001you. All right. The Suit School Committee is committed to providing an environment of respect during meetings. We ask all members to interact in a polite manner, even when there is disagreement. We value the participation of our community and want all participants, including marginalized and minoritized communities, to feel welcomed and respected. We ask our committee members and all who participate to commit to these standards to support and respect our community. Right. With that, we will call the is it Mayo is right the May 5th, 2025 school committee meeting to order 601. And we will start here with public comment. Seeing no one remotely or in person, raise a hand. Uh let's go on to our student report. So yeah, our SHS uh May 5th update for the school committee. Sports-wise, our spring sports teams continue to
002impress. The following teams currently have winning records: boys lacrosse, girls lacrosse, boys track, girls track, boys tennis, girls tennis, and girls golf. Unified track has also started their season and they are off to a great start. On Tuesday, April 29th, Mr. Payne made this event a class cup event to increase attendance and the meet was very well attended. Principal Langer hosted his second annual AP breakfast on Wednesday, April 16th for any student taking one or more AP courses. Central High School has 364 students taking one AP course or more. The breakfast is very well attended. Congratulations to PE teacher and coach Kathleen McCarthy who will be receiving the MIAA Distinguished Women in Sports Award at Gillette Stadium on May 20th. The National Honor Society induction also took place on Wednesday, April 16th at 6 PM.
003It was a great event. Congratulations to all of this year's inductees. The Patriot League will host its scholar athlete banquet on Tuesday, May 6, tomorrow night. Congratulations to myself and Jane Ryan, who will represent Situ High School at that. The cyber sailors have qualified for the 2025 Massachusetts state FRC Championship event on May 31st at Lawler Rink at Marramac College. The top 24 teams in the state will be competing. Situ High School store the shipyard received the national gold level operations retail gold standard at DECA Nationals. DECA will compete in nationals on Saturday or DECA did compete in nationals on Saturday, April 26th for uh to Wednesday, April 30th. And the following students have qualified. Ben Hill and Calvin Anderson in sport and entertainment marketing event. Bailey Young and Savannah Garved in financial team event.
004Kaden Levangi, Molly Quirk, Taylor toollet, Roman Glowak, and Ashen Seymour in the SBE school store certification gold level status, and Griffin Mccur and Aiden Tumi in the travel and tourism marketing event. Guidance news, all rising 10th through 12th grade students have selected their courses for next year. Thank you to our counselors for reviewing graduation requirements and working with students to m map out their academic plans. AP exams have also started this week with a record amount of students taking the exam. Best of luck to all of our AP students. That's all we have. Thank you so much, Willis. Have a good one. All right. Okay. We're just um going to take two items out of order tonight. Uh we're gonna have Dr. rap um present next real quick just with a a surplus and then
005we're going to have our uh history and social studies department go right after that so you all can go on to other things that I know you have to do. Uh all right I'll turn it over to Dr. Rab for um a tech elementary surplus. Thank you madam chair members of the committee. I'm going to share an email. You have a copy of it in your packets that I received from Mrs. is reared and the principal um basically this is a variety of student desks that are old and rusty. Um we've been slowly replacing student desks at Watuck. We started this year will continue next year. And then some other small items, some stools, some of the old machines that we had from COVID. Um an old floor clear two floor clearing machines and um
006air filled two-wheeler air fil tires. So all of these things are really beyond their useful life. Um certainly we'll look around if any other surrounding district or anybody has interest in them. Uh we'll let them go, but otherwise um they're really just ready for recycling at this point. So I would ask the committee for a vote to declare them obsolete. Thank you. Take a motion on those desks. Anyone? Um I make a motion that the school committee vote to approve. Yeah. to approve the Wetch Elementary surplus as presented. Second. Okay. All in favor? I. All right. Thank you, Dr. Rap. Thank you. Okay. And next, we'll go to our history and social studies department chair, Miss Leia. Hi everybody. Um, and thank you for going a little out of order. I know the students have
007a paper review that they're aiming to get to. Um, so each year the social studies department, I come before you guys to talk about this, um, collaborates with the situ 144 of the American Legion to run the American Legion oral con contest. Uh, this is actually the 16th year that we've done this. Um, and it really is a testament to the American Legion veterans that we do this. Um, and I'm sad they must have gotten held up tonight. um that they couldn't be with us, but it really is a testament to them. Uh chapters all around us have been unable to offer this for years and years actually. They're shuttering um in a really sad way. Um and so it's a real testament to them and their fundraising efforts that they do all throughout the
008year that we're they're able to offer pretty significant scholarships to the top students. This year too, um we also had over eight contestants, which is amazing. Um because if you remember the qualifications for this contest is that students pick a topic of the constitution or pick a section of it uh independently research it and then speak for 8 to 10 minutes with no notes. Um which is quite a tall fee. Um and then for students that actually go on to the regional competition um they're given amendments that are pulled out of a hat that they have to speak sort of off the cuff about. Um also with no notes. Um so it is quite a task. It is quite a a feat for students. Um, and tonight we have the three winners. Um, and like
009I said, I am sad. I do want to give a credit where credit is due. Um, to Bob Callahan, Dennis Bador, and Kevin Walsh, who are the American Legion veterans who I work most closely with. Um, and like I said, they are the ones out canning throughout the year. They're the ones collecting the money. Um, and their scholarships total over $1,000 every year. So, this year, um, I just want to recognize our students because they're here. The third place winner is Junior Summer Crowley. Just say hello. Um, Summer's speech focused entirely on how freedom of religion is essential to our democracy and that the role that our government has in making sure that this freedom is maintained. So, Summer, congratulations and I'll make sure you get your scholarship. Uh, Junior Mason Alvarez was here last
010year. He competed and uh, placed again this year and he earned second place. So, uh, Mason's speech focused on how the right to assemble is essential in helping to create domestic tranquility. He advocated that Americans must relearn the power of peaceful protest in order to create positive change. Uh, Mason actually advanced from our local competition to the regional competition and then also qualified and participated as one of only four students at the state level competition. So, congratulations to Mason. Um and this year our first place winner was junior Alexa Tracy. Alexis speech passionately advocated for free speech uh the free speech in the first amendment specifically in selection of books. Um and Alexa advocated that Americans must not let any political views overshadow the freedoms in the first amendment and that that freedom to select
011the books that challenge us and inspire us is what's essential to our democracy. Um, Alexa also advanced to our regional competition and also competed at the state level competition. So, congratulations to her. Um, so I will connect with our veterans and make sure that our students get their scholarships. Um, but I really do feel like this partnership is so important. One for the high quality experience students are having and having to meet that standard. Um but also as we think about our democracy, it's these kind of skills for advocacy and taking a document that's 200 years old and applying it to our modern day. That's um what good citizens do and that's what these students showcased um in the speech competition. So congratulations to them and thank you to our American Legion. [Applause] Congratulations. That's
012incredible. Really good job. Yeah, absolutely. very resonant and important topics right now. So, it's my little hope that you're thinking in this. Yeah. Can you repeat your speeches? Um, and they're actually all off to their AP US history review. That's so Thank you. All right, next up we have our leadership report. Like to hand it over to Assistant Superintendent Lynch for our curriculum management plan presentation. Good evening. uh inside of your packets for this evening, I shared with you uh some slides which are a general summary and also uh a formal document which is a lot of words and a couple graphics. So my purpose tonight is uh to talk a little bit about the why of a curriculum management plan and um to share it with you. So, a curriculum management plan is a
013multi-year plan to review and uh update our our curriculum. We have the benefit um to be in a district where there's a there's a large and firm commitment to uh having uh a strong curriculum and the resources to back it up as well as um the teachers to to implement it which we know is are very critical. So this plan just u provides an an overview of a timeline, provides a roadmap and also formalizes the process for collecting teacher input and and student input. Our curriculum management plan also um it's broken into four phases. So in the lower right hand corner um these are the four critical phases of the curriculum management plan. Um it's continuous and ongoing. So we review a curriculum. Uh we make recommendations about how to improve it. We then implement
014the um a recommended program or improvements and then in the last years we're always monitoring and refining um that curriculum. So the document both has the timeline as well as the a general philosophy which I think is really important and that's uh an engaging aligned curriculum is an essential component of successful teaching and learning and that's really paired with instructional practices in pedigogy um that are also at the center. So there's a little bit at the beginning of the document just about the philosophy and then it gets into more detail about the four phases when we started at the beginning of this this school year. just taking my own big start at at Central Public Schools. Um in August I learned that we are implementing um a new math program 6 through 12 and when
015I worked with the social studies and ELA departments we were in discussions about um which department would be reviewing their curriculum. So really from the beginning and with Superintendent Burkehead uh and our department chairs I think the need emerged to develop a pathway for which department and programs would be up when. So that was a little bit about um what this this document will help us do and also to to recover a little bit from um sort of the strains during the the 2000s with um remote learning and the need to implement sort of like a math program at the elementary level and then in a different year do a math program at the secondary level. So, we would hope this road map sort of brings back into alignment PK through 12 uh program. So,
