Interviews for Massachusetts Commissioner; Angélica Infante-Green

you can read WBUR's profile

Sagan: Commonwealth’s education system mission
Infante-Green: Massachusetts reputation precedes
Whole succession of roles that lead me to where I am today; given me experience and opportunities
Different ways of tackling information : NY has 700 districts; 2.6M kids
Understand scope; also understand rural, urban, suburban
Have two children; Massachusetts provides a world-class education “I can’t deprive my kids of that” (to laughter)

Craven: diversity in K-12 education
Infante-Green
"having difficult conversations"
when people say they don't see color, that's not true
"we have to see the challenges and work through...this marks the road of where we end up"
NY state is one of the most segregated school systems in the nation
presented to the state board around cultural responsiveness earlier this week and how that ties into the ESSA plan
"when they're thinking of English language learners, they're thinking of one type of students; that's not true"
"when you're thinking of differently able children, 'dis' means 'can't' and that's not true"
"create subgroups...why do subgroups matter?"
"new arrivals" versus students who have been here some time
look at program models and models for excellence
"talk to parents..I feel very strongly that parents are the cornerstone of that work"
"I will try not to use edu-jargon"
create a tool kit for parents
looking at technology for communicating parents: "We have to communicate so they understand"

Moriarty: turnaround in lowest performing schools; roots of problem and solutions
Infante-Green: couple of things
a very strong curriculum matters; "are we simplifying for kids or are we expanding?"
"are we thinking of remediation all the time...and we can't"
"have a tendency of taking away the other things that we know are important...like the arts"
"we cannot limit our kids"
"have to get better at our craft" as teachers
"have been challenged in my life in ways I didn't think I would ever be"
"to expand and to grow...something we have to spend time in"
Moriarty: third grade reading
Infante-Green: have to start way before kindergarten
"have to really look at what the children bring"
"very researched based systematic system" to learning to read
"I didn't have the training in literacy in my first year, so I went back to school"
"the English language is very complicated"
"looking at literacy a little differently...different cultures have different ways of speaking"
"have to know how to bridge that gap"
native language: students come in with some of those hallmarks of literacy in place
"use their home language as a vehicle"

Morton changes his question to use "differently abled" in his question
Infante-Green: a little over-representation of kids who have IEPs
"would start in the evaluation"
"what are we measuring, what are the right tools" are they normed for this population
"can't use standard evaluations because they aren't normed for this population"
IEP should drive achievement and standards for that child
should be comprehensive to parents
understanding for all teachers of diagnosis
"we have students who have difficulty reading" who don't have IEPs
haven't capitalized on assistive technology
"how does that learning continue to happen at home?"

State agencies have a tendancy to continue to do things even if they don’t work
Look at what works, what doesn’t, what changes can be made
Does everything need to be done at the state level by a state agency?
“the magic and the work happens at that [local] level”

Stewart: roles to fill in around you for complete management team
Infante-Green: “keep hearing what an amazing team Mitchell Chester put together”
“have to be a very collaborative approach”
“same level of commitment and drive”
“very good at the operation piece…part of being Commissioenr is there’s a lot of politics around this job…someone who can execute”
“details are important, details matter”
“people that would push me, that wouldn’t ‘yes’ me”
“we have to be able to move forward”

Stewart building a highly diverse staff, retaining staff
Have to be able to meet those standards; provide those opportunities to learn and to grow
“someone that can communicate well, with teachers, with educators, but primarily with parents”
“job can’t just be about me”
“people who are aggressive who are hungry who will go the extra model”
“not always going to be popular”
“have a thick skin…as long as we’re doing right by kids, that’s alright”


Trimarchi: engaging stakeholders
Infante-Green: "when there's noise in the background, you need to listen"
"students are very good about telling what they're getting and what they're not getting"
"Everyone has something to contribute"
Trimarchi: working with legislators
Infante-Green: building coaltion
"outcomes, what happens if you don't do it"
"being compelling"
"and having the student voice in those conversations is real"
members have different ideas and platforms; they are representing their communities

McKenna: views of what a state agency does and is: your vision?
Infante-Green: technical assistance, support, "but provide some regulation" set standards "this is where we need to go"
"should be a clearinghouse for what good curriculum looks like, what good practices look like"
"setting the bar, and not providing obstacles"
McKenna: balance of local control and school based management and state oversight
Infante-Green: if school districts are doing a great job for kids, "that's where we learn and grow and share from"
"I think districts need to have a little more autonomy when they show they can make the change"
"need to be working with them on the ground"
"clear markers for how they're going to measure that"

Sagan I missed the question
Infante-Green: created leadership academies
"I want to stress that we do that with populations that look similar to theirs"
"we begin with data; it's always about data"
"honest conversations"
where we have done that and it hasn't moved the needle "we've come in as a team"
"sometimes different types of talent that's needed"

West: charter schools
Infante-Green: "charter schools do play an important role; they're part of the toolkit"
"I think every parent should have access to high quality program...that's non-negotiable"
have lots of options "you have the empowerment zone"
"have to share the practice...find a way to heal the conversation"

