student learning goal is essentially the same as last year, but with a new benchmark. Allen wants to increase the percentage of students meeting or exceeding benchmarks in reading and math on STAR assessments from 35% to 38%. Last year’s goal sought to increase that figure from 33% to 36%, with students ultimately reaching 35% in both subjects.
“We are identifying a three-percentage point increase as a realistic target given the districts instructional strategies, data-driven interventions, and ongoing progress monitoring throughout the school year,” Allen told the school committee.
His professional practice goal focuses on increasing strategic coherence across the district. Allen participates in the Harvard University Public Education Leadership Program, or PELP, with the goal of enhancing his instructional leadership and organizational management practices while aligning core administrative structures, systems and resource allocation.
“The PELP partnership is a three-year commitment for the nine largest districts in the state to work collaboratively around improving student outcomes,” said Allen. “PELP bridges business management theory with instructional leadership expertise.”
His three District Improvement Goals are all carryovers. Allen’s focus on collaborative teaming shifts from a Professional Practice Goal to a District Improvement Goal, while Vision of a Leader — a “grow your own” initiative to create a district leadership pipeline — and the ongoing school boundary and quadrant alignment project both continue from last year.
The administration is expected to provide a mid-cycle report on progress toward the goals to the school committee in December, followed by an end-of-cycle report at the end of the school year.
The school committee also briefly discussed an administration response regarding the current structure at Claremont and Woodland academies. Members of the public and School Committee member Sue Mailman, who made the initial request for information, expressed disappointment with the lack of detail in the report, which focused primarily on the principal positions at both schools. Mailman said she was seeking a broader response and successfully moved to resubmit the request for a more in-depth report.
The committee also approved a motion asking the administration to share the district’s preparedness and response plans for cybersecurity incidents. The request came in the wake of an incident in Springfield that forced schools there to close for four days. Allen said a report would be provided at a future date.
