The only complaint I have about the pick of Tim Walz

 ...has not a single thing to do with Tim Walz himself, about whom I could not be more enthusiastic--here's a gift link to the Washington Post talking about him as a social studies teacher, plus here is more from The New York Times, and I hope by now you've seen the video of his signing Minnesota's free lunch bill--but an implicit comment from my fellow educators about his being a social studies teacher.

It goes something like this: of COURSE he was a social studies teacher! He was a football coach!

The implicit assumption here is that someone is hired as the football coach, and then the school administration has to find a place to stick that person for their full time job, so they stick them in a social studies classroom because (and I have seen this said!) it has either the lowest standards or is the easiest to teach.

Whew, educators, do you hear yourselves?

I am not discounting your experience of the coach at whatever school where you saw this.
What I am doing is asking that we all take a minute and note that there are thousands of educators who go to school and get themselves certified as social studies and history teachers, and they do a damn good job at a very difficult subject to teach. 

And from what his former students are saying, Tim Walz was good at that job*.
Wishing him all the very best as he works to get this next one! 

Headwaters of the Mississippi. 
They're in Minnesota, dontcha know.

____________________________________________________

*Walz attended Chadron State in Nebraska for undergrad, which started as a teacher training college, or what we used to call a normal school. Please enjoy that detail.

February Board of Ed: opening comments from public

 Coming to you live from Everett...the agenda is here.

Please enjoy this lovely view of the Malden River willows
from under the Revere Beach Parkway

Muhammed and Rouhanifard participating remotely

Worcester School Committee meets Thursday

The agenda is here.
The report of the superintendent is on the Barr Foundation grant on "reimagining high school." The grant is a second round of a grant received last year--this one for $300K, last year's for $150K--of which little has been said until now. In fact, the first round of the grant, when it was listed in an article on disciplinary disparities, was billed as:

A $150,000 grant – and possibly more – from the Barr Foundation to implement a ninth-grade transition program aimed at reducing suspensions.

The School Committee did not receive a report on the work of that grant, nor did it receive a grant report that specified how the funding had been (or even was planned to be) expended. A ninth grade transition program for reducing suspensions is not the same as work on what Worcester imagines its graduates from high school to be, as this second grant reportedly is being used for, even if, as this report says, this one focus on "9th grade success," along with "rigor and relevance, college planning, and equity."
I say "reportedly" because the request that the Committee vote acceptance on the grant has not a shred of information on how the grant is being expended. This is problematic for two reasons:

•  it means the Committee can't fulfill its function of keeping spending aligned with the goals of the district (rather than chasing what is shiny)
•  it means the Committee (and thus the district) isn't fulfilling its fiduciary responsibility in allocating funds. No one is voting where the money is going. 

As the presentation itself also lacks specificity--the strategic plan is mentioned, but not how this aligns with it, with nothing on how this lines up with other work the district is doing--it's impossible to tell from this what exactly is being done, by whom, where, what it is going to cost, and how. The section on work so far and work ahead is the same: stakeholders that are being met with can mean a lot or a little; a "representative sample" of site councils, given how much work there is to be done on site councils in Worcester, is, frankly, not representative. One of course likewise wonders which students have been met with. If it's the usual suspects (as I call them; the kids who get picked for everything), the "portrait of a graduate" is only going to mean a very particular thing.
Also, that diagram on community is from Battelle for Kids out of Ohio and...why are their diagrams being used?
None of this, incidentally, is to find fault with the idea of looking at what Worcester thinks a high school graduate should be. It isn't clear to me that this is necessarily going to do it, nor how the grant funding is being spent to get there.

Teaching, Learning, and Student Supports subcommittee met largely to file things, it seems, as the term comes to a close. Looking through the minutes, it appears that there are a number of requests for information coming back.

There are some resignations and appointments.

The enrollment by course report that is coming back to Miss Biancheria's request isn't the full list of courses; I believe it's the new courses that had been approved.

There are donations and recognitions and congratulations.

