When Thomas D. Fowler-Finn arrived in Cambridge in 2003 to serve as superintendent of the city’s public school system, the district had been losing nearly 100 or more students annually, and the city’s only public high school, Cambridge Rindge and Latin (CRLS), was on probation for failing to meet state standards.

Re-orienting the system’s focus in order to improve performance on the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) would not prove easy.

“A teacher stood up at a meeting and said, ‘I’ve never taught to standards, and I never will,’” he said. “I think that’s a disservice to young people.”

Five years later, CRLS has been taken off probation and the district has made significant progress in some areas.

On the 2007 MCAS exam, 91 percent of students passed the English Language Arts (ELA) exam, compared with 79 percent in 2003; 90 percent passed the Mathematics exam, compared with 69 percent in 2003.

But critics of Fowler-Finn have assailed him for being too “test-oriented” in his pedagogical emphasis and “misleading” when presenting MCAS data.

And despite improvement, an achievement gap between white and minority students persists.

RE-EXAMINING THE GAP

CRLS senior Emma L. Shreefter said that she thinks the district takes a “skewed” approach to student achievement.

“I think that, ever since I was a freshman, the achievement and push for success is only for certain students—usually by race, gender, and socioeconomic status, which has really bothered me,” said Shreefter, who is also a student representative to the school committee.

“It’s about showing the student they’re just as important as the rich white kid sitting next to them,” she added.

While the group MCAS scores of white and black students have increased individually, a significant gap remains between them. On the 2007 MCAS, there was a 30 percent ELA difference between the advanced scores of white and black students, with 4 percent of black and 34 percent of white students scoring advanced.

There was a 37 percent difference on the mathematics advanced scores, with 22 percent of black and 59 percent of white students achieving this score.

A report prepared by the Cambridge chapter of the NAACP criticized leaders of the system for having expectations that are “not high enough” for children. It is these low expectations, the report says, that explain why more black students in other districts—including Milton, Stoughton, and Waltham—scored proficient on last year’s exam.

“It’s NOT terrific...It’s NOT a record of high expectations, of meeting our children’s potential, of commendable progress,” the report notes. “It’s NOT good enough.”

Shreefter also said that she thinks the gap is a result of low school expectations, rather than a difference in inherent ability.

“Everybody has the capability to do the same thing...it’s just how the student is pushed to do it,” she said.

Cambridge School Committee member Marc C. McGovern echoed these sentiments.

“Sometimes we focus too much on one particular group or another,” he said. “We need to make our schools strong for all of our kids.”

‘GUILTY OF LOW AIM’

While the graduation rate is up and more students have been passing the MCAS in recent years, some residents say that doing well on standardized tests is not the best indicator of academic prowess.

“We should celebrate, but I think using the state standard and looking at passing, as opposed to advanced level, makes us guilty of low aim,” said Mayor E. Denise Simmons, at a committee meeting when the graduation rate data for last year was publicized.

Eighty-eight percent of students district-wide graduated, which was seven points higher than the 81 percent for the state.

The data also showed that while white males graduated at the same rate of 84 percent as the state, black males in the district graduated at a higher rate—91 percent—which is 32 points higher than 59 percent for the state.

Simmons said that the district should track students’ success after high school before lauding the graduation rate.

Additionally, the tendency to evaluate progress by scores and to “teach to the test” is a concern of parents who consider leaving the public school system.

“I feel the teachers are under incredible pressure in terms of the amount of testing they have to administer from the state as well as the district,” said Risa Lavelle, a parent of three, who said she is looking for a more “creative approach” that would utilize more one-on-one student learning and non-traditional teaching methods.

“Teachers are willing to learn, change, grow, but I just feel they’re getting overrun and overworked by the central administration,” she added, calling for more teacher input and funding.

But Lawrence J. Adkins, who ran for the Cambridge City Council in 2005, said that teacher input was hard to come by with Fowler-Finn—who has been described as a “top-down” administrator—at the helm.

“If you don’t walk the walk of the boss, then you are subject to not have your job,” he said.

While some have bemoaned the emphasis on testing, Fowler-Finn compared the necessity of imparting knowledge that will be tested on state exams to preparing for a driving test.

“There are things the student has to know,” he said.

BEYOND THE TESTS

Despite criticisms, Fowler-Finn’s approach to running the schools may be working.

In a recent letter, a representative from the Governor’s Office of Educational Accountability, a state agency that audits the school system, said that Cambridge Public Schools have shown a “broad and high degree of improvement.”

“I think it’s important to know that there are objective sources that have indicated that we’ve made substantial progress,” Fowler-Finn said.

The district also has the resources for progress, with a per-pupil expenditure of $25,000—almost double the state average of $13,000.

McGovern cited free all-day kindergarten, the variety of elementary schools, small class sizes, school choice busing, and free sports as examples of how “much of what we’re doing with the money is really good.”

Fowler-Finn has also addressed concerns of a test-oriented approach by including a budget sum for “innovative curricula” in the 2008-2009 budget proposal, which was just approved unanimously by the school committee.

“We’re trying to encourage principals to be creative, individualistic, doing things full of imagination, and looking for alternatives that excite students,” he said.

Nancy Walser, a former school committee member, said that the system was in a place for teachers to diversify their teaching.

“Now that the standards are pretty well known in the schools, we need to get teachers more involved in innovating,” she said.

The Cambridge Public Schools district has already taken steps to explore alternative educational methods.

A Montessori program—which focuses on self-directed activity—is in its first year at the John M. Tobin School and the possibility of an International Baccalaureate program at the high school was up for serious discussion at a roundtable this month.

Fowler-Finn said he feels that the unanimous passing of the budget is a good sign of progress, despite tensions that sometimes flare up at school committee meetings.

“I think this bodes well for this school system,” he said.

—Staff writer Vidya B. Viswanathan can be reached at viswanat@fas.harvard.edu.