District/School Administration Administration
Commissioner's Updates - Archive

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1998

December 18, 1998  

1. Urgent advisory concerning recertification, with request for school principals to survey staff and order recertification guides;
2. Board-in-Brief summary of December 14 State Board of Education meeting;
3. Video (29 minutes) for parent audiences about using MCAS results, and an accompanying memo listing times it will air on MCET and an invitation for you to obtain more copies if needed for local cable television showings;
4. Request for proposals for summer 1999 content institutes;
5. Request for Waiver forms for your use in seeking relief from certain state and federal regulations;
6. Invitation for January conferences on Mathematics, Science and Technology: Effective Strategies for Student Achievement in Middle and High Schools (PDF);
7. Schedule of Lighthouse Technology workshops and programs;
8. Contest for 4th, 5th and 6th graders on US Savings Bonds;
9. Flyer for 1999-2000 Teacher of the Year award;
10. Christa McAuliffe Fellowship Program announcement and flyer;
11. Robert J. Watson Memorial Scholarship application announcement;
12. Announcement of opportunity for educators to serve on scoring panels for Massachusetts Educator Certification Tests, beginning January 19, 1999 with continuing opportunities through the year.

November 16, 1998  

1. Foreign Language Curriculum Framework - draft for public comment
2. Regulations for Teacher Quality Enhancement initiatives, including the bonus recipient program and the master teacher program - for public comment
   Final Regulations On-Line
3. Memorandum regarding academic support and special education eligibility
4. Report on statewide actions to strengthen time and learning
5. Board-in-Brief summary of November 9/10 State Board of Education meetings
6. New state requirements for child care vouchers in public school programs
7. Application for Presidential Awards for mathematics and science

October 20, 1998  

1. Memorandum, sample letter to parents, and copy of "Starting Now" brochure.
   This material was prepared by Mass Insight and the Coalition of Communities for Higher Standards. Copies of the brochure will be sent directly to each school principal to be sent home to parents.
2. Mass Ed.Net Internet account renewals due October 31.
   Superintendents have a packet personalized for their use, in order to renew the state-subsidized Internet accounts for the next year.
3. Invitation to veteran teachers to apply for National Board for Professional Teaching Standards certification.
4. "Board in Brief" summary of October 13 State Board of Education meeting.
5. Flyer on Early Numeracy conferences.
6. Invitation to schedule 1999 Massachusetts Teacher of the Year, Bruce Penniman, for professional development opportunities.
7. Per pupil expenditures annual summary (1996).
8. State wards claims forms.
9. Young children with autism research report.

October 5, 1998  

1. Currently projected MCAS schedule --Reports and Results
2. Coordinated grants package
   Competitive grants available this fall. Please note that the grant opportunities include the new $18 million state academic support services program targeted for supporting students in levels 1 or 2 of the MCAS or in the lower levels of other standardized assessments. We have two grant submission dates--November 6 and January 18. The early deadline is for programs that will start in the current school year and the late deadline is for summer '99 programs. Also please note the new $2.5 million grant program for focused instructional improvement, to support school level professional development targeted toward MCAS needs, and a $100,000 grant for Tomorrow's Teachers Clubs to stimulate interest among middle and high school students in the career of teaching.
3. Memorandum on FY '99 required planning and spending for professional development
4. Memorandum on advanced placement fee reduction program
5. Innovation in Massachusetts Charter Schools report
6. School bus safety poster

