#32 Secretarial Subs, EDFS, Accountability Presentation

Wow, what a week it was....

The early last day of school has reduced the amount of time you normally have to complete end of year traditions, celebrations, and tasks. I am so sorry about EDFS going down this past week, but also so glad I did not email out an automated individual messages to you all about our network and school completion rates. I very much appreciate the conscientiousness you have demonstrated regarding the importance of evaluation and the push/pull between the conversations about continued instructional improvement and documentation. One of my goals for next year is to support you all in easing the burden of evaluation. Remember, we are going to be transitioning to using TeachPoint next year.

Have a great week!

Please help find subs for school secretaries!

Several schools are experiencing the burden of having no secretary due to various reasons. Lauren McLean Britt (email username: lmcleanbritt) listed the schools without secretarial support: Adams, Baldwin, Hale, Hurley, and Mattahunt. Please help us find people who can fill in at our schools for the last busy weeks of the year! She asked: 

"I've been asking School Leaders if they have referral of capable school volunteers or Subs that would be willing to be hired as Guild Temps for the remainder of the school year to please send them my way.  I just connected with a Sub [recommended by a principal] who is willing to switch over to a be a Guild temp, because a BTU Sub cannot sub in the main office [due to] crossing Union lines. So, if subs are willing to be hired as Guild temps that's the way to go at this time along with reputable referrals from School Leaders and colleagues." 

email: lmecleanbritt@bostonpublicschools.org 

Preliminary MCAS Data 

Good news! ODA is working on putting the preliminary MCAS data in a digestible format for schools. You may certainly download your csv file from the portal when it arrives, but if you wait a bit, it may be available for you before the end of the school year. ODA and OIIT are collaborating to make data available to you and your staff. 

It is vitally important that your schedules in Aspen reflect homerooms/subject area teachers as well as co-teachers, related services, or support staff with teaching responsibilities. If, for example, your ESL teacher has a "platoon" of his/her students and a defined schedule in Aspen, they theoretically will also have access to just the students in their platoon in DataWarehouse. 

Accountability Presentation - Friday, May 24th

As you may have seen in LeadBPS, there will be a DESE Information Session to provide district and school leaders with information regarding 2019 accountability. Please mark your calendars. I will be there and will share out relevant information with you in my next blog post.

Friday, May 24th
1:00 - 2:30 pm
School Committee Chambers

Topics for the session will include: the overall design of the accountability system, the weighting of accountability indicators, how districts and schools will be categorized, and how results will be reported. The presentation will also highlight potential changes to the accountability system for 2019 reporting, as proposed by DESE. Participants will be given an opportunity to ask questions about the system.

Carter School Prom

The Carter was featured in Saturday's Boston Globe. Check out the article here. 

172nd Annual Josiah Quincy Banquet

 

Superintendent Cassellius

Dr. Cassellius introduced herself to principals this past Thursday. She shared the initial four guiding principles of Equity, Inclusion, Collaboration, and Joy to the group. One of her goals is to make Boston Public Schools one of the Top Ten Places to Work. A second is to work with the Mayor and the City to eliminate opportunity gaps for children before they come to school. Dr. Cassellius said that she is committed to staying at least 13 years to follow at least one generation of students from K2-12!

ACCESS Scores Release and Student ELD Leveling

• WIDA has indicated that scores will be available to schools by May 28th. LATFs can download the data directly from WIDA AMS.
• End of Year LATF Presentation, March 2019
• Deadline for Leveling June 14, 2019