DESE Update: January 18th, 2019

1. Board of Elementary and Secondary Education Meetings:

The Board of Elementary and Secondary Education held a special meeting on January 14. Commissioner Riley announced that he, New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell, and Alma del Mar Charter School Executive Director Will Gardner had reached a proposed compromise on Alma del Mar’s expansion request. The Board is scheduled to vote on Commissioner Riley’s recommendation at its January 22 meeting.

Also on January 14, the Board learned about redesigned school and district report cards and heard an update on automated test scoring. All students will continue to have their MCAS essays scored by a human, but the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education will start using automated scoring as a second score for at least one essay per grade in grades 3-8 this year. If the human score and the computer score are different, the student will receive the higher of the two scores on the essay. The Department plans to analyze the results and report back to the Board.

The Board’s January 22 agenda includes the Alma del Mar item mentioned above, a vote on renewing the charter of City on a Hill Charter Public School New Bedford; an overview of the approval process for the proposed new charter schools that the Board will consider in February; a discussion about Paulo Freire Social Justice Charter School (download), which is on probation; a vote on the Helen Y. Davis Leadership Academy Charter School, which is on probation; a discussion on high school accountability; and the Board’s annual report for fiscal year 2018. This year’s annual report is a dynamic online document that highlights agency activities as well as work happening in local districts. The Department would like to thank the many schools and districts that shared their work!

A video recording of the January 14 meeting is available at https://livestream.com/accounts/22459134, and the January 22 meeting will be streamed online at the same address.

Picture of the Week:

On January 12, DESE launched the InSPIRED (In-Service Professionals Increasing Racial and Ethnic Diversity) Fellowship, an opportunity for current educators to support the recruitment of the next generation of diverse, effective teachers. Senior Associate Commissioner Ventura Rodriguez, Senior Associate Commissioner Heather Peske (not pictured), and Ron Walker, executive director of the Coalition of Schools Educating Boys of Color, joined 34 Fellows from across the state to discuss how to bring populations who are currently underrepresented in the teaching workforce into the profession.

3. Help Keep Teachers Passionate about Teaching:

On Wednesday, January 23, 2019 Massachusetts Teacher of the Year Jamil Siddiqui, 2018 Massachusetts Teacher of the Year Cara Pekarcik, 2017 Milken Educator Dan Adler, and DESE are hosting a discussion with teachers to brainstorm ways to keep educators passionate about their work and the teaching profession. The discussion will run from 4:00-5:00 p.m. in Worcester and is open to Massachusetts public school teachers. The Department will continue accepting RSVPs until the event is full. Teachers who would like to attend should email Jackie Reis at jreis@doe.mass.edu to RSVP and learn the location.

4. Deadline Extended for Personalized Learning Survey for Principals:

The Massachusetts Personalized Learning Edtech (MAPLE) Consortium, a DESE partner, wants to better understand the current state of teaching in Massachusetts. To that end, MAPLE would appreciate each school principal filling out the MAPLE Personalized Learning Survey by Friday, January 25. The results of the survey will be shared. For additional information about MAPLE, please contact Executive Director David O’Connor at david@learnlaunch.org.

5. Career and Technical Education Webinars:

The Office for College, Career, and Technical Education will be providing two webinars in February. Registration is available online at the links below.
• February 5, 1:00-2:00 p.m., Developing and Maintaining Effective Program Advisory Committees (PACs): This webinar will examine practices to help schools build and strengthen their PACs and, by extension, their programs. This webinar is appropriate for any secondary or postsecondary institution that offers Chapter 74 state-approved vocational technical programs and/or programs funded by a Carl D. Perkins career and technical education grant. This webinar will be of special interest to institutions that have recently formed new PACs.
• February 26, 1:00-2:00 p.m., Recruiting Licensed or Licensable Vocational Technical Teachers: Secondary school-level Chapter 74 state-approved vocational technical programs must be taught by appropriately licensed vocational technical teachers or by licensable teachers whose school districts have been granted one-year waivers. According to feedback from school districts, finding licensed or licensable teachers can be challenging. This webinar will outline licensure and waiver timelines, identify helpful resources, and provide ideas to help with recruitment. This webinar is appropriate for school districts anticipating teacher vacancies in Chapter 74 programs and those considering School Year 2019-2020 submission of an application for a new Chapter 74 program.

6. Skills Capital Grants:

The Baker-Polito Administration announced nearly $3.3 million in Skills Capital Grants to 31 high schools and educational institutions this week, enabling the schools to acquire the newest technologies to educate students and expand programs. Governor Baker’s Workforce Skills Cabinet awards Skills Capital Grants to educational institutions that demonstrate partnerships with local businesses and align curriculum and credentials with industry demand in order to maximize hiring opportunities in each region of the state. Congratulations to all the recipients!

7. Grants for Financial Education Fairs:

The Division of Banks and the state Treasurer’s Office of Economic Empowerment are pleased to offer grants to high schools to establish interactive fairs for students about financial decision making. Districts may apply to develop a new financial education fair, enhance or expand an existing fair at a single school, or develop a joint fair that serves multiple schools. Applications are due Friday, February 8.