D.O.E. Commissioner Resigning in 2007

Department of Education Commissioner David Driscoll announced that he will be retiring on August 31, 2007. As the man who "shepherded" the MCAS through lawsuits, accusations of discrimination, and considerable criticism by many, he stated in his retirement announcement that "testing is beginning to take too much time out of the school day, and more work must be done to reduce the fear surrounding MCAS." He adds, "There's been too much focus on testing". This, at the same time that he successfully pushed forward a plan to raise the bar on passing the MCAS for the class of 2010. The passing grade remains at 220, but if you score below a 240, you will have to meet a whole regimen of additional assessments to qualify for high school graduation:

• score "proficient" (score of 220) or higher on the Grade 10 ELA and Math exams
  
• maintain at least a 3.0 Grade Point Average in grades 11 and 12
  
• pass an Algebra II test that will be identified by the Department of Education
  
• demonstrate proficiency in writing through an assessment that will be identified by the Department of Education
  
• either complete a high school curriculum designed to prepare students for college and career readiness -or earn a Certificate of Occupational Proficiency
  

If these regulations went into effect this year, over 40% of the 10th-grade students statewide would need to meet these additional requirements.

What am I missing here? How does this reduce the time concerns and the fear concerns surrounding MCAS that the Commissioner is concerned about?

Comment Moderation Has Been Turned Off

I've decided to turn off the blocking option on posted comments. However, the standards above still apply. Profanity, immaturity and personal attacks are not welcome here. Show some respect and join the conversation.

Drury Lock-Down

On Friday, October 27, Drury High School was "locked down" for a safety sweep of the school. At no time was there any threat made directly or indirectly to the school or any student or staff at Drury. Students were informed that it was another measure to survey the school in an effort to provide a safe, orderly learning environment for teaching and learning. It should serve as a message to the students that the North Adams School District has a zero tolerance policy regarding drugs and alcohol. As a member of the school committee and as a parent, I'm glad to see this happen and I appreciate the well-organized fashion in which the lock-down and sweep of the school was carried out. Students, staff and administration all handled the lock-down procedures very well. I think students can expect to see more of this in the future.

The Extended School Day

Contrary to some media reports, the North Adams School Committee and the administration of the North Adams School District continues their interest in the extended school day initiative. The North Adams Teachers Association has recently communicated the same interest. At some point, within the next few weeks or months, there is reason to believe that the collective bargaining negotiations on this between the teachers association and the school committee will go forward. This time around, we have the option to begin the extended school day initiative in the 2007-08 school year or the 2008-09 school year. The extended length of time requirement over the current schedule has been reduced from 30% more time (as required initially) to 25%. Our going forward with all this remains dependent on a collective bargaining agreement with NATA and on receiving the funding from the state for the initiative. There’s been much said about the extended school day in the media and elsewhere over the past few months. You may have views, ideas, concerns, or questions on the extended school day. Would appreciate you sharing them here.

A Clarification

Posts to this site are open to everyone, including anonymous ones. You do not need to identify yourself (although I’d prefer you would) – just select “Other” or “Anonymous” when posting. The only posts that will be blocked are ones that contain profanity, immature comments and/or personal attacks on any individuals. Just show some respect, that’s all I’m asking for. Posts of opposing views to mine will not be blocked. Being that I am moderating the comments, there may be a significant delay in seeing your posts on the site, as I am away frequently due to family doings, work and various committee meetings. My apologies in advance for that. I will be out-of-town Sunday, Oct 22 through Tuesday, Oct 24, so any postings during that time will not be seen on the site until Wednesday. But please don’t just sit “in the weeds” – your opinions on our kids’ education are just as important as anyone else’s. Join the conversation!

Tough Times!

Kids are going through tough times these days! We thought we had it hard when we were in school, but kids today are going through all sorts of stresses we never dreamed about when we were in their shoes. Incredible school safety concerns, No Child Left Behind mandates, MCAS, multiple assessment tests, non-supportive home/parent environments (for some), stressed out teachers and administrators trying to keep their focus on educating the “whole child” while trying to keep their schools from being labeled “underperforming”. Then after the kids get through the local school challenges, they get the opportunity for a college education that will likely leave them with huge loans after they graduate. These are all extreme challenges for the kids, and they deserve our support, encouragement and congratulations for succeeding in spite of it all. The teachers and the school administrators will tell you that one of the biggest challenges they face is the non-supportive and/or very low-income environments many of the kids are coming from. There’s only just so much the school system can do – there is nothing more important than the full support and encouragement from the parent(s). What do you think about this? And how can we get the parents more involved with their children’s education?

Welcome!

The intent of this is to be a forum for healthy, constructive discussion on any issues regarding the education of our kids in the North Adams School District. If this turns into unhealthy, unconstructive discussion, then this forum will be shortlived. Remember that it's all about the kids.