The ongoing rash (pun intended) of prior fiscal year payments continue, with $1284,86 to a certified nursing assistant, and with $1721.02 (!) going to Struck Catering. I would think they are probably more prompt in their billing than this, which would mean the district not only is not following proper procedures on this, but it's also holding up paying a local business.

Mr. Monfredo has an item to "increase math scores as delineated in the strategic plan." That's not...how this works.
Miss Biancheria is asking again this year for a list of snow-clearing equipment by school "including the process for clearing snow at each site and the evaluation of equipment." Setting aside for the moment just how far into management this is (the answer is WAY into management!), it's hard to think of responses for "the process for clearing snow" that aren't, er, sarcastic.

Mr. Comparetto closes the agenda with a series of items in response, I believe, to an email from a Worcester principal that was pinballing across social media, which asked students to dress as Pilgrims and Wampanoag on the day school got out for Thanksgiving.

They read:

• Request that the Administration provide an update on the alleged culturally inappropriate programming at Goddard School of Science and Technology. 
• Request that the Administration consider incorporating a day of mourning at Thanksgiving time into school programming. 
• Request that the Administration consider incorporating real American history into the curriculum. 
• Request that the Administration review recommendations made by the organization Teaching Tolerance for culturally appropriate Thanksgiving programming

The implementation of the history and social studies standards still has, it seems, work to be done. The state standards did extensive work on historically disenfranchised voices, and the standards created and the resources used lead towards a richer understanding, one hopes. If you're struggling to see the issue here, start "A Culture, not a Costume" from the Washington Post; Googling that will give further resources.

There is an executive session, with one item arbitration with the EAW, one item on litigation, and two on collective bargaining.
And yes, I am planning to attend. 

Role playing in history class

This pops up in my timeline every few weeks it seems: a role playing scenerio from a teacher either is framed in a problematic way or goes badly askew. This piece from Slate discusses just that and why.

A teacher may wish to teach students about the history of American slavery and may think that “feeling” their way through that history is the best way to do it. But historical empathy is much more complex than this idea assumes. In a critique of the common idea that students’ historical empathy might prompt them to adopt democratic habits and acquire an affinity for social justice, professor of education Megan Boler writes, “Passive empathy is not a sufficient educational practice. At stake is not only the ability to empathize with the very distant other, but to recognize oneself as implicated in the social forces that create the climate of obstacles the other must confront.” 

This recognition of personal implication is an extremely significant intellectual and emotional leap, and one that many white adults—including teachers—have not, themselves, made. King pointed out that the teacher’s position in relationship to this history was important. Someone teaching a lesson about the Confederacy, for example, might have family members still sympathetic to the Confederacy—or she herself might be. Before teaching these lessons, he said, “Teachers need to really get in there, to understand themselves as a racialized human being.”

May Board of Ed from the Malden Public Library: history, social studies, and civics update

back up is here
Peske: one year since approval of new standards
Michelle Ryan (herself a former Randolph history and social studies teacher):

They have the three pillars of the framework as the following image pic.twitter.com/7ztO5Evmr3

— Tracy O'Connell Novick (@TracyNovick) May 21, 2019

June Board of Education: history and social studies

backup is here
Riley: a comprehensive two year endeavor
hundreds of comments that have been absorbed
Peske: "rich, robust" engagement process
Sagan: I'd focus on changes and updates
Peske: five slides, changes from May to now, I think the time is six minutes
Dave Buchanan: concern about one standard at the end of high school course around race relations since 1960's
have done some work to broaden that standards; provides opportunities for students to look at impact on legislation over time
ties students to using data in studying social science
includes students in civics work group acknowledgements
footnote in grade 8 civics now includes Mendez which laid groundwork for Brown
Susan Wheltle: how best to include information about native peoples
important movements of late 20th century; now also includes movements around native sovereignty
Michelle Ryan: implementation over next year
three day institute coming up in July on civics, specifically focused on 8th grade course
integrated approach to history around literacy
quick reference guides coming in the fall
instructional support networks
vertical progression documents

Stewart: availability to families?
Peske: have tried to include families in all work
being more clear with teachers about what has changed since last standards
"don't have a complete plan sketched out but certainly thinking of families"