016we're doing all the pieces at the same time. Really important components of our curriculum management plan or how students are doing. That's the heart of the enterprise is is is teaching and learning equity among departments. So sometimes uh we just know that with national and state metrics some departments are appear to be under more pressure than others but we know from our student experiences that all the classes and programming that they participate in is important. So another value at the center is is equity and also just recognizing uh staff capacity. So for example, PK uh through grade four um all of our teachers teach everything. So we we have to remember that we we really can't implement and review and recommend in multiple departments at at the same time because our teachers most important job
017is to teach and work with our students. So we we sort of had to break it out that way. Um before I get into like a case study example of it, I want to say that this is the work of um our curriculum coordinators and and department chairs along with myself, our central office team and our principal team uh to really think about how to share this with staff and to and to make this to make this map. So that was the process that we followed. We know that over time, especially if you make a plan out to 2031, that you're going to have to look at it every year and make adjustments. So, we know that uh we want to do that every year with our team, but you have to start somewhere with
018the plan. So, that's sort of where we're starting. So, inside of the document, it it goes out through 2031, but I thought the easiest way to talk about this and then allow for questions is just let's choose a department and then see what it would feel like to go through the curriculum management process. So, if you look at the upper leftand corner, uh, English language arts and literacy 6 through 12, uh, is the department that's in the review phase. So there's three phases of outside of like the monitor and review there's three key phases of the curriculum management cycle and the first phase is the review phase. So a question would be well what happens during a a review phase. So I sort of put the spotlight on what does the review phase look like
019for ELA 6 through 12. The document that you have uses words to explain it which I think is important if somebody wants to take a deep dive but for our purposes this evening during the review phase your the departments that are on the grid for the review phase would form a review committee. So the re review committee is comprised uh of the department chair or curriculum coordinator, teachers, principal, um parents, uh school council parents tend to be very good ones to have participating because they're really familiar with our school. Um and then you take a close look at your curriculum and you think about where are the strengths and where are the needs in that curriculum area. The curriculum management plan really allows for a whole year of this analysis. So, right now we're partnering
020with um an organization that specializes in curriculum review. They're called Hillary Literacy and they're collecting input from our teachers and educators um and our our principles about how our um the strengths and the needs within our ELA curriculum. We'll also be looking to re look at assessment data like MCCAST benchmark data, student outcome data. Um, and by the end of the year, they produce a document which is called our our strengths and needs assessment which captures areas where uh we're doing well and areas where our program needs to be improved. So for ELA this year in 2425 by the end of the school year they will have a formal document that's referred to as uh the strengths and needs assessment that will capture what's working well and where improvements are needed. And the one piece
021I would I would just highlight in this is that Hill is great at they they've worked with it before um for many years with our elementary staff but also secondary. They both survey teachers in the department and also convene teacher focus groups about um what teachers feel like they need in terms of professional development and programming and where things are going well. So, I just highlight that as a really important part of the review process to make sure that we're um collecting information from the people uh closest um to to teaching and learning. Would you like me to go through each phase or would you like to would you like to ask questions as we go? Feel free to ask a question. So the second phase is the the recommended development phase. So when we
022get to the fall of this year, the English department 6 through 12 slides over to the middle phase, which is the recommended develop phase. So at this point, they have the needs assessment and then they begin thinking about what are the programs and curriculum work that would need to be done um related to the needs assessment. Another easy term for this would be the pilot phase. So, this is when they're thinking about texts um and programs that could be piloted during the the recommended develop phase. Uh they collect staff and student feedback and then make a recommendation about programs, texts, and professional development that would be implemented. So a good parallel for this is the social studies department over the course of this year was following um this process and Sam Lesnak u did did
023a good job sharing out uh what was in process the communication from the social studies department to to families and now is at a point where the staff and student feedback is collected and analyzed and the social studies department is making a recommendation based on all that work that was done this year. So um the English department 6 through 12 will do this in 2526 and the social studies department is concluding this phase right now question. So when they make a recommendation who is that recommendation made to is it central office team or department chairs are part of review. So what's the next sort of step after that? Yeah. So really they're they're the whole department is making the recommendation um forward that this is the program um for materials that we're going to move
024forward with and it's recommended for purchase. Okay. Um so it is recommended um you know to central office um I would in my role and um Tom's role as well and superintendent Burkehead and um all other members of the team would would be part of that process. So can you connect the dots for me? So in the previous the review phase you're collecting the hill for literacy is collecting feedback from department chairs and teachers and then in this phase you're collecting data from students. So can you help me understand? So is it the needs assessment highlights the strengths and opportunities and then you're collecting feedback from students on those things that were highlighted or I'm trying to I'm not seeing the sure connection there. Um so for to use the just I know I've given
025you the case study for ELA but for for social studies purposes a needs assessment phase would involve um perhaps if there's older uh textbooks or materials like they might identify well a real deficit of our program right now is it doesn't doesn't take into consideration original documents or multiple perspectives on um like historic events that would be part of the strengths and needs assessment and then that would feed into the recommend and develop phase where there are known I'm just using shortcomings but like there are known shortcomings with the current program in social studies making this up but and then in the recommend phase the the text that would be piloted would address what would be uh considered to be those shortcomings and so when we collect feedback from the teachers that are trying multiple
026books that could meet our needs. I think we would want to make sure that those materials are addressing things that we know are strong in the areas where we need to get stronger. So, I think that's how we would use the student feedback is to make sure that it's just not teacher perception, but that the students have a voice in it, too, because they they use the materials. So, I guess that's what I'm wondering about. I'm sorry I'm getting in the weeds, so I just really want to understand. So I'm wondering where the student feedback is in the review process because what about sort of the unknown unknowns, right? So like teachers have a a lens and I'm just wondering in the case where potentially a teacher's experience does not match the students experience, how
027are we picking that up so that there can be a recommendation that addresses or at least explores the that sort of gap between what the teacher perception is and what the student perception is, I guess, is what I'm wondering. And I know Sam's here. I don't know if she has it, but I had a kind of a piggyback on that, but but from the parent lens of like sixth grade, seventh grade, like what my kids think that the social studies or any program needs is maybe different from what I might think would be useful. So is the parent feedback gathered through direct contact with parents beyond school counsel or you know through teacher feedback that they've heard from parents like is there a clear channel there? I think that's an important group to capture more
028broadly experientially. So just your parent feedback. Yeah. Particularly younger grades. Yeah. And I think it's just like there's a teacher school perception and a family student perception. Often they are aligned and sometimes they're not. Whether it's the teacher's perception or the family student perception. I just want to make sure that you know we're capturing those misalignments. And it may be that the family student thinks something and it actually can be reconciled before it hits recommendation. But even just to acknowledge that's all I'm wondering about. Yeah, I think that's a helpful recommendation. just getting a sense of the the perception of of caregivers. Um I would I would point back to in in the first phase, this isn't the answer to the question, it's just an acknowledgement of what needs to be looked at. So with
029the assessment data and student outcomes, yeah, I think we have a lot of information about we should have a lot of information about how students are performing both from our benchmarks and standardized tests where they're available, course grades um and then teachers also and students and bu buildings also have the pressure I think of um alignment to standards. And so that's another I just think leg on the stool. So that's an important part of um like assessment data, student outcomes, you know, teachers and building leaders are right there. I think we can um think about ways to include um student experiences. We definitely did it in this phase. Um and I know that used some student surveys in the when um in teacher surveys when when students piloted things. Um, so I think we can
030continue to think about ways to collect that information from from families. Um, yeah, I think you could lessen the burden of the sort of moment and have it be, you know, I'm thinking about the math curriculum like that was implemented. So is there an opportunity there to have an occasional check-in with families about how it's going and then you can along with that assessment data that you have for students you could have that as part of the right because I feel like that data you have will tell the what but it may not tell the why and story of the how right so just having that to triangulate might be helpful sorry go ahead well is but this has to do with like new curricul not necessarily curriculum that's already in play. Well, it's a
031review. So, it's reviewing part of it review, but I'm getting the sense that like what this presentation, it's like what Sam presented on. So that was like looking at new new materials, getting the feedback from the students and the and the teachers and then choosing a textbook, then you implement it and then I think Carrie's advocating for parent and family and student feedback in the in the part of the cycle when they're looking back at what we have and trying to understand what's not going well. So priority exists recommend phase. I think what Harry's advocating for is is there a way to include it? Yes. Also in that's all and I don't want to make it burdensome. I just mean just to have a little bit of data points on that. I think sure would
