Policy

Achieving high levels of learning in every classroom and every school requires supportive district policies and practices. Unfortunately, large urban school systems, like Boston’s, frequently exhibit a disconnect between what happens in the central office and what happens on the ground, in schools. The Boston Public Schools and BPE have committed to several ongoing activities that improve those connections — and help the district to alter or redirect its own policies and resources to better support the school-level improvements that matter for students.

How it works

The work of BPE’s policy team cuts across its work with schools and the district. The policy team pays attention to frustrations expressed by teachers and principals about central office policies and practices that are not supportive of their work to improve instruction. By researching the source of these frustrations — and the district practices that underlie them — the Boston Plan assists central office administrators to examine and realign their own work.

BPE's policy work has evolved over time. For several years, policy staff worked closely with a team of central office department directors, the Resource Action Team (REACT), to problem solve some of the toughest obstacles to school improvement that emerge from these studies. BPE supported the research needs of the REACT team by interviewing school and district staff, surveying principals on central office operations, and producing case studies that highlighted ineffective district practices. More recently, BPE has narrowed its policy focus to a few core areas — new teacher hiring and support, alignment of professional development and career advancement structures, and equitable school funding practices — and policy staff work directly with the superintendent and senior district leaders responsible for this work.

Why it matters

A system-wide approach to improving results for each student requires that the system improve its support to schools. BPE provides outside eyes and valuable research capacity by investigating the central office policies and practices that contribute to maintaining the status quo. When these systemic obstacles are removed, teachers and school leaders are better able to implement the instructional practices and whole-school improvements that make a difference for their students.