Introduction

The imperative to improve low performing schools and districts has been cast into the spotlight in Massachusetts and nationally. State accountability systems and the No Child Left Behind Act force policymakers and the public, alike, to recognize the large numbers of schools that are failing to educate all students to high standards. They also confirm that urban districts, with diverse student populations, high concentrations of English Language Learners, and high mobility rates, face the greatest challenges. “Accountability systems alone will not improve schools. Without capacity to improve teaching and learning, these systems will just create a long list of low performers”. More schools and districts than ever are being identified as low performing, and the problem requires substantial, systemic action from the state. Massachusetts has developed mechanisms for identifying low performing schools and districts and diagnosing their areas of weakness. In the future, this system must be extended to include greater support for districts in need of improvement—and this will require greater state assistance capacity. In fact, this matter of state leadership on intervention and capacity building is a central consideration in the current school finance case, Hancock v. Driscoll, now being considered by the state’s Supreme Judicial Court.