Commonwealth Conversations: Education

Beyond the Classroom: A Look at the Child & Youth Readiness Cabinet

Abby R. Weiss
Child & Youth Readiness Cabinet Manager
Executive Office of Education

Governor Patrick often talks about the importance of governing at the place where policy touches people.  Nowhere can that interaction be seen more clearly than in the work of the Child & Youth Readiness Cabinet. Established  by Executive Order in October 2008, and co-chaired by Secretary of Education Paul Reville and Secretary of Health and Human Services JudyAnn Bigby, the Readiness Cabinet is the place in state government where state agencies that have an impact on the lives of children, youth and families work together to improve services, and, ultimately, outcomes for our most vulnerable populations.

As the first Manager of the Readiness Cabinet, I have the opportunity to connect and align the work of our education and health and human services agencies (and community partners) to ensure that children and families across the Commonwealth have the supports and tools they need to thrive. The necessity and urgency of this work is clear. As Secretary Reville recently put it in a commentary he co-authored in Ed Week, “Schools will never achieve their goal of 'all students at proficiency' unless they attend to nonschool factors.”

The work of the Readiness Cabinet is taking shape, and through the leadership of the Secretaries, Commissioners and our partners, we have made significant progress.  Here’s a sampling of our recent work:

• We are working intensively with three school districts - Holyoke, Springfield, and Worcester - with high populations of low-income families and where many of the state’s lowest performing schools are located.  In each community, we have deployed a part-time Liaison (on loan from the Department of Transitional Assistance, the Department of Mental Health, and the Department of Children & Families) who is working with the school district leadership – and the lowest performing schools – to support their ongoing efforts to mitigate the effects of poverty so that children arrive to school healthy and ready to learn. In each district, this work looks somewhat different.
  
  • In Worcester, we are working with district leadership to increase students’ access to mental health services. We are sharing information about best practices in other districts and connecting Worcester Public Schools leadership to experts in the field. Our Cabinet Liaison is also coordinating with the district’s other initiatives – particularly the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s Wraparound Zone – to ensure that our work is supportive of Worcester’s priorities.
  • In Holyoke, we are aligning with district priorities and initiatives to ensure that our efforts are supportive of their agenda.  Holyoke has one full-service community school, the Peck School, that has a full complement of community-based and state agency partners working together to improve outcomes for their students and provide supports for their families.  The district is working to expand this model to two other schools.  We are learning from the Peck School and its many partnerships about the landscape in Holyoke – and are beginning to identify local agencies (both state and non-governmental) that can be of service to the other schools with which we are working.  We are working directly with the two state-designated underperforming schools in the district to be responsive to their specific needs (e.g., mentoring). 
  
  
  • In Springfield, we are working with the district’s Pupil Services team to increase communication with local state agency personnel.  To that end, the school district has convened representatives from the local state agencies to discuss collaborating on particular issues of interest to the district.  The first conversations have focused on the district’s attendance initiatives and the need for better alignment between state agency policies and the district’s attendance policies.  These interagency meetings have produced concrete offers of partnership between local agencies and the school district; DCF, for example, has offered to deploy social work interns to analyze school data for children in DCF custody (and make recommendations to improve their educational outcomes).  Next, the interagency group in Springfield will tackle the issue of behavioral/mental health supports for students in the school district and inventory the ways in which the various agencies can assist students in the district.
• We have established an Early Childhood sub-committee of the Cabinet to address the specific issues facing the Commonwealth’s youngest citizens. This sub-committee includes Commissioners from the child-serving agencies and is chaired by Sherri Killins, Commissioner of the Department of Early Education & Care. This group is working towards concrete, inter-agency programming that supports families and readies children for entry into school.  The Department of Housing and Community Development, the Department of Transitional Assistance, and the Department of Early Education & Care are discussing possibilities for collaboration.

