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

Briefing for the April 28, 2009 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 28, 2009, at Chelmsford High School. Board members are invited to arrive by 8:30 a.m. for coffee and a brief tour of the high school. The meeting will begin at 9 a.m. and will adjourn by 12:30 p.m. If you need overnight accommodations or any additional information about the schedule, please call Beverley O'Riordan at (781) 338-3118.

Overview

Chelmsford Superintendent Donald Yeoman and high school principal Allen Thomas will welcome the Board to Chelmsford High School, lead us on a tour starting at 8:30 a.m., and make a brief presentation at the start of our meeting. The agenda for our meeting includes an update on the state education budget and federal stimulus funding for education, discussion of the school and district accountability system, a report on dropout data and state dropout prevention and recovery initiatives, and a discussion and vote on two charter amendments.

Comments from the Chair

Chair Banta will report on current issues and activities and will invite Board member Jeff Howard to provide an update on the work of the Proficiency Gap Committee.

Comments from the Commissioner

1. MCAS contract. I am pleased to announce that the Department has awarded a second five-year contract to Measured Progress to develop, administer, score and report results of the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System and MCAS-Alternative Assessment. The Dover, N.H. testing contractor holds the current contract. The new award will total about $146 million over five years. Measured Progress will be responsible for supporting the existing MCAS testing program as well as implementing improvements to the program. The enhancements that the company has committed to implement include a reduction in overall testing time for students and a shorter timeline for returning student results, so that schools and parents will receive results by the end of the academic year in which the tests are administered rather than in the fall. The Department issued the Request for Responses in October 2008. Five contractors expressed initial interest, three submitted questions, and only Measured Progress submitted a full proposal. An 11-member team of Department staff and external education stakeholders reviewed the proposal and recommended awarding the contract to Measured Progress. We have been pleased with the service that the company has provided over the last five years and look forward to working with them in the future. As we move ahead with the MCAS contract, we are also actively exploring funding and partnerships to develop curriculum-embedded, performance-based assessments that will measure a wider range of skills and content, including oral presentation, designing and constructing experiments, and team-based projects.

2. Update on partnership with WGBH/WGBY. Our partnership with WGBH and its Springfield affiliate, WGBY, has continued to grow. We are currently in discussions with them about ways to link Mass One, our online professional development site, with Teacher's Domain, an online repository of curriculum materials, multi-media resources, and video clips that teachers can use to enhance instruction. We are also working with them on development of a Boston-based academic quiz show for high school students, a NOVA Science Teacher of the Year award, and a marketing campaign to attract more people into the teaching profession. I plan to invite WGBH CEO Jon Abbott to join us at a future Board meeting to talk about these partnerships in more detail.

3. Bureau of Special Education Appeals. In January 2009, in response to an opinion request that I submitted, the U.S. Department of Education advised me that the current organizational structure of our Bureau of Special Education Appeals (BSEA) must be changed to bring it into full compliance with federal law. The U.S. Assistant Secretary of Education asked me to present a plan for doing so by April 15th. To assist me in the analysis, I engaged an impartial consultant, Lehigh University Professor Perry Zirkel, a national expert in special education law and due process hearings. He has been meeting with key stakeholder groups to get their perspectives on the various options open to us. These groups include parent advocates, school superintendents and special education directors, attorneys who appear before the BSEA, legislative leaders, the BSEA mediators and hearing officers, and others. We have been researching how other states handle their dispute resolution process and talking with other Massachusetts state agencies that might play a role in a restructured BSEA. I have made it clear to all concerned that I have only two objectives: to bring our dispute resolution process into full compliance with federal law, and to do it in such a way that we can continue to offer high quality, impartial services to parents, students, and schools. I have requested a 45-day extension of the deadline to submit our plan to the U.S. Department of Education, to allow sufficient time to complete our analysis while dealing with other pressing business, including implementing the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. I will keep the Board posted on this matter.

4. Reports to the Legislature. The Department has filed the following reports with the Legislature, in response to directives in the FY09 budget and the General Laws:
   • School Redesign: Expanding Learning Time to Support Student Success reports on the implementation of plans in all districts participating in the Expanded Learning Time grant program to provide students with more instructional opportunity in math, literacy, science and other core subjects, to integrate enrichment and applied learning opportunities into the school day, and to provide educators with increased opportunity to plan together and participate in professional development with other teachers and in collaboration with their partnering community-based organizations. The report and link to the Abt Executive Summary of Year Two may be found at http://www.doe.mass.edu/research/reports/legislative.html?fy=2009.
   • Inclusive Concurrent Enrollment Partnership Programs for Students with Disabilities reports on the third year of this discretionary grant pilot program, under which six public higher education institutions and K-12 public schools have established partnerships that provide access to a range of credit and non-credit courses and support services to students with severe disabilities ages 18-22. http://www.doe.mass.edu/research/reports/legislative.html?fy=2009.
   
