Passing Notes                             March 2011
Many important and substantial promises were made by the State in its winning Race to the Top proposal that will have a long-lasting impact on education in Massachusetts.  Now the real challenge of implementing that reform agenda begins in earnest.  Over the coming months, MBAE's primary focus will be on ensuring that progress toward our goals keeps pace. This newsletter highlights a few critical initiatives that we should all be watching.
  
In this issue:
  • Teacher Evaluation Reform 
  • Implementing Common Core State Standards
  • 16 New Charter Schools Approved
Creating a New Teacher Evaluation System
Debate over linking teacher evaluations to student achievement will be ratcheted up in March when the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's Task Force on Educator Evaluation releases its recommendations for a new teacher evaluation system. 

 

Recognizing the singular impact that teachers have on student achievement, MBAE sees the restructuring of our educator evaluation system as an enormous opportunity to develop a new paradigm for attracting, developing and retaining the very best educators for every child in Massachusetts.  

 

The business community invests heavily in human capital and has particularly valuable and credible expertise to share in measuring professional performance and creating incentives to promote high standards of achievement.  MBAE Executive Director Linda Noonan serves on BESE's Task Force and was selected to testify at a February 28 meeting on the progress that the Task Force has made.  Linda voiced significant concerns about the Task Force's ability to deliver recommendations for the system we need.  For more information about MBAE's position on teacher evaluation, read our blog, MassEdForum.

 

Read Linda's Blog Post on Teacher Evaluation  

 

Learn more - Read our report on Human Capital Policies in the Boston Public Schools 

Implementing Common Core State Standards

District and school leaders from across the state gathered on February 15 at a forum hosted by MBAE and the Rennie Center for Education Research and Policy to discuss implementation of the Common Core State Standards.

 Common Core Standards Information

In a panel discussion moderated by MBAE Board of Directors member Beth Gamse, educators agreed that the new standards overlap substantially with the state's current frameworks and, where they differ, move the State in the right direction to better prepare students to succeed in college and career.   Many expressed excitement about the opportunity to raise the bar for all students. They also expressed concerns, however, that many teachers still are not aware of the new standards and what they will really mean for instruction.  The panelists emphasized the need for dedicated professional development time to manage the transition and cautioned that some schools may resist implementation and therefore may get left behind.  Panelists agreed, though, that these new standards spur valuable conversations among educators about how to most effectively teach their students and what every child should learn. 

A video recording of the forum can be found on our website. The forum was the first of three that will be hosted by MBAE and the Rennie Center.  The next forum will be held on April 12, 2011 and the last on June 14, 2011. 

More information -  click here.   

Charter School Expansion

The Board of  Elementary and Secondary Education vote on February 28 to approve 16 new charter schools will provide thousands of families with critical educational opportunities.  Some of the schools are part of new networks of high-quality charters that replicate existing, successful programs.  MBAE supports the continued expansion of charter school opportunities and congratulates the Board for this major step forward. 

 

For more information on the new charter schools visit the Massachusetts Charter Public School Association website. 

 
Future communications from MBAE 
In the months ahead, MBAE will introduce a new look for our communications.  We'd love to get feedback from you on what kind of information you would like to get from us and how frequently you'd like to hear from us.  Please email tlederer@mbae.org.  We also encourage you to keep up with MBAE activities and positions on policy issues by reading our MassEdForum blog and following us on Twitter. Thank you for your continued interest in the work of  MBAE.

Sincerely,
Tricia Lederer
Director of Communications   
MBAE Thanks Our Supporters
MBAE's work is made possible by the financial support of generous individuals and -  
Abt Associates
Associated Industries of Massachusetts
AT&T
Bank of America
Braver
The Irene E. and George A. Davis Foundation
Deloitte
Evaluation Systems Group of Pearson
EF Education
EMC Corporation
Goodwin Procter
IBM
Intel
MassMutual Financial Group 
Nellie Mae Education Foundation
Noyce Foundation
PTC
SolidWorks 
Suffolk Construction
TD Bank
The Boston Foundation
Verizon
 
You can support MBAE every time you search the web or shop online.  Just start at www.goodsearch.com for searches or www.goodshop.com for shopping and designate the Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education as the charity you want to support.  A percentage of advertising revenues and purchases will be donated to MBAE! 
 
MBAE is committed to a high quality public education system that will prepare all students to engage successfully in a global economy and society.  We bring together business and education leaders to promote education policies and practices based on measurable standards of achievement, accountability for performance, and equitable educational opportunities for all students.