Competency-Based Parker Essential School Succeeds by Doing More With Less
The ground-breaking charter school is known for small classes, no grades and huge focus on personalization.
;)
Education news and commentary, delivered right to your inbox.
Sign up for The 74 newsletter.
Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter
Devens, Mass.
For her senior project at Francis W. Parker Charter Essential School, Katie Collins decided to learn how to play guitar.
She鈥檇 originally planned to learn and record four or five songs in eight months, but by early May she told a small crowd, 鈥淚 chose, in a very Parker fashion, to do two songs, in depth.鈥
If a school鈥檚 ethos can be summed up in a single sentence, that might be it: Less is more. It guides much of what happens in this unusual, if influential, school 30 miles northwest of Boston.
鈥淚 went into this having slightly unrealistic expectations of myself,鈥 Collins told judges at her presentation, having predicted this time last year that she鈥檇 be 鈥渁 rock star by May.鈥
Asked whether she considers herself a guitar player yet, she was unequivocal: 鈥淢y idea of being a guitar player is 鈥榮hredding.鈥 I鈥檓 not there yet.鈥 One day, she said, she鈥檒l be a rock star. 鈥淚鈥檓 gonna keep at it.鈥
鈥榃e鈥檙e not afraid鈥
Founded in 1994, Parker is a throwback to , when educators rebelled against the impersonal tyranny of bell schedules and the very idea of letter grades. It has found a way to operate without these, laying the groundwork for some of the most influential school experiments happening today.
Parker students aren鈥檛 assigned grades. Instead, they constantly revise their work, which teachers judge on a continuum from 鈥渂eginning鈥 to 鈥渕eeting鈥 expectations. Work that fails to pass muster doesn鈥檛 receive a traditional D or F. Students simply stay in the 鈥渂eginning鈥 phase of the process, invited to try again without the traditional consequences lower grades carry in most schools.
While operating without traditional letter grades presents a challenge for many new students, this problem soon solves itself, said Brian Harrigan, Parker鈥檚 head of school. By the end of the school year, he no longer hears new students talking about grades. 鈥淭hey are definitely motivated by ‘meets.’鈥
Everyone has chosen to be here. I think that's important.
Brian Harrigan, head of school, Francis W. Parker Charter Essential School
It seems to be working: Parker boasts an enviable college-going rate of 82.4%. And though it doesn鈥檛 offer a single Advanced Placement class, Parker鈥檚 pass rate on AP exams is among the highest in Massachusetts.
In its latest state report card, Parker鈥檚 out-of-school was 0.7%. The number of students disciplined for any reason hovered in single digits.
Most schools keep kids in check by threatening lost points or detention if they鈥檙e late, forget an assignment or misbehave, said Deb Merriam, Parker鈥檚 academic dean and one of three original staff members. 鈥淎t this school, there’s no sense that there’s something to lose.鈥
She added bluntly, 鈥淲e don’t 鈥榙o fear.鈥欌
We don鈥檛 do fear.
Deb Merriam, academic dean, Francis W. Park Charter Essential School
There鈥檚 also no sense that adults fear kids acting out if they鈥檙e unhappy or bored, because so much of the school鈥檚 energy is spent ensuring that everyone succeeds in pursuit of their interests.
That principle is central to student life at Parker: Each student owns his or her education.
鈥淓veryone has chosen to be here,鈥 said Harrigan. 鈥淚 think that’s important.鈥
Roots in Sizer鈥檚 work
Ironically, fear played a role in the school鈥檚 creation three decades ago.
Parker opened its doors in 1995, a year after Massachusetts approved its charter 鈥 one of the first in the state. It was led by a group of parents and teachers inspired by educator Theodore R. Sizer 鈥 known to colleagues as Ted 鈥 who a decade earlier had written the seminal book Horace鈥檚 Compromise: The Dilemma of the American High School.
The book followed a fictional beleaguered English teacher named Horace Smith, who confronts a system that somehow expects little of students but simultaneously fears their capacity for trouble. The 鈥渃ompromise鈥 of the title describes Horace鈥檚 bid to make peace with students by not challenging them too much.
Sizer naturally envisioned a more positive and democratic way to run a high school, with teachers becoming trusted coaches rather than simply getting by. He and his wife, Nancy, founded the Coalition of Essential Schools, which worked to spread the word about his ideas, outlined in 10 鈥溾 such as 鈥淪tudent as worker, teacher as coach.鈥
The Sizers were among the school鈥檚 founders and served as co-principals from 1998 to 1999. Ted Sizer died in 2009, and the coalition folded in 2016, but many of today鈥檚 most innovative high school models 鈥 from California鈥檚 heralded to the national network of schools 鈥 were founded by his disciples.
鈥業s this far enough?鈥
Individualization is perhaps the key component of what makes Parker work, giving students leeway to build skills and explore interests at their own pace. It also allows teachers to avoid leveling or tracking students, as most schools do.
In an Arts and Humanities class one recent morning, students strummed ukuleles in preparation for the day鈥檚 lesson: studying and composing protest songs.
Within a week of picking up the instruments, they鈥檇 be expected to perform a protest song, either a cover of a classic, a new version with different lyrics or an original.
In one of his upper level math classes, teacher Jon Churchill hands students an imaginary $1,000 monthly salary and a handful of bills to pay. Then he tasks them with creating a budgeting spreadsheet.
