001Recording in progress. >> Good evening everyone and welcome to the school committee meeting tonight, Thursday, March 5th. I first off just wanted to apologize for the late start. Uh we did have some technical issues in executive session um but unfortunately fortunately we were able to resolve them and get started. So I will ask the um we'll start first. Yes. >> So, we'll start with the pledge of allegiance. If you are able to, please stand. >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> And now we have, I believe, CJ Franklin from Dar Memorial High School performing the national anthem. Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light, what so
002proudly we held at the twilight last gleaming, whose brush stripes and bright stars through the peril as fight. Or the R parts we watched were so gallently streaming and the rockets red glare. The bombs bursting in air gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. Oh, say [singing] does that star spangle better yet wave [singing] or the land of the free and the home of the brave. [applause] Thank you so much. Wonderful job. Okay, if the clerk could please call the role. >> Member Alvarez >> here. Member Bianceria >> here. >> Member Venenda >> here. >> Member Guadiola >> here. >> Member Johnson >> here. >> Member Mailman >> here. >> Vice Chair McCulla >> here. >> Member Roy >> here. >> And Mayor Penny. >> The first item on the agenda
003is the consent agenda. So if the clerk um all those in favor of approving the consent agenda, >> there's donations. >> Oh, I apologize. There are donations. So we will take a roll call on that. So, if the clerk could call the role on the consent agenda. >> Member Alvarez. Member Bianceria. >> Yes. >> Member Benenda. >> Yes. >> Member Guadiola. >> Yes. >> Member Johnson. >> Yes. >> Member mailman. >> Yes. >> Vice Chair McCulla. >> Yes. >> Member Roy. >> Yes. >> Mayor Petty. >> The next item on the agenda is public comment. So, anyone in the audience wishing to speak, they have two minutes to do so. And we just ask that you say your city. Um, yes, your name and your city. And I don't believe we have anyone here in
004person tonight, but we do have Dena Tedeski online. All right. So, Dena, can you hear us? Yes. Hi. Good evening. My name is Dina Tedeski. I'm a Worester resident and the parent of a Wester public school graduate and current eighth grader. My comments tonight are on ROS6-5. Thank you to the superintendent and the presentation team for this great work. I urge the school committee to ensure funding for this work as it's critical for our school's leaders to truly be committed to our learners and their families. Our community supports our educators and staff and we hope that future funding will too. I just want to make one comment regarding GB6-9 from last week. Seems that many took this very personally. And as a parent who works multiple jobs, as a family and community activist, the request
005wasn't about you. It was about us. The caregivers who work hard to understand our schools, our policies, our decisions, and our decision makers. So, please know that those paying attention and sharing with others in our school community heard you. We have respect for the endeavors of the school committee and understand the importance of executive sessions. And knowing important and detailed executive session items likely take more time as us than usual, it's helpful for us as caregivers and community members when open session meeting times are adjusted accordingly. and tonight seems like a perfect example of why this request was made. My last comment is regarding GB5-10 and GB5-117. I commend the district for their commitment to improving outcomes for our Hispanic students, students with disabilities and English learners and at the same time recognize that MCCAST
006is one or two tests over the course of a student's school year. And the concluding paragraphs in that document are a commitment are appreciated. Thank you. Seeing as there are no other people with their hand raised online, that concludes the public comment section of tonight's meeting. And we will move on to the report of the superintendent, which is vision to action, vision of a leader, vision of a leader >> through the through the chairs, the teams coming up. Um, as uh we've been doing this year, we've um we're linking many of our presentations to both our strategic plan work and our uh focus areas for this year. Vision of a leader is uh directly tied to our focus area this year. Um and this is really expanding our vision of a learner um work to
007all of our leaders uh in within the district. I'll ask uh our panelists once again this week to introduce themselves um and then to begin the presentation. through the chair. My name is Sarah Curiosis and I am the director of innovation and I'm joined by Laura Cahill, director of human resources. Thank you. Welcome and thank you for joining us today. We are excited to share how Worcester public schools is strengthening leadership through the vision of a leader framework, a clear guide that helps our school and district leaders support student success. We are happy to showcase the collaborative work between the teaching and learning and human resources divisions to bring the framework to life. Next slide, please. Tonight, our goal is to share with you how and why we created the vision of a leader and
008how it fits into our overarching mission and vision. We will also review the next steps for deeper integration so that it becomes a part of the fabric of the Wester public schools. Next slide, please. As Superintendent Allen said, the vision of a leader supports our district's strategic plan, specifically AIM three, which focuses on making sure every school has the resources, leadership, and learning opportunities students need to succeed in a changing world. Next slide, please. Specifically, this work directly supports equity priority five, which is about building strong systems and leadership so our schools can implement the vision of a learner. There are five um KPIs under the priority that all schools will implement vision of the learner. The vision of a leader framework directly supports the leadership of all of these things to happen. Next slide,