The Cabinet has several other areas of focus – including eliminating youth violence, one of the Governor’s four priority areas for his second term, and data sharing between human service and education agencies. We are maintaining focus on our overall goal of closing the achievement gap – while remaining responsive to the ever changing and pressing needs of the Commonwealth’s children.  This is complicated work – but we are excited about the progress we have made in these past several months and look forward the work ahead.

In Appreciation of Teachers Across the Commonwealth

Secretary Paul Reville
Secretary, Executive Office of Education
View Secretary Reville's bio

Today is National Teacher Appreciation Day, a dedicated time we set aside to honor the year-round commitment and effort of our teachers to inspire and equip our young people with the tools they need to succeed.

In recognition of the formative role teachers often play in the lives of their students, I would like to thank a former teacher of mine, Mr. Yaffee, for the influence he has had in my life, even to this day.

My writing teacher, Jim Yaffe, was an accomplished author and a superb teacher.  His capacity to read and listen intently was awe inspiring.  His attention to detail caused me to examine my own work in greater depth.  His thoroughness and sensitivity in providing feedback was so gratifying that it made me take myself seriously as a writer and an intellectual.  I loved attending his class, as  his enthusiasm for good writing was contagious.  He was my role model for what a man of letters could be.

I am sure that each of you has had a teacher similarly important to your development.  I would encourage you to show that individual your appreciation today by donating your Facebook status to a teacher who has made a difference in your life, and thanking a teacher on Twitter by using the hashtag #ThankaTeacher.

To Mr. Yaffe and all of the teachers that empower young learners to develop into the future leaders of our Commonwealth, our nation and our world, I thank you.

Linking STEM and Early Childhood as a Strategy for Economic Success

JD Chesloff
Chair, Board of Early Education and Care

Raytheon Corporation, one of the state’s leading employers, recently conducted a survey of 1,000 middle school students across the country, and asked them if they prefer doing math homework or eating broccoli.  The winner, with 56% of the vote was… broccoli.  More middle school students would rather eat broccoli than do their math homework!

In a state, and indeed a nation, where we are competing in a technology driven global economy, this is humorous – but mostly troubling.  Early math skills have been proven to be a predictor of later academic achievement.  In fact, a recent article in Education Week cited a University of California, Irvine study which found that “early math concepts, such as knowledge of numbers and ordinality, were the most powerful predictors of later learning.”  The article further cited a Canadian study which found that math skills at school entry predicted math skills and reading skills in 2nd and 3rd grade better than reading skills at school entry.  If math skills are such an important component of academic success, and more children would rather be eating broccoli, we have a problem.  This is important to Massachusetts’ long term competitiveness because today’s young children are tomorrow’s workforce, and workers who are fluent in math and other STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) competencies will be more prepared and qualified to fill the jobs that our innovation economy demands.

As an employer organization, the Massachusetts Business Roundtable (MBR) is concerned about the state’s long term competitiveness and the pipeline of workers coming through the education system with the skills necessary to compete in a 21st century, global economy.  Working with the Roundtable, the Patrick-Murray Administration, and Lt. Governor Tim Murray in particular, has shown tremendous leadership in focusing public policy on those very math skills that will help ensure this pipeline is producing talented workers that will drive the state’s economy into the future. Companies like Verizon, EMC, National Grid, MITRE, Raytheon, General Electric, and Comcast have taken a keen and active interest in this issue.  And the state’s House of Representatives recently recommended a $1.5M appropriation to implement the state’s nationally recognized STEM agenda.

At the Department of Early Education and Care, we understand the important and powerful link between early childhood education and STEM, officially recognizing that “inquiry and exploration are foundations for math and science and are also the foundations for early learning.”  Research confirms that the brain is particularly receptive to learning math and logic between the ages of 1 and 4.  The link between early childhood and STEM is indisputable. Early exposure to STEM – whether it be in school, at a museum, a library, or just engaging in the natural trial and error of play – develops early critical thinking and reasoning skills and supports children’s overall academic growth. 

