5. Leveraging Student Teacher Candidates:
As districts navigate additional staffing needs to support student learning this year, DESE encourages leaders to leverage student teacher candidates as an essential component of the district’s workforce. Student teachers can support students remotely, help navigate hybrid or in-person learning within a pod, and even be employed as long-term substitutes. This year, DESE has given preparation providers additional flexibilities that help ensure that candidates have a quality, supportive experience while limiting any additional burden on schools. Student teachers can be an asset as districts work to support student needs in a variety of contexts, and using student teachers also helps to build a quality, diverse pipeline of educators. Preparation providers are eager to serve as a resource to districts. Any district that is not already engaged with a preparation partner or that wants further support considering ways to leverage this potential pool of talent is invited to contact EducatorPreparation@mass.gov.
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6. Opportunity for High Schools to Implement Science+C Pathway:
The Department has partnered with Education Development Center (EDC), with support from the National Science Foundation, to bring the Science+C Pathway to Massachusetts high schools. The pathway embeds computing skills within biology, chemistry, and physics classes and is customizable for remote, hybrid, and in-person settings. Neither students nor teachers need previous computer science experience. Participating science teachers will receive free, year-long professional development and a stipend.
Students will learn and use NetLogo, a free computer modeling environment, to work with models that they can decode, analyze, and use to conduct virtual experiments. Student materials will be provided online in Google Classroom. Learn more at https://scienceplusc.org/participate/ and express interest here. Space is limited.
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7. School Wellness Coaching Program:
The Department’s Office for Food and Nutrition is pleased to offer a Statewide School Wellness Coaching Program. The program pairs districts with a school wellness coach who will help assess the local wellness policy, help improve compliance with the local wellness policy, and facilitate four virtual Wellness Committee meetings.
As COVID-19 is changing the school environment, prioritizing wellness will be critical this school year. District representatives should complete the Initial Interest Survey if their district has an active wellness committee and is interested in participating in the School Wellness Coaching Program. Space is limited, and applications are being accepted on a rolling basis. For additional information, please email Nicole Good at nicole.good@mass.gov.
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8. DESE Resource Corner:
Work-based learning units: The Department’s Office of College, Career and Technical Education has released dozens of teacher-developed unit plans created as a result of a state-funded teacher externship program. During the summer of 2020, 42 academic and technical teachers were placed in externships at companies, nonprofit organizations, and agencies across the state, including at DESE. Teachers were identified and recruited by Connecting Activities leaders at their regional MassHire Workforce Boards and charged with developing high quality work-based learning units. To review or use the units, please see http://resources21.org/externships.
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9. STEM Week Coming Soon:
The Baker-Polito Administration recently announced that the third annual STEM Week will take place from Monday, October 19 through Friday, October 23 through a mix of virtual and in-person events, lessons, speaker panels, and design challenges. The Administration encourages teachers and employers to develop new and creative ways to host STEM Week events to highlight opportunities that exist in science, technology, engineering and math. More information is available at https://www.massstemweek.org/.
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10. Flexibility for 21st Century Community Learning Centers:
The U.S. Department of Education is offering states flexibility in the federally-funded 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21CCLC) program during the COVID-19 pandemic. Massachusetts plans to apply for the waiver, for the 2020-2021 school year only, that would allow 21CCLC-funded out-of-school-time programs to provided academic enrichment and other allowable activities during times when school is in session but students are not receiving in-person instruction. All other requirements of a 21st CCLC program will continue to apply.
Massachusetts is seeking public comment on this request, which specifically deals with the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, Section 4201(b)(1)(A) that restricts activities provided by programs funded under the Nita M. Lowey 21st Century Community Learning Centers program (21st CCLC) to activities provided only “during non-school hours or periods when school is not in session". Please submit any comments by Monday, October 12 to Karyl Resnick, DESE’s 21CCLC program coordinator, at karyl.a.resnick@mass.gov.
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11. MEFA Webinars:
Beginning Monday, September 28, the Massachusetts Educational Financing Authority (MEFA) is offering free, live webinars providing information and clarity on the college financial aid process. Webinars will be scheduled during both daytime and evening hours, and an on-demand webinar will also be available on mefa.org to anyone unable to attend a live event. The full schedule of events is posted at mefa.org/events.
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12. Update on DESE Monitoring:
After having paused DESE monitoring activities during the spring shutdown, DESE plans to resume its statutory monitoring activities this school year. The agency will proceed with great sensitivity to the needs of districts, fully acknowledging that this is a challenging and unpredictable school year. To that end, DESE has embraced the following principles for its monitoring this year:
- The agency will, to the extent possible, minimize its impact on districts in the fall of 2020.
- The agency will, to the extent possible, delay scheduling and setting up plans with districts until the school year is well underway.
- The agency will conduct monitoring activities remotely to the greatest extent possible throughout the entire year. If monitoring must occur in person, DESE will strictly adhere to the latest public health guidance.
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- Red Sox Virtual STEM Day: The Red Sox and CITGO will host their first free virtual STEM Day on Tuesday, September 29, including a live question-and-answer session with a NASA scientist. The program will remain available on the team’s YouTube page afterward. Registration is open online.
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