Testimonials
District Success: Chicopee, MA - Chicopee School District
The City of Chicopee's location, at the crossing of the Chicopee and Connecticut Rivers in western Massachusetts, gave it a natural advantage over many other potential development sites in western New England. For over 150 years the rivers provided power and transportation opportunities not available in many other communities. As the industrial revolution waned, interstate Routes 90 and 91 were built and have become the commercial corridor for all of New England. Both these interstates run through Chicopee and are easily accessible. The City of Chicopee is also home to Westover Air Reserve Base, the largest air reserve base in the United States. The Chicopee School District has over 7,800 students in pre-K-12 educated in 1 Early childhood Center, 9 Elementary Schools, 2 Middle Schools, 2 High Schools and 1 Alternative School. 65% of the students are low-income.
The Challenge
It is the mission of the Chicopee Public Schools to maintain high standards and expectations for all students by involving teachers, parents, and the community in the education of its students. Central to its mission to provide students with the knowledge, skills, and values they will need to lead meaningful lives is a commitment to the professional development of its teaching staff. Recent statewide regulations approved by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education require K-12 School Districts to implement a comprehensive educator evaluation system, the Common Core for learning, rigorous state curriculum frameworks, and a comprehensive student assessment system. These regulations dictate what processes and criteria will be used by K-12 School Districts to evaluate teachers and implement programs for personal improvements. Meeting state mandated implementation deadlines, in addition to supporting a number of other strategic initiatives, required the school district to seek expert outside assistance to ensure its compliance with its mission and state mandated regulations.
The Ribas Associates Solution
Consultants from Ribas Associates and Publications Inc. have been working closely with Chicopee's teachers and administrators to improve teaching and learning and ensure that all state mandated educator evaluation activities are being implemented in a highly effective manner. The engagement with Ribas Associates has culminated in the following, resulting in higher student achievement:
- A group of 38 teacher trainers have been trained to teach and coach all teachers to:
- Create comprehensive self assessments, professional development plans.
- Use artifacts, student assessment data, and other evidence points to assess and improve their performance.
- Evaluators have learned to conduct in-depth lesson observations and provide effective verbal and written feedback that increases teacher and administrator effectiveness.
- Evaluators have learned to use artifacts, student assessment data, and 20 other evidence points to assess teacher and administrator effectiveness.
- A group of educator trainers and implementation leaders have been trained at each building to facilitate the implementation of an online performance management system.
- Evaluators have learned to effectively evaluate to improvement (or removal if improvement isn't forthcoming) underperforming educators including developing improvement and direct growth plans, objectively assessing and documenting progress, and issuing progressive discipline when needed.
- Under the facilitation of a Ribas Associates interest based bargaining expert, the union and administration have agreed upon a comprehensive system of educator evaluation.
Reference: Richard Rege, Superintendent 413-594-3410
District Success: Malden, MA - Malden School District
The City of Malden is a city of 56,688 located five miles northwest of Boston. The city has five new K-8 schools, a citywide pre-school for 400 youngsters and one comprehensive high school (Grades 9-12). The Massachusetts Department of Education is headquartered in downtown Malden. Malden's proximity to Boston allows easy access to the city via public transportation. Many Malden residents work in and around the city of Boston. Its proximity to Boston also provides easy access and the opportunity for rich partnerships between the Malden Public Schools and the multitude of world-class colleges and universities in and around Boston. It is the mission of the Malden Public Schools to maintain high standards and expectations for all in its multicultural student population. The public schools have developed rich partnerships with parents and other community groups.
The Challenge
Central to its mission to provide a diverse group of students with the knowledge, skills, and values they will need to lead meaningful lives is a commitment to the professional development of its teaching staff. Recent statewide regulations approved by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education require pre-K-12 School Districts to implement a comprehensive educator evaluation system, the Common Core for learning, rigorous state curriculum frameworks, and a comprehensive student assessment system. These regulations dictate what processes and criteria will be used by school districts to professionally develop and evaluate teachers with the goal of raising student achievement. Meeting state mandated implementation requirements and deadlines have required the school districts to seek expert outside assistance to ensure its compliance with its mission and state mandates.
The Ribas Associates Solution
Consultants from Ribas Associates and Publications Inc. have been working closely with Malden teachers and administrators since 2012. The engagement with Ribas Associates has culminated in the following, resulting in higher student achievement:
- Teachers have learned to create comprehensive self-assessments and professional development plans that improve their effectiveness.
- Teachers have been trained in the most current research and practice in standards-based teaching, differentiated instruction, and classroom assessment.
- Evaluators have learned to conduct in-depth lesson observations and provide effective verbal and written feedback that has increased teacher effectiveness.
- Evaluators have learned to use artifacts, student assessment data, and 20 other evidence points to assess and improve teacher performance.
- Evaluators have learned to effectively evaluate to improvement (or removal if improvement isn't forthcoming) underperforming teachers including developing improvement and direct growth plans, objectively assessing and documenting progress, and issuing progressive discipline when needed.
- Under the facilitation of a Ribas Associates interest based bargaining expert, the union and administration have agreed upon a comprehensive system of educator development and evaluation.
Reference: Dr. David DeRuosi, Superintendent 781-397-7204
District Success: Revere, MA - Revere School District
It is my pleasure to recommend Ribas Associates as a Professional Development provider in the areas of Special Education and Social-Emotional Learning. Ribas Associates has been a professional development provider for the Revere Public Schools for nearly 20 years. Recently, the professional development has centered around three core areas: Effective Supervision and Evaluation, Inclusive Practices, and Social-Emotional Learning. Courses provided include Educator Evaluation Training and Coaching, Overview of Disabling Conditions in the Classroom, Executive Function: Implications for Teaching and Learning, Working in Classrooms with Students with Neurological and Emotional Disorders, Working with Students with Behavioral Issues, Teaching and Reaching Your Students on the Autism Spectrum as well as a training district trainers in the area of Social-Emotional Learning using the concepts from their book.
The professional development provided by Ribas Associates is always of the highest quality. Professional development in the area of Supervision and Evaluation consistently builds administrator capacity to effectively observe and analyze instructional practices and provide high quality feedback designed to improve student outcomes. Professional development offered in the area of Special Education is uniquely designed to benefit both general educators and special educators working in inclusive environments to understand their changing classroom population and design effective lessons to meet the diverse learning needs of their students. Finally, the Revere Public Schools recently partnered with Ribas Associates to provide SEL training for staff. First, 30 teachers were trained as SEL trainers to provide professional development for their colleagues throughout the district. Then, administrators were provided with professional development designed to observe SEL practices in the general education setting and provide effective feedback to teachers on their implementation. As a result, teachers now have the capacity to embed SEL skills in their lessons and students are able to practice these skills and competencies throughout the day.
Overall, Ribas Associates continues to be an excellent professional development provider for the Revere Public Schools. I would recommend Ribas Associates for high quality professional development without reservations. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me using the contact information below.
Reference: Josh Vadala, Ed.D., Assistant Superintendent of Schools, 781-286-8226