There are no greater natural scientists and engineers than young children, inquisitive learners who learn STEM concepts through play. High-quality early learning environments provide children a structure in which to build upon their natural inclination to explore, to build, and to question.  We must continue to connect these two agendas as we drive policy forward in each.

JD Chesloff is Executive Director of the Massachusetts Business Roundtable and Chair of the Governor’s STEM Advisory Council Executive Committee in addition to his role as Chair of the Board of Early Education and Care.  This commentary was originally posted in the Aspire Wire. 

Innovation School Update

Bridget Rodriguez
Director of Planning and Collaboration, Executive Office of Education

As Director of Planning and Collaboration here in the Executive Office of Education, a significant part of my role is to support the Innovation Schools initiative in collaboration with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.  This is exciting work that allows me to see, firsthand, the enthusiasm and interest that community members and educators working in our mainstream public schools have for this model - a model that allows communities to create custom-made solutions to their particular students’ needs so that all of our students have the chance to succeed at high levels .

One recent school visit brought Secretary Reville and me to the Carlton School in Salem.  The Carlton School, a K-5 school, has been approved to convert to an Innovation School this coming September.  During our visit, we were able to hear from the myriad stakeholders involved about their experience in developing the Carlton's Innovation School plan, and about the school's ambitious strategies to better meet the needs of its students by creating a school structure that puts individual student academic progress at the center.  The Carlton Innovation School will improve student learning using a continuous progress approach, which includes placing students in multi-age classrooms within team levels, as opposed to traditional grade levels.  These students will remain in the same classroom with the same teacher for up to two and one-half years, depending on the student’s progress. Students poised to transition to the next team level will be evaluated by teacher three times per school year at trimester intervals before a student is permitted to progress to the next team level.  The school will also add an optional forty minutes to the instructional day in the morning, making staff support available for students who arrive early for intervention groups in reading, writing and math.  Additionally, kindergarten students may matriculate beginning the trimester following their 5^th birthday, rather than just in September.  Hearing the school leaders, teachers, parents and other involved in this process talk about the potential this model holds highlighted for the Secretary and me the importance of a collaborative process that brings a school community together to creatively meet student needs unfettered by current constraints.

Pockets of innovation, like the Carlton School, are sprouting up across the state.  In addition to the 20 approved Innovation Schools currently in operation,  there are now another 29 schools in the planning process seeking approval to open new or conversion Innovation Schools as early as next fall.  This is an impressive pace of adoption of a relatively new initiative - barely two years old.  We look forward to supporting the work of local communities as they shape their schools to better meet the needs of their students for the 21^st century.

Read the latest news coverage of the Innovation School initiative in the Boston Globe here. 

This Week @MassEducation: Week of March 4-10, 2012

Tom Weber 
Undersecretary of Education,  Executive Office of Education

Well, March came in like a lion but, hey, after the winter we’ve had, who’s complaining?  (It helps that they are talking about 60-degree weather later this week!)

Here are some highlights for the week ahead:

On Tuesday, Secretary Reville will participate in the Board of Higher Education meeting at Westfield State University.   The Board will consider seven proposed programs before receiving presentations on the Vision Project and a Financial Aid Pilot Program.   The Vision Project is the Commonwealth higher education system’s commitment to producing “the best-educated citizenry and workforce in the nation.”  Presentations during the meeting will include updates from four community colleges: Berkshire Community College, Greenfield Community College, Holyoke Community College, and Springfield Technical Community College.  Later that night, Secretary Reville will speak at the Springfield Urban League’s “Community Uplift and Empowerment: Innovation, Renewal and Opportunities" dinner.

On Wednesday, Secretary Reville will participate in the University of Massachusetts Amherst Chancellor search. 

On Thursday, Secretary Reville will address a gathering of public higher education advocates, including students, teachers, presidents, among others at the State House for Public Higher Education Lobby Day before participating in a meeting of the Governor’s Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Advisory Council in Hopkinton.