The push to individualize sometimes makes Churchill think of himself as a sort of mountain guide, forever asking students, 鈥淚s this far enough? Is this far enough? What do you want to do? Do you want to go forward?鈥
A few kids scramble up the mountain, their energy spent making their spreadsheets as efficient and elegant as possible. Others struggle to create the functions needed just to pay one bill. Individualizing the assignment, he said, means 鈥渢hey can all have that same common language, even though the kids are doing slightly different things.鈥
The key to succeeding in such differentiation, Harrigan said, is class sizes of no more than 20 to 25 students and a commitment to team teaching, especially in the early years.
Teachers assigned to Parker鈥檚 youngest students co-teach two long, two-hour sessions daily, assessing the work of no more than about 25 students daily, much smaller than the load of most high school teachers, who must often grade upwards of 100 papers per assignment 鈥 one Chicago English teacher recently recalled having to grade as many as per assignment.
Parker also offers teachers a daily two-hour prep period. That means they can offer 鈥渁 ton of revision, a ton of reflection鈥 for students to improve their work, Harrigan said.
The school has inevitably inspired broad interest from two groups: homeschoolers and students with special needs. Students with individualized education plans and less restrictive 504 plans now comprise about 40% of Parker鈥檚 student body.
鈥淲e have a lot of parents whose kids have struggled in traditional districts come here for the support that the school offers,鈥 said Sue Massucco, the arts and humanities domain leader. Parker鈥檚 ethos allows students to 鈥渃ome and be yourself,鈥 she said. 鈥淚f they want to wear a cape to school, they wear a cape to school.鈥
Senior presentations
Just as they鈥檙e spared letter grades, they also attend classes in groups that aren鈥檛 strictly age-segregated. Instead, they study sequentially in one of three 鈥渄ivisions,鈥 working at their own pace as they master 13 competencies.
Each division is roughly equivalent to two years, ranging from 7th to 12th grade. Because they 鈥済ateway鈥 out of each division, presenting their work to small groups of teachers, parents and classmates, students soon get used to talking to adults, said Marena Cole, a Division 2 arts and humanities teacher. That helps make them more reflective. 鈥淭hey know themselves well,鈥 she said. 鈥淭hey’re asked to reflect on their work constantly, starting from when they’re 12.鈥
This process culminates in their senior project and a formal, if-friendly, hour-long talk, with 17- and 18-year-olds holding forth on everything they know on topics from hypnosis to van conversion.
Senior Ava Soderman detailed what it鈥檚 like to be a ranger at Yellowstone National Park, which she visited last winter. She hopes to work at a national park after she graduates from college 鈥 and it shows.
Dressed in a makeshift ranger outfit, Soderman recalled meeting and training with park personnel, persuading one ranger to be her mentor and confronting her doubts about the job. She admitted that she didn鈥檛 quite get around to earning her required emergency medical services and paramedic training. 鈥淚f you guys know me, I don’t do well with needles and blood, and I pass out frequently,鈥 she said. 鈥淪o this is something that I do plan to get my certification in. It’s just going to require a lot of good mindset and good practice.鈥
The presentations are smart, often funny and deeply personal.
鈥淏y the time they’re seniors, they can hold a room,鈥 said wellness teacher Kafi Beckles. 鈥淭hey can present, they can share their opinions, they’re able to have their own thoughts, not just regurgitate facts.鈥
By the time they鈥檙e seniors, they can hold a room.
Kafi Beckles, wellness teacher, Francis W. Parker Charter Essential School
Less is more
As a lottery-based charter school, Parker serves students from 40 towns in the Boston area. The 鈥渆ssential鈥 in the school鈥檚 name means that, as with others guided by Sizer鈥檚 ideals, it strives to do just a few things well. Among the coalition鈥檚 10 principles, one of the most often-quoted is: Less is more: depth over coverage.
So there鈥檚 no band or football team, no high-tech classroom gear, and no pretense that it can do it all.
The less is more sensibility makes a kind of sense at Parker, which for much of its life has been housed in a repurposed, slightly run-down 1960s-era elementary school on a decommissioned Army base. While Harrigan and others often dream about what life might be like in a newer, nicer building, the idea tends to melt away in favor of discussions about curriculum, teacher feedback and student growth.
But it has occasionally hurt Parker in recruiting, as prospective families inevitably compare it to offerings in their communities.
Board chair and parent Pam Gordon, who has had two children attend Parker, recalled sitting in on town meetings in Harvard, Mass., a few years ago as the town council debated building a new $53 million elementary school. Mold had been discovered in the existing school, which offered a 鈥減retty good reason鈥 to start anew.
Come over to Parker. The care that's given to the students, and the way students treat each other 鈥 you don't need a splashy building.
Pam Gordon, parent and incoming board chair, Francis W. Parker Charter Essential School
But when people stood up and said a new building would improve the education there, she said, 鈥淚 actually laughed.鈥
She tells people, 鈥淐ome over to Parker, 10 minutes away, and see what they’re doing, because the education is far superior. And the care that’s given to the students, and the way students treat each other 鈥 you don’t need a splashy building.鈥
Did you use this article in your work?
We鈥檇 love to hear how The 74鈥檚 reporting is helping educators, researchers, and policymakers.
