District/School Administration Administration
The Massachusetts Board of Education

Briefing for the April 28, 2008 Special Meeting and the April 29, 2008 Regular Meeting of the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education

The next regular meeting of the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education will be on Tuesday, April 29, 2008, at Worcester Technical High School in Worcester. Board members are invited to convene at 8:00 a.m. for a tour of the school. The meeting will start at 9:00 a.m. and adjourn by 1:00 p.m., after which the culinary arts students will provide a luncheon for Board members in the school's Skyline Bistro. The Board also will have a special meeting on Monday evening, April 28, 2008, at the Beechwood Hotel in Worcester, starting at 5:00 p.m. If you need overnight accommodations or any additional information about the schedule, please call Belinda Wilson at (781) 338-3118.

Overview

The special meeting on Monday evening is an opportunity for Board members to hear from and have a broad policy discussion with incoming Commissioner Mitchell Chester and three school superintendents on the issue of school and district accountability and support. Our regular meeting on Tuesday, at Worcester Technical High School, will begin at 9:00 a.m., following a tour of the school at 8:00 a.m. Superintendent Jim Caradonio, Principal Sheila Harrity, and Ted Coughlin of Coughlin Electric in Worcester, chairman of the school's general advisory board, will welcome the Board. The agenda for the regular meeting includes continuing discussion and vote on next steps concerning two districts that the Board has designated as underperforming, Winchendon and Gill-Montague. Other items on the agenda are continuing discussion and vote on the updated technology literacy standards and expectations, a presentation on the recent report of the National Mathematics Advisory Panel, a progress report on review of the English Language Arts curriculum framework, a report on the Massachusetts Tests for Educator Licensure, and approval of grants.

Special Meeting

State System for School and District Accountability and Support - Discussion

The special meeting on Monday evening, April 28th, will focus on the state system for school and district accountability and support. Incoming Commissioner Mitchell Chester will make a presentation and lead a discussion with the Board from 5:00-7:00 p.m. Following dinner from 7:00-8:00 p.m., a panel of three superintendents - Jim Caradonio of Worcester, Karla Brooks Baehr of Lowell, and Eduardo Carballo of Holyoke - will discuss with the Board their views on the state's role in assisting low-performing districts. The special meeting will conclude by 9:30.

Regular Meeting

Comments from the Chairman

Chairman Reville will brief the Board on current issues and activities. He will recognize the National Plumbing Instructor of the Year, Jack Herrick, who teaches at Minuteman Regional Vocational-Technical High School in Lexington. Mr. Herrick has over 40 years of experience in the plumbing industry and has been an instructor at Minuteman since 1995. Minuteman's principal, Jim Laverty, will also be at the meeting.

The next meeting of the Board, on Tuesday, May 20th, will be held at Oxford High School in honor of Zachary Tsetsos, who in June will conclude his elected term as chair of the State Student Advisory Council and as a member of the Board.

Comments from the Commissioner

1. Vocational Technical Student Awards. I had the honor of speaking at the Outstanding Vocational Technical Student Awards banquet at Mechanics Hall in Worcester on April 10th, along with Chairman Reville, Lt. Gov. Tim Murray, and Worcester Superintendent Jim Caradonio. The Massachusetts Vocational Association and the Massachusetts Association of Vocational Administrators sponsor this event each year, to recognize the range and caliber of our vocational students' accomplishments. Forty-seven exceptional young men and women from vocational schools and programs across the state were lauded for their remarkable achievements in and beyond the classroom. Many of them have achieved distinction academically as well as in their technical classes, and plan to pursue their chosen fields in college. This year, 2008, marks the 100th anniversary of vocational education in Massachusetts.

2. Proposed state budget for FY09. The House Ways and Means Committee released its FY09 budget proposal on April 16th. All Board members have received information about the budget proposal for education. We will keep you posted as the budget process continues.

3. Charter school forum in Washington. I am pleased to report that Mary Street, director of our Charter Schools Office, has been invited to participate in a national charter school policy forum to be hosted by the U.S. Secretary of Education in Washington in May. The Massachusetts charter school initiative has earned national recognition.

4. Massachusetts Schools of Character. We commend two Massachusetts schools, Col. John Robinson School in Westford, and the Mill Pond School in Westborough, which are being honored as Massachusetts Schools of Character for their exemplary programs in character education. This is the first year that Massachusetts is participating in the Character Education Partnership's State Schools of Character Awards Program, which recognizes schools and districts for their outstanding work in character education and highlights model programs. The Hudson Public School District (National District of Character 2001) and Boston University's Center for the Advancement of Ethics and Character Education conducted the review process, based on the CEP's Eleven Principles of Effective Character Education (www.character.org). The Robinson School and the Mill Pond School will be recognized at Boston University's CAEC Spring Institute, Educating for Justice (www.bu.edu/sed/caec) on April 29th. On May 1st, starting at 2:00 p.m., the two schools will be honored at a legislative reception at the Massachusetts State House.

Items for Discussion and Action

1. Report on the April 28th Special Meeting - Discussion

   Chairman Reville will summarize the discussion that took place at the Monday evening special meeting.

2. Winchendon Public Schools: Recommendation on Next Steps - Discussion and Vote

   The Winchendon Public Schools have been in underperforming district status since the Board's vote in November 2003. Last month you heard from Superintendent Peter Azar and other representatives from Winchendon and Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC), the state-funded turnaround partner, about the district's progress over the past three years. The district is not in any accountability status under NCLB, it has been successful in implementing its turnaround plan, many deficiencies originally cited by the Office of Educational Quality and Accountability have been addressed, and relations between the school department and the town government have improved. While the district has a ways to go, the Department has done what it can for Winchendon and we need to focus scarce resources on other school districts. I am recommending that the Board vote this month to remove Winchendon from underperforming district status.