Last but not least, Governor Patrick punctuated last week by signing An Act Relative to Improving Accountability and Oversight of Education Collaboratives into law on Friday.  This bill recognizes the valuable role collaboratives play in the state’s educational system and is designed to ensure that resources allocated for educational purposes are not misused.

Follow the Executive Office of Education’s progress throughout the week on Twitter @MassEducation. 

If you don’t have something nice to say….

 

Secretary Paul Reville
Secretary, Executive Office of Education
View Secretary Reville's bio

On Wednesday, I had the privilege of attending the launch of Lady Gaga’s Born This Way Foundation, a nonprofit organization formed to “foster a more accepting society, where differences are embraced and individuality is celebrated.”  While the details of this foundation and its initiatives remain are still unfolding, I was very encouraged by Lady Gaga’s statements on why she set out to establish such an organization. She believes that laws and mandates and even professional development can only go so far in combating the problem of bullying – what we really need is to create communities that prioritize kindness, tolerance, consideration and support.  Creating such school cultures will make it far less likely that bullying will arise or that students will engage in  hurtful and damaging behavior. 

Policy, as evidenced by historic anti-bullying legislation signed by Governor Patrick last year, is important in raising awareness about critical issues like bullying prevention.  It can bring resources, attention and strategy to serious problems that need solving.  But attention will fade and policy makers will move on to the next issue which demands the spotlight. That is where we, as a collective community, come in.  What we must understand, and what Lady Gaga repeatedly reiterated yesterday, is that no one person, regardless of the fame or wealth that person may possess, can fix this problem alone. It is only by each of us coming together and recognizing that we all have a responsibility toward one another – toward creating safe spaces for our young people to learn and grow – that we can begin to create a culture of kindness.  It’s up to each one of us to be role models in our each and every action as a member of the community.

Here in Massachusetts, our young people are working hard at this in schools across the Commonwealth.  I had the fortune of visiting a group of students in Quincy last month for “No Name Calling Day,” and witnessed the type of leadership- by-example that is making all the difference for students at that school.  By committing, through peer to peer interactions, to cultivate those norms of kindness and support, these students are leading the way on creating an environment where their fellow classmates can come to school free from the anxiety and fear caused by bullying.  It is examples like these that inspire, and should cause us all to further engage in the work of ensuring every student has the chance to reach his or her potential in a safe and supportive learning space.  

 

This Week @MassEducation, Week of February 26 - March 3, 2012

Tom Weber 
Undersecretary of Education,  Executive Office of Education

 This Week @MassEducation is back!   The Governor’s Executive Office of Education has been running on all cylinders, but my weekly blog has been in neutral for the past two weeks.

Here are a few highlight of what has transpired during my blog’s hiatus:

Secretary Reville visited my native City of Lynn to discuss the Patrick-Murray Administration’s Gateway Cities Education Agenda with educators and local elected officials.  He visited Lynn Tech and the Connery Elementary School.

Governor Patrick announced over $280,000 in planning grants to 29 potential new Innovation Schools, just the most recent sign of the tremendous appeal of this new school model created by the Achievement Gap of 2010.   Nearly 50 Innovation Schools could be up and running across the Commonwealth by the Fall of 2012.

Secretary Reville joined Newton Mayor Setti Warren in a tour of Newton North High School’s Innovation Lab, a “place where students, teachers and community members work to solve social, economic and environmental challenges in the 21st century.”

The Executive Office of Education testified to a  joint hearing of the House and Senate Ways and Means Committees regarding the Governor’s FY13 budget recommendations for education.

The US Department of Education announced that Massachusetts has been granted flexibility from certain provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB).  Massachusetts has an unparalleled commitment to high standards and the waiver granted today will allow the state to focus our efforts on those innovative and effective strategies already in place for turning around underperforming schools and improving student achievement outcomes.

And now for the week ahead:

On Monday, Secretary Reville visited the Silvia Elementary School in Fall River to discuss the Administration’s Gateway Cities Education Agenda with local leaders. 