032be useful. I have one more question before you go to forward. So is I know this is your example for the case study ELA 612. Are we also implementing this at in the K to 5 curriculum too or is just for the secondary? So right now in 2526 with our eye toward like teacher and staff capacity, we're looking at science um you know PK5 at the same time. So we're not looking at elementary ELA, but farther down on the grid, we'll see that ELA comes back together again to one PK12. Um, so we would love to, but people we did it relatively recently too, didn't we? Ya. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I think three years ago. So we try to part of the goal was to try to bring things in into alignment in a way
033that you follow the process and not overwhelm teachers and give them the time that they need. We also don't want to do it too often because they need a minute to learn it before they can teach it. Well, we don't want to be like overwhelming people. Too much. But I think I guess my thought behind that was like what if what's identified was something foundational that really was before sixth grade. We're I think we're that's a good question. I think we're excited about reviewing uh curriculum areas with a PK-12 perspective and I think this this plan gets us on the track and I agree it's would be really exciting to look at something in a in a holistic perspective. Um so we have a plan to get there in a way that you know gets
034us on the highway without um you know breaking apart from like staff capacity and financial capacity. So that's a really good question. We all agree that the uh PK through 12 perspective is is really what's needed. Yeah. Yeah. Totally appreciate. Yes. Capacity time respecting everybody's the other things they have to do all day long and But yeah, it'll be great long term to see how it all sort of comes together. Budgetwise, this essentially means there's always something, right? Pretty big investment all all the time, which is good. It's fine. And I'd rather have it spread out than, you know, coming in together. But, you know, there's that aspect too to think about. Yeah. I just want to if I could follow up on that um because that was a question that came up over the
035last couple years was, you know, this is a lot of money. What's the why behind you're spending on people? I think at least some people in the community just felt oh it's good nobody disagree with it but but the assumption was it was just textbooks and then it wasn't you know Sam started and the rest of the department chairs and when Ryan came on board and started explaining specifically no it's much more than that so then we got that process done and now the questions were coming up oh how's all the elementary curriculum doing that we implemented a couple years ago we really didn't have a plan for that you know at least specifically like this so I think they've done a great job to pull both those plans together. Now we can articulate why
036we spend our money specifically on what and then the homework that's been done to validate and then the followup on okay is it working and why why not fixing it. Yeah. To answer all these questions. So that's great. Yeah. And I that's a that that's really helpful supplemental information and and um I you we use ELA and just to sort of like this the line between the philosophy of it and what's practically happening on the ground. I think we're talking about ELA right now because where it is on the grid, but then I think Sam and I have had this conversation that social studies really went through a lot of the 6 through 12 went through a lot of this process but in more of a condensed format. So, I just want to acknowledge that
037while this plan may not have been uh on paper in September, a lot of these practices, these best practices are things that our department chairs and curriculum coordinators use. Uh we're just really documenting them and then creating a schedule. So I just want to say that like I I think that um just because it's a public perspective that a lot of these things do happen and uh we just want to try to spread it out so it can happen in a predictable way. So when it comes to the implement phase, so like math was implemented uh 6 through 12 this year and social studies will be implementing uh 2526 and then ELA 2627. We would expect to see that the recommended programs and texts um will be implemented shared with students that our staff would
038be participating in PD related to uh programs or texts that have been selected that our curriculum is developed and updated. So with a new program, it's not always that, oh, this is, you know, just our curriculum. That teachers do um look at a program or a text and adapt it and and create curriculum. That's what they they they became teachers uh to do and they can do and they're good at it. Um and also that whatever we implement isn't going to be perfect. So like implementing anything construction project at your house, it's only good to the extent that you say this isn't quite how I want it to be. I think it still needs to get better in this area. And so we acknowledge that supplemental programs may be needed, continued professional development. Um and
039looking at our assessment data to make sure is this working like we wanted it to work. Um so we commit to doing that in the implementation phase. And um I think I just explained the last one just looking at student outcomes like are we getting um how are we doing with it and just really trying to to stay on top of that. Um so just to to go back to our example of um so Janice you brought up that like this is for best practices for implementing a new program. Absolutely. um you know like the best this is a really good plan the best time to plant a tree was 25 years ago. If you want a tree the second best time to plant it is today. So when we think about the implementation for
040math math teachers and uh math specialists also deserve the same um benefits of the process. So we're also thinking about in what ways are we assessing our implementation there? Is anything supplemental needed? what professional development do our teachers uh want and need related to our implementation? So, there was a lot of work done to get our a new program implemented and um just because they're on the right side of the grid, the math department in 6 through 12 in this year, they're also um just like every other department entitled to, you know, trying to get the benefits of this process. So, we're just committed to that with all of our departments. social studies is implementing this coming fall. And I know math's one year behind, but they're also in that they'll be in that monitor
041and refine phase where we're listening for what, you know, teachers need, continue professional development, things like that. So, the monitor and refine is the the final phase of the process where we're getting ready for the next review, but um we're also making sure that what was implemented is working for teachers and students. So just a case study of one one department moving through the grid. Um and you can see that it always goes review, recommend, develop, implement and then as you know like ELA and science maybe fall off or social studies like they fall off the grid notice that those years are not on it, they're um refining and monitoring how how the curriculum is is working. So that's just a little bit of a specific case study or overview for what it might look
042like in single departments. Finally, um the next step slide would just be what do we have to do with the implementation of this plan? Support the content areas that are on the grid. Um especially our first time through the process. We have to maintain our focus on student outcomes and staff support. Um for example, the English department and science K5 will PK through 5 will start a review committee. So we need to identify best practices related to review committees. Uh who's on them collecting like you have mentioned maybe some parent input. Um at the end of a review there should be a written document that the department chair or curriculum coordinator would produce. um we we should sort of publish that and share that to say like these are our strengths and needs and these
043are areas that we want to work on. So a best practice would be to say what does a really good version of this look like based on our team. We need to make sure that we're aligned with district budget planning. There will be tough times uh for there'll be strong years and there'll be years that are a little bit leaner. So we need to um deal with those realities. I would also say that when your science licenses are up or your social studies texts are woefully out of date, it's um it needs to be addressed and we'll just have to make a plan for addressing it. Like kids will even in tough budgeting years, students will always need access to like science or math licenses. And so we'll just have to have hard discussions like
044we would with anything how to how to make sure students and teachers have what they need. We need to adjust our structures to dedicate time to the curriculum management process. So like right now with our meeting structures, I see an opportunity for more meetings PK through 12. Sometimes we break up elementary, secondary, our curriculum work I think needs to be a little more collaborative. So vertically aligned any we have some ideas about how to make that happen. Um and also share out the really good work happening here. here. This would be the last thing would just be to really enhance our website to show to showcase this plan to have documents on there like our needs assessments, the review cycle so our community can know that we we have a plan and we update it
045year to year. But our our group has re researched some places that you know uh in our state that have really strong examples of this and other districts that really don't speak to it. And I think we have a good opportunity with our, you know, strong teachers and leaders to to showcase the really good work that happens here. So I think another next step is just enhancing our website to just showca showcase this work and to show our plan. So that's just a summary of um our our proposed curriculum management plan. I really again I appreciate the work of the curriculum coordinators and department chairs and the principles and our central ops team to um to uh work with me on this and um it's being shared with teachers. It was emailed to them so
046they could see it before the meet this meeting but also it's going to be discussed at the elementary uh faculty meetings um this month and also our department chairs are sharing it at the secondary level. So that's a little bit about what it looks like from a rollers. Nice have to use this. Um I think Ryan this is great. Um I appreciate the fact that some of this was maybe happening before but now it's documented. Um my question and comments are probably around um the assessment process and student outcomes. I think ultimately anything that we do in the schools, we're looking for the most positive student outcomes. And my question is, what are we really relying on determining student outcomes? Is it just the grades that they're earning in their classroom or is it on,
047you know, on the on the MCCAST subjects or how are we measuring that? Because I feel like that's an important piece. uh if we're just measuring it on student grades, most of our students are doing really well. Uh but we know that grades aren't always a measure of what their what their outcomes really I guess what their knowledge really is. So I'd be interested kind of what we're basing that information on and what those outcomes and assessment data is really collecting. Um so I think ultimately that's why we are implementing or reviewing curriculum to see if we're creating the desired outcomes. Um and I also go on to say it's not just outcome. I think it's student and some degree parent and family experience through that process. Um especially at the younger grades the female