Infante-Green "I would like to begin with gratitude..."
students of populations "lagging behind"
"it's not enough to best in the country, if we're not the best for all kids"
"all really means all kids"
her mother "swore that her kids would have better opportunities"
mother bribed the secretary to get her enrolled in a higher performing school
"amazing teachers who pushed the envelope"
"most powerful force to fight poverty is education"
created the first dual language inclusion program for my son
"so he's dyslexic in both languages"
"understand what it takes to overcome challenges, because I was that kid"
"committed to making sure that parents don't have to make impossible choices that my mother made"
"bringing bold innovation to see that happens"
five key initiatives: 1. prioritize resources 2. leveraging teacher leaders 3. early grade literacy 4. strong instructional options  5. engage deeply with school community
robust partnerships
can't close achievement gaps wi
"we know that have teachers of color can positively impact students of color and it's equally important for" other students
there needs to be accountability
"we have continued to see success in our empowerment zones and we will continue to refine that third way"
speaks of elementary school in empowerment zone launched as a dual language school


Moriarty: theme of every parent having choices for their children
Not at a point of parents having agency over education; who to do that
Infante-Green: clear action plan on that
Go to communities “we aren’t the only leaders in communities”
West: teacher evaluation
Infante-Green: this should not be a top-down approach
“I think teachers want feedback, need feedback…I think that has to be left to the local level”
And have to have voice of teachers
“teachers have high standards…they can’t be left out of the conversation”

Peyser: how do you know?
Infante-Green: "I did say we were going to measure it"
"it happens at the local level and then we agree on how we're going to measure it"
places where we have these vulnerable communities and we need to have teachers in those conversations
"we have to think about this differently"

Fernandez: "if you were to backward plan from your speech"
Infante-Green: being very visible
communicating in differently languages
"I think we have spent a lot of time talking to parents not talking with parents"
"how do families get information? ...the voices have to come from their community"
Fernandez: LOOK act
Infante-Green: I'm a true believer in being prepared
work with schools to create a plan; planning year
"who are the students, who are those English language learners"
how do we include other communities in this opportunities that they have
continuing to learn science while learning English
"there are patterns"
exponential growth in ELL students: an opportunity
"we need to move further and push the envelope"
"very excited about these opportunities, but it has to be thoughtful"
Infante-Green "there's no such thing as a deficit"
"all teachers being teachers of English language learners"
"just because you don't speak English doesn't mean you don't understand content"
"not about remediation; it's about wrapping up instruction"
"show what the data clearly says...those kids tend to outperform everyone else" when given supports
Moriarty: level of state involvement
Infante-Green: because it's new, there's going to be a lot of collaboration with the state
curriculum in place, teachers are trained, have a voice and how the program is created
"do that together"

Doherty: socio-economic and testing
Infante-Green: poverty is a reason to look at what we're doing
"poverty doesn't influence what happens in the classroom"
"we have to double our efforts"
work with higher education so students get credit for their language skills
"how do they use what they bring as skills"
"has to be about instructional practice"
if we're going to have the conversation about poverty "we should provide it"
"have they eaten"
"are they cold, like it is in this room" (at which someone brought forward a wrap for her)
"can't pretend like poverty doesn't exist, because it does"
"making sure that they get more, if they need a longer day, as I believe that they do"
"but it also means flexible scheduling if they have to work"
"also bringing in the community...extremely important"
"This is about saving kids lives and building community"
Doherty: how should testing be used in accountability?
Infante-Green: I believe in testing, I believe it's important, it's part of how we take the temperature
one of the questions is what does the assessment look like
assessments serve different purposes
ESSA is giving us an opportunity to do this now
"to push the efforts and the supports"
Doherty asks if she's a Yankees fans
Infante-Green "This is an unpopular answer, even in New York: I'm a Mets fan."

Peyser: other subjects being crowded out by reading and math
Infante-Green: yes
literacy across the curriculum: have to be challenged to do more than reading and do math
"find those intersections"
Peyser: how do you get there?
Infante-Green: accountability system: have an opportunity we have not had

Peyser: vocational ed
Infante-Green: how kids that were disengaged were brought back
work with industry "to keep up"
"if we're not partnering with the industry, we're doing our kids a disservice"

Peyser: NY in a different class (on size?) find partners and being inclusive while making hard decisions
Infante-Green: start with the end "can we all agree on where we want to be at the end of the day"
parents have felt we're not listening
"include every voice" in ESSA plan
"it doesn't mean we're always going to agree"
"when those rumblings start happening, you need to pay attention"
"to be more transparent"
75% of questions made public; seen as matter of public trust
NY state teachers felt they didn't have a voice in the standards; teachers and parents and business community included in revamp
"fix how we communicate and who we get there without changing the standards and expectations...I draw the line there"

Morton: concrete in mitigating gaps
Infante-Green: gap closing with dual language program
communities view this different
dual language school in Chinese community very popular until third grade, when testing happens
those kids outperformed everyone in the school
"What tools are available to us?" how are we measuring
measuring literacy in multiple languages
professional development while you put the curriculum in place
"data data data, very important"

Sagan: any reservation?
Infante-Green: "No, I would just ask you where I should buy a house."
"have looked into communities where we can live, contribute, and where my children can continue to be bilingual"

Sagan gives chance for her to ask questions
Infante-Green: how do you have the stamina to do this?
Sagan: "Well we keep the room cold"