Fernandez: feedback loops?
engage working group over implementation?
Peske: variety of data sources to get feedback from educators themselves
more qualitative methods
get feedback from those who use quick reference guides and the like
share best practices around frameworks

Stewart: supplemental processes...does that get to the heart of the concern expressed by earlier speaker (from Deer Island)
Sagan: process for further revision?
Peske: shifting into implementation; build out set of resources
very much informed by needs of field
"are not poised to bring frameworks back for further revision anytime soon"

Peyser: pick up on comment on anticlimax
"this is really a very big deal"
"not just further content, but further quality"
"has implications for the rest of the curriculum"
"underlying document is quite strong, certainly stronger than what we began with"
"as much as implementation is the next step, assessment is" another
other sorts of assessment "to provide greater focus to the field"
capstone project "as suggested by Roberta"

McKenna: "has been a long, arduous task"
"DESE can listen and adjust...and change and adjust"
"which is hard to do"
"you sort of had everyone coming at you from every direction"
"not perfect, but coming to a place where people have to applaud your work"
"teachers are enthusiastic" but need help, looking for professional development

Moriarty: professional development on implemenation
"has to be a non-negotiable"
is some legislation
Peyser: "I don't think there's anything in there that would be in conflict with what we have done"
"may require some additional effort on our part to bring the two together"

Standards are approved uanimously

June Board of Education meeting on Tuesday IS A LOT

There's a LOT on the Mass Board of Education meeting on Tuesday, for which you can find the agenda here. Livestream on Tuesday at 8:30 will be here.
Here come the votes on all of those things they've been talking about for months!

After opening comments from the Chair, Secretary, and Commissioner and public comment, there is the monthly update on Level 5 schools, with a particular focus this month on Parker Elementary in New Bedford, now under the receivership of School & Main Institute now that Superintendent Pia Durkin is moving on from New Bedford. Note that the annual reviews of all schools is attached to the link off the monthly update.
Then it is on to the social studies and history frameworks, which are now up for a vote. For those who had been concerned about the gap between the Civil Rights era and the election of President Obama, please note that the standard as proposed now reads:

Research and analyze issues related to race relations in the United States since the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, including: the Fair Housing Act of 1968 and its impact on neighborhood integration; policies, court cases, and practices regarding affirmative action and their impact on diversity in the workforce and higher education; disparities and trends in educational achievement and attainment, health outcomes, wealth and income, and rates of incarceration; the election of the nation’s first African American president, Barack Obama, in 2008 and 2012.

There is also now a mention of the Mendez v. Westminster School District of Orange County, California case of 1946 when it comes to desegregration, as well as some more recent history around the movement for Native rights. There are a bunch of links off that memo; take a look if it is of interest.
The regulations that will govern implemenation of the LOOK Act are also up for a vote. For those who had been concerned about the requirements for the seal of biliteracy, note that there has been a change:

The proposed regulations retain grade 10 ELA MCAS performance as a criterion for demonstrating a high level of proficiency in English, but also add options for students who are required to complete an Educational Proficiency Plan to earn the Competency Determination. Those students will be able to demonstrate proficiency in English by achieving a minimum score or level determined by the Commissioner on a nationally recognized and readily available English proficiency assessment approved by the Department. The proposed regulations have been further changed to reflect that the minimum scores or levels on foreign language proficiency assessments must be aligned to higher education standards for awarding advanced credit by examination and ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines.

 Odd to me that of the parent meetings, there wasn't one in the city with the largest number of English Language learners. Weird.

And yes, accountability is ALSO up for its vote on Tuesday! There is a link to the regulations as well as to comments received as well as to DESE responses; and people HOW did we only have eight comments? Really? And no, my comments made no changes. It appears as though there are no changes being made of any impact in the regs, though language was made more specific, and there is a note that the school and district report cards are coming out in December of this year.

Also up for a vote are the Computer Science and expansion of MassCore, to wit, allowing Computer Science to sub in for a math course. There is a report linked (it's another download, which is most of what I'm also mentioning but not linking to above) on the disparities in access across the state, as well. The vote specificially is around the change to MassCore, though the Commissioner is also looking for some affirmations.

