Brockton High School

1/28/2015
Expect More,
Achieve More:
Creating a Culture of
Success for ALL
Students
Sue Szachowicz
Senior Fellow, ICLE
Principal, Retired, Brockton High School
Agenda :
 Who is this woman, and why is she
here??? A bit about Brockton High
 High Expectations are NOT enough:
The Three R’s
 Rigor and Relevance:
Literacy for ALL
 It’s all about the Relationships
 For What It’s Worth:
Leadership Advice
 Interspersed with “you just
can’t make this stuff up…”
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1/28/2015
BUT please remember:
Ours is a story of every school, every
teacher, every student.
This IS NOT just about high school, NOT
about urban, NOT about size of school.
This IS NOT about any individual, any
principal, any teacher… it is about us ALL.
This IS about change.
This IS about being the best you can be.
If we can do this, anyone can!!!
ALSO remember:
When creating a Culture of Success,
listen to the words of Pedro Noguera:
“You don’t have to change
the student population to
get results, you have to
change the conditions
under which they learn.”
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So, WHO is this woman, and WHY is she here???
A bit about Brockton High
Brockton, City of Champions
Massachusetts
Boston
Brockton
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Brockton High, School of Champions
School of
Champions
Here’s the BEST part of Brockton High… Meet our students!
(Boxers ROAR!)
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Some info about
Brockton High?
•Comprehensive 9 – 12
•Enrollment: 4,155
•Poverty Level: 80.2%
•Minority population: 78%
•39 different languages
•39.3% speak another
language in the home
•Approximately 17% LEP
Services
•Approximately 11% receive
Special Educ. Services
Who goes to
Brockton High?
Cape Verde
Islands

59% Black - includes African American, Cape Verdean,
Haitian, Jamaican, and others
24% White
12% Hispanic
 2.5% Asian
 2% Multirace
 .5% Native American


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Countries of the 888 members of the Class of 2014 United States
Cape Verde
Haiti
Puerto Rico
Dominican
Republic
Nigeria
Portugal
Brazil
Canada
Cameroon
Kenya
Peru
Pakistan
Senegal
El Salvador
Thailand
Barbados
China
Columbia
France
Guinea-Bissau
Guadeloupe
Guyana
Italy
Jamaica
Liberia
Mexico
Russia
Somalia
But it wasn’t always so happy. Here’s what we faced… Sound familiar???







Mass. implemented a high stakes test (MCAS)
Three-quarters of our students would not be
earning a diploma
Culture of low expectations – “Students have a
right to fail” (former BHS Principal)
Negative image in our city, in the state (nasty
comments!)
Yet we were living in DENIAL!!!!
Who is responsible???? We had silos (My
kids, your kids, not OUR kids)
Success by chance – depended on who your
teacher was – are you lucky???
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MCAS arrived, and here
we were:
MCAS 1998
Failure
ELA – 44%
(Sped – 78%)
MATH – 75%
MCAS 1998
Advanced+Proficient
ELA – 22%
MATH – 7%
(Sped – 98%)
Just in case you were thinking MCAS is easy, take a look…
Remember, they MUST pass to graduate – NO EXCEPTIONS!!!
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That’s where we were…
Here’s a preview of
where we are now…
Then, at the end some
WICKED AWESOME
stuff!…
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Third Key Trend
We just got WICKED AWESOME news!!!
Beating The Odds 2014 - Top Schools
For Low-Income Students
BROCKTON HIGH SCHOOL
Brockton, Massachusetts
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THEN
NOW
MCAS 1998
MCAS 2014
Advanced+Proficient
Advanced+Proficient
88%
ELA – 22 %
ELA –
MATH – 7 %
MATH –70%
THEN
NOW
MCAS 1998
MCAS 2014
Failure
ELA – 44%
Failure
ELA –
MATH – 75%
MATH –
1%
9%
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It’s cool and fun to
be smart
1998
859 STUDENTS
(4400 students)
19%
Honor Roll
2014
Statistics 1608 STUDENTS
(
(4155 students)
39%
How Did BHS go from this
to a Model School???
