Massachusetts Organization of Educational Cooperatives

Massachusetts
Organization of
Educational
Collaboratives
2009 An n uAl RepoRt
www.moecnet.org
Stretching Education
Dollars
through Economies-of-Scale
1
the MoeC executive Board
invites your inquiries
Dr. Susan Cuoco Hassan, President
BICO Collaborative
508-520-1998
Ms. Joanne Haley Sullivan, Vice-President
North River Collaborative
781-878-6056
Ms. Dorsey Yearley, Secretary
EDCO Collaborative
617-738-5600, ext. 5601
Dr. Richard Murphy, Treasurer
FLLAC Collaborative
978-425-0310
Dr. Joan E. Schuman, Past President
Hampshire Educational Collaborative
413-586-4900
Mr. Stephen Theall, Executive Director
Massachusetts Organization of Educational Collaboratives
781-326-2473, ext. 1133
Regional Representatives
Central:
Ms. Beth Gonyea
Southern Worcester County Educational Collaborative
508-764-8500, ext. 144
Greater Boston: Ms. Susan Rees
ACCEPT Education Collaborative
508-653-6776
2
North:
Mr. Robert Gass
Northshore Education Consortium
978-232-9755, ext. 1253
South:
Ms. Catherine Cooper
Southeastern Massachusetts Educational Collaborative
508-998-5599
West:
Ms. Anne McKenzie
Lower Pioneer Valley Educational Collaborative
413-735-2200
www.moecnet.org
t
he Executive Board of the Massachusetts Organization of Educational
Collaboratives (MOEC) has prepared this annual report to inform the state
legislature, the State Board of Education, the Department of Education,
professional organizations, our member districts, and the public about the history,
operation, and potential of Educational Collaboratives.
The report describes the services Collaboratives provide and the resulting
savings and increased capacity their member school districts enjoy. The report
also describes the additional services and enhancements Collaboratives have
the potential to provide. School and local officials who are considering district
regionalization or consolidation to increase capacity and student services may find
Collaboratives an attractive alternative pathway to meet those goals.
About MoeC
t
he Massachusetts Organization of Educational Collaboratives is
the professional organization serving Educational Collaboratives in the
Commonwealth. MOEC serves to enhance the practice of collaboration
among its twenty-eight members and their constituent districts through:
n
education and information sharing
n
responsive consultation and planning
n
field support to member Collaboratives
In addition, as private and public organizations recognize Collaboratives as a
vehicle to produce efficiency and cost savings, MOEC provides advocacy for this
initiative with its diverse constituencies.
3
the origins of Collaboratives:
Special education
e
ducational Collaboratives were originally formed to provide cost-efficient,
high quality special education. Their special education programs are well
regarded by districts. This excellent reputation, combined with Collaboratives’
ability to contain costs, should make Collaboratives the preferred provider of
special education. In FY 09, Collaborative special education programs saved
districts over $64 million.
Unlike educational service agencies in other states, the Educational Collaboratives
of Massachusetts receive no direct state funding to support their programs and
services. Their existence and success depends upon their providing programs
and services that would otherwise be cost-prohibitive to their member districts.
Because of the savings generated by Collaboratives, districts are better able to
meet the many challenges with which they are confronted in an era of scarce
financial resources.
Shore Collaborative provides
services to more than 300
significantly disabled adults.
these services are funded
from DMR and Medicaid
day-habilitation grants.
FY 09 Special eduation program and Service Savings
$20,000,000
$18,000,000
$16,000,000
$14,000,000
$12,000,000
$10,000,000
$8,000,000
$6,000,000
$4,000,000
$2,000,000
$0
4
Central
Greater Boston
North
South
West
In 1974, Massachusetts enacted Chapter 40, Section 4e. This legislation
encouraged school districts to come together to address demands for special
education services. Collaboratives have developed in response to two factors—
the increased educational demands placed on local school districts and the
fluctuating nature of districts’ fiscal resources. School committees and school
administrators have seen the value of creating and using an economy-of-scale
principle in providing a host of programs and services to students and staff.
For decades, Educational Collaboratives of Massachusetts have demonstrated
economic efficiency and programmatic advantages to their members. The
resulting partnerships have enabled districts to maximize efficiency and produce
quality programming by sharing costs and expertise.
the northshore education
Consortium in Beverly started
the first Recovery High School
in new england in 2006 after
being awarded a five year,
$2,750,000 sustaining grant from
the Department of public Health
for adolescents recovering from
substance abuse.