The Board is being asked to vote on removing Martin Luther King Jr. Charter School in Springfield from probation (which it's been in since 2017). The Commissioner says it has largely met its conditions.

Due to snow days, the Board is being asked to waive the week's notice for charter school lotteries for this past year.

There will be an update on the state budget, which is still in conference committee. 
There is a request that the Board for to delegate authority to the Commissioner between meetings (aka, over the summer).
There is a proposed schedule of meetings for next year on which the Board is being asked to vote.
Other items for information includes one of my favorite reports of the year, the annual non-operating districts report.

The meeting is at 8:30 am on Tuesday in Malden and yes, liveblog will happen...my plane lands at midnight the night before... 

On studying race in the last forty years

This has been on my mind since Tuesday. 

Revised history and social studies at the Board of Ed

the backup is here
note that this is for discussion, not vote
presenting proposed changes in respons to public comment
and gain board input on revised framework to prep for June meeting (and vote)
and we're doing the review of what they've done so far and who was consulted

Some of whom they asked...#MAEdu pic.twitter.com/QQWauakKBI

— Tracy O'Connell Novick (@TracyNovick) May 22, 2018

priorities are to emphasize civics education and to deepen understanding
rigor, clarity, and coherence of frameworks
"a robust public comment period"

Opening remarks at the Board of Ed in Marblehead

Well THIS is fun: the Board of Ed is theater-in-the-round today! pic.twitter.com/NnXizeYijQ

— Tracy O'Connell Novick (@TracyNovick) May 22, 2018

The agenda is online here. This will open with a welcome from Marblehead to the Board of Ed, so don't expect regular business until after 11 or so.  Posting as we go as I have a connect; wifi is super wonky and weak...

Sagan:Held special meeting this month; presentation on accountability; expect to take a vote on the system in June
Congratulations to Morton his honorary degree

Riley:
have been visiting schools as part of Leading the Nation
"while I have some issues around the Leading the Nation campaign itself, celebrating teachers and schools is incredibly important"
coming in today is New Mission High:"beginning a process of bringing in some great schools"
 and talk about what's important: hey! This is a thing that I complain about! Hurray!
accountability: entering a new era
"really need to be thoughtful about the direction we're going"
notes students at Stoughton High; condolences on behalf of the Board and the entire department

Board of Ed: history and civics standards

backup is here; note the documents at the bottom
This should be a vote to solicit public comment

Wulfson: extensive consultation with the field
one more round before we ask you to adopt it this school year

Peske introducting Dave Buchanan
also thanks members of the review board

Buchanan:
plan is to present today with vote to public comment (comment will run through April 2)
plan for meetings and virtual input
plan then is present final version in June for adoption

priorities: civics and deepening understanding
criteria: improving rigor, clarity, coherence

new full year civics course for grade 8; focus on role of citizens and importance of individuals in democracy
revised integration in every grade
new US Gov and Politics standards (grade 12)
Mission: education for civic life in a democracy
principles: legacy of democratic government, diverse perspectives on civic and historical events, studying current events, data analysis, media literacy

standards: research process, analysis, evaluation of credibility of sources
standards for literacy in history and social sciences

overview of scope and sequency
PreK-1: intro to civics, geography, history, economics, immediate social and community expereince
Gr. 2: world geography
Gr. 3: Massachusetts history and local government
Gr. 4: physical geography of US and North America; early history by region
Gr. 5: U.S. history to the Civil War and the modern Civil Rights movement
Gr. 6 & 7: two year sequence of world history and geography by region; ancient and classical civilizations and selected topics in modern history
Gr. 8: U.S. and Massachusetts Government and civic life
Gr. 9-12: U.S. history I (1700-1920), U.S. history II (1920-2017), World history I (500-1800), World history II (1800-2017)
(revamped dates there to be sure the Civil War and Great Depression are fully covered rather than rushed at semester end)
Electives: U.S. Gov and politics, economics, personal financial literacy
those are half year standards at this point, so they might be incorporated in other courses as wished