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1/28/2015
Turnaround at Brockton High
Emphasis on literacy brings big MCAS improvement
Principal Susan Szachowicz, shown chatting at lunch with Yiriam Lopez, is in many ways the school’s biggest cheerleader. (Essdras M Suarez/ Globe Staff) By James Vaznis Globe Staff / October 12, 2009 BROCKTON - Brockton High School has every excuse for failure, serving a city
plagued by crime, poverty, housing foreclosures, and homelessness.
Almost two-thirds of the students qualify for free or reduced-price lunches, and 14
percent are learning to speak English. More than two-thirds are African-American
or Latino - groups that have lagged behind their peers across the state on
standardized tests.
But Brockton High, by far the state’s largest public high school with 4,200
students, has found a success in recent years that has eluded many of the state’s
urban schools: MCAS scores are soaring, earning the school state recognition as a
symbol of urban hope.
GO Boxers!!!
Boxers in the
NEW YORK
TIMES
High Expectations NO Excuses!!!
September 28, 2010
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So, that’s who we are…
What did we do?
Brockton and ICLE philosophy
 Rigor
 Relevance
 Relationships
ALL students‐and ALL means ALL!!!
As we say in Boxer Country,
we are WICKED AWESOME!!!
Our Turn Around Story… Transforming a
We did it our way!
Culture through
Literacy
A.K.A. - It’s
COOL to be
smart at
Brockton
High!!!
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That is Expect More, Achieve More in action!
SOOOOO, how did we do that???
It’s not enough to just EXPECT
MORE. High expectations alone
are NOT ENOUGH!!! Students
also need to build skills!
How did we change the culture of
Brockton High???
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Success by design,
NOT by chance!
- Ray McNulty
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Third Key Trend
The POWER of a school wide initiative!!!
Changing the Culture by DESIGN
 Set clear expectations about WHAT we would teach the students to be able to do: LITERACY
 Taught everyone HOW to teach these skills
 Many teachers only believed when the SAW the results
 AND, we valued their work! Their instruction mattered!!!
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So, how did we do this??
Our turnaround: 4 Steps
1.
2.
3.
4.
Empowered a Team
Focused on Literacy –
Literacy for ALL, no exceptions‐ all means all
Implemented with fidelity and according to a plan
Monitored like crazy!
Step ONE: Empowering a
Leadership Team
Restructuring Committee – our “think tank”
Every department represented with a mix of teachers and administrators
 Balance of new teachers and veterans, new voices, and voices of experience
 Selection criteria: Trust, Communication Skills, Collaboration, Humor
 Go after people!!!

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We looked at the data And, our first plan:
Let’s figure out the test
The result of that:
The Great
Shakespearean Fiasco
After our Shakespearean fiasco, a better approach:



Asked “What do our students need to be able to
do to be successful on the MCAS, in their
classes, and beyond BHS? (Read challenging
passages, difficult nonfiction, write – a LOT,
solve multistep problems, explain their
thinking… etc.)
Examined our data: what did we need to focus
on, what skills did we need to target for ALL
LITERACY – First, defined it, then trained
ourselves how to teach these literacy skills to
our students. It HAD to be about LITERACY!!!
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Step TWO: Focused on
Literacy for ALL
First, we defined literacy:
Reading, Writing,
Speaking, Reasoning
Then we said, LITERACY for ALL, every class!
How did we determine our focus?
Literacy Skills Drafted in each area:
LITERACY CHART: WRITING
SCIENCE
MATH
ENGLISH









WRITING
SOCIAL
SCIENCE
ELECTIVE
to take notes
to explain one’s thinking
to argue a thesis and support one’s thinking
to compare and contrast
to write an open response
to describe an experiment, report one’s findings, and report one’s conclusion
to generate a response to what one has read, viewed, or heard
to convey one’s thinking in complete sentences
to develop an expository essay with a formal structure
c Brockton High School, 2002
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Brockton High Literacy Initiative
ALWAYS REMEMBER
I
The PROCESS of involving everyone was critical to our success. We did not have buy‐in, but we did have our faculty engaged in the process. 19
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Engaging the faculty:
After each discussion, back to Restructuring for revisions. This process went back and forth to the faculty four or five times that year.
