Board of Ed: assessment and accountability results

 Martinez: start from an asset-based perspective
there's a memo here but it doesn't have a lot

there's a video we can't really hear remotely, and then some slides?
and some speakers...teachers speaking of protected time for professional collaboration, elevating student voice and student experience...length of staff experience 
okay, friends: "we don't have an attendance issue" from a SCHOOL OF CHOICE is not a thing we can learn from. C'mon now!
Southbridge: receiver: "shout out to all the folks back home in Southbridge"
returning to pre-pandemic levels of proficiency
"starts with relationships...relationships matter"
Targeted interventions and use of time
"the data is the data...the data is a tool...not to bludgeon building administrators or teachers"
somehow this seems to have turned into a deliberation, with Hills bringing up (points if you anticipated this) Tom Kane, Grant interrupting him to talk about (I think?) leadership, and Stewart talking about sharing data with students

student member asks about burnout; Southbridge Middle principal mentions space in day for support for students

Martinez: "This state's invested significantly in education"
Hm, the data:

or: 

Curtin, districts started getting results in May
earliest delivery of results to parents and guardians in the history of the program; parents received on August 14; seven weeks earlier than usual

some evidence that majority of schools have stabilized; in order to move forward, first must stabilize

"We consider meaningful change to be plus or minus 2% points" (because of rounding)
just about all grades hovering around that 40% mark; grade 3 is the highest of them 
grade 3 class in 2026, first grade to take MCAS that didn't have any remote learning
encouraging sign for subsequent classes

"make sure that we are careful when we talk about gap closing...make sure that when we talk about it, we talk about it for the right reasons"
if the higher performing group comes down, that isn't what is wanted 
"not only a Gateway or urban district issue"
"remarkably consistency across our results where 40% of students" are meeting or exceeding results; "that's where we are; that is our challenge"
ELA grade 10: pretty consistent results across the state; "certainly there is a motivation factor in the grade 10 test...also...important...to not dismiss the results completely"
"have evidence...word counts" time spent and so forth
also same students who were at 40% in eighth grade; now at 45% in 10th grade
"I think that trying to pinpoint this on one particular thing" is not helpful; "a lot of different factors"
grade 10 math results mirror where we are in ELA
West notes there was not change between 2025 and 2026; "let's not obsess about that...let's not complicate our discussion today"
"proud of" work districts have done on chronic absenteeism; impact on MCAS results (generally 18 or more days of schools)
average chronically absent student misses 30 days of school

"we have to stabilize before we can improve"

Curtin: this is not taking into account where schools started; just looked at if they have improved consistently for the last couple of years
Martinez: "stopping the drops"
56 districts met or exceeded 2019 levels of achievement in grades 3-8
14 in both ELA and math

Accountability results; 

Martinez: comes down to what actions we need to take
"be solution-based-oriented" (?)
"doubling-down on initiatives that have already happened"
literacy: "weren't starting from scratch"
practices and strategies: want to clearer about what matters: content; teacher/students relationship; teachers are enabled and supported to provide grade-level instruction; 
"set a North star" have to be at new watermarks by 2031
"have been testing this out in the field...do with our practitioners"
I will note again today that no one has "tested this out in the field" with those who actual set goals for school districts, which is a substantial oversight
Fisher: failing 60% of students and 20% of schools; "shakes the identity of the Commonwealth to our core"
look at intervention, "hold feet to the fire"
"silver lining or the bright spots are not illuminating the darkness"
the bottom 1 and 2% need culture shifts; superintendents need to shift administrators and teachers, and if they are unable or unwilling, DESE needs to intervene
"needs to be a sense of urgency here...I'm appalled"
Grant: too much for this meeting; and I think she just tried to cast shade on Fisher for not speaking at the retreat, which is an interesting choice to make
children who miss 30 days of school "should not be promoted"
"what is the new charge for this state?"
"'31 is too late; what is the quarter over quarter strategy"
Craven: should have an interim meeting to discuss the strategic plan
Martinez: approves the idea of talking about strategic plan in another meeting in October
"feel a sense of urgency with you...there are concrete steps now that are tangible"
"what is our place as an agency to make sure we're there with the guardrails"
bit of a back and forth here about how much prep time Board members get with materials...
Zrike: achievement does matter; outcomes do matter
"so many measures that tell us the same thing"
"I think it's important to say that; this is real; this what our number one priority is to make sure our young people are at grade level or higher"
I will observe with a sigh that there are better ways of discussing this...
Things that work "look at codifying what those things are"
districts being consistent
"everything we do should be in pursuit of academic achievement" 
West: appropriate level of urgency, heartened by district of the conversation
Model the sense of urgency for the field
Martinez: not only the plan but how it feels to the field
"we don't manage the schools...we manage the guardrails"
Craven: sets of conditions for success; same sort of clarity from Department
real context for what we're seeing; tangible outcomes for this year