September 22, 1998  

1. Department of Elementary and Secondary Education 1998-1999 Professional Development Calendar
   This document contains all of the ESE-sponsored professional development activities for this school year. Please note the MCAS test schedule and school/district workshop schedule on page one, reflecting its priority this year.
2. Teacher Quality Enhancement Legislation materials
   As you may know, on July 27 Governor Cellucci, Senate President Birmingham, House Speaker Finneran and I met to publicly introduce our "12 to 62" framework to enhance the quality of our future teaching force in Massachusetts. Subsequently, the proposal was introduced in the form of legislation, and it was passed and enacted into law in August. It provides a $60 million endowment to support our efforts to attract, train, retain and mentor our teachers. I have enclosed a copy of a memorandum I presented to the State Board of Education outlining my proposals to implement the law, and a copy of the law and the original "12 to 62" plan for your review and comments.
3. School building assistance policy updates
4. "Board-in-Brief" summary of September 14-15 State Board of Education meetings
5. Materials from US Department of Education offering federal assistance for new state Children's Health Insurance Program
6. Massachusetts Family Literacy month (November) promotional materials
7. ESE Fall Technology Presentations invitation (October 28-29)
8. Governor's Fitness Awards invitation
9. Community service learning seminar notice (November 20)

September 1, 1998  

1. Foundation Reserve Application. Some superintendents have told me that they did not notice the application on our website. I have enclosed a copy for you.
2. Notification of competitive grant awards. Instead of sending out 1400 individual letters, we are posting the awards on the website. This will allow you and the public to see which grants you have received.
3. Horace Mann Charter School Application. Eight charters are available. Initial applications are due in October.
4. School Building Profiles.
   As I mentioned in my last mailing, the Governor has asked me to request that you provide these school building profiles directly to parents. All of the data was collected by the Department from information provided by principals or by superintendents. I agree that it would be very useful to have these profiles distributed locally. We also will soon be advertising the fact that we have profiles available in hard copy and on our website.
5. FY 98 Reimbursement for the Tuition of State Wards, by district.

August 17, 1998  

1. Memorandum and flyer on the 1999 MCAS testing schedule
2. Invitation to workshops on MCAS for district teams
3. Invitation to workshops on MCAS for school teams
4. RFP for early childhood programs
5. Guide to Community Partnership for Children programs
6. Education Reform Factsheets set
7. Application for new public school charters
8. Application for renewal of existing public school charters
9. Advisory on Horace Mann schools
10. Advisory on student learning time issues
11. Advisory on anti-hazing issues
12. Advisory on new "move-in" rules
13. School choice end-of-year tuition figures
14. School nutrition fiscal information packet
15. Attracting Excellence to Teaching applications for loan forgiveness
16. Teacher fellowship program invitations and flyers
17. Teacher "externships" informational flyer
18. Christa McAuliffe fellowship professional development invitation
19. Fulbright Scholarship program opportunity for educators
20. US Senate Scholarship Program opportunity for high school students
21. Higher Education Information Center poster and book mark
22. Spread the Word K-3 book collection program flyers
23. Mock election program invitation from Governor Cellucci
24. Youth Risk Behavior report, executive summary
25. School District Profiles, 1997-1998 (2 volume set). Individual school building profiles will be sent to you shortly, and at the request of the Governor we will ask you to provide copies directly to parents

July 10, 1998  

1. Announcement of September 1 start of certification test in communications and literacy skills for prospective administrators and prospective support personnel
2. Announcement of statewide administrator specialist sabbatical opportunity; applications due by July 31
3. Proposed amendment to regulations on charter school funding; comments requested by August 7; public hearings set for July 23 (Malden) and July 28 (Springfield)
4. 1998-1999 State Plan for Professional Development

May 21,1998  

1. Health alert from the Department of Public Health (for children at risk for life-threatening allergic conditions who have an epi-pen auto injector).
2. Report on educational technology in Massachusetts schools. Please note that this report is based on the data the Department collected directly from districts, and then double checked. The tables of rankings in the report include one with technology expenditures as a factor, and one without. The intent of this report is to present a baseline of data for school districts as well as state policy makers to consider. It does not address the more important question of how technology affects student performance in the classroom, which we will seek to assess in future reports.
3. Request for nominees for special recognition programs- elementary teachers or principals--especially innovators in using technology. Nominations due by June 19.
4. End-of-year pupil and financial report workshop schedule (June 23-July 15).
5. Request for copy of your current district professional development plan.
6. Board-in-Brief summary of May 15 state Board of Education meetings.
7. "The Connector," a regular newsletter about school to work transition issues.
8. Revocation of certification notice (confidential, and only to be used in connection with the obligation of school committees and educational collaboratives to comply with state certification requirements).

