Although it is a short week, it is a busy week! Please see below for happenings locally and nationally.
Training for new School Committee Members this week. The program “Charting the Course” has been structured to meet the mandates of the new school committee training legislation. Attendance meets the eight hour orientation requirement for new school committee members (MGL Chapter 71 Sec 36A). This session also includes important changes to the Ethics and Open Meetings Laws relative to all school committee members. Topics include: School Finance, Open Meeting Law, Public Records Law, Conflict of Interest Law, Special Education Law, Collective Bargaining, School Leadership Standards & Evaluations, and School Committee Roles & Responsibilities. For more information, please see here.
Department of Higher Education Meetings this week. The Board of Higher Education will hold meetings at Ashburton Place on the 21st floor on Tuesday. Academic Committee Meeting from 10-12, Strategic Planning Committee Meeting from 12-1, and the Fiscal and administrative Policy Committee Meeting from 1-3.
Twitter Chat Reminder: CenterPoint, the Data Quality Campaign, and TeachPlus MA are hosting a Twitter Chat on Wednesday, 1/17/2018 from 4:00 pm to 5:00 pm ET where teachers will share stories and answer questions about how they use data in their classrooms. Follow #EdDataWorks to join in the conversation.
“How High the Bar?”. The National Superintendents Roundtable and the Horace Mann League hold a press briefing on a report titled “How High the Bar?” that asks how well students in other nations would perform if they were held to the benchmark of “proficient” in the National Assessment of Educational Progress or to Common Core measures of “career and college readiness.” Members of the Roundtable and the League will present the findings, and a panel of educators will discuss the implications of the report. For more information on the report you can send an email here: rhenda@rhendameiser.com.
“In Class Not Cuffs”. The Center for American Progress and Sen. Chris Murphy hold a discussion, titled “In Class Not Cuffs: Rethinking School Discipline,” to highlight productive ways education leaders have complied with Obama-era guidance, potential concerns and what could be at stake if the Trump administration rescinds it. The panel will discuss how this guidance and other tools can help schools and systems eliminate discipline disparities.
Black Lives Matter Week of Action coming soon. The Caucus of Working Educators and several other organizations for powerful racial justice organizing ask you to join them and more than 20 cities across the country for the Black Lives Matter Week of Action that will connect educators, students, parents, community leaders, and allies. #BLMPhlED. The kick-off starts on February 2nd. For a more detailed calendar of events for your community see here.
New Gig for Former Governor Jane Swift. Jane Swift has taken the role of Executive Chair at Ultimate Medical Academy, a nationally accredited education institution, focused on equipping and empowering adult students to excel in healthcare careers. Swift is joining a team of more than 2,000 faculty and staff who are helping more than 15,000 online students and 40,000 alumni across the nation. We wish her well in her new role.
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