Peyser: guiding questions: give serious consideration

Fernandez: how financial literacy would play out in low income areas and about cultural competence in delivery
Buchanan: result of concern over lack of content
as a framework, we don't push how content will be taught
other guidance in working with EL and special ed students
teachers to be fully aware of diverse perspectives within their classrooms
doesn't proscribe within the standards, but prompt teachers to be thoughtful about that and account for it in their teacher

motion to send to public comment carries

Board of Ed in sum

Crossposted from MASC 
The Board of Elementary and Secondary Education met on Tuesday, November 28. The agenda is posted here. 
The meeting opened with updates from Acting Commissioner Wulfson, who spoke of the recently signed LOOK bill on bilingual education. He commented that it was "designed to provide additional flexibility for English language learners," and he told the Board that they would receive a complete update at their December meeting. He also spoke of the results of the first school climate survey, which students took after completing the MCAS this past year. He said it was a "first attempt to quantify some qualitative measures." He noted that the influx of students coming from Puerto Rico not only has continues, but appears to have picked up, with the state having passed 1400 new students last week; the state continues to monitor that and is discussing what is to be done with and for districts both this year and next. Finally, he warmly praised East Boston's McKay School, which he recently visited and was among the schools positively profiled in a recent Boston Globe article.
Secretary Peyser gave a brief update on the administration's interagency opioid work.
Public comments included opposition to wireless internet access and testimony from the head of the two virtual schools in support of the proposed tuition increase (see below).

November Board of Ed: standards updates

History and social studies
ELA and math implementation
also coming: arts and health

Wulfson: update on review of history and social sciences curriculum framework
getting field involved "has been very much a part of this process"
"this team has really provided for a lot of public input"

Peske: appreciate educators who have served with us; panel review process
what is a standard? What a student should do and be able to do, and should be measureable
curriculum? content standards and other materials to support instruction

what teachers should teach and students should learn

Buchanan: multiphase process
public survey, "one of the strongest responses we've seen...there's a lot of interest in this"
convene review panel: six meetings
drafting and reviewing proposed revisions
plan is to present draft of revision to Board to vote to invite public comment in January
Board to vote new standards in June

Priorities were to emphasize civics education and to deepen understanding
improve also rigor, clarity, and coherence
"major concern by demographic group" and engagement

New full year civics course proposed for grade 8: "centerpiece around which we drew a through line"
civics standards integrated into every grade
"middle school is a place where the first really deep look" into our system of government happens
revised U.S. Gov and Politics standards for grade 12
emphasis in supporting sections: introduction: "A Renewed Mission: Education for Civic Life in a Democracy"
guiding principles: studying current events, data analysis, media literacy skills
history and social science practice, prek-12
research, process, analysis, evaluation of credibility of sources
sample guiding and supporting questions

Grade 8 to include: philosophical foundations of US political system; institutions of US government; rights & responsibilities of citizens; Constitution, amendments, SCOTUS decisions; state and local government

"8th grade seen as a launch pad for the work they'll do in US History in high school"

Q from Fernandez on integration of social emotional learning
A from Susan Wheltle of the guiding principles, also overlap in curriculum with early grades in what is required
in older grades shifts into how institutions are formed
democracy in the classroom: "every day democracy...then democracy within every larger groups of society"
comes with discussion of how we're always wrestling with interpretations of history
Buchanan: having students do more independent research
students be reviewing primary source documents
"investigating these questions actively"
"What historical interpretation involves"

(this in response to Moriarty) grade 12 course designed to be leading students to what they'll be doing in college
research, digging into practices, what they're learning on the national stage can be applied locally
maintaining content from 2003 framework in revised document

Peyser: "it's more like a Rubik's Cube than a stone in a pond" to revise the standards while retaining the core of 2003 standards
"we obviously haven't seen it all yet, so let's not get ahead of ourselves"

Sagan: what are your thoughts on what we'll measure?
"I am reluctant to talk more assessments"
Wulfson: we know there's a question of assessment before us; we've just started to do some thinking on what a history and social science assessment would look like
chance to integrate some new models, perhaps some project based
Sagan: don't want to do it serially
Wulfson: hope to have some resources in FY19 to flesh that out