Today, Collaboratives offer special education services in twenty-two areas,
for pre-schoolers through adults. The sixteen most prevalent services are shown
in this graph.
Special eduation Services
Programs for autistic spectrum disorders
Sensory impairment
Multi-disabled
Emotional disabilities
Occupational therapy
Physical therapy
Speech therapy
Counseling
Nursing
Transition
Collaboratives provide
45-day assessment
programs for
approximately 300
students a year.
Consulative
Student assessments
Assistive technology
Language disorders
Interim alternative educational setting
Extended school ye arr
0
5
10
15
20
25
Number of Collaboratives offering services
30
5
NEWBURYPORT*
Merrimac
HAVERHILL
LAWRENCE*
Clarksburg
METHUEN
Monroe
Rowe
Florida
Heath
Northfield
Colrain
Warwick
Royalston
Ashby
Winchendon
Dunstable
Townsend
Dracut
Pepperell
Ipswich
Ashburnham
Charlemont
Gill
Shelburne
Savoy
Hawley
Andover
Erving
Groton
Orange
Buckland
Athol
Montague
Windsor
Plainfield
Cummington
PITTSFIELD*
Hinsdale
Lenox
Ashfield
Princeton
Whately
LYNN
Concord
Sterling
Bolton
Stow
Barre
Rutland
Pelham
Chesterfield
Marblehead
Acton
Hubbardston
Petersham
Manchester
by-the-Sea
Carlisle
Harvard
Conway
BEVERLY
Billerica
Littleton
Westminster
Peru
GLOUCESTER
Westford
Ayer
Wendell
Goshen
Essex
Tewksbury
GARDNER
Cheshire
Berlin
Hudson
Swampscott
Maynard
Adams
Rockport
NORTH
ADAMS
West
Newbury
Nahant
CHELSEA
Winthrop
Sudbury
WATERTOWN
Washington
Hardwick
Hadley
Lee
Holden
Oakham
MARLBOROUGH
New
Braintree
Chester
Becket
Ware
Hull
Needham
Granby
Great
Barrington
Otis
Monterey
Warren
Ludlow
Blandford
Grafton
Dover
Hopkinton
Westwood
Scituate
Auburn
Palmer
Upton
Millis
Canton
Norwell
Medway
Charlton
Granville
Southwick
AGAWAM
Avon
Oxford
Monson
Tolland
Mendon
Wales
Dudley
Douglas
Millville
New
Marlborough
Bellingham
Brimfield
Sandisfield
Sheffield
Sutton
Sharon
Provincetown
Whitman
Foxborough
Duxbury
Truro
Halifax
Kingston
Bridgewater
Norton
Plympton
Wellfleet
Middleborough
TAUNTON*
Plymouth*
Carver
Rehoboth Dighton Berkley
Lakeville
Freetown
Orleans
Rochester
Wareham
Bourne
Sandwich
Dennis
Yarmouth
Brewster
Harwich Chatham
BARNSTABLE*
Dartmouth
Falmouth
Westport
Tisbury
Gosnold
Oak Bluffs
WEST: Region 1
West
Tisbury
Aquinnah
Chilmark
Nantucket
Martha’s Vineyard
CENTRAL: Region 2
GREATER BOSTON: Region 3
NORTH: Region 4
SOUTH: Region 5
6
Nantucket*
Spotlight: Collaboratives Enhance
Regular Education Professional Development
I
n 2008-2009, 25 Collaboratives ran professional development programs for their
member districts. These programs ranged from short-term classes, to year-long
job-alike groups, to graduate-level courses and educator licensure programs. These
programs not only trained individual teachers and administrators but also fostered
cross-district resource sharing and efficiencies. In 2007-2008, 13,000 teachers and
staff enrolled in Collaborative professional development programs and 165 teachers
and staff enrolled in Collaborative licensure programs.