April 16, 1998  

1. Board-in-Brief summary of April 8 and April 9 state Board of Education meetings.
2. 1998 Summer Content Institutes coordinated by the Department. There are 57 institutes offered for educators.
3. Commonwealth Terms and Conditions Master Agreement. Please complete this document and return it by May 15, as required by the Massachusetts Office of the Comptroller and other state agencies.
4. School Choice participation vote memorandum. This is a reminder that the deadline for districts to vote if they will not participate is June 1, or the presumption under state law is that the district is participating in the next school year.
5. Plans of High School Graduates, report on the Class of 1997 (by district).
6. May 1998 Technology Lighthouse District workshop schedule.
7. Memorandum on reporting per pupil administrative costs for year-end reports.

April 2, 1998  

1. Spring Technology Update. Please especially note the impending April 15 federal deadline for submitting priority forms for obtaining the universal service funds.
   • Update on Spring Educational Technology Efforts
   • Local Technology Plan Update Form
   • Student Data Standards
   • Acceptance Use Policies and Safe Environments on the Internet
   • "E-Rate" Discounts for Massachusetts School Districts
2. Dual Enrollment program for eligible high school students. Please note that guidance counselors have a window from May 11 to June 5 in which to submit applications for students for the fall semester.
3. Manual on Grants for Schools. This document will be useful to you and your staff when you receive the spring unified grant application packages from the Department, which we expect to mail within a month.
4. Hearing Rules for Special Education Appeals, including a revision made pursuant to new federal law concerning the rules for disciplinary procedures for students with IEPs.
5. Notice from Executive Office of Elder Affairs about "Wellness Days" for grandparents and grandchildren.

March 12, 1998  

1. Board-in-Brief summary of March 10 State Board meeting
2. Op-ed from Boston Globe, March 9, 1998
3. Request for public comment on school building reimbursement regulations
4. Invitation to May 17-20 Title I Conference
5. Lighthouse Workshops for May
6. Violence prevention month materials

February 27,1998  

1. Board-in-Brief summary of February 25 special meeting
2. FY 1996 per pupil expenditure summary by district
3. Memorandum on upcoming curriculum framework review process
4. Informational brochure indicating the Spring English Language Arts and History/Social Science content institutes
5. Executive summary of state evaluation of the use of the Health Protection Fund
6. Announcement of the appointment of Frank Haydu III as Interim Commissioner

February 12, 1998  

1. Videotape and Question and Answer guide on the statewide testing program. There is a great need for increasing public understanding of the test program, and we produced this short, informative tape and guide to answer questions. I am providing every superintendent and principal a copy of this 13 minute videotape. I urge you to show it to your teaching and support staff, and at school committee meetings, school council meetings, PTO meetings, or wherever you have an audience of people concerned about the testing program. I have enclosed 10 Q and A guides for each superintendent and five for each principal as well. If you need more tapes or guides, please let me know by email to asafran@doe.mass.edu or by phone at 781-338-3000.
2. Poster about the testing schedule this spring.
3. Schedule of March MCAS workshops and invitation to participate.
4. Board-in-Brief summary of February 10 State Board of Education meeting. Please note the action taken to set descriptors for the performance levels for MCAS.
5. "Education Report." This updates the report we published in May 1997 about statewide progress and challenges in implementing Education Reform.
6. One-page flyer announcing March public information meetings about the Massachusetts Teacher Tests.
7. High school dropout report for the 1996-1997 school year. This will be released publicly in about a week and I wanted to be sure you have it first.
8. Survey from the federal government about TITLE VI expenditures. Please complete and return by April 9.
9. Invitation to March 3 early numeracy conference, and technology conferences (March 24, March 26, April 1).
10. Flyer about "World of Difference" week (March 29-April 4).