   

5. Follow-up to charter school policy discussion. At our special meeting on March 23rd on charter school policy, the Board asked if the Department could follow up with research and data on several questions, including an analysis of mobility and attrition of teachers and students from charter schools. We will begin to address these questions in the reports we will be publishing this summer, including the first statewide report from our new educator data system and our first report on several new measures of student mobility. Some of the other questions that emerged from the charter school discussion are longer-term research projects that we will revisit as resources become available. I will keep you posted on our research agenda.

6. Lurline Muñoz-Bennett. I am pleased to announce that at a State House ceremony on May 27, 2009, the Massachusetts Arts Education Collaborative will award the Irene Buck Service to Arts Education Award to Dr. Lurline Muñoz-Bennett, Arts Education and Equity Coordinator of the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. This award is well-deserved recognition for Lurline's years of service to educators and students throughout the Commonwealth. Among her professional responsibilities, Lurline is the Department's liaison to two of the Board's advisory councils: arts education and racial imbalance. She is devoted to helping children learn through song and dance, poetry and painting, and to expanding educational opportunities for all students. We are grateful to Lurline for her work and congratulate her on receiving this honor.

Comments from the Secretary

Secretary Reville will brief the Board on current issues and activities.

Items for Discussion and Action

1. Update on State Education Budget and Federal Stimulus Funding for Education - Discussion

   I will update the Board on our budget planning, including the latest information we have on the state budget for the balance of FY2009 and the House budget proposal for FY2010 as well as the extensive work we are doing in connection with allocation of federal stimulus funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). Secretary Reville will brief the Board on the education budget perspective from the Governor's office.

2. School and District Accountability and Assistance - Discussion

   1. Report from Advisory Council on School and District Accountability and Assistance

      Joseph Esposito, CFO (retired) of Solid Works and former member of the Educational Management Audit Council, chairs the Board's 15-member Advisory Council on School and District Accountability and Assistance. Deputy Commissioner Karla Baehr and others in the Department have been working with the advisory council as we redesign our system for accountability and assistance. By statute, the advisory council is to present its findings and recommendations to the Board at least two times a year. At this month's meeting, Joe Esposito will present the advisory council's first report to the Board.

   2. Progress Report and Next Steps

      Deputy Commissioner Baehr and Associate Commissioner Lynda Foisy will update the Board on our progress to date and anticipated next steps in planning and implementing an improved system for school and district accountability and assistance.

   
   

3. 2008 Dropout Report and Dropout Prevention and Recovery Initiatives - Discussion

   The Board materials for last month's meeting included several documents highlighting state efforts to help increase the number of students who graduate from high school. At this month's meeting, Department staff will discuss some of these initiatives and the latest data from the School Year 2007-2008 Dropout Report. Associate Commissioner John Bynoe and Stafford Peat, Jenny Caldwell Curtin, and Rob Curtin will present the information and respond to questions.

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

   The boards of trustees of the two Horace Mann charter schools in Barnstable, the Barnstable Horace Mann Charter and Marstons Mills East Horace Mann Charter Public Schools, have requested that the Board amend their charters to reflect a change in grade span. The memo under Tab 4 explains the rationale for this proposed change. I recommend that the Board approve these charter amendments.

Other Items for Information

5. Education-Related News Clippings

   Enclosed are several recent articles about education.

6. Executive Summary of 2009 Gaston Institute Report on English Learners in Boston Public Schools

   On April 8th I attended a symposium sponsored by the Mauricio Gaston Institute for Latino Community Development and Public Policy at the University of Massachusetts-Boston, in conjunction with the release of the Institute's most recent report, English Learners in Boston Public Schools in the Aftermath of Policy Change: Enrollment and Educational Outcomes, AY2003-AY2006. Under Tab 6 is the executive summary of the report.

7. Report on Grants Approved by the Commissioner

   Under Tab 7 is a report on grants that I have approved, per the Board's vote in October 2008 to delegate grant approvals to the commissioner. This authorization allows us to make decisions and inform grant applicants on a timely basis. The Board also delegated authority to me to approve extended loan terms for charter schools, a routine administrative matter. I have not approved any such loan terms since my last report.

8. Directions to the Meeting

If you have questions about any agenda items, please call me. I look forward to seeing you at Chelmsford High School on April 28th.