048family is probably more involved I would think. But um I am interested in the assessment and what we're determining how we can determine if this curriculum or whatever is happening is is successful and how long that takes to determine. Yeah, that's that's a good question and there are a couple parallel processes that aren't really mentioned in here that I think speak to that a little bit. Uh one of them is our like midyear data review where every department in February brought forward their existing benchmarks. uh how students are making progress toward the standards in their department. So I would think that by doing that on a yearly basis we would have better data about um how students are performing in all content areas. We would use MCCAST um as well and I think also our
049like MTSS process should give us better data about that. So, by the end of this year, we'll have our um student analytics platform in like a I don't want to call it a draft format, but it'll be operational. And I think we need to answer that question about what's the best data to use in each of our content areas. So, um, that's a little bit about what we would plan on using, but I think that it should be firmed up over time to say like these are the best measurements of how students are doing while also collecting qualitative feedback like you mentioned from parents, students, things like that. Yeah. Also, I mean, I also think to Peter's point, I think we need to be mindful that it isn't just like success in courses. It's is
050the material that they're being successful in in these courses relevant to what's happening out in the world. So like this this notion that like we needed to update our social studies text, right? So you could have a old social studies test, everybody's doing great, but the material they're learning is not expansive enough, right? It's not covering. So I think that's the sort of composition of what they're learning is changing I feel like daily, right? So, so being able to stay up with that is is critical as well. So, and that's why you have the expert teachers in the classroom letting us know, right? More like US history. I mean, US history changing on a day last time our US history economics history. I don't know. 2015 at best maybe. Yeah. I mean, I think this
051is true of anywhere. Yeah. And I think this is a great presentation. What I'm hopeful for, and I'm not I know that this is we need to be patient and so I'm being patient. What I really love is I feel like you're you're you're highlighting what we know has already been existing in some way and instantiating and also creating this culture of continuous improvement because what I'm also really interested in and I'm going to be patient and give you time to work this through is we have this cyclical map now of curriculum management. What I'm also really interested in is what are the small circles that shorten the timeline between review and implementation because we know that sometimes when we implement a new curriculum, we can't anticipate what might go right or wrong. And so,
052how do we speed up that time so they're not having to wait three years to make the change that we know is needed tomorrow, right? But but again, yeah, sometimes that change isn't a new curriculum. It's like what is the thing that we need that can sort of close the gap or Yeah. And where do we how are we empowering and giving our staff space to have those conversations and because they're they're looking they're progress monitoring so they're looking at data they're talking about this data. So like you know if there if there's a wrench somewhere in the system how do we create those little circles that can feed into that bigger circle right but it's going to take time data should come in too though the wind block data. Yes, exactly. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
053Mechanism for capturing. For sure. I just don't want our staff and I'm not on the ground so I'm making assumptions, but I don't want our staff to feel locked in that they can have that freedom to make changes because they have an expertise, right? They see what they see on the floor. So, I think this is a great I love the move you're making with this and the theme. So, I just had one question about um the Hill Literacy. I looked into them a little bit. I was curious if they if you know of other groups that are similar and would provide some similar services for the other subject areas and if this is something we've invested in in the past. Sure. So the first question was do uh do we know of other people
054that provide similar services. So those are that's a common question when people are in the review process districts ask around. We did interview two other groups to see who would be the best fit fit for us. And so that's how we ended up um with Hill. But there are um there are other people we've connected with. Uh one of them Bill and I saw at um an MA uh an MASS presentation. I would have confidence that they would be able to review a couple of content areas, but there are some very good providers out there. Um, for mathematics, we have somebody who's going to help us look at our implementation and see where we're at. Now, that person's going to do some work with us. We're very excited to have a partner in that content
055area. So, I feel like we're developing um just a um I don't know, like a just a team of people who can help. And I think that's going to be an exciting challenge. In some department areas, people are going to need capacity help, but in other somebody might say, you know, for for wellness in my department, I really feel like I want to lead this part of it, but we have a partner here for the business piece. So, I think that's going to be an exciting part to because I have a lot of confidence in our curriculum coordination department chairs, but sometimes it just comes down to like capacity like convening the focus groups, writing the report a little bit, you like pay for the capacity. So there's just bring in the people who know
056how to do this as opposed to other. Yeah. And so there's some I've been pleasantly just there's just some strong people out there and um and um yeah and we ask around. It's always the assistant superintendent always asking about their someone's experience with somebody else. So I feel like yeah there's a good group of people out there to help us and share best practices. I love the culture building sort of we're always working on everything improving. Nobody's perfect. These are You know, that's true of all of us and yeah, this is a really good good and it's that missing piece of the puzzle that we've been we're excited to have. It is. And I think I just want to they're all interconnected now too. Like for example, professional development talked about that. It's great. That's
057been up there a lot. So the whole PD committee now this adds some structure to that like okay now we have purpose that we had to do math this year. And so when I and the team and we get ready for each year in our professional development, this there's more stronger guidance here than there was before. Right. Totally. Absolutely. I have a side comment just not even about this at all, but in my mind a little bit as we move forward with MCCAST data and this comes from having four kids taking MCCAST this year and three different levels. I have just I don't know what the internal discussions are for everyone teachers and staff but very very cautiously looking at what that says about our students and they know that their perception of what that
058assessment is is definitely shifted because they're little ears that know different things now and I do not just this is my personal example from my own house like I don't see even no matter how much I try to hammer the importance of it and what it can do for you and how it's a great tool or you know something um you know yeah there's just I think even at the student level and I don't have like specific data just again anecdotally in my own house that this sort of um seriousness on it and obviously it's less so the younger we go down the line here but I don't know that the I don't know that it will be we shall see but I'm worried that it's not going to be a true ballot assessment for
059us anymore. like not just situate but like everywhere. Yeah. I I think initially that may be true with the older kids like no it's Yeah. 10th grade. We'll see. Right. Um but it's all culturally too. It's what we you measure what you value. So we're preaching it our teachers are preaching this is important but it's one point in time like we've always said like it's not the end all be all. It's one more data point that we use that's important. I think we can get a lot from it still and I think you know that might take some time but if we if we do a good job with the younger kids through a middle school then even in 10th grade they'll get they'll get used to that. It's not a graduation requirement anymore but
060that's an important part of helping them especially with the MTSS process. We're we're looking at multiple data points behavioral that that's just one more point time that will help us identify the whole child. Yeah. So that might take a little time for sure. Yeah. Yeah. going forward not to embed it in with other data. I almost want to see it like here's MCCAST and here's like the rest of the story. Do that. I don't know that. Yeah, like you said, maybe over time, but sorry. Oh, it just connects to it with our benchmark process, especially the elementary schools with star reading and star math. The students do their benchmark in September. The data is ready in two weeks to share back with teachers at data meetings. They're they're much more teachers I think are more
061tuned into absolutely the real time live data than waiting students are taking it now we'll get it in August or September the students will have moved on and I think there's much fresher it's important it means something we talked about with accountability but I think I think the other assessments that get used three times a year and come back much quicker I think people are very tuned into that because that's the kids in front of them so I think in our classrooms our teachers see that Yeah, but I think that's a good testament to all the work that that the all the teams have done here because those assessments are pretty solid now. We're not scrambling to say, "Oh, MCCAST is is what it is. What do we do now? We already have systems in
062place." So, that's really it's good to know. All right. Sorry. I just had to get that out. Watch how close that cars. All right. Um, are we That was it. That was our final. Okay. All right. Uh, we're gonna have a report, a presentation now from Jackie from Jello, our director of educational technology and team. Oh, yeah. I got a dirty day. Is there [Music] [Applause] It's like is it because it's like out of just he exists. All I see is emails from the Wizard of Oz. You've been very busy. Great and powerful. Remember, we're on the all SPS distribution list. We get all the email all the email the slow we know. Yeah, we know the slow. Okay. Well, thank you for um having me tonight. Jackie Franeloo, director of educational technology. Um, for
063those of you that don't see me as much, at least I've had the pleasure of working with Maria and Janice this year on updating tech policies. So, but um, thank you for having me and being able to um, like right arrow, I think advances are down. Sorry. There you go. Um, we're going to talk tonight about technology. um talk a little bit about the team, what we've been up to, what we're doing well, uh what we're doing now, what we're looking to do, um plans for next year and and going forward. Um so, like I've said, I'm Jackie Franchel, director of tech uh educational technology here in Situit. There are four of us total in the tech department. Um, we have Chris who couldn't be here tonight, but he is our IT operations coordinator. Chris,
064um, helps manage everything tech, um, as we all do, but he strictly focuses on the network, the infrastructure, devices management, um, setting up accounts, all of our organizational groups, um, and troubleshooting when we have slow internet or we've gone down. Um, so Chris is a huge part of the team. Um, him and I work together all day long making sure that we are fully functioning, operating, and um, working smoothly for everyone. Then we have Tara God. Tara is here tonight. Tara is our tech integration specialist for grades 6 through 12 and she focuses mainly on supporting staff and students on integrating technology um, in the classroom. Um and that could range from working or collaborating with um teachers on projects, assignments, um using different technology tools, techniques in the classroom with the students um along
