District/School Administration Administration
The Massachusetts Board of Education

Board in Brief
Tuesday, April 29, 2008

This is "Board in Brief," issued at the request of Acting Commissioner Jeffrey Nellhaus to bring you up to date on Board of Elementary and Secondary Education matters. This is a report on the regular meeting held on Tuesday, April 29, 2008 at Worcester Technical High School.

Comments from the Chairman

Chairman Paul Reville said the Board was pleased to hold its meeting at Worcester Technical High School, which Board members toured earlier in the morning. He added that the facility is a testament to the leadership in the district and school and to the endeavor of technical education statewide. The chairman introduced James Caradonio, superintendent of schools in Worcester, Sheila Harrity, principal of Worcester Technical High, and Ted Coughlin, chairman of Worcester Technical High's general advisory board, who welcomed the Board to Worcester.

Chairman Reville reported on the Board's special meeting on the State System for School and District Accountability and Support, which was held on the evening of April 28th at the Beechwood Hotel in Worcester. The chairman said the special meeting was part of the Board's continuing review of the state's accountability system and ways to strengthen support and technical assistance to the field. Incoming Commissioner Mitchell Chester made a presentation to the Board at the special meeting entitled, "Accountability Revisited: Key Considerations - Identifying Short & Longer Term Work." The Board also engaged in a roundtable discussion with superintendents James Caradonio from Worcester, Karla Brooks Baehr from Lowell, and Eduardo Carballo from Holyoke. Chairman Reville said the Board seeks to build on the good work of the Department to date, in the spirit of continuous improvement.

The chairman said that U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings will visit Boston on May 6, 2008 as part of the Secretary's state-by-state tour. The Secretary plans to visit a Boston charter school, participate in a roundtable discussion with state educational policy makers at the State House, and meet with Governor Patrick.

Chairman Reville said he is convening a 21st Century Skills Taskforce to advise the Board on how to ensure that all students are prepared in the core academic subjects and in the skills necessary for success in the 21st century, including problem solving, innovation, oral communication, teamwork, and critical thinking. Board member Gerald Chertavian will chair this taskforce, whose membership of 15 or so stakeholders will include Board members Harneen Chernow and Tom Fortmann. The taskforce will present a white paper to the Board next fall.

The chairman said that the Readiness Project continues its work and will present its report to the Governor in June.

Chairman Reville presented a citation to Jack Herrick, a plumbing instructor at Minuteman Regional Vocational-Technical High School, in recognition of his distinguished accomplishment of being selected as the 2008 National Plumbing Instructor of the Year.

Comments from the Acting Commissioner

Acting Commissioner Jeff Nellhaus noted three informational items included in the Board packet: an interim report on Commonwealth Pilot Schools; an update on the State Review Panels; and a summary of Massachusetts student data.

Comments from the Public

Four individuals spoke to the Board on topics including the updated technology literacy standards, school libraries, and the Gill-Montague Regional School District's turnaround plan.

Winchendon Public Schools

Acting Commissioner Nellhaus said that last month the Board heard from Winchendon Superintendent Peter Azar, School Committee Chair Michael Niles, and the district's turnaround partner, EDC, Inc., about the district's progress since the Board declared it underperforming in November 2003. The acting commissioner noted that the district is not in any accountability status under NCLB, the district has been successful in implementing its turnaround plan, and relations between the school department and town government have improved. Since the March meeting, the district has hired a full-time superintendent to succeed Dr. Azar. The Board voted to approve the acting commissioner's recommendation to remove Winchendon from underperforming district status.

Gill-Montague Regional School District

The Board identified the Gill-Montague Regional School District as an underperforming school district in January 2007. The Department sent a three-person team to the district to examine its leadership capacity and governance structure, and then submitted the leadership evaluation report to the Board in November 2007. Last month, Interim Superintendent of Schools Kenneth Rocke presented the district's turnaround plan to the Board. The district was asked to revise the plan to clarify specific steps it would take to address the identified concerns. On recommendation of the acting commissioner, the Board voted to accept the district's revised turnaround plan.

