Town of Dunstable, MA

The Office of Educational Quality and Accountability (EQA) has finished their report, which was presented at the March 19 School Committee meeting and is now accessible on the home page of the district website (www.gdrsd.org).

EQA also sent a letter to the school district citing their two areas of concern as "financial support for the school system, and building security systems." Steps are already being taken to address the building security concerns.  

The EQA report (PDF format) notes many of the wonderful accomplishments and strengths of the Groton-Dunstable Regional School District. The following are a few extracts from the report.

What EQA did (extract from page 1)

“In October 2007, the EQA conducted an independent examination of the Groton-Dunstable Regional School District for the period of 2005-2007. The EQA analyzed Groton-Dunstable students performance on the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) tests and identified how students in general and in sub-groups were performing. The EQA then examined critical factors that affected student performance in six major 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.”

Recommendations (extract from page 3)

“As a result of its examination, the EQA arrived at recommendations for the district, which were presented to the super-intendent subsequent to the examination. They are as follows.

• Although the district has met its net school spending requirements, its per pupil expenditure during the period under review was below the state average. Reconsider budgetary decisions that might further reduce net school spending.
• Provide a viable plan and the necessary resources to facilitate integration of technology into instruction. The loss of key personnel in this area due to budget reductions has made this nearly impossible to accomplish.
• Develop and implement an effective system of professional staff supervision, and support staff improvement with well designed professional development. Little evidence existed that the district had used effective systems of supervision across the district, and this must become a top priority.”

Note that Superintendent Genovese has already cited revision of the system of staff evaluation and increasing accountability as district priorities.

Comment regarding Human Resource Management and Professional Development (from page 17)

"Although administrators were supposed to be evaluated annually according to the procedure, the former superintendent completed very few evaluations. The evaluation criteria included some but not all of the categories in the Principles of Effective Administrative Leadership. The current superintendent completed evaluations of principals and other administrators. These evaluations were thorough and made reference to student achievement data."