Professional Development Programs
English language learners
Math
Science
English language arts
Social science
Fine arts
Differentiated instruction
Special education
Applied behavior analysis
Leadership
Mentoring
Restraint training
Assistive technology
Instructional technology
Pedagogy
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
50
60
3500
Staff enrolled FY 08
Educator Licensure Programs
Regular education teacher
Special education teacherr
Special education administrator
Principal
Department head/supervisor
Asst. superintendent/superintendent
0
10
20
30
40
Staff enrolled FY 08
7
Educational Collaboratives Today:
Entrepreneurship in the Public Sector
S
ince 1974, Collaboratives have expanded their services beyond special
education. From Provincetown to the Berkshires, MOEC's twenty-eight
Collaboratives now provide, in a most efficient manner, a host of interdistrict
support services to about 300 local and regional school systems. In his 2005
Pioneer Institute white paper "Massachusetts Collaboratives: Making the Most of
Education Dollars," Craig Stanley describes the "untapped potential" of
Collaboratives, urging all districts to avail themselves of the full range of services
Collaboratives can provide and the savings that will result.
Today's Collaboratives provide:
• Management support and research
• Cooperative purchasing
• Student transportation
"Participation in...
collaboratives can
enable school districts
to offer better and
more cost-effective
services."
• Technology development
• Professional development, educator licensure programs, and professional
learning communities
• Special education programming, particularly for low-incidence populations
• Medicaid and E-rate reimbursement
• Grant management
-E. Robert Stephens,
Institute for Regional
Studies in Education,
in the Foreword to
"Massachusetts
Collaboratives:
Making the Most of
Education Dollars"
In FY 09, the grant writing
programs at North River
Collaborative and
South Shore Educational
Collaborative enabled their
districts to receive $1,805,000
in grant funding.
8
Adult education
Cooperative purchasing
Consulting
Early childhood
Grant development and writing
Job-alike groups
Parent/child/home programs
Private school monitoring
Regular education
Regular education transportation
Special education transportation
Staff recruitment
5
12
17
8
13
21
10
3
12
2
16
6
the value of Collaboratives lies in their ability to:
n
Respond quickly to emerging needs in their member districts
n
Expand a district’s capacity to serve its students
n
Create economies-of-scale and cost efficiencies
Each Collaborative is governed by a board of directors, which, by law, is
comprised of one person appointed by a district’s school committee. Each
Collaborative’s board conducts its business pursuant to the terms and conditions
of the Collaborative agreement, a document that, once adopted by the Board, is
sent to the Commissioner of Education for approval.
lower pioneer Valley
educational Cooperative
operates 13 vocational
education programs for
approximately 500 students.
lpVeC’s fees are lower than
the fees for out-of-district
vocational placements.
The success of each Collaborative is measured by the effectiveness of its response to
the needs of its member school systems. The responsibility of the Collaborative is
to aid its members in assessing their needs and to demonstrate through model
programs the efficiency of a collaborative venture. The characteristics of the
entrepreneurial organization—risk-taking and responsiveness—must be evident to
the member districts at all times to ensure the Collaborative’s sustainability.
The existence of the Collaboratives and their services save Massachusetts taxpayers’
dollars. In FY 09, Collaboratives saved districts nearly $113 million.
In FY 09, the education Cooperative
estimates cooperative purchasing
savings of:
n $600,000
for 60 school districts
participating in its paper
and classroom-supply bid
n $900,000
for 46 districts participating
in its food service supply bid
ReADS Collaborative partners with
teachers21 and Simmons College
to provide a Master’s of Science
in Mathematics program. north
River Collaborative partners with
the Brockton public Schools and
Bridgewater State College to offer
graduate-level classes in science
and Intel math to teachers in
grades 4-8.
9
su
Bc
ey
FY 09 Savings BeyonFdYS0p9eScaivailnegd
aotinodnS: pecial Education:
chnology, Tra nsportation, C linical Services, Itinerant Staff, Grant
energEyneargnydantdeTceh
nology, transportation,
Clinical Services, Itinerant Staff, Grant Writing
$12,000,000
$12,000,000
$10,000,000
$10,000,000
$8,000,000
$8,000,000
$6,000,000
$6,000,000
$4,000,000
$4,000,000
$2,000,000
$2,000,000
$0
$0
Hampshire educational
Collaborative, through a
contract with the Department
of Youth Services, annually
educates 4500-5000
incarcerated young people
across the state.
