5. Reminder on High-Quality Curriculum: A Foundation for Student Success:
Join the Rennie Center for Education Research & Policy from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, December 4 at the University of Massachusetts Club (1 Beacon St., Boston) to explore how curriculum can support deeper learning and better student outcomes. Participants will learn about DESE’s CURATE project and how schools and districts are identifying and using high-quality curriculum as an essential tool for advancing equity within schools and communities. This event will feature a keynote address from Commissioner Riley, an opportunity to experience high-quality curriculum firsthand (facilitated by Teaching Lab), and a panel discussion by Massachusetts educators. Click here to register, or email Laura Dziorny at ldziorny@renniecenter.org for more information.
|
|
6. New RADAR Tool and RADAR Webinars Available:
The Department has launched a new Resource Allocation and District Action Report (RADAR) specific to special education. Like the original RADAR Benchmarking, RADAR for Special Education is designed to help districts make comparisons with respect to resource allocation. Districts can download these Excel-based reports from the RADAR webpage. In addition, RADAR Benchmarking has been updated with the latest data and expanded to include a new district class size report.
Introductory webinars covering both RADAR tools will be offered in early December. Both webinars will offer the same content. Registration is open online.
- 12:00-1:00 p.m. Thursday, December 5
- 3:00-4:00 p.m. Tuesday, December 10
Also worth noting: DART Detail: Staffing and Finance, which is useful for planning and budgeting, has been updated with 2019 performance and 2018 final finance data.
|
|
7. Massachusetts Partnership for Infants & Toddlers Family Survey:
The Massachusetts Partnership for Infants & Toddlers invites families with children up to 5 years old to share their ideas and advice through a survey that will help inform a plan for early childhood programs and services. The survey is available in English and Spanish and will be open through Tuesday, December 31.
|
|
8. Learning Opportunities for Arts Educators:
The Department is pleased to offer two opportunities for arts educators in connection with the 2019 Arts Curriculum Framework:
- Arts framework overview online course: This two-hour online course provides a basic overview of the major shifts in the 2019 Massachusetts Arts Curriculum Framework. It consists of four self-paced sections. To learn more about the course contents, please view this short video overview. Enrollment is open online. The course is a prerequisite for the professional development series below.
- Professional development series: Earn 10 professional development points for participating in this professional learning series led by DESE arts education ambassadors in every region of the state. The series is comprised of the two-hour online course (see above) as a prerequisite, followed by eight hours of in-person sessions that examine the major components of the new arts framework as they apply to practice. Participants will collaborate on hands-on tasks that unpack the artistic practices and content standards. Registration is open online.
|
|
9. Assistance with E-rate and Network Upgrades:
The Department’s partners at the national non-profit EducationSuperHighway offer technical assistance, tools, and resources to help Massachusetts schools and districts plan and implement network upgrades. EducationSuperHighway can also help districts maximize the federal E-rate funds available for school connectivity. The support and tools offered to Massachusetts schools districts through this initiative are free of charge. Greer Ahlquist is leading the team at EducationSuperHighway; anyone who would like to know more about how EducationSuperHighway can offer is invited to schedule a call with Greer or visit www.educationsuperhighway.org/districts.
|
|
- Massachusetts Fiscal Mapping Tool from EdRedesign: Harvard Graduate School of Education’s Education Redesign Lab (EdRedesign) recently released the Massachusetts Fiscal Mapping Tool that documents federal and state funding (including and beyond education spending) available to support children's well-being in Massachusetts communities. The state fiscal map covers areas including child development, health, juvenile justice, and housing and is a searchable, sortable, and downloadable data set showing all state and federal funding streams for child and youth services. In addition, EdRedesign recently released a report — Innovative Financing to Expand Services So Children Can Thrive — which highlights 10 innovative strategies to finance services for children and youth. Both resources were created in collaboration with the Children's Funding Project.
|
- National History Day: Now is the time for high school and middle school students and teachers to sign up for National History Day in Massachusetts. Students choose an historical topic on an annual theme (this year’s theme is “Breaking Barriers in History”), then conduct research at libraries, archives, museums, and historic sites and interview scholars and experts. Students present their work as a paper, an exhibit, a performance, a documentary, or a website. Judges evaluate the work, interview students and provide written feedback. Selected projects advance from regional to state and national levels of competition.
|
|
|
|