Review, discuss, revise, repeat!
So now what…
We had cool looking charts on the walls… SO WHAT…
The KEY to our implementation is HOW we trained teachers to teach these Literacy skills to our students.
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Step THREE: Implemented
with fidelity and a plan
Faculty Meetings became
Literacy Workshops
KEY = Adult Learning
Teachers teaching
teachers – GOOD stuff!
The key to our transformation:
ADULT LEARNING aand SUPPORT
* We know it is
difficult (to change)
* We can do this
* We will support
each other
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FOCUS, FOCUS,
FOCUS
We started with
writing!
Writing is
thinking
LITERACY CHART: WRITING
SCIENCE
MATH
ENGLISH
WRITING
SOCIAL
SCIENCE
ELECTIVE
 to take notes
 to explain one’s thinking
 to argue a thesis and support one’s thinking
 to compare and contrast
 to write an open response
 to describe an experiment, report one’s findings, and report one’s conclusion
 to generate a response to what one has read, viewed, or heard
 to convey one’s thinking in complete sentences
 to develop an expository essay with a formal structure
c Brockton High School, 2002
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1/28/2015
Example of a Literacy Workshop
We began with WRITING
Everyone CAN teach writing.
Everyone MUST teach writing.
But first, everyone must know HOW to teach writing.
WRITING IS THINKING!!!
Remember there are 4 STEPS to
Active Reading
1.
2.
3.
4.
Read the question, prompt, or directions.
Circle and Underline the question
Circle key direction verbs.
(for example; discuss, contrast, explain)
Underline important information
(often there is irrelevant information)
In your own words, write what the question, prompt, or
directions ask you to do.
Develop your PLAN to answer the question, prompt or
directions.
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OPEN RESPONSE WRITING STEPS
1. ACTIVELY READ QUESTION BY CIRCLING AND
UNDERLINING KEY WORDS.
2. RESTATE QUESTION AS THESIS (LEAVING BLANKS).
3. ACTIVELY READ PASSAGE.
4. MAP OUT YOUR ANSWER.
5. WRITE YOUR RESPONSE CAREFULLY, USING YOUR
MAP AS A GUIDE.
6. STRATEGICALLY REPEAT KEY WORDS
FROM THESIS IN YOUR BODY AND IN YOUR END
SENTENCE.
7. PARAGRAPH YOUR RESPONSE.
8. REREAD AND EDIT YOUR RESPONSE.
The student creates a map in order to
organize the response:
In this reading ….. (look at the flipped
question and restate by filling in the blanks)
Transition: One . . .
Topic
Supporting evidence
Explanation connecting
to thesis
Body Paragraph 1
Transition: The next . . .
Topic
Supporting evidence
Explanation connecting
to thesis
Body Paragraph 2
Transition: The final . . .
Topic
Supporting Evidence
Explanation connecting
t thesis
Body Paragraph 3
To conclude… (connect to thesis)
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Final Step:
The Rubric
This rubric
provides the
students
with the
criteria
upon which
they will be
assessed.
49
So then what…
Follow up the
Interdisciplinary Training.
Next step – HOW to bring this
into the classroom
 Lessons developed
 Implemented according
to a calendar
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We didn’t leave it to chance!
Success by design, not
by chance!
Everyone was trained to teach
the targeted Literacy Skill.
The implementation was
according to a specific
timeline NO EXCEPTIONS!!!
As a follow up to this activity, I am requiring Department Heads to
collect from each teacher at least one student sample from each of the
The Open Response calendar of
teachers’ classes. The student samples should include:
implementation
is as follows:
Student
Name
Teacher Name
NovDate
2-6: Social Science, Social Sci Biling.