065with Tara Hubson and helps with all other things tech as well. Then we also have Sue Egan who's also here as well. Sue is our technology pair professional. Um, and Sue is hands-on, boots on the ground, giving whatever tech support she can across the district. Um, she also helps us manage all of our four elementary schools as well. So, she's a constant in our elementaryaries rotating through supporting the teachers there. Um so this is our team that every single day across the district um the four of us are supporting our six schools, our 400 plus staff members and our 2800 students. So what have we been up to? Um we've been up to a lot. So recently um we successfully onboarded two new technology team members. So Tara Godette and Chris are both new to
066our team. Tara um worked at the elementary level last year as our technology teacher um and this year transitioned into the tech integration specialist position. Um so it's been great for Tara to be able to see the elementary side and now she's flowing up to the secondary and getting to know the staff, the students, um and focusing on the tech integration piece where I left off. Chris is brand new to the district. Um he came uh to us from Bridgewater public schools. He has about 10 plus years experience in education on top of in the private sector as well. So he comes to us with a ton of experience. So onboarding Tara and Chris has been an unbelievable um move for the tech department. um their their organization, their experience has just really helped us
067kind of continue moving at the pace that we have um over the past few years and keeping our level of service to level of service to our staff and our students um across the district just kind of keep going pretty seamlessly. So, we've been very lucky to have them both join us. Um, I've also been working with Julie Ward on trying to apply for various technology grants to bring some um, money back into the program. With the support of the town, we're able to secure a $10,000 Maya grant, which then went back into helping us um, support our cyber security um, goal of trying to strengthen um, our cyber security across our network. U, which was great. We were very grateful uh to the town for supporting us in that um receiving of the grant.
068We have also received a grant uh to continue our cyber security training um with our staff across the district. So we were awarded a grant through the state um to use the nofor cyber security training. it was no cost to us, but the cyber security training platforms do actually cost money. Um, and we are very lucky to be able to secure this grant that there isn't any money coming out of our pocket. But yet, we are able to provide our staff um the ability to help us work on strengthening our cyber security across the district and educating them on what that looks like um from their perspective as a user every day on our network. Um and then we also um worked with the policy subcommittee on updating our district tech policies and getting those
069um you know updated to align with the technology that we are currently using um in the classroom every single day. So that was a um huge undertaking but it was so well worth it. We also had a group of um teachers from across the district as well that helped us. Colleen Simpson, Tracy Newman, Tara Godet, Sue Egan, Helen Murphy, Amy KD. So, we had a a really strong group um that was able to um help us accomplish that. Um we have also been focusing on trying to um look at the areas where we can definitely strengthen um our security and our network. uh with the help of the Maya grant we were able to implement um our SOPOS MDR which is a managed uh detection and response platform which helps gives us 247 surveillance on
070our system and it's kind of detecting um if there is anyone trying to breach our system. Um so that was um that was huge for us to be able to to bring on that service especially with um a small team. we don't have anyone that's sitting and watching our network all hours of the day and as we know our most vulnerable times are when we're not here. So, um so it's it's very uh secure to know that we do have something in place for when we're not here. Um we have also just finished I think today um we had to update all of our devices up to Windows 11 and Office 2024. It was a handson um project, but we were able to get our hands on about 400 plus laptops over the past month
071or two. Get everybody upgraded um to where they're receiving all the proper security patches um and that we're good to go when Windows 10 phases out and Windows 11 takes full effect. Um couple of other things that we are wrapping up that projects that has sort of spilled over from the summer, but they're very large projects. Um they're not as glamorous on the forefront, but in the back end, very glamorous for us and exciting. But um we are wrapping up our switch project where we did um install about 30 new switches across five schools. uh we're able to increase our fiber into our uh network up to a 10 gig to kind of increase our speed. We also just recently um upgraded our access point controller and 170 197 of our access points across the
072district um to make sure that those are properly working and we can manage them and um manage our Wi-Fi across the district. Um so what we're doing well I would say um for a very for a small team but a very mighty one um I would say our support is probably our best attribute. We are here every day. We are making sure that our staff and our students are always fully supported. Um we receive a lot of requests every single day. Um, on top of the normal day-to-day operations, we never have the same day twice. I can tell you that some some things may occur twice or back to back, but our days are never the same. Um, from the beginning of the school year up until about I would say a couple of days
073ago, we have managed to receive about 2,638 tech support requests, which are tech tickets. So basically that is staff and students from across the district putting in a tech ticket um or some sort of tech support that they need whether it's um accounts, passwords, broken devices, access support and integrating technology. You name it, we get the request. Um and we have uh repaired about 728 devices to date as well since beginning of the school year. So we've definitely been busy with our tech tickets. Um but making sure that we are you know always there for the staff, the students and getting back to them as quickly as possible. Um part of our tech department which a lot of people don't realize is that we do also support all the schools with um communication through the
074website. So the website and the um district app that our families um have downloaded onto their phones. We are helping schools uh manage the communication and the posts that they are pushing out to their families. So we have up to date once again um supported schools with about 200 plus posts uh that we've created and published um to the app for our families to stay up to date with what's going on around the schools highlighting um you know all the great things happening academics sports events you name it. Um we've put a post through. So, um you know, the team Tara and Sue work very hard each day with the schools to make sure that all the communications go out. They're eye appealing. They're organized. Um all the information is, you know, right in there.
075It's easy to follow. Links are are working. So, um when our families do receive that communication, it's just very simple for them to to follow. So, um it's a big part of the team's uh day-to-day as well. One of the other things that we've um brought back and implemented this year is newsletters uh to our families and our staff. Um we try to start off with about three newsletters um this year. Believe we've pushed out two so far and then we'll have an end of the year one. Um very wellreceived. The staff love it. They're short. They're simple. They're quick. Little tidbits of um tech. Tarot works really hard on trying to figure out what information is important and relevant for the staff at that time when they're taking the uh receiving these newsletters. And
076it's a a quick read um for them. So, it's not too time consuming, but also very beneficial for them. Um so, what are we doing now? Um so right now we are preparing for the summer. So the summer is one of our busiest times. That's where we can really start to focus on a lot of the project um and the big ticket items in the background that um you know keep us going during the school year. So along with everything else right now we are starting to prepare for those projects. So, this summer we will be focusing on our Wi-Fi network and kind of improving that coverage and performance, separating out um our Wi-Fi so we have proper guest access, uh student and staff access. Uh we up at the high school, we will be
077continuing with our um projector upgrades. Um so the high school is next on the list. We've already done pretty much all of the elementaryaries. Um but this year we will continue with the high school. So the high school will be getting 13 um interactive panels. They're called new line panels. So they'll be replacing the old projectors. So they'll be getting 13 here. So we'll be managing the installation on those. Um we will be upgrading our district firewall. Um it is uh very mature and it's ready for retirement. So we're happy to send them off. So, we will be working with our um our network partner, Tekken D, on getting that up and going. We will be receiving in our big shipment of Chromebooks so we can continue with um updating the Chromebooks. Um moving our
078onetoone forward, assigning our fifth grade uh their onetoone and upgrading our ninth grade students. Um we'll be performing other projects across the district um over the summer as well. We are going to continue to work on our backend systems to make sure that they are um secure on the back end and kind of tweaking our active directory in our Google workspace. Um so we have we have a lot going on there and then obviously we will be planning and preparing um for the upcoming school year. um towards the end of the year and over the summer, we'll be rolling out a new tech ticketing system um that also is an inventory system. We don't have a current real inventory system to kind of keep track of all of our devices. So, we are actually extremely
079excited um to actually have an inventory system that will help us really keep track of all of our, you know, laptops, access points, you name it. It helps us um manage our technology inventory um so we can see what is where, who has what. Um and then that also provides us a tech ticketing system as well which our our staff is used to. Um we have been piloting a streaming service um with our secondary teachers. I think before the end of the school year we will probably roll it out to the elementary as well. Um but we piloted with um Swank which is a streaming service which provides an expansive um educational library of video materials and resources for teachers to use with their students. So instead of trying to um find videos and clips
080from all over the internet or use personal streaming services, this platform has a very expansive library where staff members can go in locate the resource. They can give students a sharable link. the students can watch it, they can pull clips from it. Um so um it's provided um a lot of equity and um ease of sharing for these resources in the classroom. It's been very well received at the secondary level. Teachers are are loving it. So um we're doing our best today so we can better be better for tomorrow and um you know keep our technology as safe, reliable and um secure. So what we are looking to do um as we're kind of going through this uh this process um so you know I'm new to this position, Chris is new to the district.