January 29, 1998  

1. Special Packet on Technology Procurement.
   • First, we have enclosed a purple handbook on "Educational Technology Integration Services," by which you are now able to procure technology faster and more cheaply than before.
   • Second, there is a green guidebook on the "E-Rate," the Universal Service Fund, which should provide helpful answers as you go through the process of accessing these federal funds for telecommunications and network purchases.
   • Third, you will find a two-page letter jointly signed by me, Attorney General Scott Harshbarger, and the Secretary of Administration and Finance, Charles Baker. This letter contains important legal advice on technology procurement matters which also will be helpful to you.
   • Fourth, you will find the text of a bill filed by Governor Cellucci which would amend state procurement law and thereby provide school districts an alternative for procuring network installations.
   • Finally, please find a flow chart on bright yellow paper, and a narrative text, which shows the current law and the law as it may be amended by the bill filed by Governor Cellucci.
2. Announcing two-year sabbatical opportunities for educators to work at the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education in science education, special education, vocational technical education (mathematics), professional development, and assessment
3. Announcement of three public hearings (February 3-25) on proposal to amend the state Racial Imbalance Law. The locations and dates for these hearings were set just yesterday, and there is not much notice before the February 3 hearing in Boston. To help get the word out, we faxed a special notice to superintendents in the 32 districts in and around Boston; put the notice and a release on our website; sent the press release to 150 editors and reporters statewide; notified the 636 coordinators in the 21 districts which have voluntary desegregation plans; and enlisted the help of the state's Racial Imbalance Advisory Council. Anyone who does not attend the hearings, of course, is welcomed and encouraged to provide written comments to me.
4. Request for comment on proposal to amend the Time and Learning regulations
5. Copy of the Memorandum of Agreement reached between the Lawrence School Committee, the Commissioner of Education and the Board of Education. I have enclosed the agreement, the signatures, and a brief memorandum I provided to the Board of Education on the judicial proceedings in this case.
6. A flyer about the MassEd.Net Internet accounts for educators, which I encourage you to post in places where your teaching staff can view it.
7. Draft of document on district-by-district technology data for last fiscal year. We have been asked to provide this draft data publicly, and want to ensure its accuracy.
8. Schedule of March workshops for Lighthouse Technology sites statewide.
9. Announcement of March 3 conference on the issue of recruiting a diverse teacher workforce.
10. Announcement of public information sessions in March on the new Massachusetts Teacher Tests
11. Update on disciplinary procedures for students with special needs
12. Material on School-to-Work.
    We have a new Director, Fran Kane, and we have prepared some suggestions for your consideration on how to strengthen the School to-Work program in your curriculum.

January 21, 1998  

1. Report of the fact finding team on the Lawrence Public Schools. I urge you to review this report closely and make it available to your school committee members. It is a thorough report on the issues of underperformance in Lawrence and the prospects for improvement there. It documents the kinds of issues the state will examine closely when reviewing district performance.
2. Announcement of the Massachusetts Teacher Tests
3. Special education--advisory, addendum to the IEP, and invitation to SPED directors on IEP trainings (previously announced in mailings to SPED directors)
4. New federal awards available for Emergency Immigrant Education Assistance Program
5. Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997--Federal law will provide some new opportunities for Massachusetts schools
6. Teacher of the Year Program--Request for Nominations
7. Board in Brief summary of January 12 State Board of Education meeting
8. District by district report on exclusions (expulsions and suspensions), 1996- 1997 school year

January 7, 1998  

1. Educational technology--New Internet accounts available free to Massachusetts educators beginning January 19. Also update on universal service fund.
2. Request for responses--summer 1998 curriculum institutes
3. FY 1998 school choice and charter school tuition/reimbursement information
4. Brochure on February 2 "Job Shadow" opportunities
5. Brochure on "Lighthouse Technology" workshop opportunities and contacts
6. Board-in-brief summary of December 1997 MA Board of Education meeting
7. Executive summary of "National Standards for School Counseling Programs"