Published in the December 18, 2015 edition
MELROSE – The Melrose School Committee approved the formation of a task force to explore the feasibility of transitioning to competency based education as an educational model for the city’s schools.
The task force would be under direction of Superintendent Cyndy Taymore and be composed of a range of stakeholders from the community. The task force would include the following persons:
• One central office or building level administrator to be chairperson.
• Two additional building or department administrators.
• Five teachers representing the grade spans.
• Two high school parents.
• Two middle school parents.
• Two elementary school parents.
• One representative from SEPAC.
• Two community members.
• One expert in the field of education.
• Two School Committee members.
Administrators will be chosen by Taymore. Teachers will be chosen by the Melrose Education Association. School Committee members will be chosen by School Committee Chairwoman Kristin Thorp.
Parent representatives would be chosen by the school site councils and building Parent-Teacher organizations working collaboratively; and SEPAC will chose its representative.
The goal of the task force is to determine if and how the Melrose Public Schools should transition to Competency Based Education or some variation of it. This would be accomplished by examining the literature on CBE and studying other districts that have made the transition. Since this is a considerable undertaking, the task force’s size will enable it to break into subgroups to research different aspects of any proposed transition. Some, but certainly not all, of the questions the Task Force should consider are:
• Is this a worthwhile change in education model for MPS?
• Is a change that should be wholesale or some combination of CBE and traditional models?
• Does this change apply to all grade spans? If not, what does that look like and why?
• How do we ensure equity of access and opportunity in a CBE model?
• How does this change impact DESE regulations regarding graduation requirements, time on learning, school year, standardized testing by grade?
• How do we collect data on the results of the change and report out mastery and proficiency ratings for each grade span?
• What training is needed for staff to make this change?
• Does the school system need any additional resources?
• How does this change impact our class sizes, enrollment, and use of school buildings?
• How does this change impact contractual obligations?
• What policies and procedures need to be changed to accommodate such a change?
• If the change is supported, what would the transition timeline be?
Community members interested in serving on the task force should contact the superintendent’s office at 781-979-2294 by Dec. 21. Volunteers chosen to serve would be notified by Jan. 15. A preliminary report would be due in April with a final report in June 2016. Following the final report, the School Committee would consider and vote on its options.
