Board, school respond to warning from accrediting agency NEASC

FALLS VILLAGE — A regional accrediting organization has put Housatonic Valley Regional High School on warning for the curriculum and instruction components of its program.

In an Oct. 31 letter to Principal Gretchen Foster, Pamela Gray-Bennett, who heads the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC), faulted the school for several concerns, including the absence of written curricula for all but the World Languages Department, an "over-reliance on teacher-centered instruction," general inconsistencies in the supervision of teachers and "the problematic assignment of evaluators in the teacher supervision and evaluation process."

The five-page letter from NEASC was a followup to the school’s response to a report the accrediting agency issued in July, after an evaluating committee visited the Falls Village campus earlier this year.

The panel spent several days in March looking at all aspects of the school’s program, culminating in the production of a 61-page report on the school’s 10-year reaccreditation.

The Region One Board of Education, which oversees Housatonic, held a special meeting Nov. 20 to discuss the NEASC action. Ultimately the board endorsed the recommendations of NEASC’s Commission on Public Secondary Schools, Foster’s response and her plan to remedy the purported deficiencies.

During the 70-minute meeting, Foster emphasized that there were many areas in the NEASC report and in the follow-up letter that commended Housatonic, including: a strong mission statement; the prevalence of writing across the curriculum; ample opportunity for students to demonstrate their knowledge in the classroom; the widespread availability of extra help and student support; a solid relationship building between faculty and administration; and the close involvement of the community and the Board of Education in the school.

But the NEASC panel also faulted the school for not following up sufficiently on the mission statement by implementing it more clearly in the classrooms. Foster suggested the board might want to review the mission statement (which is available on the school Web site at hvrhs.org) to determine whether it is still appropriate.

"We need to integrate [the mission statement] into the culture of our community," Foster told the board.

Foster added that she has put together a committee to look into the instructional concerns cited in the report. Written curriculums and templates are being formulated and individual course goals are being clarified. Faculty are being apprised of additional student-centered instructional strategies through an enhanced professional development program.

Track system problematic

The NEASC report also cited "the negative impact of the number of academic levels on students’ ability to achieve the school’s academic expectations." Housatonic has six academic levels or tracks that roughly correspond with student ability and sophistication of material: advanced placement, honors (sometimes called humanities), academic, general, remedial and basic. Foster noted that some schools, such as Canton High School, have eliminated leveling altogether in some departments. Since the NEASC report, Housatonic has eliminated basic. There has been some talk of combining AP and honors, but Foster was reluctant to go that route.

"We have a very successful humanities program," said Foster. "I think everybody expects us to continue that."

Questions about the process

Another observation of the accreditation panel was that courses and instruction appeared to emphasize breadth of knowledge over depth. Both Foster and Region One Superintendent Patricia Chamberlain disagreed with that conclusion, but understood that a lack of documentation about depth of understanding may have contributed to the panel’s perception. Board member Phil Hart of Cornwall wanted to know how the visiting committee went about drawing such a conclusion.

"It’s who they talked to and who they chose to write about," Foster replied.

The item that seemed to prompt the most discussion among board members was the NEASC report’s comment about "the problematic assignment of evaluators in the teacher supervision and evaluation process." In response to the panel’s general conclusions about teacher evaluation, Foster, now in her third year as Housatonic principal, has taken a more active role in supervision and observation.

Teachers observing teachers

But the panel’s impression that teachers were evaluating other teachers was troubling to both NEASC and some members of the Board of Education. Foster said any evaluators must have achieved at least a Connecticut 092 certification as an intermediate administrator; only department heads at Housatonic currently hold such credentials.

Hart said he saw no problem with teachers — even those who are also department heads — evaluating other teachers. But Chairman and Sharon representative Judge Manning noted that all teachers at Housatonic are members of the same labor union and such a common bond could pose a conflict, even if the law permits it.

"I think we agree with the commission," Manning said.

"There’s a human factor that comes into play," added Tom Gaisford, Region One’s assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction and a former principal of North Canaan Elementary School.

"It can be very difficult," agreed Chamberlain. "Maybe we need to move away from teachers evaluating teachers to teachers coaching teachers."

The report was also critical of of the high school for not having a campus that is fully compliant with the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA). Foster attributed that observation to the fact that the school does not have an elevator and that some classes are held on the second floor of the main building. But she insisted that a disabled student could easily be scheduled for classes that meet only on the first floor.

Guidance department concerns

The NEASC commission also expects the school to respond to its expectation that all students, "regardless of post-graduation plans, receive comprehensive counseling services" and that an evaluation of "the current roles and responsibilities of the guidance counselors" is in order.

In the coming months, the commission will hold follow-up seminars designed to assist faculty and administration in developing a schedule for implementing "valid recommendations."

The school will then produce a special progress report (due by June 1) to be reviewed by the commission at the same time as the warning status, which Foster and the board do not intend to appeal.