McKenna; applaud all of you getting to this point
all students will have civics
having it integrated, students with more resources would get it and others would not

Sagan: have draft education from Legislature, which is unusual
Wulfson: at this point, have not filed a formal bill
some things that would be helpful for us, some things that we suggest might be a pilot
"we are providing..."
Sagan: "but they wrote to us, not to you, so we as a Board need to respond"
McKenna: suggest sending them the draft standards in January
"I think the nervousness has been that DESE won't move this ahead"
Sagan will respond with plan and schedule

arts and health standards haven't been revised since 1999
arts: group to be created in January; back to Board with final revision by spring 2019
health a few months behind that

and adjourned! 

November Board of Education: opening comments

The agenda for today is here. The meeting starts at 8:30; posting as they go once we start. The livestream is here. 
No comments from the Chair
Wulfson: Governor signed the "Language Opportunity for Our Kids" bill
designed to provide additional flexibility for English Language learners
very demanding timelines
staff developing implementation
will plan on a comprehensive look at that bill at December meeting
also training for vocational teachers
Complaints filed by private schools, under IDEA complain not receiving appropriate funding
schools have now taken appeal to federal DoE
summary of school climate survey: "first attempt to quantify some of the qualitative measures"
provided school level results to principals and superintendents
first time given; still a work in progress
still discovering how useful state and schools will find it
done in partial fulfillment under the anti-bullying act
Students still coming in from Puerto Rico; "if anything it seems to have accelerated"
passed the 1400 mark last week
about 800 in Springfield, Holyoke, New Bedford, Worcester, Boston
still working with districts both for this year and for coming years
had "a wonderful visit" at the McKay School in East Boston
Globe article spotlight on East Boston
"very much engaged staff working collegiality"
McKay "perfect example of a school...doing well and our accountability system recognizes it...it's a Level 1 school"

Peyser: opioid work
curriculum: personal skills and habits to deal with substance abuse and use
ESPERT screening
comprehensive schoolwide systems for information sharing for interventions
schools are organized to ensure that students get the kids of supports that they need not only to avoid addiction but also to deal with those should they happen
interagency effort is ongoing

PUBLIC COMMENT
Virtual schools: first round of comment is the anti-wifi people
as a reminder, here's the science and also here; I'm not using my space for their misinformational fearmongering
The proposal is for virtual schools tuition to increase from the school choice amount ($5000) to $8190
Tech Connections Virtual Schools: proposed allocation
currently 1700 families have enrolled; has implications in how schools are designed to meet the needs of each student
options to families
Greenfield Commonwealth Virtual Schools: "a school of hopes and dreams"
Mental health conditions, debilitating physical conditions, aspiring artists and athletes
change of learning platforms; fully aligned with Massachusetts curricular frameworks
teachers innovate to engage students


Social Studies:
Kerry Dunne: 20 year educator, curriculum coordinator in Weston
President of Mass Council for Social Studies
appreciate the effort to update the standards after 20 years
support for the draft proposed; improvement over current framework
critical to communicate what grade and what content new state assessment will take
"and we would welcome a non-traditional assessment"
clear and firm guidance
"the sad fact is that history and social studies have not been a priority for many years"
a strong statement from the Commissioner that every student needs to have history and social studies on their schedule from a certified teacher
quality, preferably digital resources and quality PD
Haverhill supervisor on history and social studies
also worked on revision
shift from "a laundry list of dates and dead guys..to our nation's story" and the world
build lifelong learners of history
"if we teach more history, we will save the English teachers"
"truly go deep into controversial topics...the struggle is real"
"if we are going to continue to strive for a more perfect union, it may as well start with us"
"there is no better place to continue to be the change than in our classrooms"
iCurrulum (? I think?)
we're getting a ream of survey stuff here 
working on how to discuss controversial issues
Mass state coordinator for the "We the People" program
served on the commissioner for civic learning and engagement
dates and facts "has always minimized" the study
"opportunity for students to critically examine what is being studied"
"to understand the conflicting messages they will hear and confront throughout their lives"
"history is often a varying number of shades of grey"
"dispositions that are most essential for a democratic citizenry"
"our democracy is fragile"
"to create a nation of skeptics, not cynics"