009please. The vision of a leader framework was created to align the vision of a learner. It focuses on how leaders support people, guide change, and create the conditions where great teaching and learning can happen consistently across the district. However, this isn't only about vision of a learner. The skills and dispositions for leaders are grounded in both experiences that our current leaders value as well as evidence-based transformational leadership, change management, and organizational culture practices. Combining both academic research with practitioner, current practitioner input and experience creates a relevant framework that can be applied to foster innovation throughout the entire system. Next slide, please. The vision of a learner was developed with educators, leaders, and community voices and approved by the school committee with the strategic plan in December of 2023. Building on that work, the vision of
010a leader was developed with principles and district leaders and launched this school year 2526 as an awareness year. Next year, we will engage educators to develop the vision of an educator to launch in the 2728 school year. This timeline shows how the three visions build on each other over time. Next slide, please. This graphic demonstrates the key steps we took to develop the vision of a leader. From early workshops with teaching and learning leaders to researching, drafting, refining, and gathering feedback, all leading to the final guide book for principles in May 2025. The development took one school year to complete. Next slide. In Worcester, we believe strong schools happen when learners, educators, and leaders are aligned. Our vision to action for a future ready public schools is a three-pronged approach. The vision of a learner
011describes what students should know and be able to do. The vision of an educator will describe how teaching brings that vision to life every day. And the vision of a leader supports both by guiding how adults lead, support teams, and make decisions across the system. To deliver on the promise that every child deserves the opportunity to thrive in Worcester public schools, we believe that we also need to create the conditions and opportunities for the adults who lead and support the system to be successful and future ready. Next slide, please. So, you've seen variations of this slide over the past several years as we've introduced vision of a learner. These are the seven key implementation strategies for the vision of a learner and just going to review them and show how the vision of a leader
012fits in. The first is culture of innovation which is preparing leaders, systems and culture. The second is communications and outreach transparent two-way communication about the vision, learning journey and progress. The third is curriculum and pathway alignment aligning the instructional framework curriculum assessments and the learning journey and the student experience. Vision of a learner in action is preparing educators with the skills to bring the work to life in the classroom. the Spark coaches and teachers, innovation coaches work closely to prepare school-based instructional coaches to support the work and early adopters to implement vision of a learner and lessons in units. Uh last year we saw the purple people and they are definitely in fact multiplying. The spark school which is a school that is a year ahead of the district trying new things and has integrated
013vision of a learner into the systems and structures throughout the whole district. And then finally, the learning d journey in digital portfolios. Every student will graduate with a showcase of their progress towards the vision of a learner skills and dispositions. The vision of a leader supports all of this work, but directly aligns with the culture of innovation and the learning journey in digital portfolios. You will hear about the work we are doing with 15 schools to begin this implementation. By building a culture of innovation, we have leaders that can lead all of these strategies and leaders that will have the ability to speak to drive change in their school and continuously create a culture where learning thrives. This framework consists of the highest lever skills and dispositions for transformational leadership for innovation to happen. We've
014defined leadership not as a title but as a set of dispositions you see here. Oh, I'm sorry, Casey. Next slide. For example, an empowered leader creates trust, supports others to grow, and builds strong systems. We believe this kind of leadership is the foundation for collaboration, stronger schools, and lasting improvement. In the left column, we list the skills and dispositions, and the right hand column indicates the importance of each. While this framework obviously relates to the work being done in formal leadership positions, it also applies to all of the informal leadership opportunities that many of our staff and students take advantage of on a daily basis. Our belief is that anyone can lead others if they are given the space, tools, and support to grow in a leadership capacity. Nurturing this culture is critical because we
015are more likely to retain employees who feel heard, respected, and valued, and to build a pipeline of students who want to return to the district as employees who will eventually shape a future we haven't even imagined yet. Next slide, please. In our first year of vision of a leader, we have committed to three significant action steps. The first one is establishing a shared language by introducing the vision of a leader framework to 300 district leaders. This year we rolled out the framework in groups and leaders analyzed and discussed how these specific dispositions impact their unique schools and departments. This interactive activity made the skills and dispositions meaningful and relevant which is an important factor in adult learning theory. The second is actively aligning hiring practices to the vision of a leader. This winter we piloted
016a redesigned hiring process for the supervis supervisor of HR vacancy to specifically screen for these leadership dispositions. Based on what we learned, we will use this innovative process for future leadership hires. We will also be putting the vision of a leader overarching statements into job descriptions. We want candidates who share the same values to join our district. When a prospective employee sees that WPS leaders are expected to actively build relationships, honor the history and resilience of the communities they serve, and strengthen the capacity of all members to contribute to their schools and neighborhoods. that sends a clear message to someone who is not only looking for a job but a missiondriven position. The third action step is investing in leadership development through the Spark Leadership Cohort to support the schools that are leading leading the
