Worcester School Committee meets tonight, November 17

Falling way behind on these, I fear...
The Worcester School Committee meets tonight at 7 pm. You can find the agenda here.
The main item on the agenda--pursuing a lawsuit against Monsanto regarding PCB use--has not only already been previewed by Scott O'Connell, but we already know it's going to pass: yes, a quorum of the School Committee indicated in the article that they plan to vote in favor of the item, thus violating the Open Meeting Law. While there are plenty of lawsuits against Monsanto, the ones that have been successful, as far as I can tell, were individuals suing Monsanto for cases of cancer. There isn't a clear trail of cases that show this could work.

The student representative is bringing forward something about the cell phone policy (cheers!)

The report of the Superintendent is on the revamped Office of Curriculum and Professional Learning.

There are some retirements, resignations, and appointments.

There is a response regarding services for Deaf students.
There is a response regarding recess equipment.
There is a response regarding school accountability levels  and what is being done in response to them.

Mr. O'Connell is concerned about the accessibility of the website.
He also wants Worcester to be part of DESE's "Planning for Success"
He also wants WPS to have net metering (which would be up to the city).

There are a number of donations that the administration is asking the School Committee to accept.

Miss Biancheria would like a report on manufacturing options.

There is also an executive session at 6 pm, for negotiations with plumbers and pipefitters, computer technicians, tradesmen, instructional assistants; for three workers compension cases; and for the lawsuit with the union regarding PCB testing. I wouldn't expect the meeting to start on time.

and no liveblog from me 

Teaching--and blogging--in Trump's America

Teachers aren't fueling student anxieties. They COME IN with anxieties we must overcome in order to teach. Once again. I am NOT the problem. https://t.co/wYnQIt02cw

— Lea M. Benson M.Ed. (@bledwine) November 17, 2016

   I've seen this expressed several times over the past week: teachers and parents are scaring children about what will happen under this coming administration. Most recently, I saw it in this AEI blog post. Others think that any actual danger to children in schools--not from the administration, but from others--has been exaggerated, as Secretary Peyser commented, by "social media."

Nonsense.

Larry Ferlazzo does an excellent job of taking apart the notion that children being made afraid by teachers or parents. Given the clearly expressed priorities and intentions of Mr. Trump and those in his campaign and incoming administration, fear from children about what the administration will do is, frankly, a logical reaction. It has been difficult to avoid this election; it has been nearly impossible to avoid news of the transition. Children don't only listen to parents talking directly to them; they listen to the news, see headlines, read social media, and watch television. They don't miss much. Only those who underestimate kids think that they don't know what's actually going on.

As for what is going on in schools, this post from Boston is encouraging. What they are battling against, however, is demonstrated in this report from the Cape. I could give a myraid of others. The Southern Poverty Law Foundation notes that they have had as many reports of hate crime and speech in the past week as they did in the previous six months.

Correlation isn't always causation. When the language around the treatment of women, people of color, the disabled, refugees, immigrants, gay and transgendered people, (am I missing any?) has been as explicit as it was from Mr. Trump and his surrogates, though, it is.

That's why Democrats for Education Reform issued the statement calling on Democrats (of whatever stripe) to refuse appointment in this administration:

...most pernicious, Trump gives both tacit and express endorsement to a dangerous set of racial, ethnic, religious, and gender stereotypes that assault the basic dignity of our children, causing incalculable harm not only to their sense of self, but also to their sense of belonging as accepted members of school communities and neighborhoods.

We're still waiting for any strong statement from our own Governor around this issue; as his Secretary of Education apparently feels the danger is exaggerated, I assume we won't see any leadership there, either. Thus it falls to those most close to children to do what they can to reassure them and keep them safe.

No, kids aren't being made afraid by teachers and parents. That responsibility, as with so much else, rests squarely with Mr. Trump.

If you care at all about state policy, go read this

Mary Ann Stewart reports out on the Board of Ed retreat.
Yikes.

Good post on district use of social media!

I just want to highlight this post on district use of social media in communicating with families:

Anderson advises schools and districts to survey parents about their social media access, habits and preferences. Then, he suggests they start small. “Maybe you’re already publishing a few stories a week on your school website about a new technology initiative or kids winning awards,” he said. “All we’re going to do is post that link in one more place, like Twitter. I’m looking for quick and easy ways that fit into the workflow, and aren’t a burden to teachers.”

Social media in public office

When I presented two weeks ago at the MASS/MASC conference on social media use, I was asked if I could give some examples of those in public office who were good examples on social media use. This is really only the beginning of a list; I'll add to it as I am able.