Renewal of Four Rivers Charter
superintendent of the Mohawk Regional District Michael Buoniconti
urges not to renew
"this is a rural issue"
"here to speak about a specific case"
"I understand the need for charters where you have underperforming, failing schools"
"our families have good choices in traditional public schools"
"I'm looking for a partner in Malden"

The Board of Education has their June meeting on Tuesday: UPDATED

The Board of Elementary and Secondary Education meets for June on Tuesday at their offices in Malden. You can find the agenda here. 
A couple of things that are not on the agenda, but are coming in as reports:

• The annual survey of superintendents and principals is back. You can find a lot more breakdown of the results here. 
• An update on the revision of the social studies and history standards is included. The short version is we're done with the initial stakeholder engagement and moving on to the drafting of draft standards.
• The annual non-operating school districts (that tuition out all of their students) report is included. Note that a number of these are small towns that run K-6 and then tuition out their high school students (choosing not to belong to a regional school district).

On the agenda:

• proposed Early College Program Designation process and criteria for discussion and vote. This is essentially formalizing and creating new versions of the linking of high schools and colleges for high school students to gain college credit and experiences in high school. I continue to feel as though this misses the major point, which is that no one seems to know what to do with high school anymore. Shoving them all into college early misses some growth that ought, I think, to be happening in high school.
• a presentation on the Safe Schools for LGBTQ students program
• a discussion and vote on proposed revisions to teacher licensure. The only bit that's particularly new here from earlier discussion is the removal of what was proposed as broadening language around removal of licensure; if you skim down the link, you can see the discussion of what was the section most objected to by the state teachers' unions. Note in particular this comment: " The removal of some of the proposed amendments to 603 CMR 7.15(8) does not affect, change, or narrow the Commissioner's legal authority."
• There will be an update on the four Level 5 schools, of which two are in Boston, one in New Bedford, and one in Holyoke. With the return of the Dever to operation under Boston Superintendent Chang, three of these schools will be operating under the authority of their superintendents as receiver, though in those cases not reporting to their school committees (with the exception of Holyoke, where the entire district is under state receivership).
• The Commissioner has his annual performance review, done by subcommittee. You can read the full report here. He is being given a 4.95 rating out of 5. More than anything, this reflects to me just how far removed the Board is from most of education in the state.
• The Board is being asked to waive the week's notice of charter school lotteries in the case of three schools that had to reschedule due to a snowstorm in March. 
• The Board is being asked to do their usual summer delegation of authority to the Commissioner. 
• And the Board is being asked to vote their schedule for next year.

Liveblog/tweet coming Tuesday. 

UPDATE: Today (Friday) they added:

Executive Session to Discuss Litigation Strategy

Massachusetts Board of Education meets Tuesday, April 18

You can find the agenda here.

They are again foregoing the Monday evening meeting.
After comments by the secretary, the chair, the commissioner, and the public, they'll be hearing an update on civics engagement and the review and renewal of the history and social studies standards. You can download the civics learning and engagement plan here.
In the ongoing updates on Level 5 schools and districts, UP Academy Holland is giving an update. There are also written updates from the Dever School (going from Blueprint to Boston Superintendent Chang in oversight), Parker Elementary (from New Bedford Superintendent Pia Durkin), the Morgan school (provided by Holyoke receiver Steve Zrike).
The Board will discuss and vote on the proposal to reset school levels this coming year; as the accompanying memo says:

Schools enrolling students in grades 3-8 would not be placed in Levels 1-3 of the framework for district accountability and assistance for the 2016-2017 school year, provided that the school maintains at least 90 percent participation for each student group in each subject on the spring 2017 assessments and, if the school goes through grade 12, the school does not have persistently low graduation rates for one or more student groups.1 Elementary and middle schools with a participation rate below 90 percent will be placed in Level 3. Assessment results for each school still will be reported publicly. The 2017 next-generation MCAS results for grades 3-8 will serve as the baseline for future accountability reporting.