Updated Technology Literacy Standards and Expectations

Chairman Reville said the updated technology literacy standards and expectations are voluntary and are intended to be a guide for schools. The chairman said that technology is pervasive in a 21st century education, and this document represents a modest update to the existing standards. Acting Commissioner Nellhaus said the update builds on a very good document from 2001, and he commended Board member Sandra Stotsky for her work on the original standards. The acting commissioner said the updated standards have been reviewed by hundreds of teachers who confirmed that the standards are challenging but reasonable. He said the Department plans to work with school districts and organizational and business partners to support professional development for teachers to assist them in integrating the teaching of technology skills into the general curriculum. The Board voted to approve the updated technology literacy standards and expectations.

National Mathematics Advisory Panel

The chairman asked Board member Sandra Stotsky to introduce Professor Wilfried Schmid of Harvard University to make a presentation on the final report of the National Mathematics Advisory Panel. Both Dr. Stotsky and Professor Schmid served on the national panel. Professor Schmid reviewed some of the report's recommendations relating to curriculum frameworks, student assessment, and the role of teachers. Professor Schmid said algebra is the gateway to college mathematics, and the panel identified crucial prerequisites (automatic recall of number facts, mastery of arithmetic, proficiency with fractions) for younger students to be prepared for algebra. Acting Commissioner Nellhaus said the national panel's report will be very helpful to the work of the Mathematics Curriculum Framework review panel. The report, "Foundations for Success," is posted at: http://www.ed.gov/about/bdscomm/list/mathpanel/report/final-report.pdf.

English Language Arts Curriculum Framework Review

The Board voted on a revision schedule for all of the state's curriculum frameworks at its August 2007 meeting. At this month's meeting, the acting commissioner presented a progress report on the work of the English Language Arts Curriculum Framework review panel. Susan Wheltle, director of the Curriculum Standards office, noted that the 34-member review panel has met six times to examine how to strengthen the framework academically and make the standards more useful to schools and districts. Ms. Wheltle said the review panel identified five topics that could be strengthened: (1) writing and research; (2) the reading of informational text; (3) communication skills across the curriculum; (4) college readiness standards, especially at grades 11-12; and (5)increasing content knowledge and literacy in the elementary grades. The review panel will continue its work and expects to present recommendations to the Commissioner and the Board in June 2008.

Massachusetts Tests for Educator Licensure: MTEL Pass Rate Task Force Report

In May 2007, former Commissioner Driscoll called upon the Board's Educational Personnel Advisory Council (EPAC) to convene a working group to consider the disparity in passing rates by racial, ethnic, and linguistic subgroups on the Massachusetts Tests for Educator Licensure (MTEL) and develop recommendations for addressing it. At this month's meeting, Associate Commissioner Bob Bickerton, EPAC chairman Ray Shurtleff, and Sally Dias of Emmanuel College, who served on the study group, presented the report to the Board. The study group recommended that the Department: (1) strengthen the MTEL Technical Report; (2) review and, as necessary, update the Communication and Literacy Skills writing subtest and subject matter tests; (3) collect and report data on the diversity of the educator workforce and those enrolled in preparation programs; (4) consider alternative means for candidates to demonstrate knowledge and competence; (5) convene a diversity summit; (6) consider modifying the requirements for the Preliminary License; (7) work with educator preparation programs to report data on their candidates and to identify and replicate best practices in preparing them; and (8) work with the Governor, Legislature, and Department of Higher Education to enhance recruitment and retention of a diverse teacher workforce. Chairman Reville thanked the study group for their advice and noted that today's presentation was part of a larger discussion on the state's role in setting standards and policies to attract, prepare, license, and retain very well qualified educators for all students in the Commonwealth. The chairman said the Board would continue to review issues related to the educator workforce, which is a high priority for the Board. Chairman Reville also said that neither the Governor nor the Board had endorsed Senate Bill 271 or any other legislation relating to the MTEL.

Grants

The Board approved federal grants totaling $2,157,214 under the following programs: Title I School Improvement Regional Grant Program and Perkins - Equipment and Instructional Materials.

Next Meeting

The next regular meeting of the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education will be held on Tuesday, May 20, 2008 at Oxford High School.