017way for the learning journey portfolio. The Spark Leadership Cohort is a group of 15 principles who are using human- centered design thinking processes to address specific challenges in their schools with a small team of educators. Through this work, they will create the system for implementing digital portfolios in a way that meets their students needs. This has been a fun, iterative, and very deliberate process that aims to yield sustain sustainable success. We've modeled for principles how to guide their teams through empathy interviews and data collection in a way that puts the educators in the driver's seat. Vision of a leader skills and dispositions are the foundation of Spark leadership. Next slide, please. To give you a clearer picture of how this looks in our schools, we want to share a brief video featuring members of our
018Spark leadership cohort. >> [music] >> In Wester public schools, we've made a promise to our community that every student will graduate with skills and dispositions [music] of our vision of a learner ready for the world they are living in and shaping [music] every day. The learning journey is how we make that practice [music] real. >> This is more than a digital portfolio. It's a living record of student growth, capturing progress, reflection, and mastery of the vision of a learner indicators. [music] I've definitely learned a lot. The most interesting thing is working with the secondary principles. So, by being able to hear about their experience [music] as it relates to portfolios and artifacts and just their work with vision of a learner and compare it to the work that we do at the elementary level, [music]
019it definitely makes everything more relevant. um this the [music] spark work is an opportunity to bring multiple departments in, multiple perspectives in to kind of guide what we're doing. So >> it's it's drawing attention to the important work that we have that's beyond just curriculum, right? So we teach reading, writing, and arithmetic traditionally, but vision of a learner speaks to more of what we're trying to do when it comes to developing the student and it's driving that work. And by being involved in it, we are being more intentional with thinking about all of those important pieces. [music] The Spark Leadership Academy uses design thinking as its backbone. Leaders empathize with students, teachers, [music] and families, define challenges, test new strategies for portfolios, and innovative [music] instruction, and refine them based on real results. By the
020end of the year, principles will build relationships, [music] have tested district- aligned strategies that expand the learning journey in their schools. [music] We we've done a very good job in my opinion of um making the vision of learner public [music] facing. Um we needed to make more growth in providing our administrators, faculty and staff members with opportunities [music] to take what's off the page in vision of learning and make it really real. It [music] definitely makes everything more relevant because I can now see and share with my staff how our work helps their [music] work and gives us perspective on what our students are doing when they move on past elementary school. >> There's a lot [music] of choice that the kids have when they get to the high school. So any opportunity for the
021kids [music] at the elementary level to know why they're working as hard as they are and why they're doing those things that the principles and [music] schools want them to do. It's to set them up to have more opportunity in middle and high. >> By the end of the year, principles will build relationships, [music] tested district aligned strategies, and begin the learning journey in their schools. >> Together, they model what leadership in Worcester looks like. [music] leading with empathy, empowering others, and sparking lasting change. >> Very thank you. [applause and cheering] Next slide, Casey, please. As this work scales across the district, we are focused on making these values a natural part of how we operate. Our next steps include one, strengthening the employee experience. Every member of our staff deserves a leader who provides
022honest feedback and clear pathways for growth. We are committed to expanding professional development to create practice space for current and future leaders to sharpen their skills and two completing the Worcester vision to ensure total alignment across our schools. We are launching a collaborative effort effort between teachers and administrators to develop the vision of an educator. This will bridge the work between our vision of a learner and our vision of a leader creating a unified standard for everyone in our schools. Next slide, please. So, as Laura mentioned, the final piece of this work is the vision of an educator. Next year, we will work with educators to define what this looks like in practice, ensuring strong alignment between students, educators, and leaders. We will follow a similar design process that we did with the vision of
023a leader, ensuring that we have an educator voice throughout the development of the entire process. If you look at the slide, we are going to start in the fall of 2026 with a launch the following um the following fall. Next slide. Thank you so much for listening to the work we've been doing to turn vision into action and continuously work to improve the student experience and create a future ready organization. We welcome any questions you might have. Thank you. >> Thank you so much and I appreciate all the work that the district is doing on this. It's such important work and seeing the collaboration across the grade levels is always so wonderful to see and really beneficial for our students. Member Biancia, >> thank you very much for the report. It's very um informative on
024what we're looking at and how we're moving forward. Uh just a couple of questions. Um I'm impressed with how you're looking at the implementation. Um and my question was um what is in place to ensure success because there is mobility with every student. Um so how are we ensuring that whatever information we have in this portfolio is moving with that student even if they are exiting Worcester public schools >> through the chair. Thanks for that question. We actually are in the process right now of reviewing um proposals for an RFP we put out for the for the tool. And part of um what we're looking at is to make sure that the portfolio can follow the student whether they're moving within the district or that they have access when they leave the district or graduate.