NovCourse
30-Dec
JROTC
Name4:
and Wellness,
Level
Period
DecA copy
14-18:
Science, Science Bilingual
of the reading selection and question
JanEvidence
11-15:of the
Business,
Tech,
& Career Ed.
student’s active
reading
All pre-writing work that the student has done, e.g. webs
JanA 25-29:
Math, Math Bilingual
copy of the written open response
FebThe
22-26:
Foreign
Lang,
Special
Ed
new scoring
rubric and
completed
assessment
Mar. 7-11:
English, ESL, Guidance
After you have collected the samples from each teacher and have had
20-24
Family
&Cons.
Sci,
ProjGrads
theMar
opportunity
to review
them for
quality and
completeness,
please
send them to me in a department folder with a checklist of your
Apr 5-9:
Music, Art
teachers. Again, please be sure that your teachers clearly label their
student samples.
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Step FOUR: Monitored
like crazy!!!
What gets monitored is what
gets done!

Monitoring the work
of the students (rubrics
and collection and
review of the work)

Monitoring the implementation by
the faculty (walkthroughs, evals)
How do we know the
students
are learning it?
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Remember:
It’s about the adults, not the kids!
We taught ourselves to teach these literacy skills to the students. And we will ALL do it THIS WAY!
From Talent is Overrated
by Geoff Colvin
The factor that seems to explain the most about great performance is something the researchers call deliberate practice… Deliberate practice is hard. It hurts. But it works. More of it equals better performance. Tons of it equals great performance.
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So what does this look like in the different subject areas???
RIGOR + RELEVANCE=
GOOD WORK!!!
Emily Dickinson is a poet who often wrote about her own emotional struggles. In two poems “Heart, We Will Forget Him” and “Knows How to Forget” she writes about how difficult it is to forget. Please read the two poems and the brief biography and answer the following three questions:
1. What were some of experiences in her life that influenced her writing?
2. What do the two poems have in common?
3. How are the two poems different?
Please use one quote from the poems or biography in each paragraph.
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Social Science /History Open Response
Explain how the article and the spiritual show John
Brown’s commitment to the welfare of black people.
Support your answer with relevant and specific
information from the article and the spiritual.
Science
Open Response
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Algebra
Open Response
Chinese
Open Response
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Art
Open Response
Wellness/P.E.
Open Response
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There are ALWAYS
critics…
The cookie-cutter
comment
How did we incorporate these
Literacy Skills in every discipline?
Even in our discipline
policies and procedures we
incorporate our Literacy
Initiative… remember,
WRITING IS THINKING!
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Our
Classroom
Incident
form
requires
students to
write when
they come
into the
office
Our
Classroom
Incident
form
requires
students to
write when
they come
into the
office
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BUT….
Don’t think for a moment that everyone was happy… BUT, if we waited for buy‐in, we’d still be waiting.
SO, what did we do?? Meet Sharon and Penny
INSERT PBS NEED TO KNOW
VIDEO ON PENNY AND SHARON
TO SEE ENTIRE SEGMENT, GO
TO YOU TUBE AND SEARCH
PBS NEED TO KNOW
BROCKTON HIGH
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Keep moving forward with your agenda!!!
Some of them really protested
and burned the book!
“Whether you read it, or burned it, you still got trained in these literacy strategies.”
Sharon Wolder, Principal, Brockton High
It’s about the adults!
Thankfully, most of our faculty were NOT the book burners, but they were not on board. They did it because they had to, but they did it. Meet Andy:
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INSERT VIDEO OF ANDY
INTERVIEW FROM PBS NEED
TO KNOW
BUY IN???….
Here’s what gets
the buy-in.
RESULTS!!!
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Changes in ELA Results Year One
of School Wide Open Response
Changes in Math Results Year One
of School Wide Open Response
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Changes in ELA Results Year One
of School Wide Open Response
Added a Literacy Workshop on Active Reading Strategies:
2002
22
14
25
13
TEACHER LEADERSHIP
Some Schools Stand Out
Comparisons of Complacent HS and Brockton HS
Ronald F. Ferguson, PhD
Tripod Project for School Improvement (www.tripodproject.org) and
Achievement Gap Initiative at Harvard University (www.agi.harvard.edu)
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Proportions of students scoring in each decile of the MCAS 8th grade ELA distribution
MCAS ELA gains 8th to 10th grade, compared to others from the same 8th grade decile
(School rank percentile/100)
Listen to what Dr. Ferguson says about us
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• INSERT FERGUSON EXCERPT FROM PBS NEED TO KNOW
•The Achievement Gap Initiative At Harvard University
Toward Excellence with Equity
Conference Report by Ronald F. Ferguson, Faculty Director
“The main lesson was that student achievement rose when leadership teams focused thoughtfully and relentlessly on improving the quality of instruction.”