081Um one of the big things We've also been doing across this school year is we've been auditing and analyzing um our entire network infrastructure, our systems, our devices, management tools, subscriptions, you name it. We've been looking at it, we've been working with our vendors, having conversations with them, seeing how we're utilizing these tools, um you know, what services we get with them. um you know and making sure that we have everything configured so we can really take advantage of these services that we have in place. Um so as we're doing this, we're hoping to then build some sort of um refresh cycle or a sustainable technology plan where um very similar to how we're doing with curriculum, right? that we know where our systems are, what needs to be updated, what needs to be replaced
082because technology, as we know, is changing by the second. Um, so we have to make sure that we are, you know, as up to date and um, you know, with our tools and everything so we can make sure that we're always up reliable and everything for our staff and our students. So that's where we are with what we're looking to do as we're going through um the process here. Um so so our plan for next year um pretty impressive but there's a lot to do. Um I'm hoping next year we can start developing an incident uh response plan. So, very similar to how we did with the emergency operations plan, um you should have a a a cyber security um response plan in place um in the event that you know an attack or a
083threat or something does happen. There are these attacks and threats can happen at various levels even if they're very minor, but it is good to have a plan in place so we know um what to do and the steps that we should follow in those situations. Um, so I'm hoping that we can get maybe a um small group or committee together that can help us work on developing that um a cyber cyber incident response plan um is not just put together by a tech team but get um you know professionals from across the district across various departments. So we're hoping that we can do that. Um we are going to continue with our cyber security. Um we just rolled out our 2025 to our staff that will go from May to December. So we'll continue
084to support and work with the staff on um having them um work through the uh the modules. Um we just had the Perry group uh work on our communications audit. They were a pleasure to work with. Um they were great. Asked a lot of questions. um they should have their report to us. We're looking forward to getting that and seeing what their recommendations are um where we can improve, what we can do to help strengthen our communication for next year. So based on what that report says, we will um support that plan and and make any necessary changes for next year. Um we are also um focusing on digital safety and compliance. So, with our tech policies being updated, that is a change for our staff because we're bringing them up to um you know,
085current standards of what we're using for tech. So, there is going to be some change for staff. So, what we're doing is we are starting to work on some um district resources that will support staff next year in the classroom. Um so to help them follow the policies and make sure that um what they're doing with the digital tools and everything um are safe and compliant for classroom use. So um Tara has already started working on a district approved digital tools list. We're kind of like in phase one of that where we're working with the departments to identify what digital tools that they do use because there are tools that they use that are outside of what the district already has in place. So, we're trying to gather all that. Um, and then we will
086have uh resources that will give them kind of like a a one sheet or a quick reference um on the technology policies. Google just implemented a lot of updates as well to their terms of use. So, it's important for staff to know that. And then Kappa is updating their regulations um in June. So, we want to make sure that staff are aware of that as well. So, we have a lot going on there where um we will be working on um a lot of resources to help continue to help support staff in the uh in the classroom. And then um these are just my final thoughts um that as we continue to to build our strong systems and focus on security, efficiency and student centered learning um that we want to keep this momentum going
087and um you know collaborate towards a future ready situate. So, we're just always in a great place. Um, whether it's curriculum, tech, wherever, we, you know, want to be up there and provide the best service to our staff, students, and families. Thank you. Busy. No, I think it's great. I mean, we I don't think we've ever heard from it. We don't really know everything that goes on behind the scenes. So, this just thumbs up. I don't know for me, eight years of whatever was going on behind the scenes, which is now a focus. Right. Right. I don't know what it takes to run it. I just when I need it, I hope that I have internet access. These awesome people are for I know. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah. Thank you. Um, the
088only thing I would say is I I know we've talked about this before, but it just seems so clear that we've tal we've seen this in other places too that this is a role of tech and then there's the comm's piece sort of like buried in there and those are two different things, different skill sets, different different whole different beasts, you know, and so I just I know we've discussed this before in light of the budget and, you know, we don't have a million dollars that we could just bring in, but I do think this to me feels like a really clear area where in the future when we can we would want to separate out those areas because technology and everything that was just described to us is a full job at least for
089these folks. Um and then the comm's piece that we also know is really really important is just there as well and it's different. I imagine that the training for both of those things is really different and so just I don't know want to underscore that again. Yeah, I agree with that. And I think there's there's also other branches that lead into tech in the classroom and things like that that are sort of more curriculum based not exactly what you all are focusing solely on but I'm imagining you probably permeates because you know our committee think capacity we have capacity capacity and budget and we all see it I know Bill and his team see it so just what we need versus what we're able to carry now goals for that and yeah appreciate you coming
090in and you know was like Peter said nice to have you all come in and we appreciate you because I think like you can't really can't underscore like there's so just hearing about other national even like bill has brought to certain just cyber attack type things that have happened to other districts and is really never mind wiping out information it wipes out budgets it's so just unbelievably damaging so the importance of what you all do is cannot be underscored enough. So, thank you. Thank you. And of course, if there's ever any questions, we'll submit a tech ticket. No, I do not. I'm sure we can find it. You'll be like, why did I ever offer that? All right. Yes. Uh Nicole Maria, let's discuss. So, um we we Yes. We're going to discuss a little
091bit about our adventures at the National School Board Association conference down in the very warm and overcast but pleasant Atlanta, Georgia. Um do you want me to present the slides? Yeah. Do you want to do that first? Yeah. You go first? Sure. with that. Okay, I'll pull it up. You can start. What I did is I pulled out some slides from what I thought were the two most interesting presentations that I attended and kind of the two that I thought would be most maybe interesting for us to talk about. So, the first one was called boards, superintendent, and the power of transformational leadership and it was from these folks um from Oregon and they talked a lot about um all school. So, we have um our charting the course here in Massachusetts, but every school
092board member is required to Oh, I slipped on the school board. Look at me. I know. We did. Every school committee member is required to take the eight hour, you know, training course. Um but in Oregon, they have something similar, but it it's a little different in that I think it focuses more on board effectiveness, whereas ours is really like nuts and bolts. Yeah. You know, um like the really the how-tos around the budget and things like that. So, I just pulled up a couple of slides that I thought were kind of interesting. So, this one that they shared about effective and ineffective boards, and they talked a lot about each of these bullet points, which I will not do, but um I don't think this is anything unusual or new for us. I don't
093think I don't think we're we have anything to worry about. I don't think we're falling into the ineffective uh category, but I still thought it was kind of it was kind of interesting. Um, and then after this they went into um all of these different standards for um board performance that I thought were were really interesting and were kind of a deeper dive than some of the um initial descriptors. Um and so it talks about you know vision directed planning. So that would be like the goal setting that we've been doing. You know community engagement I think that's something we do a lot um effective leadership accountability. Um, if you go to the next slide, using data for continuous improvement. These, I think, again, are nothing that's like super new to us, but I did
094think it was neat to see it laid out like this because I don't think that we really here in Massachusetts get exposed to this type of um, academic research. Um, and then the next slide continues with, um, I liked that innovation and creativity was on there, um, because I think that is part of part of this job sometimes. Um but what I thought was really interesting slide seven is um their theory of action which was that board behaviors and characteristics can affect the superintendent's capacity for transformational leadership which therefore affects this idea of collective teacher efficacy um which is the kind of sense that teachers have about the degree to which they um can control um students achievement and so a group of teachers that has high collective teacher efficacy believe that they are making
095a difference that they can make a difference. They have the tools that at their disposal to make a difference. Um and when that is high it has really strong effects on student achievement which is on the next slide. Um it's in research it's really hard to find factors that affect student achievement for a number of reasons. Um but this is one that has a really large effect size. Um, and so it's one that really matters. And, um, I thought it was neat that this presentation kind of does draw the line between boards to superintendence to student achievement through this metric. Um, so I did buy the book that they shared. Um, and I have not made it very far. Um, but I I am really interested in this and I'll pass this down if anyone
