Working for Education - Working for Children
On Tuesday, June 13, Senator Pat Jehlen hosted a powerful State House briefing featuring eyewitness accounts from a student, a parent and teachers about what it actually looks and feels like to be in a Level 4 “turnaround” school.
The Less Testing, More Learning coalition has called on Massachusetts Education Commissioner Mitchell Chester to denounce the bullying or punishing of students who opt out of the MCAS.
The coalition’s call followed a letter from Commissioner Chester to school leaders that struck a significantly different tone than was communicated by him on the same subject in January 2016.
Most notably absent from Chester’s recent letter was anti-bullying language that had been included in 2016 instructions to school leaders on the MCAS, saying that students should not be pressured or punished if they declined to take the test.
In 2016, Chester told superintendents to try to persuade students to take the MCAS, but if they refused, “We ask principals and test proctors to handle refusals with sensitivity. Students should not be pressured to take the test, nor should they be punished for not taking the test.” [The memo is here.]
This week, he sent new instructions for handling opt-outs. → Read More
I hope to see all of our Brookline friends and neighbors this Thursday at “The Schools Our Communities Deserve,” All Saints Church, 1773 Beacon St. (at Dean Road), 6:30 to 8:30 pm. It’s going to be an engaging and important conversation about public education in our community, with music, food and excellent speakers, including MTA President Barbara Madeloni and Ricardo Rosa, professor of education at University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth! → Read More