Tuesday began with a return engagement of the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education on topics including charter schools and improved instruction for English Language Learners.   Later today, Secretary Reville will speak with Brazil’s Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce for the Western Hemisphere about that nation’s Science Without Borders initiative.

Continuing a modest mid-week international education theme, Secretary Reville will meet on Wednesday with a delegation from Russian to discuss “Empowering Schools through Innovative Management."  From there, he will travel to Cambridge to participate in an anti-bullying event with high school students.

On Friday, Secretary Reville will discuss the Patrick-Murray Administration’s STEM initiative at a Massachusetts ASCD gathering in Needham.

Follow the Executive Office of Education’s progress throughout the week on Twitter @MassEducation. 

 

This Week @MassEducation, Week of February 5-11, 2012

Tom Weber 
Undersecretary of Education,  Executive Office of Education

My father had a healthy perspective on the outcomes of major sporting events: either way, he would say, I’m going to work in the morning.   Fortunately, we’ve got plenty going on at the Executive Office of Education to supply the bounce in our step that we missed from the Patriots last night!

Secretary Reville started his week with visits this morning to Everett’s Keverian School and High School.   Mayor DeMaria, Senator Sal DiDomenico, Representative Stat Smith and Superintendent Forestiere hosted the Secretary for these visits to discuss Governor Patrick’s Gateway Cities Education Agenda.  From there, the Secretary travelled to Boston to participate in a "Parent University" event with U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, Mayor Thomas Menino, and Superintendent Carol Johnson to talk about the district’s family engagement work.   Later today, Secretary Reville will meet up with Secretary Duncan again, joining a lecture in Cambridge.

Tomorrow (Tuesday), Secretary Reville will participate in the University of Massachusetts Board of Trustees meeting.  In the afternoon, we will meet with representatives of the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization to discuss English for Speakers of Other Languages programs.

On Wednesday, Secretary Reville will keynote the 4th Annual Global Learning Charter Public School’s Business and Education Forum in New Bedford to talk about the importance of science, engineering, technology and math (STEM) education in Massachusetts.   He will then visit students and teachers at New Bedford’s Roosevelt Middle School with local officials and discuss Governor Patrick’s Gateway Cities Education Agenda. 

On Wednesday afternoon and Thursday, Secretary Reville will join the University of Massachusetts Search Committee – Amherst to interview candidates for the position of Chancellor.  On Friday, Secretary Reville will join Governor Patrick and Lt. Governor Murray at a meeting of the Governor’s cabinet secretaries.

Before we turn the page on another week at the Executive Office of Education, I want to give a shout out to my grandmother, Lillian King, who turned 100 last week.   I could provide dozens of stories about Nana, most featuring her penchant for barbed zingers, but perhaps the best way to keep it in context is to honor one of her proudest accomplishments: her college degree.   She was one of a handful of women from her high school class in 1930 – and my only grandparent – to attend and graduate from college.  As a former English teacher, she never gave my penmanship a passing grade (I can’t blame her – it’s pretty poor), but she set the standard and blazed the trail for our entire family.  Happy centennial, Nana, and thank you.

Follow the Executive Office of Education’s progress throughout the week on Twitter @MassEducation. 

This Week @MassEducation, Week of January 29-February 4, 2012

Tom Weber 
Undersecretary of Education,  Executive Office of Education

 

The big story of the week was Governor Patrick’s FY13 budget proposal, which affirms the Patrick-Murray Administration’s ongoing commitment to our students, pre-k through higher education.   

A couple of budget proposals deserve special attention.   First, the Governor proposed a Gateway Cities Education Agenda in response to an ongoing dialogue with our Gateway Districts, which serve a significant number of students who are caught in achievement gaps. Second, the Governor announced an ambitious set of community college reforms and supports to better prepare students from across the Commonwealth for job opportunities in their regions.  The community college proposal was greeted with strong support from the business community as a  sound strategy for matching job skills with job opportunities, a win-win-win for students, employers, and the Commonwealth’s economy.