096wants to look at it. The parts that I marked off are kind of um this one chart that shows, you know, kind of how knowledge, skills, and beliefs of board members therefore influence the policies, priorities, decisions, and actions that we take, which therefore influences the culture and the conditions within the district, the conditions for learning, um which therefore influences the classroom instruction, students engagement, and therefore student learning outcomes. and it gets really more specific into kind of um other ways that boards kind of influence that. So I think it I don't know to me that concept is not super revolutionary but it's also we feel very far from students sometimes and so it was just kind of a neat idea to think about what are some ways that we might tweak the way that we
097work to make sure that we're always keeping that idea in mind that our beliefs and attitudes are you know behind those policies behind the decisions we make the budget all that stuff that do set those conditions systemwide that can be sometimes hard to an individual school can't accomplish that same sort of systems level change that we can sort of accomplish and so certainly our work is not more important than what's going on in any classrooms or schools but it can be a nice complement to and something that I think we should be so that was that Nicole didn't attend that session I was text we divided and conquered mostly because there was so much to take in and I think I'm saying to Rio like even that day she's like how was yours? I was
098like oh apparently not I do say that about all of them though. No no I did not say that one was really good. It was really good and I do the full slides and I thought the transformational leadership part was really interesting and I do think that's something that Bill pursues you know his own PD and things like that but I think it's something for us to also keep in mind on how we're supporting in pursuit of that. Yeah. So anyway thought that was interesting. Yeah. Um, and then the next set of slides that I pulled, I think this is more basic and more along the lines with what we learn in charting the course. But um I thought it was interesting that they linked this to the idea of community trust and how when
099the community sees us doing our job, which is in the first column, and the superintendent doing their job and second column and the way that those two kind of meet in the middle, um that it really does, you know, build trust. And I think this is not new to any of us, but I thought the next slide then gives further examples of, you know, what we do versus what the superintendent does as the manager of the district. And I do think some of this um I don't know, it's sort of interesting to reflect on sometimes and just make sure that we're, you know, in our lane doing the things that we're supposed to be doing and doing them well. making sure that Superintendent Burkehead has, you know, the freedom to do his things, but also
100that the community understands the difference between our roles um and that, you know, the two work are working together to create that that public trust. I think this was a good slide that just Yeah, I just think it's a good and I like, you know, you can sort of I think the decides what versus the decides how, you know, is a good kind of thing to think about. we're requesting information, he's providing it. You know, we're thinking about here are the issues, but he and his team are thinking about what are the recommendations for that, you know. Um, and then lastly, this one was really about how we are seen as the in the community and that, you know, when we are seen as a citizen, we can act as a as as a citizen.
101We're speaking for ourselves. That's our time. We can commiserate. We can respond with opinion. We can respond off the cuff and immediately. And that's like one hat that we might wear, but then we also wear this other hat where we're speaking as a board, you know, and we're not um responding quickly. We're responding via policy. We're directing, you know, through a chain of command. We do our due diligence, and it's just a really different way of being. Um, and so I think again it was just sort of part of the conversation broadly about building trust in the community is recognizing that we all have these two roles and that you know there are times when we are wearing one hat or the other hat or both. So y thought those were kind of some interesting
102takeaways from my sessions. Yes, agreed. Um, I think that was your last slide. Yeah. Um the other piece I think one of our takeaways was just the importance of advocacy. We were able to do some quality networking with our Massachusetts peers. We were which as my third time attending this conference this was like really good to do I think like because I hadn't connected that way before. Uh but we met met so we're really really lucky in Massachusetts that the incoming NSBA president is from Massachusetts now. So, um, he is great and honestly like was really praised for just what a great job he's done and has elevated into that very high leadership role and um, you know, the Massachusetts uh, delegates from all the towns that were present were uh, it was interesting to
103hear their strengths of their their their towns and cities and um, what they're working on and and goals and the challenges to that other of our um colleagues are facing in Massachusetts. But then even, you know, more broadly, we have little, that's my favorite part of the conference is almost like the side conversation that can happen when you're like, you know, outside of a session just to hear um, you know, what's happening in New York and what they're going through and the different types of boards and the sizes and um, you know, it's it's such so diverse, but also we there were such really strong common threads, I think, just among every single state that came through pretty loud and clear, I think. Um, so good connections and doing more advocacy as a board even
104on a state level was something that both of us took away as something we should talk more about and maybe think about what that could look like for us. I think we're lucky in situate that we are well resourced. So maybe we have, you know, some some opportunity that some of the districts that might be um struggling more don't necessarily have. So um just something for us to think about down the line. Um, and I will end with our presentation was a slam dunk. We nailed it. I thought it went really well. It was fun. It was. Yeah, it was fun. We had really well attended session. Great questions, good feedback. Yeah. Good. To your to Nicole's point about the advocacy. Um, so the there are two national um teachers unions. One of them is
105the NEA and that one was a heavy co-sponsor of the event, I would say. Oh yeah. So, so that's why I'm sharing this that they were very present at the event, but they did share um they they published a lot of like very short little policy briefs and things like that that are actually pretty good. I've been reading some of them. I mean, I clearly have a point of view there, a teacher union. Yeah. But I do think when it comes to finding kind of like topics that are, you know, current, they have a large staff devoted to, you know, researching current issues and kind of putting stuff out there. And so a lot of their stuff is very is very good and current as well. Special education piece is really strong stuff is very
106strong. They've got stuff on AI that was good just you know that they're just um really devoted to that. So I thought that was just kind of something about advocacy work if you're trying to learn about issues. I do get that they're easy to connect with too like you could email them pretty easily and get I think so. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. Great. Thank you. Thank you for letting us share. Um the second piece to that sort of connects back to an update uh sort of related to our own school committee goals and what that's looking like. we kind of had talked about during our goal setting uh time in the fall that we would like to have a review and we're sort of trying to also be in the same um sort of mindset and
107have that culture on our board that we're advocating for and supporting in the district with reviewing things and making changes and acknowledging strengths, weaknesses and challenges and things we thought might go one way that turned out another and that's okay. Well, how do we pivot? What do we need? You know, do we need more? Do we want to change? Do we stay the course? All of that. So, um, sort of just opening up a discussion here for our goals. I know, um, Marie and Carrie have worked hard on the data, uh, subcommittee piece. So, um, don't know if one of you wants to open up conversation on that and sort of give us a status update. Yeah. So, I can start with just reminding us of of a goal that we set. So, we said
108that this year we would work to increase our K12 data literacy around student achievement growth and strengthen our ability to ask useful questions and produce conclusions that will support the district in its pursuit of improved student achievement. And we said that our benchmarks would be to initiate a data subcommittee by January that would further articulate and define its charge by March. And then we said by June the data subcommittee would provide a minimum of two brief trainings or resources to the larger group to support improved K12 data literacy. That's what we said we would do. And then in the packet was a little one-page update that came right from the meetings that Carrie and I have had. So do you want to talk first about the kind of our charge at the beginning? I don't
109have it in front of me. If you want to I can do that part. You can do the second part. So at our first meeting we did talk about our charge. Um, and so we talked about this idea of increasing our our K12 data literacy. And so we kind of tried to break down what we thought that would mean. And so we said, you know, thinking about I think I guess what we're trying to do is the district has tons of data. Um, they're always bringing us data. And a lot of it um is a little bit is predictable in a good way. Like we know there's always going to be MCCAST, there's always going to be AP. you know, know that we're right now we're using stars. We can always anticipate there's going to
110be star benchmarking or dibbles or things like that. And so instead of us every time we get data being like, whoa, you know, being able to anticipate it and say, okay, with this kind of data, we already know these are the types of trends and patterns we're going to be looking for. So that that doesn't so that means that we don't have as much sort of pre-work to be doing but they also have less pre-work to be doing because they they know what it is that we're looking for and in general we're looking for the same thing that they're looking for. We all want to see those trends and patterns you know going in the right direction. Um so we talked about that that concept um basic concepts about data and measurement. So different types