Energy and
Energy and
technology
technology
Transportation
Transportation
Clinical
Clinical
Services
Itinerant
Itinerant
Staff
09
Sa
vilnes
Sp
ec
ia
dB
uecyaontidon
: ecial
FY 09 Savings BeyondFYSp
Municipal Medicaid Reimbugrsement
$12,000,000
$12,000,000
$10,000,000
$10,000,000
$8,000,000
$8,000,000
ACCept Collaborative
annually inducts new special
education administrators
across the Commonwealth.
$6,000,000
$6,000,000
$4,000,000
$4,000,000
$2,000,000
$2,000,000
$0
$0
10
Greater Boston
Greater Boston
North
North
South
South
West
West
Grant
Grant
Writing
Education:
2008-2009 Facts and Figures
I
n the 2008-2009 school year, the budgets of the twenty-eight MOEC
Collaboratives exceeded $305 million. The Collaboratives employed nearly
4,200 professional and support personnel.
In 2008-2009, Collaboratives:
n
Served nearly 5,500 children whose special education requirements could not
be met in their school systems’ programs
n
Served over 3,000 children in regular education programs: gifted and talented,
occupational education, migrant education, school-to-work, and after school
n
Used 348 classrooms in public school buildings and 472 classrooms in
non-public space
n
Returned to participating communities nearly $15 million in Medicaid
reimbursements and nearly $300,000 in E-rate savings
n
Arranged cooperative purchasing of commodities ranging from fuel and
electricity to classroom and athletic supplies
n
Operated a variety of alternative school programs for children with
psychological or behavioral disorders
n
Coordinated statewide multi-district special education pupil transportation
networks that improved the quality of special education transportation and
saved districts nearly $5 million
n
Served as grant managers, staff recruiters, researchers, and private school
monitors for member districts
n
Provided management consultation, job-alike services, and school committee
policy development
n
Designed websites for member districts
MoeC received a
$100,000 grant from
the state legislature
to manage the
implementation of a
statewide multi-district
special education pupil
transportation network.
the Future of Collaboratives:
Doing even More for Districts
C
ollaboratives are interested in opportunities to further
expand their assistance to member districts in:
n
Data collection, analysis, and interpretation
n
Human resource management, benefits administration
and employee assistance services
n
Financial management services
n
College and career counseling
n
Facility management
n
Educational research and program evaluation
In FY 09, north River
Collaborative offered 25
professional development
programs for regular
education teachers and
administrators.
Grant funding allowed
nRC to offer some of these
courses free of charge.
11
educational Collaboratives in Massachusetts
ACCEPT Education Collaborative
Assabet Valley Collaborative (AVC)
Bi-County Collaborative (BICO)
Cape Cod Collaborative (CCC)
CAPS Educational Collaborative
Central Massachusetts Special Education Collaborative (CMSEC)
Charms Collaborative
Concord Area Special Education Collaborative (CASE)
EDCO Collaborative
FLLAC Collaborative
Lawrence Educational Collaborative (GLEC)
Hampshire Educational Collaborative (HEC)
LABBB Collaborative
Lower Pioneer Valley Educational Collaborative (LPVEC)
Merrimack Special Education Collaborative (MEC)
North River Collaborative (NRC)
Northshore Education Consortium (NEC)
Pilgrim Area Collaborative (PAC)
Project SPOKE Educational Collaborative
READS Collaborative
SEEM Collaborative
Shore Educational Collaborative
South Berkshire Educational Collaborative
South Coast Educational Collaborative (SCEC)
South Shore Educational Collaborative (SSEC)
South Worcester County Educational Collaborative (SWCEC)
Southeastern Massachusetts Educational Collaborative (SMEC)
The Education Cooperative (TEC)
www.accept.org
www.avcollaborative.org
www.bicounty.org
www.cccollaborative.org
www.capsped.org
www.cmsec.org
www.charmscollaborative.org
www.casecollaborative.org
www.edcollab.org
www.fllac.org Greater
www.glec.org
www.collaborative.org
www.labbb.com
www.lpvec.org
www.mec.edu
www.northrivercollaborative.org
www.nsedu.org
www.pilgrimac.org
508-339-3715
www.readscollab.org
www.seemcollaborative.org
www.shorecollaborative.org
413-528-6263
www.scecoll.org
www.ssec.org
www.swcec.org
www.smecollaborative.org
www.tec-coop.org
1112 High Street, po Box 186
Dedham, MA 02027
781.326.2473 x113
781.251.0874 Fax
www.moecnet.org
12