Novick Reports: January Board of Education on school and district report cards, automated scoring

The Board of Elementary and Secondary Education met on Monday, January 14 for an evening meeting. While much of the attention focused on Commissioner Jeffrey Riley's announcement of a proposed deal on expanding Alma del Mar Charter School in New Bedford, two reports were the purpose of the evening special meeting: one on the complete overhaul of the school and district report cards, and one on the use of computers in scoring student writing on the MCAS.

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Update on MASC Field Directors

MASC Field Directors play a critical role in assisting and supporting our members. Each school committee across the Commonwealth is assigned one of five Field Directors on the MASC staff. Your Field Director serves as the primary liaison for your district. He or she is available to:

• answer questions
• recommend resources,
• provide technical assistance,
• conduct onsite workshops, and
• assist with other matters.

Two of our longtime Field Directors, Pat Correira and Mike Gilbert, recently retired after many years of service to the organization. We are delighted to welcome two new Field Directors to the team: Kathleen Kelly and Liz Lafond.

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Video: 2018 MASC/MASS Joint Conference

We’re excited to share with our members and colleagues a short video about the annual Joint Conference of the Massachusetts Association of School Committees (MASC) and Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents (MASS), featuring highlights from the 2018 conference held in November.

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Special Message to Membership Regarding Equity Lawsuit

Many of our members have been approached about the possible renewal of an equity lawsuit to continue to fulfill the ambitions of the 1993 McDuffy case and the Education Reform Law. In fact, at this time there are two different coalitions are working to file a lawsuit. Like many of you, MASC has been discussing the options with our colleagues in education before we commit to any coalition.

Many of us believe the real strategy behind the proposed litigation and the possibility of a favorable court decision is to work with the legislature to address the outstanding fiscal and policy issues.

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Novick Reports from the December 2018 Board of Education meeting

The Board of Elementary and Secondary Education met for their regular meeting on December 18. The agenda can be found here. 
In his opening remarks, Commissioner Riley asked that stakeholders hold the date of March 19 for a meeting at UMass Amherst on planning the way forward. He also remarked "many people are hopeful" that action will be taken on the foundation budget during this coming Legislative session, and we will "need to remain more vigilant" in order to see that through. 
The only public comment was one on wireless technology.

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Workshop: Monty Tech's Veterinary Clinic - A Shared Success

On January 30, join Division VIII in Fitchburg for a tour of Montachusett Regional Voc-Tech School District's Veterinary Clinic and learn about the building process, sources, and policies involved in creating this successful program. All are welcome to attend, though we do ask that you register so we have a count for dinner.

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