acceleration academies at boston public schools (boston, ma)

© National Center on Time & Learning

24 School Street, 3rd

Floor, Boston, MA 02108

www.timeandlearning.org

919 Different Students in

18 Acceleration Academies at 9 Schools

Boston Public Schools’ Acceleration Academies

Traditionally, a week off from school means

sleeping in, watching TV, and hanging out with

friends. But at Boston Public Schools (BPS),

some students and teachers dedicate their

week-long February and April vacations to more

time for learning. The district’s Acceleration

Academies—a week long academic ‘camp’—

have given students a boost in academics and

teachers an opportunity to improve their craft.

So far, the academies are yielding promising

results. Last year, Acceleration Academies

served 919 students in nine Boston public

schools. On 2010 Massachusetts’ standardized

test, the Massachusetts Comprehensive

Assessment System (MCAS), 51% and 39% of

these students jumped at least one proficiency

level in ELA and Math, respectively.

These results underscore the value additional

time can have when it is tailored to individual

student needs and coupled with quality

instruction. In Acceleration Academies,

teachers use data to diagnose student

weaknesses and develop curricula that

specifically addresses skill and knowledge gaps.

The academies are a good example of how an

extra layer of tiered instruction can make all the

difference for struggling students, and why

more time used properly is such a powerful tool

for boosting student achievement.

Acceleration Academies at Clarence Edwards

Middle School: 2008

First called ‘boot camps,’ Acceleration

Academies originated at the Edwards Middle

School in 2008 under former principal Jeff Riley.

Two years earlier, in 2006, the Edwards had

added two additional hours to its school day

through the Massachusetts Expanded Learning

Time Initiative, which provides $1300 per

student to select schools to expand the school

year by 300 hours each year. With the added

time, the school was able to provide students

with an extra dose of math or ELA—depending

on individual needs—as well as an array of

enrichment programs in the arts, sports or

community service. While most students were

thriving with the extra time, Riley and his staff

realized that many students could benefit from

even more time, structured to meet specific

academic deficits. Riley found this additional

time by developing the Acceleration Academies

during both the February and April vacations.

These breaks seemed well timed to prepare

Time for Learning

Spotlight





students for the ELA MCAS exam in March and

the Math MCAS exam in May.

Riley wanted to target students with the

capacity to work hard in small groups and the

drive to attend regularly. To identify these

students, he sought the input of his teachers

and analyzed attendance and assessment

data—which also informed decisions regarding

lesson design and student placement.

Participation was voluntary, but the school

provided an incentive for students to enroll and

attend each day: the opportunity to win a $50

gift card by exhibiting strong effort.

Convinced that the one week academies would

only make a difference if taught by highly

effective teachers, Riley led a rigorous effort to

recruit the strongest teachers he could find. In

addition to selecting the best teachers on his

own staff, Riley searched for teachers outside

the school, and even the district, posting on the

district job site and other sites for ‘Edwards

Fellows,’ to teach the Acceleration Academies.

In the first year of the program he hired as

many as 15% of the teachers from outside the

school, allowing his teachers to collaborate with

and learn from strong teachers from other

schools.

Acceleration Academies from the Edwards to

Nine Boston Public Schools: 2010

In 2009, Riley was tapped to become the

district’s Academic Superintendent for Middle

and K – 8 Schools. Based on the success of

Acceleration Academies at the Edwards, he

decided to replicate the program at nine

turnaround schools as an intervention for

students in need of additional academic

February April

7:30 – 8:00 Breakfast Breakfast

8:00 – 9 :10 ELA (e.g.

Context

Clues)

Math (e.g.

Patterns in

Algebra)

9:10 – 10:15 Enrichment Enrichment

10:15 – 11:30 ELA (e.g.

Main Idea)

Math (e.g.

Statistics and

Data)

11:30 – 12:00 Lunch Lunch

12:00 – 1:30 ELA (e.g.

Open

response

writing)

Math (e.g.

Number

Sense)

● ● ●

While most students were thriving with the extra time,

Riley and his staff realized that many students could

benefit from even more time – particularly if that time

was structured to meet specific academic deficits.

● ● ●

Acceleration Academy

Typical Daily Schedule





support. To scale the program from one school

serving 100 students to nine schools serving

900, he raised $125,000 from private sources,

and secured $900,000 of the district’s AARA

funds. This money covered costs such as

personnel, including staff and professional

development, as well as transportation, food,

and prizes for participants. The total cost per

student was approximately $750, though Riley

emphasizes that the academies can be run for

less if funds are not available for key extras like

events and prizes.

Next, Riley met with principals from each of the

nine schools to discuss implementation. This

included addressing instructional issues (i.e.

teachers and content) as well as non

instructional ones (i.e. food and transportation).

