March 7 meeting of the Worcester School Committee

 The agenda is here. The report of the superintendent is here. The video of the meeting is here.

The National Anthem was sung by City View Elementary School's chorus.

The consent agenda passed as proposed.

Rennie Center: 2019 Conditions of Education in the Commonwealth

This year's theme is "Student Voice: How Young People Can Shape the Future of Education" with the keynote address by Adria Goodson of the Pahara Institute, which (per its website) "identifies, strengthens, and sustains diverse, high-integrity leaders who are reimagining public education, so that every child in America has access to an excellent public school."

December Board of Ed: Teacher Leadership

The backup on this is here.
Riley: focused this year on teaching
bringing up panels...

Center for Instructional Support talking about three initiatives: revising the arts curriculum, STEM ambassadors, and curriculum ratings

Conditions of Education in Western Mass: Rennie Center

I'm at the annual Conditions of Education in Western Massachusetts, put together by the Rennie Center, in Holyoke. It appears as though today is about the Preschool Expansion Grant. The hashtag is #COE2018. 

Rennie Center: Conditions of Education in the Commonwealth 2018

Today I'm at the Rennie Center's annual Conditions of Education in the Commonwealth, scheduled to start at 8:30. Former Secretary of Education John King is the main speaker. The hashtag is #COE2018.  Posting as we go.

D'Entremont: taking a step back
"you don't need an idea...we've given you plenty"
"empowering and resourcing leaders on the front line...and drive change"
"how do we bring power and resources into the system...so it impacts students"
critical need for fact-based objective analysis, to build common understandings of what's happening in the public schools
pursuing consensus and collaboration

State Education meetings this week

and also my schedule!
DESE, amusingly, has posted a single agenda for all the of the upcoming meetings. Just keep scrolling! 
Tomorrow, we have the annual joint meeting of the Board of Higher Ed with the Board of K-12 Ed. That's down at Bridgewater State starting at nine am. The joint meeting includes discussion on:

• an update on the early college initiative, which was the focus of much of last year's meeting. The short version is "staff from the DHE, ESE, and EOE are providing support for partnerships that will be submitting a final application for designation" with the applications due February 9.
• an informational presentation (I'd call it) on educator preparation, or "where do teachers come from?" You can see from the chart in that presentation that Bridgewater State remains, far and away, the largest state producer of teachers in the state; I assume they also have data for non-state colleges and universities, which may be of less relevance to the Higher Ed board but would be interesting to see.
• a report on increasing access to high school computer science

Something that I thought we'd see that isn't here is something on the new MCAS, particularly as that's supposed to be aiming towards grade 12 preparation. Perhaps because we haven't done a high school round yet?

After the joint meeting, the K-12 board meets on its own (scheduled for 11:15; just enough time to rearrange the chairs). On that agenda, following opening comments:

• an update on the Commissioner search. It will be interesting to see if any additional information is offered in this update: how many, for example, were actually interviewed. 
• there is a discussion and proposed vote to solicit public comment on the revised history and social studies standards. If you have questions about that, if you scroll to the bottom, the backups are already posted (hurray!). 
• there is the promised discussion coming on weight within the accountability standards. Note the following from the memo:

  Our priorities should be reflected not only in the indicators included, but also in their weighting in the calculation. Furthermore, the results should provide a clear picture of school performance in order to help us direct our limited resources for assistance to schools that most need them...any change in this ratio will affect both our classification of schools for accountability purposes and our calculation of the lowest performing ten percent of districts for charter school purposes.

• There is an update on the students enrolling from Puerto Rico; as of January 5, 2440 students have enrolled.
• There is an update on the two new charter schools applying for charters; note that Acting Commissioner Wulfson has, as yet, not made any recommendations regarding these. He will do so before the February meeting.
• Bentley Academy, a Horace Mann in Salem, is asking for a waiver of the state requirement that its accountability plan be approved by its collective bargaining unit, which has declined to take action. 
• Paulo Freire Charter in Springfield is being recommended for a conditional renewal.

Presented for the Board's information, but not action are: education laws enacted in 2017; recommendations on integrating student supports;  a report on dual enrollment 2008-15; a report on efforts to upgrade school technology; a report on grants; and charter matters approved by the Commissioner.

On Wednesday, Governor Baker will release his FY19 state budget.

On Thursday, the Rennie Center is doing their annual Conditions on Education in the Commonwealth; the speaker this year is former Secretary of Education John King. The hashtag is #COE2018.

On Friday, beginning at nine, the Board of Education will interview the three finalists for Massachusetts Commissioner of Education. The interviews are at the Omni Parker House in Boston and are open to the public. They will also be livestreamed. 

On Monday at noon back in Malden, the Board of Education will meet to vote for a new Commissioner. 

"Conditions of Education in the Commonwealth: Putting Students at the Center of Reform"

The event posting is here. Hashtag is #COE2017

Rennie Center's Conditions of Education in the Commonwealth

...which they've titled "Putting Students at the Center of Reform"
liveblogging once it starts at 8:30
Note: the report they're releasing today is here 
Chad d'Entremont, Executive Director, Rennie Center
"visualize a child learning"
shares photos of kids being active, outside, engaged
not in classroom rows...or is it?
frameworks still largely built around a one-size fits all approach
state has accomplished a tremendous amount through the '93 reform law
suggest not that we lose that, that we build upon it
need to address blind spots, find ways to move forward
asking the question and planning for what comes next

Rennie Center "Conditions of Education in the Commonwealth"

I'm posting this morning from the Rennie Center's "Condition of Education in Commonwealth" at which it seems they're going to make a pitch for social-emotional learning as something schools are evaluated on. You can find the data report that they're releasing today here and the resource guide is here; the report on social and emotional learning is here. Posting as we go...the Twitter hashtag is #COE2016

d'Entremont (Rennie Center) Have wrestled more directly with moving ideas to action
invite open dialogue and critique
use knowledge gains to build capacity for reform