Agawam Public Schools receive glowing EQA report
By Katelyn Gendron
Reminder Assistant Editor
AGAWAM Dr. Albert Argenziano, director of district services for the Massachusetts Office of Educational Quality and Accountability (EQA), provided a glowing final audit report of the Agawam Public Schools to the School Committee last week.
The 24-page document details findings made by the EQA's six-member examination team during their four-day visit to Agawam last October. The team met with administrators, conducted over 40 random classroom observations, reviewed test scores and other documents and conducted over 28 interviews with parents and personnel in order to gauge the district's efficiency in six specific categories.
In 2000, the Massachusetts Legislature formed the EQA in order to examine each school district's practices, recognize their inadequacies and prepare recommendations for improvement.
At the meeting, Argenziano relayed the EQA's findings and his impressions of the district. He cited Agawam Public Schools as having a "strong professional development program," an "outstanding safety model," "high quality leadership," an "excellent Web site," a "superb Vision 2010" and an "outstanding special education inclusion model."
"You should be proud," he told the School Committee.
Superintendent Mary Czajkowski said the EQA report will serve the school district as "an instrument and tool for improvement."
Only three general recommendations for Agawam Public Schools were cited in the report. The EQA called for the district to formulate a process for evaluation and curriculum revision and to provide professional development training that will "strengthen the link between curriculum and instructional delivery." The third recommendation was that the district share their special education inclusion model with others across the state.
"Your special education inclusion model has to be in the top five percent in the state," Argenziano told the School Committee. "The model is outstanding and should be applauded."
Other recommendations cited in the report within the six examined areas leadership, governance and communication; curriculum and instruction; assessment and program evaluation; human resource management and professional development; access, participation and student academic support; and financial and asset management effectiveness and efficiency included updating the School Committee's policies, recreating the methods of personnel evaluations, improving curriculum consistency, updating technology, decreasing the in-school suspension rate and establishing a long-term Capital Improvement Plan (CIP).
Argenziano noted the importance of having a CIP in order to ensure the continued maintenance of school buildings and facilities.
In an interview with Reminder Publications, Czajkowski said she will be taking a serious look at forming a definitive capital improvement plan over the next six months in order to ensure the long-term viability of the district's facilities as well as the safety of students, faculty and staff.
She explained that she has already reviewed the EQA report and has begun to form improvement models with regards to personnel performance evaluations, a new student information system and bridging curriculum gaps, especially at the high school level.
The EQA report described Agawam High School as "generally weaker than all of the other buildings in the observable areas."
Czajkowski explained that the high school was led by three different principals last year, which might have created a lack of continuity.
The EQA report noted Agawam's 2007 Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System scores in English Language Arts and Math as higher than the state average. The district also scored an 87.5 percent in the Management Quality Index, scoring "improvable" only in the areas of curriculum and instruction and assessment and program evaluation.
Czajkowski said she will continue to work with district and town personnel to improve the Agawam Public Schools, with emphasis on curriculum development and capital improvement needs in the upcoming months.
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