Board of Ed for October: graduation standards

There is this memo which isn't particularly revelatory, but then there is a large PowerPoint that is not online. As the memo says:

The agency is currently developing guidance and tools to support districts towards full implementation of the proposed graduation framework. 

I am again going to point out that "fully implementing" a "proposed framework" that has yet to go through a legislative process makes no sense.

"the agency setting conditions to change practices in the field" is the theme of this year, says Commissioner Martinez

introducing MyCap and MassCore
And then hearing from researchers

regulations that the Department will bring forward for discussion next month on what?

"clarification" says Woo, that regulations proposed next month will set up requirements for what schools "must offer," not what individual students must complete
okay, but I will still ask if they indeed have the authority to require schools to "offer" things, either; it is this which is a big financial and planning lift for many smaller high schools 

I am not going to write up the graduation council report, because I did that here. This is now Adam Seidel presenting

"the primary components reflect evidence-based practices"
as it includes so-called "AI literacy," this is objectively not true, at least on that aspect
"we hear that districts are eager to engage...now" on planning for implementation
that...is not what I am hearing...
workbook sent to all districts, two online webinars 300 schools participated in about implementation

John Papay from the Annenberg Institute presenting on MassCore completion who is talking about this:

not always alignment between SIMS and the Student Course Schedule information (both are which are shared with the state automatically; I think a lot of people don't realize that the student course schedule data is shared with the state, but they have it all).

The least popular chart in Massachusetts education:
(okay maybe after the one that shows how segregated our school districts are)

(and yes, that is controlled for all the stuff)

and its corralary:

we're now seeing completion of college as well as met or exceeded expectations; we should note that they only have college data from those who attend in-state Massachusetts state colleges and universities, which I am not seeing mentioned, which seems like a big thing to leave out

Newcomer students much less likely to complete MassCore (which may have to do with courses on English proficiency, on catching up with other courses, on transcripts aligning, on incomplete earlier courses)

This is also true of students in special education, particularly for those in partly or fully separate classes

38% of non-completers didn't attempt the courses that they were missing; 37% passed enough courses (just not the right courses for MassCore)

And if MassCore is implemented then: 

on that last "will teachers be pressured to pass students on?" and will schools shorten classes to allow for more classes in a school day

Hills: somewhat skeptical about the speed with which we are trying to implement this
Smidy: says "not sure about course access" does that mean that some students didn't have access and could not complete
not sure about how many schools don't have the courses and thus the choice is not available
Papay: does appear that some schools are able to offer access for some students

Back to Seidel: post secondary plan by ninth grade with year-by-year milestones
research indicates that 'this leads to increased interest in school'
Included in MyCAP: state learning objectives; domains; state milestones; suggested activities; locally developed objectives, milestones, activities (it's a rubric)
40% of districts are now using it

now a report from Mandy Savitz-Romer
states shifting from district determined graduation standards but "mandates from the state"
"process and a set of relationships exploring possibilities"
correlation with improved attendance, academic engagement and motivation, increased selection of rigorous coursework, improved connections with school staff, increased effort and engagement with math, occupational and educational aspirations, improved goal setting,  involvement in career connected experiences

important, the presenter says, that this "not become just a compliance activity"
it is difficult for me to see how it could be anything else, as it is very much a top-down imposed requirement, I mean, thing to be offered, not something that the districts, schools, students, families, educators, or indeed anyone at the local level asked for

"all educators to buy in" with whole school engagement
important that school counselors play a central role; preparing them for implementation
how they are used in schools often doesn't leave room for implementation
yes they do not have enough time to do the things they already have to do!
regulations "requiring all high schools to offer foundational coursework through MassCore and postsecondary planning through MyCap" for discussion at November meeting, then sent out for public comment
"will continue stakeholder engagement"

West: on state mandates, "it's easy to make people do things; it's hard to make them do it well."
"the closer you get to a causal research design, the more this relationship goes away"
don't see a relationship in schools where lots of kids are completing MassCore and control for preparation, you don't see completion to increase
Papay says he agrees with interpretation; completing MassCore is different than MCAS, as one is performance and one how it gets there
MassCore would require entire schools to shift their practice; it's a systems change, not an individual change
West: harder to go from these to the policy
using MassCore requirement to motivate improvement in students' skills

Rocha: asks, among other things, how much this is going to cost
good question! I am sure that no one knows
Savitz-Romer about learning about all the possibilities, learning about the options
"very much less about the adults controlling the process" more about the students

Seidel: provisions and recommendations for early English proficiency; at least two years off English learning for those in level 1 and 2 in ACCESS

Hills: how are you taking a ninth grader...how does one get comfort that by having to develop a plan at any point in high school that you're going to end up disproportionately tracking based on birth lottery?
Savitz-Romer: about plan post-high school as well as in high school
"this is a live document; it's not meant to slowly focus on the world of work and post-secondary education"
Hills: why is a tenth grader responding to a single day or what have you a better outcome than those in charge ensuring that all students have exposure to everything?
Savitz-Romer: all students given space to learn about it; put schools in a responsive position to offer these experiences and make time to talk about them
on top of...what?
30% of superintendents saying college and career important; has to be higher
that means something very specific to superintendents

Mohamed: what is the room for students understanding that things they may not like are important to do?
Savitz-Romer: documenting a process happening
schools giving students the time and space to work on the process
Seidel: "the role of adults is critical" pushing students to do more
ninth grader: "who am I, what do I want to be in the world"
I love teenagers, and I taught teenagers by choice. I am skeptical about this being a meaningful conversation with every single high school student in school as part of school. (that last matters)

Smidy: "student buy in"
if students don't feel like this is valuable and useful
Savitz-Romer: students leading their own parent teacher conferences
events or mechanisms in process for that

Martinez: still some messiness in the data on MassCore
"almost a systemic gap that we've allowed in the state for a long time"
this does not, at a fundamental level, understand how districts work
districts "making the decision for them that they're not going to be successful in college"
distressing to me we are only one of six states that don't require specific coursework
again, that is fundamentally not understanding the legal framework or even the philosophical underpinning of Massachusetts education
"it has to build skills"
"taking in this feedback"
"intention to districts should be really clear" and then supports
"really is about student voice"

"this is the floor...above the floor are career-tech pathways...are early college course"
couple strategies together, become really interesting set of conditions
more mobility for students and particularly secondary students 

Craven: worst thing we can do as a Board is over-bureauactrize (I don't know how to spell this) things
"we don't run the individual 300-something district"
"how do we do this so it doesn't become an immediate rejections"
"it's not a lack of money in certain places, that's for sure"
if we all get in line and we pass it out to the districts, predicable in the future is check the box
"multi-billion dollar question"

Grant: want to be sure we're not turning it into a compliance document
"I don't want to lose the reality that children need to go to college"
Savitz-Romer: fair question, that's a risk
when implemented well, it's changed the culture of the school

Hills: pace of implementation given the bandwidth of the organizations is running the risk of collapse, of running into a wall. 

Craven: danger that districts see this as an unfunded manadate and say that they won't do it
BINGO
Martinez: these are the two that we're hearing the most important "from the field"
WHO IS HIS FIELD?
rooms are full for the training
"not just putting on mandate"
"us making a clear case in the evidence of what's important"
"hearing from the field on feedback" (he talks about superintendents or the few students he has spoken to; it is dismaying that he thinks this is the field)
"capacity building and supports"

Khan: for the schools that don't already have this, it's going to be hard; schools are letting teachers go, not adding them
"the money's not there"
There was a bit more here, but that is where my battery ran out.