- Prof. Ron Ferguson, AGI Conference Report
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Is this REPLICABLE:
YOU BET IT IS!!! And it HAS been replicated in many schools with great success.
How about this!
Partnership With
Poughkeepsie High School, NY
• Mid-Year Implementation (February – June)
• Leadership and Instructional Coaching
Support to Help PHS:
– Empower Transformation Team
– Identify an Instructional Focus – Extended
Response Writing
– Develop an Implementation Plan
– Monitor the Plan Relentlessly
• Develop Year 2 of the Initiative
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Poughkeepsie High School
Regents Passing Rates
June 2013
June 2014
59%
58%
57%
56%
47%
43%
42%
39%
36%
35%
34%
32%
28%
22%
U.S. History
Integrated Algebra
Algebra II Trig
Physics
Earth Science
Geometry
Chemistry
And…..
In 2013-14, PHS met the priority
school removal criteria, one of only
a handful of schools in NYS to do
so. To be removed from priority
status, a school must meet the
criteria two years in a row.
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Changing Attitudes:
Fair does not mean the same
 Everyone
is responsible
for every student
 Believing that every
student CAN and MUST
 Our responsibility: to
figure out how to help
 ALL means ALL
89
Important lessons to remember:
• FOCUS: Determine what YOUR students need and be relentless
• CONSISTENCY: We ALL do it “this” way –
the power is in the school wide commitment (deliberate practice works!)
• PERSISTENCE: Stay the course – too often in education we give up on things too soon (yet another thing…)
• MONITOR: Compare and analyze student work across the school – raise the rigor!
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Register Today! www.leadered.com/PrincipalAcademy
Defining LEADERSHIP Here’s my definition of
leadership:
Leadership is getting people to do what they need to do, but either can’t or won’t.
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Principals and Building Level Administrators:
Your leadership matters!
“We have never seen a school that achieved anything significant for students without a good leader.” McLaughlin and Talbert Does all this work? What do the students think?
Meet Fabieny DePina
To see the whole video, go to YouTube and search PBS Need to Know Brockton High
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• INSERT FABIENY EXCERPT FROM PBS NEED TO KNOW
Third Key Trend
CREATING A CULTURE OF SUCCESS FOR ALL: It’s ALL about the THREE R’S: Rigor, Relevance and… RELATIONSHIPS!!!
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Rigor, Relevance, and Relationships come to life at Brockton High. As Bill Daggett says often, “Culture trumps strategy.” Rigor
“ What all good teachers have in common is that they set high standards for their children and do not settle for anything less.” Marva Collins
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Helping our students believe!
High expectations are critical, BUT, they are NOT enough!!! Students need the skills to meet our high expectations!
What does RIGOR mean for us?
 Literacy for ALL
 College and Career Ready for ALL!!!!
 CHALLENGE them, WORK them, SUPPORT them, BELIEVE IN THEIR ABILITY TO LEARN!
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RIGOR: You CAN go to college ‐ Project Diploma
A roadmap for
success at
Brockton High
AND, more
importantly,
for life AFTER
Brockton High
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Some NON negotiable school wide values
 Students do NOT have a right to fail
 NO heads down!
 “Academic Stance Please”
 Literacy for ALL, NO exceptions
 We will value and celebrate two things:
ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE
GOOD CITIZENSHIP
As soon as you enter BHS:
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Academics:
EVERY term Honor Roll assemblies DURING the day:
• We perform for the kids
• Holiday Concerts, Organize theme assemblies: Family Feud, The Voice, Minute to Win It, Brockton High Has Talent Maybe, Rock groups perform
• Scholarship and Awards assemblies – we invite EVERYONE!
