New Bedford Public Schools

New Bedford, Massachusetts

We began our training and support with the New Bedford Public Schools in the fall of 2002. Our consultants provided targeted professional development training and coaching support to instructional leadership teams in schools and helped the central office team develop a system-wide plan to place full-time literacy and math instructional coaches in every elementary school.

The focused efforts of the school leaders in New Bedford lead to an increase in the number of students earning proficiency in literacy, as measured against rigorous state standards. Since 2000, New Bedford has experienced an eight-fold increase in the percent of students earning literacy proficiency on the state assessment.

Our services included:

  • Training of instructional leadership teams in the implementation of a targeted framework that used student achievement data to identify an area of instructional improvement based on student needs.
  • Training principals and teacher leaders using tools and protocols aimed at developing collaborative cultures, and shared accountability for student learning.
  • Coaching of the superintendent and his cabinet with a focus on building capacity to support the district’s instructional agenda.

Here are the results:

Working with central office staff to develop a plan to place literacy and math instructional coaches at each school.

Percentage of grade 4 students scoring proficient or advanced, English/language arts MCAS (Massachusetts COmprehensive Assessment System) score growth, 2001-2004