The Board is being asked to delegate their authority to approve charter school contracts to the Commissioner for the Old Sturbridge Village Charter School (to contract with Old Sturbridge Village) and Community Day Charter (to contract with Community Day Charter Management Organization). May want to keep an eye on this one; the Legislature gave this authority to the public entity for a reason. 
Finally, they are hearing an update on the FY18 budget, now that the House Ways and Means budget has been released.

Civic learning and History/social studies standards: Board of Ed

Chester: I said I would update you with timelines and so forth
plan is to revise history and social studies standards between now and 2018
regional focus groups and review panel meetings between now and next year
draft revised standards by end of 2017
district implements through 2020
development of state assessment at the same time, with state assessment spring 2020

You may have heard we're having a meeting this week

The Worcester School Committee meets in public session this week at 7 (or so). We have an executive session scheduled for 6. You can find our agenda here.

We will be taking up two items in Executive Session:

• Executive session pursuant to Mass. G.L. c. 30A, Section 21(a)(2) to conduct strategy sessions in preparation for negotiations with nonunion personnel and contract negotiations with nonunion personnel, Superintendent’s Employment Contract.
• Executive session pursuant to Mass. G.L. c. 30A, Section 21(a)(2) to conduct strategy sessions in preparation for negotiations with nonunion personnel and contract negotiations with nonunion personnel, Interim Superintendent Employment Contract.

We have several groups coming in to be recognized (including the wonderfully named Spiritually Fabulous Ministries).
The section of the policy manual regarding the work of the School Committee, now on its second hold, is again on the agenda.
The report of the superintendent this week is on our alternative education programs, which has had a grant-funded outside evaluation. Should you have any interest in our programs, it's definitely worth a read.
The EAW is requesting that we open negotiations for successor contracts with Bus Drivers (Aids to the Physically Handicapped), Bus Monitors, Units A &B, Instructional Assistants, Parent Liaisons, ESL Tutors, abd OT/PT Assistants.
We're being informed a few personnel items.
The North High Alumni Association raised money for a van for the school, and so we're planning to thank them for that.
Mr. Monfredo would like to recognize the South High AP Pep Rally.
There's a conference later this month on "Human Rights and Social Studies" that some may be interested in.
We're being asked to accept a donation from Shaw's to McGrath Elementary of $400.
Mr. Monfredo is recommending that schools share best practices to improve school climate and parent involvement.
Mr. Monfredo is looking to schedule meetings with the delegation.
We're being asked to accept a donation of $250 from JVE for Tatncuk Magnet.
Mr. Foley is calling to our attention the work of the Unified Theater.
Yes, I've been selected for the 2015 the All-State School Committee...
Mr. O'Connell is requesting any update on the school security audit (which we got on Friday).
We're being asked to accept an anonymous donation of $5000 and a $100 donation from Kate Toomey to Tatnuck Magnet.
We're being asked to approve prior fiscal year payments to psychologists of $77.63 and $39.68, respectively.
Miss Biancheria would like a report on the Recovery High School.
Mr. Monfredo wants to talk about Family Literacy Month.

Finally, there are three from Mayor Petty:

• Request that the Administration ask the purchasing agent to prepare documents for a Request for Proposal for a search firm for the selection of the next Superintendent of the Worcester Public Schools.
• To consider selection of Dr. Marco Rodrigues as Interim Superintendent of Schools.
• To approve the timeline for the selection of the new Superintendent of Schools.

Executive session at 6; public session scheduled for 7, at City Hall or livestreaming online.

Constitution day

Colorio concerned about lack of mention of documents: Articles of Confederation, Federalist Papers
Boone: this is an answer to the concern regarding the Constitution, these are not the entire frameworks
Rodrigues: this is how civics and Constitution are being addressed at this point at these levels
O'Connell: program on Constitution Day...September 17
doesn't really square with the curriculum for the grades in which it is addressed
suggests ways in which it could be addressed at various points in the year at various grades

We aren't teaching enough science in elementary school

Right. *
So, what are we going to do about that?

*also true of social studies.