Worcester, do read this

 Hey, I'm not going to talk about this, as my turn to talk about it comes next week, but do check out the draft WPS strategic plan. It was discussed at yesterday's Governance meeting (video embedded below) and is before the full committee for discussion next Thursday, with scheduled final vote for our final meeting of the year and term on December 21.

As noted during the meeting, there are some edits already in train, so note that the above is very much not the final document. 

If you have comments, get in touch with the Committee! 

I regret to inform you that we are going to need to talk about FY25

 And we're off! 

The Swifty Swine Racing Pigs from the Eastern States Exposition (photo mine)

While I usually consider the "official" start of the next fiscal year discussion to be the Consensus Revenue Hearing (this year scheduled for December 4 at 1 pm; mark your calendar!) when the Joint Committees on Ways and Means together with the Secretary of Administration and Finance from the Governor's Cabinet hold a hearing to discuss how much money the state will have next year, I'm going to kick off the blogging  on this a little early this year, because, all, we need to have a discussion about what we know so far. 

Note, incidentally--check where you are!--that this is offered not in my professional capacity at all.

November Board of Ed: public adult education

 and there is a memo here "Live to Learn
Wyvonne Stevens-Carter: puts no-cost quality instruction, advising, job training, and career pathways within reach of all adult students in Massachusetts
students are all different, they're reslient and indomitable
public education for adults is the bridge between living and learning
need for services and commitment from state; added 284 seats for basic adult education; 3087 English learner seats
and now a video from some of the students
putting opportunity within reach of everyone

Board of Ed: early literacy

 memo is here

update on early curricular materials Katherine Tarca
with guest stars Worcester Public Schools Assistant Superintendent Marie Morse and Manager of Curriculum and Learning Magdalena Ganias

November Board of Ed: chronic absenteeism and accountability

 the memo for this is here 'though that doesn't give any details
Curtin: adjusting the weighing of chronic absenteeism
students missing at least 10% of their days in the school year, so 18 days in 180 days
'19 was just under 13%
have come down from high water of 29.9% in '21 to 22% in '23
rate in elementary has doubled from before 2019
high school, percent increase isn't as great, but almost 30% of high school students are chronically absent in the '23
"impact is startling" MCAS for students who were chronically absent versus those who were not
close to half an achievement level of difference 
all grade spans, all school types
Students who are not chronically absent achieve more highly
DESE is interested in increasing weighting in accountability system FOR THIS YEAR
"coupling this with...grant or seed funding to districts to work on the problem" plus a public service campaign
"But one of the levers that the Department has is the accountability system"

November Board of Ed: measures of progress and goals

 memo on this is here but I am just going to plunk them all here: 

1.     By 2026, the state will return to pre-pandemic levels (or higher) of the percentage of students meeting or exceeding expectations on the MCAS:

a.      Increase grades 3-8 ELA by 10 percentage points to 52 percent of students meeting or exceeding expectations

b.     Increase grade 10 ELA by 5 percentage points to 63 percent of students meeting or exceeding expectations

c.      Increase grades 3-8 Math by 8 percentage points to 49 percent of students meeting or exceeding expectations

d.     Increase grade 10 Math by 9 percentage points to 59 percent of students meeting or exceeding expectations

2.     By 2026, the state will return to pre-pandemic levels (or lower) of the percentage of students who are chronically absent:

a.      Decrease the non-high school chronic absenteeism rate by at least 9.4 percentage points to 9.0 percent

b.     Decrease the high school chronic absenteeism rate by at least 9.1 percentage points to 17.3 percent

3.     By 2026, at least 85,000 high-school students will be enrolled in a designated high school college-and-career pathway or program (e.g., Career and Technical Education, including Chapter 74 and “After Dark” programs, Innovation Career Pathways, and Early College).

4.     By 2026, the percentage of diverse staff in schools and districts will increase by at least 4 points to 17.9 percent.

5.     By 2027, the state will offer structured professional learning on evidence-based practices for literacy for all teachers and administrators with responsibility for early literacy.

November Board of Ed: FY25 budget recommendation

 Mohammed: budget is just under $8B but vast majority is distributed via formula 
memo is here
three priorities proposed:

• early literacy
• mental health
• teacher diversity