District/School Administration Administration
The Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education

Board in Brief
Tuesday, April 28, 2009

This is "Board in Brief," issued at the request of Commissioner Mitchell D. Chester 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 28, 2009 at Chelmsford High School.

Comments from the Chair

Chair Banta thanked Chelmsford Superintendent Don Yeoman and Assistant Superintendent Karen Mazza for welcoming the Board to Chelmsford. Assistant Superintendent Mazza introduced Chelmsford High School's librarian Valerie Diggs and technology integrated specialist Marilyn Sweeney, who made a presentation to the Board on 21st century skills.

Chair Banta reported on opportunities she had to represent the Board over the past month, including at a meeting with the Newburyport Chamber of Commerce to discuss their interest in 21st century skills, at a meeting with the Reading Recovery board, during an appearance on NECN to talk about keeping well qualified teachers in the classroom, and at a meeting with Citizen Schools to discuss their interest in embedding 21st century skills into the STEM curriculum. The chair asked Board member Jeff Howard to provide an update on the work of the Performance Gap Committee.

Dr. Howard said the committee is on track as it continues to review preliminary data sets, receive input from committee members, and move towards a set of concrete recommendations.

Chair Banta said that May 19th is Commissioner Chester's one-year anniversary, and she will appoint a subcommittee for the commissioner's evaluation. The Board will take a final vote on the matter at its June 2009 meeting.

The chair said the Board will hold its annual retreat on August 13th, and noted that the May regular meeting will take place at Brookline High School in honor of the Board's student member, AJ Fajnzylber.

Comments from the Commissioner

Commissioner Chester said he wished to acknowledge the talented staff at the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. The commissioner said he has met with the leadership of the Massachusetts School Libraries Association, and he appreciates their service. The commissioner provided an update on the award of a new 5-year student assessment contract to Measured Progress, and added that among the enhancements to come will be a reduction in the amount of testing time and a shorter timeline for returning student results to districts. Commissioner provided an update on the WGBH/WGBY partnership, including establishing a link between MassONE and Teachers Domain, developing a Boston-based academic game quiz show, creating a NOVA science teacher of the year award, and initiating a campaign to elevate the status of teaching.

The commissioner provided an update on the effort to revise the current structure of the Bureau of Special Education Appeals, talked about the Board's continuing charter school policy discussion, and announced that Department employee Lurline Muñoz-Bennett would be honored by the Massachusetts Arts Education Collaborative with the Irene Buck Service to Arts Education Award at a State House ceremony on May 27th.

Commissioner Chester said he recently attended the Milken Award ceremony in Los Angeles, traveled to a meeting in Chicago with Secretary Reville to hear from senior USED officials on where the USED is headed with competitive fund grants, and visited the May School in Randolph. The commissioner has been working closely with Commissioner Auerbach at DPH to monitor the swine flu situation and provide information to schools. The commissioner also distributed copies of an op-ed piece he wrote for Sunday's Boston Globe on districts' use of stimulus funds to invest in ways that would pay dividends after the funds stop.

Comments from the Secretary

Secretary Reville said the Administration has been preoccupied with the budget and protecting education expenditures at the House 1 level. The secretary said the Governor has made a number of stimulus announcements around the state, and that work continues on the state's stabilization fund application. Secretary Reville said the Commission on Dropouts, which he chairs, would release a set of recommendations in the next few weeks. The secretary noted that the legislation to create Readiness Schools would be finalized in anticipation of a June 23rd hearing, and legislation on regionalization has been submitted, which would likely result in the creation of a commission. Secretary Reville said conversations continue with respect to bringing the Harlem Children's Zone model to Massachusetts, and noted that other governors have contacted Massachusetts to talk about the USED "race to the top" funds.

Comments from the Public

Seven individuals addressed the Board on METCO, school libraries and 21st century skills, accountability, and regional transportation reimbursement.

Update on State Education Budget and Federal Stimulus Funding for Education

Commissioner Chester provided an update on the FY09 state budget, which he said may be as much as $500 million short of revenue projections, and the House budget proposal for FY2010. The commissioner said the Governor has announced a hiring freeze, reduction of 250 more positions, and furloughs for managers making $50,000 or more.