Relevance –
But it can’t just be about elective courses
We know the questions they are always asking:
WHY do I have to know this?
WHEN will I ever use this?
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Relevance –
Key question:
“ Am I helping my students connect the learning in the classroom to their lives beyond school?”
WRITING in every class helps students make those connections Relationships
But, it’s ALL about
the relationships…
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Relationships
“People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Maya Angelou
Positive message for students
We value you!
What do you value and celebrate?
• Boxer Notes
• Boxer of the Month
• Boxer‐2‐Boxer
• Ballroom Dancing
• Student Faculty games
• Theme Days
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1/28/2015
My past four years at Brockton High School, I certainly will never
forget. In such a large school, it’s difficult not to find a friend, a good
role model, a hero. In a school, like Brockton High, it’s hard to have low
self-esteem. In a school like this, it’s hard to give up, when there are so
many people egging you on to try your best. In a school like this, with
so many choices, you always wake up looking forward to some part of
the day. In a school like this, it’s hard not to stay motivated. In a school
like this, you find your dream as well as people who will help to find a
way to achieve it. In a school like this, you find your future. In Brockton
High School, futures are made; dreams turn into more tangible goals.
Before Brockton High School, I never really knew what I wanted in life.
Before Brockton High School, I never really cared. If it wasn’t for a
school like this, I never would have learned that my true passion lay in
psychology. If it wasn’t for a school like this, I wouldn’t have met such
amazing people, and such wonderful role models. A teacher told me
once, when I had no idea where to turn, to look at the big picture. She
helped me see that I could achieve what I thought impossible. Such
caring, I have witnessed a lot in a school like this. In a school like this,
it’s hard not to find someone who understands. In a school like this, it’s
hard not to smile. And these past four years at Brockton High School, I
certainly will never forget.
Love, Gabrielle
My past four years at Brockton High School, I certainly will never
forget. In such a large school, it’s difficult not to find a friend, a good
role model, a hero. In a school, like Brockton High, it’s hard to have low
self-esteem. In a school like this, it’s hard to give up, when there are so
many people egging you on to try your best. In a school like this, with
so many choices, you always wake up looking forward to some part of
the day. In a school like this, you find your future. In a school like this,
you find your dream as well as people who will help to find a way to
achieve it. In a school like this, it’s hard not to stay motivated. In
Brockton High School, futures are made; dreams turn into more
tangible goals. Before Brockton High School, I never really knew what I
wanted in life. Before Brockton High School, I never really cared… In a
school like this, it’s hard not to smile. If it wasn’t for a school like this, I
never would have learned that my true passion lay in psychology. If it
wasn’t for a school like this, I wouldn’t have met such amazing people,
and such wonderful role models. A teacher told me once, when I had no
idea where to turn, to look at the big picture. She helped me see that I
could achieve what I thought impossible. Such caring, I have witnessed
a lot in a school like this. In a school like this, it’s hard not to find
someone who understands. And these past four years at Brockton High
School, I certainly will never forget.
Love, Gabrielle
In a school like this, it’s
hard to give up, when
there are so many people
egging you on to try your
best.
56
1/28/2015
My past four years at Brockton High School, I certainly will never
forget. In such a large school, it’s difficult not to find a friend, a good
role model, a hero. In a school, like Brockton High, it’s hard to have low
self-esteem. In a school like this, it’s hard to give up, when there are so
many people egging you on to try your best. In a school like this, with
so many choices, you always wake up looking forward to some part of
the day. In a school like this, you find your future. In a school like this,
you find your dream as well as people who will help to find a way to
achieve it. In a school like this, it’s hard not to stay motivated. In
Brockton High School, futures are made; dreams turn into more
tangible goals. Before Brockton High School, I never really knew what I
wanted in life. Before Brockton High School, I never really cared… In a
school like this, it’s hard not to smile. If it wasn’t for a school like this, I
never would have learned that my true passion lay in psychology. If it
wasn’t for a school like this, I wouldn’t have met such amazing people,
and such wonderful role models. A teacher told me once, when I had no
idea where to turn, to look at the big picture. She helped me see that I
could achieve what I thought impossible. Such caring, I have witnessed
a lot in a school like this. In a school like this, it’s hard not to find
someone who understands. And these past four years at Brockton High
School, I certainly will never forget.