Additionally, Riley helped principals and other

staff anticipate the issues they could encounter

during the academy, and assisted in compiling

and analyzing data to identify students for

participation. After students from each school

had been selected, an assembly was held,

during which Riley handed out ‘golden tickets’

to the targeted students and provided an

overview of the week, including daily drawings

for prizes such as Nintendo Wiis and other

game systems.

Most importantly, Riley led an ambitious search

for 100 teachers to staff each of the February

and April academies. “Selecting the right

teachers to work the academies and matching

them with the right students is one of the most

critical tasks involved in planning a successful

academy,” says Riley. Experience at the

Edwards had shown him that he could maximize

the impact of the extra time by finding the

strongest teachers. He sought out teachers

who knew how to look at data and analyze

student skill gaps, plan and execute effective

lesson plans, and keep students engaged and

excited. He also met with principals at the nine

schools to pair teachers and students who

would work well together. Because the hiring

was selective, Riley hoped teachers would

consider it an honor to be invited. In addition to

a $3,000 stipend, tickets to a Boston theatre

production, and professional development

opportunities at the Harvard Business School

and Harvard Graduate School of Education,

each of the 100 selected teachers were also

Acceleration Academy Costs

Incentives for Participation





What School People are Saying

about Acceleration Academies

awarded the ‘Sontag Prize in Urban Education,’

at the end of the week.

An Extra Month of Instruction

“When you add up the time during the week,

students are receiving almost an extra month of

instruction with excellent teachers in subjects

where they need support. Of course you are

going to see a difference.” explains Riley. A

typical acceleration academy day runs from

7:30 to 1:30 and includes three academic

classes, an enrichment class, lunch and

breakfast. Transportation to and from the

school is also provided. Student teacher ratios

are kept around 12:1—less than half the typical

student teacher ratio in a BPS classroom—to

allow for small group and individualized

instruction. In addition to academics, students

also receive an additional period of enrichment

activities, such as sports or music. This helps to

break up the intensive studies and also allows

academic teachers time to analyze student

progress and collaborate each day.

Before the start of each academy, every

selected student takes a pre-assessment to

identify skill gaps and determine student

placement. “Data is hugely important,” says

Riley, “We work with the Achievement Network

to analyze the data in order to identify

strengths and weaknesses.” Each teacher

receives detailed information on their students,

including specific strands and skills to target,

including “power standards” – the standards

that are fundamental to achieving proficiency in

the subject. “We tell teachers what to teach,

but not how to teach. We believe that these

particular teachers we’ve chosen know best

about how to teach the skills our students

need,” says Riley.

A Boost in Proficiency

While it is difficult to isolate the impact of

Acceleration Academies, participating students’

performance on the 2010 MCAS suggests

significant benefits. For each student in grades

4 and above, the Massachusetts Department of

Elementary and Secondary Education (ESE)

assigns a Student Growth Percentile (SGP) in

math and ELA. SGP measures the growth a

student made in math and ELA during a given

school year relative to other students who had

similar scores in previous years. A student SGP

of 50 in ELA, for instance, indicates that he/she

scored higher than 50% of students with similar

prior ELA test scores. At the nine Acceleration

Academy schools, the SGP of students who

participated in the Acceleration Academies in

2010 were 14 and 13 points higher in ELA and

math, respectively, than the SGPs of non-

participants—ESE considers a difference in SGP

of 10 more points to be meaningful. These gains

were even slightly larger for Special Education

students and English Language Learners.





5750

57 58

43

33

42 42

All Students (n = 460)

SPED Students (n = 93)

ELL Students (n = 256)

FARM Students (n = 436)

ELA Median SGP: 2010

Participants Non Participants

65

53

7366

52

40

5952

All Students (n = 354)

SPED Students (n = 75)

ELL Students (n = 182)

FARM Students (n = 335)

Math Median SGP: 2010

Participants Non Participants

Looking Ahead: Acceleration Academies 2011

For the 2010-2011 school year, the district plans

to double the number of schools that will host

Acceleration Academies as well as the number

of students. To do so, Riley will need to raise

more than twice as much in private funds—

from $125,000 to $300,000—coordinate with

more schools, speak at more assemblies, and

recruit more teachers. But based on the

success of prior academies, the payoff could be

a dramatic improvement in student gains.

“Ultimately, we want our kids to be doing

better than the average suburban kids,” says

Riley, “and at the end of the day, Acceleration

Academies are about what good teachers can

do with additional instruction, and the only way

to close the achievement gap is more time with

good teachers.”

acceleration academies at boston public schools (boston, ma)

Documents