And these are in no particular order

This one came across my Twitter feed, as his response on Somerville's position as a sanctuary city came as an @ message response to someone tweeting at him: Mayor Joe Curtatone of Somerville. One of my measures of social media use is if someone uses it only to project their own voice, or if they show any signs of interacting with others (either by answering them, or by retweeting them). Mayor Curtatone does both.

Likewise, Mayor Marty Walsh of Boston does a decent job of not only talking about what he's doing, but also of broadcasting what is going on around across the city. While he doesn't do as much interaction, what he does do is once in awhile is open his feed up to questions.

Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut first came to my attention last year during his filibuster on the floor of the Senate around gun laws. It's clear that, unlike some senators, he at least to some degree runs his own feed.

The example that I always point to is (state) Senator Jamie Eldridge, who not only runs his own Twitter feed, but is far and away the most interactive of any public officials. He regularly engages with not only those who agree with him, but those who vehemently disagree with him.

Mary Ann Stewart is currently the parent rep on the Board of Ed, and she uses her both her Twitter feed and her blog to share both what she learns from her work there and her thoughts on process and policy.

continuing to update...

MASBO Fall Institute : "Creating a Culture that Learns"

Karen Mapp, Harvard Graduate School of Ed (moderating)
Nina Zockoff Culbertson, Rennie Center
Dianne Kelly, Superintendent, Revere
Ventura Rodriguez, Director at DESE

Mapp: seeing family members "as co-creators and co-producers"

Kelly: "we live in a world where there is no stability"
support a "continuous state of change"
need partners to support ongoing changes
working with other districts for curriculum: "over half of kids who move out of district move among" five districts working together
collaborative leadership: "empowered teachers to do the work and embrace the change"
"narrative about public education in this country is disheartening"
leadership potential of teachers is not tapped
need to change the narrative

Rodriguez: works with Level 4 and 5 schools and districts, but level 3 as well "as districts are being more proactive to really step up"
organizations to bring in organizations "that may include academics, but may go beyond academics"
"yes, academic achievement is critical...but you have to support the whole child"
when working with Level 4 or 5, finance systems looking at impact "either aren't in place or aren't very strong"
"Tons of information on the profiles page" (on DESE's website)
live in a time of dimishing resources
"doing more with less"
Commissioner "interested in providing support" around that work but not providing more support?
Turnaround practices, published every year
districts and schools that are sustaining gains
supports around non-academic supports and family engagment
"if you have to make choices, what are we seeing in terms of practices" that are most successful
field guide coming "very practical, very hands on"

Zockoff Culbertson: strong element of partnership
schools are addressing needs academically, and non-academically
Schools are taking on these additional needs
external partners being brought in as co-collaboratives

How do we make these collaborations and partnerships work?
Kelly: making sure you're not partnering with those who are going to say "here's what we're going to do to your kids or your schools"
"what's specific to Revere"
Not what is canned off the shelf
meet family needs, while bringing families into the schools
"shared responsibility and ownership"
Rodriguez: ownership really important
Holyoke on "secondary redesign"
Zockoff Culbertson: how does it work on a day to day, week to week situation
having a partnership coordinator
making it seamless and making them part of the school
"without that, they seem to have less structure in how they integrate into the school community"

Q about coordination among five districts?
five business agents have been very involved in the work in terms of finances
do work of alignment once in terms of plans
decided to hire a coordinator to have five districts working together, was financed by state in a pilot program
business managers had to get together to figure out how that was going to work
teachers working together across districts to determine curriculum based on standards
working to have program assessed by outside agency to see how it is working

key strategies to lift up
Zockoff Culbertson: Burke in Boston has 62 partners
makes sure every partner builds a relationship with at least one student and every student has a relationship with one adult
partners buy into mission and vision
really have an "all hands on deck" approach
Rodriguez: data for vision and mission
opportunity to partner across different districts; sharing resources
some at DESE see themselves as "regulatory entrepreneurs"
Zockoff Culbertson: have to have teachers on board
opportunities for teachers to see how they partner with others

Question: is DESE supporting best business practices as well as best practices?
"a large part of the new work"
recognition from the department that we needed to support the work around sound business practices
shared resources is important; shared information and knowledge
"solutions are going to be locally generated"
"I know some of you are doing this already"

Question: partnering with parents
using time with parents to go over rules, rather than talk about goals for that year
can parents answer question about school year is about?
ask parents about their hopes and dreams for their child, what teachers should know about the children; inviting parents to be partners with us
generational challenges with schools: families that for generations have felt that they aren't wanted by schools
"one phone call, one packet home isn't going to do it"

Improving the economically disadvantaged count

MassBudget released a memo today about improving the economically disadvantaged student count to capture more of the kids that we know are out there. They have six strategies to improve the count.
Please read it and share it! These are the kinds of changes needed!