Commissioner's Update
January 25, 2008

Dear Superintendents, and Leaders of Charter Schools and Collaboratives:

In this Update I have three announcements and six items for your review.

Innovative Online Resources for Massachusetts Teachers

I am pleased to announce that Massachusetts is now part of the Thinkfinity State Rollout program. Thinkfinity, http://www.thinkfinity.org/home.aspx (formerly known as Marco Polo), is a comprehensive program and online portal that provides teachers with over 55,000 educational resources, including standards-based, grade-specific, K-12 lesson plans and interactive tools and materials.

Through a Verizon Foundation grant to Lesley University and a partnership with the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, the Department is able to provide training to teachers to use the educational resources available from Thinkfinity. In addition to providing standards-based resources from the nation's leading educational and literacy organizations, this grant from the Verizon Foundation will provide:

• Professional development opportunities to classroom and preservice teachers statewide through onsite and online training
• Resources to create a Massachusetts network of Thinkfinity trainers
• Resources to validate the alignment of Thinkfinity resources with the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks

We are pleased that we will be able to train teachers to use Thinkfinity's resources to support student achievement. Educators who are interested in learning to use Thinkfinity resources and/or applying to become a trainer may request an application by sending an email to April Graziano at aaj.graziano@verizon.net.

Public Hearings on New Regulations for Child Care and After-School Programs

The Department of Early Education and Care (EEC) will be holding public hearings on proposed Standards for the Licensure of Small Group, Large Group, and School-age Child Care Programs in early 2008. Since these standards will apply to After-School Programs licensed by EEC and housed in public school buildings, school districts are encouraged to review and comment on these standards. See attached website links for additional information:
Link to the draft regulations:
http://www.eec.state.ma.us/docs/606_CMR_7_Revised_2007_12_05.doc

Link to a powerpoint presentation that highlights the significant changes:
http://www.eec.state.ma.us/docs/RegPresentation_2007_11_20.ppt

Link to the Department of Early Education and Care for Public Hearing information:
http://www.eec.state.ma.us/

Global Education Advisory Council Survey

The Global Education Advisory Council (GEAC) to the Board of Education has created an online survey of global education and international studies for the Commonwealth's schools. The survey can be found at: http://www.zoomerang.com/survey.zgi?p=WEB22775WJJZTZ.

Please be sure to have each of your schools complete the survey before the end of February, 2008. Survey results will be compiled by GEAC and a report will be made through the Commissioner's Update.

Items Posted at www.doe.mass.edu:

1. Health Education in Massachusetts Secondary Schools, 2006
     
2. Spring 2008 Reading and Writing Test Requirements for Limited English Proficient (LEP) Students in Grades K-2
   
3. New Features Planned for the Massachusetts English Proficiency Assessment (MEPA) Program
   
4. 2008 Requirements for the Participation of Students with Limited English Proficiency in MCAS and MEPA
     
5. Preliminary Report on Current Fiscal Conditions in Massachusetts Public Schools
       
6. Information Regarding the 2008 American Stars of Teaching
   

Sincerely,

Jeffrey Nellhaus
Acting Commissioner of Education