Urban districts are not known for smooth leadership transitions. Often, new superintendents come in and completely change the district’s strategies instead of building on the work of their predecessors. However, Boston is hoping to avoid this issue. In order to help the next superintendent address the district’s challenges without scrapping everything that is working, a group of researchers was brought in to evaluate the tenure of former Superintendent Thomas W. Payzant, who retired last month after more than ten years on the job.
Thomas W. Payzant, who retired last month, is seen in a photo with Jose Zayas, the 10-year-old winner of a poetry contest, at a school board meeting in May. [Insert file photo by Michael Dwyer for Education Week]
S. Paul Reville, the president of the Rennie Center for Education Research and Policy in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which commissioned the studies, said, "There have been many positive developments over the past ten years that need to be continued, expanded, modified, and extended." He believes that having a comprehensive analysis of Payzant’s tenure will enhance the chances of maintaining the strong strategies that worked during his term. The Rennie Center project, which received $400,000 in funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, examined the progress made in six areas: human resources, leadership training, teaching and learning, use of data, high schools, and special education.
The authors of the project identified several major problems, including high teacher attrition rates, ineffective programs for students with learning difficulties, and a central office that does not adequately support and hold schools accountable. However, they also recognized that the district is generally moving in the right direction, especially in its efforts to improve instruction. At a conference, Norm Fruchter, a researcher from New York University, stated, "It would be disastrous if a new superintendent decided to completely overhaul everything and implement a completely different set of instructional interventions."
What sets Boston apart is not necessarily the strategies it has implemented, but rather the longevity and persistence with which it has stuck to these strategies. By the time Payzant retired, he was one of the longest-serving urban superintendents in the nation. Warren Simmons, the executive director of the Annenberg Institute for School Reform, remarked, "The remarkable part of this story is the longevity, persistence, and continuous improvement."
When Payzant took on the role in 1995, Boston had little to lose. The district’s elected school board had been plagued by infighting and was eventually disbanded by state lawmakers, with control given to Mayor Thomas M. Menino. With support from both political and business leaders in Boston, Payzant focused on consistent instructional improvement through the implementation of new districtwide curricula and professional development opportunities for teachers and school leaders. Some analysts argue that it is not the specific strategies that make Boston different, but rather the fact that the district has stayed committed to them for an extended period of time.
Overall, the goal of the research project was to provide a comprehensive understanding of Payzant’s tenure and to ensure that the district’s next superintendent can build upon the progress made while addressing the remaining challenges. By avoiding a complete overhaul of strategies, the district hopes to maintain continuity and continue driving improvement in education.
Harvard education professor Richard J. Murnane, along with graduate students Elizabeth A. City and Kristan Singleton, raised the question of how we can transition to a system of assessments that gives teachers and central office the necessary information to work more effectively. They discovered that even Mr. Payzant’s renowned instructional strategies needed improvement. The researchers found that the implementation of these strategies varied greatly, particularly in high schools where teacher collaboration was hindered by scheduling conflicts and other challenges.
Barbara Neufeld, the president of Education Matters, a local research group, emphasized that the organization and leadership of the district are crucial for progress. She believes that it requires a complete rethinking of how the central office works with itself and with the schools.
Despite some pointed criticisms, certain community leaders argued that the reports were too lenient towards the outgoing superintendent. They specifically mentioned the lack of focus on public engagement, which they consider to be one of Mr. Payzant’s significant weaknesses. Hubie Jones, a local activist and former dean of the school of social work at Boston University, played a role in drafting a separate report on the district, released by a coalition of community organizations. These groups called on the next superintendent of Boston to develop a plan to eliminate achievement gaps within five years within six months of taking office.
Mr. Payzant attended the Rennie Center conference and took notes throughout. While he acknowledged many of the criticisms he heard, he disagreed with the notion that he did not seek enough public input. He assured the gathering that he has spent more hours in the community than anyone else, although he admitted that perhaps the approach could have been better. Mr. Reville of the Rennie Center agreed that Mr. Payzant’s record on community engagement should be evaluated and proposed including an additional paper on the topic in the compiled research.
The usefulness of these recommendations for the next superintendent of Boston is yet to be determined as the district has not yet announced candidates for the position. Elizabeth Reilinger, the chairwoman of the Boston School Committee, found the assessments to be generally helpful. However, she acknowledged the challenges they pose for Mr. Payzant’s successor. She highlighted the difficulty of balancing different priorities and allocating resources effectively. The comprehensive integration of all aspects often gets neglected when each part is dissected and examined individually.