The commissioner said the House Ways & Means budget provided $4.4 billion for the Department, which represents a decrease of $93 million below the current projected spending, and a $60 million decrease from House 1. The commissioner noted that the House budget does not consolidate some accounts as did House 1, but does transfer all IT funds to the Secretary of Education's office. Commissioner Chester said the $60 million reduction from House 1 is reflected primarily by cuts to two accounts, regional transportation ($23 million less) and circuit breaker ($31 million less).

School and District Accountability and Assistance

Commissioner Chester said that at its core, this work is about school improvement and ensuring that every child in every school receives a strong education.

Report from Advisory Council on School and District Accountability and Assistance

Deputy Commissioner Karla Baehr introduced Joe Esposito, who chairs the Board's 15-member Advisory Council on School and District Accountability and Assistance. Mr. Esposito said the council has met five times in the last six months. He acknowledged the members of the council and said much of the review of the initial framework has been completed, and the framework is ready for the next operational steps. Mr. Esposito said he hopes there will be adequate resources to conduct the district reviews in addition to meeting other requirements.

Progress Report and Next Steps

Deputy Commissioner Baehr said the focus of the update would be on accountability, specifically: (1) the district review process; (2) the connection between accountability and assistance; (3) the integration of school and district accountability; and (4) interventions at levels 4 and 5.

Deputy Commissioner Baehr said the Department has developed a self-assessment tool for districts, aligned with but more comprehensive than the previous EQA standards. Deputy Commissioner Baehr said the strength of the reports is in the data that ought to be made available to every district and every school each year. The Department is developing a prototype that uses data already available. The Department is also working with the Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education to replicate the Just for the Kids tool, which examines the performance of schools with similar demographics.

Deputy Commissioner Baehr cited the recent Fall River review as an example of a type of comprehensive review. The deputy commissioner described work with eight urban districts that all have Commonwealth Priority Schools and have developed district plans for school intervention. Deputy Commissioner Baehr said this kind of district review has great potential. A third effort has looked at how effective districts and schools have been in addressing diverse learners, by identifying six districts where student achievement and/or outcomes of Coordinated Program Reviews have demonstrated effective systems for supporting diverse learners.

Deputy Commissioner Baehr presented Board members with the latest version of the Framework for District Accountability and Assistance. The deputy commissioner said that 53 percent of districts in the Commonwealth would be in Level 1 if this framework were in place today, 10 percent would be in Level 2, and 35 percent would be in Level 3. Levels 4 and 5 would connote the most serious problems. The deputy commissioner said that Holyoke, Southbridge, and Randolph would all be Level 4 districts.

Level 5 is a co-governance model. Interventions would come at the district level, with the Department working with a district on its need for improvement and its support of schools. Deputy Commissioner Baehr talked about the Readiness Intervention School model, and said the Department would provide funding and technical resources. At Level 5, decision-making authority would be shared by the state and the district.

Secretary Reville commended the Department, Commissioner Chester, and Deputy Commissioner Baehr for their leadership on this accountability system redesign.

Charter Schools: Amendment Requests from Barnstable Horace Mann Charter and Marstons Mills East Horace Mann Charter Public School (Change in Grade Span)

The Board voted to approve amendment requests from Barnstable Horace Mann Charter and Marstons Mills East Horace Mann Charter Public Schools to reflect changes in their grade spans.

2008 Dropout Report and Dropout Prevention and Recovery Initiatives

Commissioner Chester cited the latest dropout report and this year's 0.4 percentage point drop in the dropout rate, which meant almost 1,500 fewer dropouts as compared to last year. The commissioner said he hopes this will be a trend. The commissioner described the dropout report and accompanying data tables, which showed substantial disparities based on demographics, and said the dropout rate has not changed much since the introduction of MCAS. The commissioner noted that the majority of dropouts had already passed the MCAS, including more than 70 percent of dropouts in the 12th grade. The commissioner said this is evidence that the MCAS is not the reason students drop out of high school.

Stafford Peat from the Department talked about a number of important dropout prevention and recovery initiatives underway. He said the Graduation and Dropout Commission report is due to the Legislature on May 15th. Jenny Caldwell Curtin from the Department talked about the work of the Dropout Prevention and Recovery Working Group and the strengthening of alternative education.

Next Meeting

The next regular meeting of the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education is scheduled for Tuesday, May 19, 2009 at Brookline High School.