Commissioner's Update
November 1, 2006

Dear Superintendents, and Leaders of Charter Schools and Collaboratives:

As many of you have undoubtedly heard by now, I have decided to retire as of August 31, 2007. That date will represent 43 years in public education for me, and my wife and I have decided that it is time for both of us to retire together, do some traveling and spend more time with our grandchildren. I chose to make my announcement a full 10 months in advance to give the Board of Education ample time to conduct a meaningful and thorough search process and to allow for a smooth transition period next summer.

I have been very lucky in my career to have worked with so many exceptional educators, and I look forward to the many things we will accomplish together over the next 10 months. Enclosed in this week's Update is a copy of the speech I made before my staff on October 30, a press release we distributed to the media, and a list of what I believe to be our top 10 best accomplishments throughout my tenure www.doe.mass.edu/news/archive06/1030retire.html.

Again, thank you for the excellent work that you do in and out of the classroom every day for the children of the Commonwealth.

In this week's Update I have enclosed 5 announcements and 7 items recently posted at www.doe.mass.edu for your review.

High Quality Teachers and Principals - Attachment A

In the October 18, 2006 Commissioner's Update, you received a memorandum entitled "Update to the NCLB Highly Qualified Teacher (HQT) Requirements and District Action Steps for the Coming Year." Attachment A to this memo listed the HQT status of every district. There was an alignment error in the data listed for several districts, hence, if you have already checked your district's status on Attachment A, please click on the following link to reconfirm: www.doe.mass.edu/nclb/hq/101306memo.html?section=A.

Additionally, we are now incorporating an error band of 3 percentage points for districts in "Cohort A," hence, districts that have maintained a HQT percentage of 97% or higher since 2004 are included in this cohort.

I apologize for any inconvenience and thank you for your understanding.

MCAS Performance Appeals Workshop

Since 2003, nearly 3,000 MCAS Performance Appeals have been awarded in mathematics and English language arts to public high school students in Massachusetts through the MCAS Performance Appeals process. This provides students who are unable to pass the Grade 10 Math or English MCAS exams an opportunity to have their English and/or math GPAs and coursework reviewed by a board of high school educators to determine whether he or she meets the passing standard. To assist secondary school faculty members in learning about the filing process, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education will be offering an MCAS Performance Appeals workshop. I encourage you to send teams of up to 3 educators per district. The workshop will held on Monday, December 11th, from 1-3 p.m., at the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education in Malden. To register, please email mcasappeals@doe.mass.edu, with workshop participant names and titles, and your high school and city or town.

Reminder to Districts on Title IIA: Extension of FY06 Funds into FY07

NCLB allows districts that have applied for funds under Title IIA to extend the fund use period for funds received in one fiscal year into the following fiscal year. This process includes submitting an end of year Financial Report (FR-1) and a check in the amount of the unexpended funds and then reapplying for those funds. Unfortunately, Title IIA funds cannot be simply carried over or extended through the amendment process.

Please refer to the attached memo explaining the Title IIA fund extension process for districts. The memo explains the process for districts that applied for Title IIA funds through the coordinated district planning process.

Science and Technology/Engineering Curriculum Framework Update

I am pleased to present the updated October 2006 Science and Technology/Engineering Curriculum Framework. This Framework includes unchanged 2001 K-8 learning standards and the revised high school learning standards, approved by the Board of Education in January 2006. Also incorporated into this Framework are additional vignettes, expanded safety information, revised broad topic outlines, and an updated bibliography. The 2006 Science and Technology/Engineering Curriculum Framework is available at http://www.doe.mass.edu/frameworks/current.html. For details on how to order hardcopies please visit http://www.doe.mass.edu/frameworks/order.html or call 617-727-2834 (Boston area) or 413-784-1376 (Western MA).

New FY2007 Transition to Full-Day Kindergarten Grant RFP Application Released

We are offering a state-funded competitive grant to encourage the voluntary expansion of high-quality, full-day kindergarten across Massachusetts. This grant is intended for districts ready to implement full-day kindergarten (FDK) in September of 2007.

The larger purpose of the state-funded Kindergarten Development Grant program is to enhance the educational experience of children by increasing the number of full-day kindergarten classrooms; improving overall quality and curriculum; increasing inclusion; promoting continuity of curriculum from preschool (PreK) to third grade; and developing other program components. Our goal is that over time, this will help us to prevent future achievement gaps from even starting.

All proposals must be received by 5 p.m. on Friday, November 17, 2006. For more details, review http://finance1.doe.mass.edu/Grants/grants07/rfp/702.html or contact the Office of Elementary School Support at ecaille@doe.mass.edu, abarton@doe.mass.edu or mchen@doe.mass.edu or 781-338-6355.

Postings at www.doe.mass.edu:

1. Board of Education Votes
   
2. November 2006 MCAS Retest Update
   
3. Extension of FY2006 Funds into FY2007
   
4. 2007-2008 Massachusetts Teacher of the Year Program
   
5. 2007 Presidential Awards for Mathematics and Science Teaching
   
6. Conference on Gifted Education in Western Massachusetts
   
7. The Advanced Placement Exam Fee Subsidy Program
   

Sincerely,

David P. Driscoll
Commissioner of Education