111of data and what it does or does not give us. Um understanding those most common tools that we have like I named Cassie P Dibbles etc. Um looking beyond academic assessments so we do talk sometimes about attendance um community survey data um sometimes we have that from bill um pair our holistic more student um attitudes and type data. Um, we talked about subgroups and needing to keep be mindful of what those are and how they might show up or not in different data. Um, and then lastly being more clear about what we're looking for in presentations. And so we said developing a template that outlines what we would like to see and hear when we're getting presentations given to us. Um, and being more thoughtful about the timing of presentations because a couple of times
112we've had presentations and it's like, oh well, if I was coming in two weeks, I'd have the data. And so next year we can think back to that and try to time those better. Um that that will be better all around for us. Yeah. That was kind of how we developed our charge and that's the first thing we said we were going to go. But I'd love to hear if anyone has thoughts or if you want to say more. No, I was just saying I think um to align with the sort of intention around resources. I think one opportunity for us to start thinking about is what Maria just said, which is we could build almost a cheat sheet, right? So that maybe um you know it ends up in our packet the week that
113we're having dibles just as a reminder and we make it available so that as a secession plan if you know one of us leaves and the next person on can have that, you know. So I think that would be an example of a simple resource that we could create that might be helpful um just as a refresher and reminder. Um yeah, I mean that was the only other thing I think it I mean I just think data literacy across the board, right? We're always talking about having common language and common understanding. So um but it's a work in progress. So like as you sort of digest it and you leadership as well, right? As you would digest if there are other ideas, we're open to those. Um, I think the other piece of this is
114Marie and I put together um, you know, a proposed potential template um, with a variety of pieces in it. But, you know, Bill and Ryan, we would look to you to, you know, Marie and I were very uh, committed to it's a collaborative process, right? We're not telling you that this has to be in this. These are sort of ideas and just like I know you've worked with staff on presentations maybe you could look at this and think about what makes sense and we certainly don't want to create burden for our staff you know we want this to feel helpful um and so to the extent it is these are the kinds of things that we feel like might be important these are the kinds of things that we always ask about and so how
115can we help our staff you know feel like they're we never want them to feel like it's a it's a gotcha the moment, right? We never want that for staff. So, what can we do to support um you know, because the reality is like those presentations end up in our packets and we don't always I mean, I'm definitely one of them don't always have a chance far enough in advance to read it to get feedback for them to course correct or or or add that information. So, to the extent we can address some of these, it might help everybody. Um so, definitely. Yeah, it's not very different from I was actually thinking of that when Jackie was presenting like she is really similar. I think one of the things that we asking for that is
116new though is this idea of some like trend data because it is really hard to look at a snapshot and try to remember like where were we last year and what does this mean? Well, we always ask. Yes. And so instead of them then being like oh I don't remember and us being like whoa we don't can't interpret this without understanding where we've been. So I think like that idea of like getting into the habit of more trend data and asking them to think what patterns do you think are significant in your data. So because they've done this already they've had these conversations and so that will help us understand you know what it is that that that they're seeing you know I think that's something new but other than that it's kind of a
117similar it's similar I think we also adopted a few things um based on some of the great presentations we've seen this year I won't call anybody out but the the bullet around challenges and plans for addressing you know we're curious about what questions are you addressing as a team you may not have answers right now, but like we'd love to hear sort of what what are you're curious about, what's you know, what stories you're telling yourself about the data and you're trying to get confirmation or you know disconfirming evidence of that. So we I guess we want you know sort of Maria put up there the trust factor you know how important that is. I think to the extent that the staff feel efficacious in coming here to say like we have this question we
118don't have the answer that also builds trust right it's transparency and trust so I think just inviting teachers to bring some of their questions and wonderings is a great thing I think some of them are already doing that but just to have that be more consistent um yeah I just we also really liked seeing some of the a lot of them have done this this year the opening with a mission for their department is really nice to see. It kind of helps us get an understanding of like that it is a cohesive team and that they have the sort of identity around the type of learning that they're trying to provide for kids. I feel like that's been really really nice to see this. Super grounding. It is. Yeah, that's been sort of nice and
119new. Yeah. That we wanted to see continue. Yeah. But all that said, I think if you guys have thoughts on what type So Carrie and I owe you two resources before June, June is coming. So we could have a cheat sheet. That would be I think a teach it can be a living document too. Yeah, that's what I was if there's anything else in particular that you are looking for that you would like us to kind of look into. I mean, I'm just thinking, well, first of all, I was hesitant about this goal, but now as it's evolved and you're explaining this, I I I like it. I like it. I I agree with it. Um, and I'm not sure if some of these presentations that we've seen include it, but a lot of it's
120just grade level. So, this is third grade, fourth grade, this is fifth grade. I'd like to somehow track the class. Yeah. Track the cohort. Yeah. Right. Because I think it tells more of a story if they're looking for it. I think both I mean I think it tells a good story potentially, but I'm not sure we generally see that. I think we just see great specific data. Yeah. Um that's how we can uh determine progress as well. Well, I think too I mean it's timely that we were having the discussion about the curriculum cycle because that's going to have to be part of the story at some point if you're going to do a really good review of curriculum. You're going to have to follow and see where they're headed. So at some point I
121wonder if the other resource um that the woman that we watched her video I feel like everybody should watch that that reason but she only sent the slides. Yeah it's not recorded. It was so good. It was Yeah. I can look into that though. So good. She's published some stuff. I'll see if there's anything that she dealt with some topics that are, you know, controversial right now and talked about them in a way that makes them accessible and inviting to everybody in terms of equity talk discussions. Well, it just like thinking about equity from like equity as an academic as an academic concept and and data and access to curriculum. So, it really felt like it was a place where even people who disagree at a high level about this could find common ground or
122at least a way to talk about this in a different from a different level. I just thought she was really good. So, if we could find one of her talks or something. Yeah. All right. Well, you guys have some stuff to look forward to. I love it. Y. All right. Great. So, I mean, I think our goal discussion is ongoing. Um, that was a good update for today's the data. Maybe we'll keep Yeah. Um, I think it's more like a misprint. So, they're actually there really is it was really gold. It's correct on the yellow. It's correct on the yellow but not on the Yeah, exactly. And the yellow is what went out to, you know, update. Right. So, yeah, because there's no actual policy sub it's it's our school committee. Well, it's our data.
123It's our data subity. We're creating as we go. Exactly. Flying and building the plane at the same time. That's right. Good job. Yeah, I'm trying. All right. Uh, we already moved Tom's. Yep. So, we're just approval of some minutes here from April 7th. Janice, you add this question. You got it. You done a good job with All right. I make a a motion that the school committee vote to approve the April 7th, 2025 minutes as presented. Second. All in favor? All right. So, Lawrence for tonight. Um, no correspondences. Any other business? Um, I don't know if this counts, but of course, I don't know where where to put it, but um, it is teacher appreciation week, and I just wanted to give a shout out to the sailor shoutouts that went out today in email
124across the district asking for families and students to type in on a Google form, some kind words about an educator. And I just think that's a great idea. And I wanted to just if possible if anyone's listening call attention to it because um yeah it's teacher appreciation week and obviously so much of what we do um is about teachers and um we love them and we want them to feel all that love to the to in whatever ways that we can and I I know each school is doing some cool stuff for the teachers. It's been really fun to see and take part in. Um but just pass and on that note I will add um annual town election May 29th. Um please go vote and I re-election. That's late. It's because of the 26.
125Yeah, I feel like it's always like earlier. Yeah, it's usually usually it's usually very very interest other important and things on that on the U ballot including the B techch vote for that yes funding. So I think that is all attendant and I don't know whose turn it is to do the town updates next week but whoever it is maybe could mention that a little because I think people might not realize we voted it passed in situate with flying colors to approve the new vote tech school building project but part two is to approve the debt exclusion and if we do not approve the debt exclusion then we have to find money out of our town budget to pay we still owe the money. And so the debt exclusion spreads it out across every family
126in town whereas otherwise it comes out of our budget directly and that's a huge it would be a big deal if it doesn't regular exclus right yeah we're paying for it one way or the other um we've already approved that part so who's next week I was today so we'll have to look up the list that was You can talk about it. You're on and not a problem. But the election is May 31st. Oh, sorry. I had us May 30th. Small thought that wasn't right cuz was Monday. I was like that's not something else is happening on the 29th. What? Oh yeah. Oh, thank you for the correction. You can absent. All right. Okay. All right. Uh, if nothing else, I'll take a motion to adjurnn. Motion to adjurnn at 7:47. Second. All in favor?
127Right.