The work continues, and here are highlights from next week’s schedule:

On Monday, Secretary Reville will join local legislators in a visit to the Northwest Elementary School in Leominster to discuss the Governor’s Gateway Cities Education Agenda.   That afternoon, he will tour the North Middlesex Regional International Baccalaureate Innovation School, where juniors and seniors can enroll in IB classes that educate not only in core subjects, but also teach students how to plan for and achieve long-term academic and service goals, how to use critical analysis skills, how to learn challenging ideas and concepts and how to apply their learning. These 21st century skills are essential in preparing students for success in college and career.

On Tuesday, Secretary Reville will participate in a Board of Higher Education meeting before joining Governor Patrick in a visit to Bristol Community College in Fall River to discuss the Governor’s community college proposal.   Later that afternoon, Secretary Reville will participate in a conference call with the Early Education for All Campaign to discuss the Governor’s FY13 budget recommendations.

On Thursday, Secretary Reville will participate in “Doing Business in Brazil,” an event sponsored by Associated Industries of Massachusetts and the Massachusetts Office of International Trade and Investment.  This event follows the Governor's trade mission to Chile and Brazil last fall, and will continue the work of helping grow the Massachusetts economy on an international scale.  Thursday afternoon, the Secretary will also hold a State House briefing for legislators on the Governor’s Gateway Cities Education Agenda.

Follow the Executive Office of Education’s progress throughout the week on Twitter @MassEducation. 

This Week @MassEducation, Week of January 22-28, 2012

Tom Weber 
Undersecretary of Education,  Executive Office of Education

 

First, thanks for the kind reception for our first installment of This Week @MassEducation – loved the retweets, folks!

Lt. Governor Murray delivered some end-of week good news today: the Administration’s FY13 budget recommendation will include a $145 million increase for K-12 education for a total investment of $4.1 billion, the highest level of funding in state history.   This continues the Patrick-Murray Administration’s unbroken streak of annual increases and record funding for K-12 education despite budget challenges.  The Lt. Governor also announced proposed FY13 funding for the Special Education Circuit Breaker and Charter School Reimbursement of $213 million and $71.5 million, respectively.   More on the proposed FY13 budget below.

Looking ahead, what a week!  Here are some highlights:

On Monday night, Secretary Reville will attend Governor Patrick’s State of the Commonwealth Address, an annual effort to lay out the Administration’s priorities for the year ahead.   Stay tuned for some exciting education news, pre-k through higher education.  No hints – you’ll have to read it yourself.  The full text of the Governor’s speech should be available on the his website sometime after 8:00 p.m. on Monday, so check it out. You can also tune into your local news station to watch the speech live at 7:30 p.m.

On Tuesday, Secretary Reville will be splitting time between the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) and a Special Meeting of the Board of Higher Education (BHE).   Among other things, BESE members will discuss the next generation of student assessments and receive an update on Level 5 Planning in the Lawrence Public Schools.  Meanwhile, the BHE agenda includes Mass Maritime Academy’s Five Year Special Mission Renewal Plan and the interview of Cape Cod Community College’s potential new president.

Governor Patrick will release his entire FY13 budget recommendation on Wednesday.  If you want to roll up your sleeves and dive in, the budget should be online around noontime on the Mass.gov budget site.   That afternoon, Secretary Reville will be visiting the Atlantic Middle School in Quincy to participate in “No Name Calling Day” to promote anti-bullying awareness.  Governor Patrick and Commissioner Chester will also be participating in a similar events in  Salem and Weymouth that day.

Rounding out the week @MassEducation, Secretary Reville will attend the Governor’s Cabinet Meeting on Friday before speaking at an educator conference about  U.S.-China school exchanges hosted at Boston University.

Follow EOE’s progress throughout the week on Twitter @MassEducation.