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

John King
good to be back in the place where I began as a teacher and as a principal
W.E.B. DuBois born in Great Barrington: education is most fundamental of rights
"all young people are entitled to an excellent education"
"essential not only to their long term success, but to our economy and our democracy"
students "who need the most too often get the least"
students attending schools with a sworn law enforcement officer and no counselor
25 years of the 1993 ed reform act: investment in education
took work to deliver on the promise of the law
"much to celebrate in the update of 2011"
"opportunity that receivership gave in Lawrence"
"there is much to celebrate"
"still very large achievement gaps in Massachusetts...success has not been there for the most vulnerable"
disparities between communities
"we need a statewide conversation on how to close those gaps"
have an achievement gap challenge; now have a college and career gap challenge
suggest two strategies:  1. use evidence to expand equity 2. work on both in school and out of school factors

recently did a podcast on Lexington, looked at achievement gaps within the community

schools can make the difference in young people's lives
King speaks of his own experience growing up
cites "phenomenal New York City public school teachers who saved my life"
when people say schools can't do anything "I know they are wrong; I prove they are wrong."

Ought to be making investments in high quality early learning
teachers well paid, well supported
learn through play
in a language-rich environment

K-12: well-prepared, well-supported teachers
"to make kids better readers, they need to know more about the world"
more science, more social studies
"why does social studies matter, why does civics teaching matters? Just pick up the paper."
need support for social-emotional needs
teachers need training in trauma
"not policing, not referring to law enforcement"
"same rich environment that any of us would want for our own kids"
"respect diversity of race and religion...LGBTQ students, we see you, we will protect your civil rights"
worry of the message at the federal level that is being sent to kids in school that they aren't valued
can't suspend students on race
training students on alternatives to exclusionary discipline
schools that reflect our values as a community and as a country
places that are significantly more segregated today than they were pre-Civil Rights
"we know it's possible to do better"
divergence between teachers by race and students by race
faculty that reflective of full community and of student body
supporting around bridges between high school and college
thinking PreK-16
do better in helping students think about their future
supports that are available to first-generation college students
completion of college: too many students don't finish
hunger crisis on campus: students having the supports they need
"not enough just to focus on schools...what are the other supports we can provide?"
wraparound supports
students' health needs "gosh why did [CHIP] take months of uncertainty?"
breakfast and lunch programs available to all kids "can't be 'well the bell just rang, so you'll have to be hungry for four periods'"
creating programs that support both the parent and the student
"I think our biggest challenge is one of belief...do we think that the kids in the W's...are going to do well..and the kids in Boston and Lawrence and Springfield are going to do badly and that's how it is?"
"we can do better...it's about intentionality"
"we need to do this because our future as a country depends on it"

d'Entremont: one issue that has been raised in today's event is the lack of diversity in state leadership; important to acknowledge that

Condition of Education: 25 state level data measures
which challenges deserve more attention than they are getting
but also change processes
have been tracking data like completion of MassCore
three examples of locally crafted change processes: local practitioners use a common set of ingredients to drive improvement

Patricia Lampron, Henderson K-12 school in Boston
"we embrace differences and we celebrate them"
"Everyone stays together" regardless of differences
inclusive options to kids beyond the fifth grade (school originally was K-5)
"It was heartbreaking to watch" leave after fifth grade and leave their community
wrote an innovation plan
merged with another school four years ago; having third graduating class
"sometimes in this country, it feels like Rome is burning...we have to stay focused on our work"
"the really good news is everyone is learning at the Henderson"
providing good core instruction that provides multiple access points reduces the needs for interventions later
"we check our progress four times a year...it starts with three year olds"
effectiveness of lessons: special education teachers, but also other support staff working together
reteach, reassess, reflect: "what happens in the reflection is the magic of teaching"
isn't one curriculum, there are multiple ones
"I don't think it's great; I think it's normal" to have all children learning together.
"Rome is burning, but we still focus on the learning."
"we use the standards to guide everything we do"
"a variety of curriculum resources available to our practitioners"

panel o' Commissioners: Weber (early ed) Wulfson (K-12) Santiago (higher ed)
Q: how can the state play a role here?
Weber: community-based approaches are important for all, but it's an essential ingredient in early childhood
early childhood is a very fragmented system; funding is fragmented
variety and diversity across the field of early childhood
put forward early childhood grant proposal: to try to approach the challenge of delivering high quality early education
masking of differences applies in early childhood; "there's an assumption that we're doing well in early childhood [because we've done so well in K-12]"
ultimately we're going to have to have those conversations about resources and coordination
Wulfson: discussion with new commissioner
"what is the role of the state agency in fostering school improvement?"
only have capacity to engage with a relatively small number of our 1800 schools
provide grant and seed money for new ideas
making data available
making information available on research
spotlight successes around the Commonwealth; "something we hope to do more of with our new accountability system"
lots of strategies out there that have proven effective
"the one common denominator...is engagement and ownership of that strategy by the staff" and community
"school improvement truly needs to be from the bottom up"
RADAR reports helping school committees understand the spending choices they're making
"waiting for the state to come in with new resources, we're just losing time"
Massachusetts has been a leader in data integration; how does a program impact college completion rates?
Santiago: history of remediation in the Commonwealth
last reform was 1998; previously every campus had its own standard; went to single standard of Accuplacer
success rates were below 20% in our community college; proposing significant changes in the fall
alternative placement standards: moving to multiple measures including high school GPA
eliminating successful courses of remediation; remediating WHILE taking credit courses
revising math pathways
campuses have been doing this; conversations at 29 institutions have gone from a gatekeeper model to a student success model
Q: centralized versus localized?
Weber: connect opportunities; workforce development
stabilizing system; enormous turnover in teaching and administration in early childhood
looking to support educators in our classrooms
program focus on analysis
funding stream to support educators
everything to do with adult-child interaction "it has everything to do with the teacher"
Wulfson: state had a big role of creating dichotomy within early childhood
think the state really has a role in looking at that
look at a more seamless transition than what we have
Santiago: get the institutions to work together
transfer courses from one public institution to another
asks colleges and universities "to think as a system"


Peyser: would be remiss if I didn't acknowledge Jack Rennie (after whom the Rennie Center is named)
shout-out to Jeff Wulfson
"has done a tremendous job"
"when transitions like that happen...it's quite often that there is a vacuum in an organization...Jeff has stepped right into those shoes, and not only to keep the trains running but to keep us moving forward"
"one little known detail of my resume is I was a quality management specialist in an electronics company"
"how we do things...is really what the work is all about"
"I think schools are really the unit of change."
establishing the conditions for success (which include)
"it involves a finance system that provides adequate and equitable resources across the state"
human capital systems, data technology, performance management systems
"the framework" for successful results
relationships, innovations, high expectations
"this doesn't guarantee success, but I do believe it is necessary for success to occur"

need help not only in pushing this forward, but the broad set of agenda laid out this morning