on the award here
boost educator morale, affirm their work and impact, sharing best practices
Jillian Levreault, Southbridge Middle School
Levreault: had an unconventional start to teaching career
"I didn't have a great school experience myself"
need and want to make a difference "to be the teacher I wish I had"
try to bring authenticity and honesty
"teaching is more than just learning content"
build self-confidence so they can and want to access content
OpenSciEd "very inquiry based"
can change their minds based on new evidence
high expectations to take academic risks
prepare ahead of classrooms
administrators who also hold themselves to high standards
"will my students have an advantage in the world because I am their teacher" is what she asks herself each day
Tutwiler notes that tomorrow is Villar's last day as Southbridge receiver as he moves to be superintendent in Connecticut
Villar thanks Secretary, says seven years have "been difficult, but the most rewarding time of my career"
break for photos and...still a break...
and on science: "OpenSciEd"
high quality and engaging instructional materials
Nicole Scola, Assistant Director, Science, Technology, Engineering
Casandra Gonzalez, Content Specialist
Kimberly Laliberte, Director of Science, Fall River
open source science instructional materials aligned with Massachusetts curriculum frameworks
Scola: back in 2019, brought project to the Board
completed all K-12 materials, providing update on where it has gone throughout Massachusetts
learning experiences "are relevant, real-world, and interactive"
Massachusetts a partner state in a national collaboration
middle school, then high school, now wrapping up elementary; last units being piloted right now
currently 90+ districts in MA have adopted
does not function as a textbook; all grounded in a real world phenomena
students ask questions, conduct investigations, analyze data, and design solutions
collaborative problem-solving
in giving an example, they just talked about water access, and "access to environmental resources," which is ironic, considering the next item on their agenda today
Fall River, Laliberte: 146 teachers across 15 schools using OpenSciEd
successful use with all students: students say they are scientists and engineers
"has been a transformational move for science education in Fall River"
"about building a community of learners with students where students become facilitators of their own learning"
Hills asks about adaptability
Moriarty: appreciates open source publishing
outcome validates CURATE which is teacher reviews; "it did okay"
opportunity to go back; has to be malleable
response: professional learning among most important parts; "ongoing piece" where districts see most progress
piloting, every teacher had to attend professional learning for every unit
materials are so in depth, teacher guide can be dense, state providing resources to guide them
Moriarty: "not a once and done training, it's an ongoing dialogue" and so is CURATE
"open source curricula being a public good"
"but also CURATE being a public good"
Moriarty: on elementary education, especially "some direct instruction" because same teachers are teaching literacy; "this is not a place for silos"
"should consider blocking their time to provide science materials in literacy block"
Scola: link to development of literacy and number sense
Laliberte: a network unlike any other have been a part of; teachers supporting teachers, administrators supporting each other to support the teachers
"it's been transformational"
units are structured at elementary in ways where teachers can keep the pieces in order but not necessarily have to do it in a 50 minute block; can take parts
Moriarty: "that sounds like a description of best practices to me"
"if we had a practice that said that curriculum would be unacceptable unless it was accepted by CURATE" that shows it wouldn't be one size fits all
this is of course untrue, and it would also be seizing power that is allotted to the district
Stewart: what have you observed among educators?
Scola: true curriculum that they've had to really think about, change their ideas about how to implement science
Gonzalez: change in instruction, "it is hard to give up that control and trust that your students are going to do this thinking work"
Stewart: "I appreciate that; that's a real answer"
Laliberte: "it's been a journey...and the journey in elementary school has been so much easier" because they have all they need
amazing how skilled elementary educators are at keeping all those balls in the air at the same time
elementary may enter unsure about a content area that they're not as confident in, leave ready to implement in their classroom
often students and teachers are learning alongside each other
professional development on the daily that old curriculum didn't have
have upped ability of older teachers; work today doesn't look the same as it did in 2019 when started
students take the risk, do the thinking
"preparing our kids in a way that our old curriculum didn't have the ability to do"
West: "thanks, this sounds great, this sounds very ambitious"
how will we know if it works? MCAS scores? if that isn't the right metric, how will we try to get a handle on whether students are benefiting or not
Scola: have been tracking, can see some trends in MCAS, but also very hard, would need to adopt full three years of OpenSciEd
MCAS isn't the best metric right now, hoping it will be in two years
districts are seeing individual results; haven't been able to capture as state result yet
Craven: asks about hearing about high dosage tutoring for future
"have to celebrate the wins these days"
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