Love, Gabrielle
In a school like
this, it’s hard not
to smile.
One of the BEST examples of the power of RELATIONSHIPS:
We met with groups of students about what would help them, what could we put in place for support. The result: Boxer Buddies
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ALL means ALL at Brockton High
Boxer Buddies
Program pairing students with disabilities with their peers
Recognized by Governor Patrick for excellence
Academics, arts, and athletic activities
Boxer Buddies
A lasting friendship
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We have built a lasting relationship
which we will forever treasure in our
hearts
And the MOST unbelievable moment for four of
our Brockton Boxer Buddies
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1/28/2015
But not just ANY Pledge of Allegiance
These are
our hands!
High Expectations, THEY believe!
Amarr: “It’s not us against them.”
Terrence: “No one here would let me fail. I know, because I tried to.”
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Here’s what really changes the beliefs of the faculty, students, and the city!
WICKED
AWESOME
RESULTS!!
Wicked Awesome!
Our improvement over
the past five years is
perhaps even more
impressive than the big
jumps we had early on.
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Brockton HS Proficiency Index Gains
86.1
78
79.5
81
91.4
90.6
89.1
88.2
83.9
74 74.3
63.8
2003
93.9
85.8
77.4
80.9 79.9 81.1
66.9 66.8
2004
2005
2006
2007
ECPI
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
MCPI
Composite Performance Index (CPI) measures progress towards the goal of narrowing proficiency gaps
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AWARDS, AWARDS,
AWARDS, AWARDS!!!
Brockton High School
Brockton School District
Plymouth County
470 Forest Avenue
Brockton, Massachusetts
(508)580-7633
2008, 2010, 2012,
2013, 2014
JOHN & ABIGAIL ADAMS
BHS SCHOLARS 2015
314 SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS
34% of the class! Most ever!!!
Most in Massachusetts!!!
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College for ALL:
Changing students’ beliefs:
Class of 2014 – over 90%
went off to college!
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GO Boxers!!!
Boxers in the
NEW YORK
TIMES
High Expectations NO Excuses!!!
September 28, 2010
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1/28/2015
And we did this in the midst of things like this: Seriously, you just can’t make this stuff up!!!
THE MOST important leadership lesson:
HUMOR, HUMOR, HUMOR!!! You HAVE to laugh every day… after all, you just can’t make this up!!!
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1/28/2015
Here was one of my issues:
XXX High School Individual Discipline Report Grade 9
OUTSTANDING PENALTIES ALL INCIDENTS:
11-5: xx admitted slapping a female student in the
buttocks
2 days OSS
11-9: xx Told a student in ceramics class that her
pot looked like a vagina 3 demerits
11-27: xx kept removing his glass eye to show
others in class. He kept doing this after
repeatedly being asked to stop by his
teacher
3 demerits
FINAL THOUGHT: Making change takes TENACITY, not brilliance!
If we can do this, anyone can! In 1999 we were called a “Cesspool” in our local media. Now we are called the “Jewel of the City.”
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1/28/2015
Thank You!!!
Sue Szachowicz, Senior Fellow ICLE, Brockton High Principal (retired)
www.leadered.com
THE CAN’T‐MISS PROFESSIONAL LEARNING EVENT FOR K‐12 EDUCATORS
REGISTER TODAY
for early registration savings!
www.modelschoolsconference.com
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1/28/2015
WE DO MAKE A DIFFERENCE!!!
If we can do this, so can you!!!
Thank You!!!
Sue Szachowicz, Senior Fellow ICLE, Brockton High Principal (retired)
For more info:
Check out more on the Brockton Story and many of our scripts in our book!!!
(Proceeds go to Brockton High)
Available at www.leadered.com
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1/28/2015
Register Today! www.leadered.com/PrincipalAcademy
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