3. Gill-Montague Regional School District: Recommendation on Next Steps - Discussion and Vote

   The Board identified the Gill-Montague Regional School District as an underperforming school district in January 2007. The Department sent a three-member team to the district to examine its leadership and governance structure. That team prepared a district leadership evaluation report, which the Board reviewed in November 2007. At our March meeting, Interim Superintendent Kenneth Rocke presented the district's turnaround plan. We asked him to revise the plan to clarify specific steps the school district will take to address the identified concerns. The revised turnaround plan from Gill-Montague is included in your materials under Tab 3. I recommend that the Board vote to accept the plan at this month's meeting.

4. Updated Technology Literacy Standards and Expectations - Continued Discussion and Vote

   At our February meeting the Board had an initial discussion on the proposed updated version of the Massachusetts Technology Literacy Standards and Expectations, pending further review. Following that meeting, we sent the 2001 standards and the proposed update to Board members so that you would have the opportunity to review the changes in more detail. I recommend that the Board vote this month to approve the updated Technology Literacy Standards and Expectations.

5. Presentation on National Mathematics Advisory Panel - Discussion

   On March 13, 2008, the National Mathematics Advisory Panel presented its final report to President Bush and Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings. The report, which is posted at http://www.ed.gov/about/bdscomm/list/mathpanel/index.html, is a great resource for educators, policy makers, researchers, parents, and others. The executive summary is enclosed under Tab 5. Board member Sandra Stotsky, who served on the national panel, will introduce her fellow panel member, Prof. Wilfried Schmid of Harvard University, who will give a brief presentation and then engage the Board in discussion. The report will be very useful to the Mathematics Curriculum Framework Review Panel that we have convened to review the 2000 Massachusetts Mathematics Curriculum Framework and the 2004 Supplement. We expect to present general recommendations about updating the Mathematics Curriculum Framework to the Board in the fall of 2008.

6. English Language Arts Curriculum Framework Review: Progress Report - Discussion

   We are presenting a progress report on the work of the English Language Arts Curriculum Framework Review Panel that was appointed in November 2007. The report provides background on the review process, presents five key issues the panel has identified, and suggests possible next steps. Susan Wheltle, Director of the Curriculum Standards Office, and Beverly Nelson, Assistant Superintendent of the Medford Public Schools, will be at the meeting to answer your questions. Based on the Board's discussion and input from incoming Commissioner Mitchell Chester, we will continue to work with the review panel to prepare specific recommendations for revisions to the curriculum framework. We expect to have the recommendations ready by June 2008.

7. Massachusetts Tests for Educator Licensure: MTEL Pass Rate Task Force Report - Discussion

   As part of the Board's continuing review of statewide initiatives related to educator effectiveness, we are presenting for initial discussion the recommendations of a report forwarded to my attention by the Educational Personnel Advisory Council entitled "Recommendations for Addressing Disparities in Massachusetts Tests for Educator Licensure Scores." The report recommends several steps to close the gap in passing rates between white and minority candidates for licensure. I expect that the Board will continue its consideration of these and other issues related to the educator workforce at future meetings.

8. Approval of Grants - Vote

   Presented for your approval this month are grants totaling $2,157,214 under two federally funded programs: Title I School Improvement Regional Grant Program ($1,225,000) and Perkins Equipment and Instructional Materials ($932,214). I recommend that the Board approve the grants as presented.

Other Items for Information

9. Education-Related News Clippings

   Enclosed are several recent articles about education.

10. Education Brief: Connecting Activities

    Enclosed for your information is the third installment in the Ed Brief series prepared by our Office of Strategic Planning, Research, and Evaluation. This report focuses on the Connecting Activities program, which was launched about ten years ago to acquaint students with the world of work and help them see the relationship between what they are learning in school and their career aspirations. By linking education to worksite learning experiences, Connecting Activities provides a real-world context for teaching a more relevant curriculum. Connecting Activities is integral to our college and career readiness agenda as well as our student support strategies related to dropout prevention and student engagement, particularly for students at risk. This Ed Brief describes the program, looks at funding and participation trends, profiles some ways that students are participating, and discusses program outcomes and benefits. The report will be posted on our website.

11. Initial Report on Commonwealth Pilot Schools: Executive Summary

    In March 2007, the Board gave four schools that would otherwise have been designated chronically underperforming the opportunity to convert to Commonwealth Pilot Schools. The participating schools-Academy Middle School in Fitchburg, John J. Duggan Middle School in Springfield, Roger L. Putnam Vocational School in Springfield, and The English High School in Boston-opened under the new Commonwealth Pilot School structure in fall 2007. The Department has contracted with the Donahue Institute at the University of Massachusetts to evaluate program implementation in these schools. The executive summary and table of contents of the initial evaluation report is enclosed under Tab 11. The full report is available at http://www.doe.mass.edu/research/reports/eval.html.

12. Update on State Review Panels

    This report updates the Board on the work of the state review panels that have been reviewing the District Plans for School Improvement submitted by districts that have Commonwealth Priority Schools. The panels make recommendations to the Commissioner and the Board on the adequacy and viability of each plan. In May we will bring recommendations from the panels to the Board on the school improvement plans from the nine Commissioner's Districts: Boston, Brockton, Fall River, Holyoke, Lawrence, Lowell, New Bedford, Springfield, and Worcester.

13. Summary of Massachusetts Student Data

    Enclosed is a summary of our most recent data on public school student enrollments and various performance indicators. This information is useful for Board members as well as Department staff and the public. The data summary includes links to more detailed reports that are posted on our website.

14. Directions to the Meetings

If you have questions about any agenda items, please call me. I look forward to seeing you in Worcester on April 28th and 29th.