Educator Effectiveness

Teachers' Top Three from ESE - May 7, 2015

To celebrate National Teacher Appreciation Week, ESE is excited to launch an email directly to teachers! Every other week, we'll highlight resources and information relevant to your work, reflection pieces written by current teachers, and upcoming opportunities to engage with ESE. We'll keep it short and to the point—selecting the top three items we think teachers will be most interested in. We'd love to reach as many teachers as possible! Please share this email with your colleagues and encourage them to sign up. We also invite you to connect with other teachers across the state and ESE staff on Twitter. Find us at @MASchoolsK12.

The Buzz: 2016 Massachusetts Teacher of the Year Audrey Jackson
On Tuesday, Commissioner Mitchell D. Chester announced Audrey Jackson, a fifth grade teacher at the Joseph P. Manning School in Boston, as the 2016 Massachusetts Teacher of the Year. "Audrey Jackson approaches her inclusion classroom as a community of learners who will benefit not only from her but from each other," said Commissioner Chester. "We are fortunate to have excellent educators across the Commonwealth, and I am happy to recognize Ms. Jackson, who has a relentless focus on reaching all students and who has helped other educators improve how they teach students affected by trauma."

The other four Teacher of the Year finalists for this year were: Bridget Adam, a sixth grade math teacher at Boston Collegiate Charter School; David Kujawski, a sixth grade science teacher at Bird Middle School in Walpole; Jennifer Ormerod, a second grade teacher at Palmer River Elementary School in Rehoboth; and Brett Pangburn, a sixth grade English teacher at Excel Academy Charter School in Boston. Read the full press release and learn more about teacher recognition programs on our website.
FYI: Licensure Call Center Hours Extended through June
In order to further accommodate busy educator schedules, the Licensure Customer Service Call Center (781-338-6600) doubled its operating hours in early January to Monday through Friday 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. In addition, the Call Center is open until 7:00 p.m. on Wednesdays this spring. Currently, over 91 percent of the calls are answered within an average wait time of less than four minutes.
What we are Reading: The Center for American Progress recently released a report that "describes districts throughout the country that have taken collaborative approaches between management and unions to ensure that teachers have significant voice and leadership in implementation of the Common Core." What ideas do you have for how to ensure that teachers' ideas are included in using the new standards in our state? Join the conversation on Twitter using #Top3fromESE.
If you have suggestions, questions, or comments about this newsletter, you can reach a member of our staff at Top3fromESE@doe.mass.edu.

Subscribe: http://DESE.Top3fromESE.sgizmo.com/s3/. We also invite you to connect with other teachers across the state and ESE staff on Twitter. Find us at @MASchoolsK12 and use #Top3fromESE to discuss items from this newsletter or suggest new topics. If you’re interested in writing a short piece for a future edition or have feedback or questions, contact us at Top3fromESE@doe.mass.edu.

Last Updated: May 7, 2015