025So that's one of the components we're looking at. Um whether it is online access so they can log in or that they can export it and it can go with them. Will parents or or siblings um members of their um family have access to this portfolio as they move from cave up in stages >> through the chair? Yes, that's the one of the goals is that um they can create artifacts that can be shown to their families. >> Okay. And then um how are we determining as a full system for what is actually going to be in that portfolio? >> Is it so if they're specifically with an art category? So would every student in that that same grade have the week project in their portfolio or is it pick and choose in a different
026manner >> through the chair. So this is the work we're doing with the principles in those 15 schools is they're leading a team of teachers through the process. So we have some draft guidelines from the district level but as you know um it's very easy to write guidelines. it's very hard to implement. Um, and so we're asking um small school teams to pilot different things right now and figure out what works and at what grade levels and then um give us feedback and we're going to work through that process. um in speaking with um districts, one of our coaches has spoke with a district that has implemented this for 200,000 students and they they do say that it takes some time to to work it out and so um we are working with schools on
027what the best way would be and then put that into district guidance. So the district guidance will um continuously evolve for I think for a few years until we really figure out what what is uh what schools can do. So, one school um might say that all of their sixth graders are going to work on this community service project and then they're going to all reflect on things. Another school might say that it's up to the individual teacher. So, we're really looking for schools to tell us what works. >> Um but the end goal is the same that students are reflecting on the skills and dispositions um that are outlined in vision of a learner. >> Okay. Thank you. Any other questions or comments? All right. Thank you so much for the presentation. The next
028item that we have is the report of standing committees and the item is the finance committee that met on February 25th. Member Biancia >> as it reads, please. >> Thank you. >> Okay. So, we'll do a roll call on that to approve the standing committee on finance from February 25th. Member Alvarez, >> yes. >> Member Vanceria, >> yes. >> Member Benendo, >> yes. >> Member Guardiola, >> yes. >> Member Johnson, >> yes. >> Member Mailman, >> yes. >> Vice Chair McCulla, >> yes. >> Member Roy, >> yes. >> Mayor Penny, >> the next item is the approval of grants and other finance items to consider approval of a grant from the Toshiba American Foundation and the amount of $3,000 to support school gardening project at Challenge and Reach. Madame Clerk, if you could call the
029role, please. >> Member. Oh, I'm so sorry. Member Biancia, >> thank you. I just want to take a moment of everyone's time to say this is an excellent idea and I am thrilled to see that it's through the challenge and reach. I think expanding different ideas um under that umbrella of challenge and reach certainly gives them much more of a purpose to come to school every day and hopefully it um brings them to some po portion of what the city has to offer because we do have the garden area up at Greenh Hill Park and that's available to people also. So, it would be nice to see that the kids get involved in that in addition to what they're going to be working on here. So, wanted to make that comment. Thank you. >> Thank
030you, Madam Clerk. >> Member Alvarez, >> yes. >> Member Bianio, >> yes. >> Member Bernando, >> yes. >> Member Guardiola, >> yes. >> Member Johnson, >> yes. >> Member mailman, >> yes. >> Vice Chair Mcculla, >> yes. >> Member Roy, >> yes. Mayor Penny. >> The next item is general business and the following two items will be taken together. GB5-110 and GB5-117. Um request that the administration provide the school committee with a detailed report on the district's plan to address student achievement in light of the newly released MCCAST results and request administration provide a report on school accountability within report. Please report on four-year cohort graduation rate, extended engagement rate, chronic absenteeism, and advanced coursework completion, and report on the plan to address the concerns regarding the accountability report. Member Guardiola, >> thank you. And
031uh I just want to start off by saying I appreciate the uh much more thorough report that we got back. I think it's important for all of us to understand um some of the plans and uh the goals of the administration maybe not just in a box with some numbers in it because I don't think that really gives us the opportunity to understand exactly what the alignment is and going forward what the ideas uh for success would be. So uh you know I'm going to speak to the one half of the of I know they take them together but you know the idea behind the MCCAST you know request was you know although MCCAST is not any longer a requirement for graduation uh I still believe in the assessments and and of the MCCAST and
032they still play a role um in our education system. Now standardized assessments provide us with important benchmarks. It gives us opportunities to understand where we are succeeding where we are failing. Uh I understand you know from the report that of course you know the first year that this test is given in spring of 2025 numbers went down across the board. So it's not that it's unique to Worester public schools but across uh the the Commonwealth. That being said again I truly think that you know having these sorts of um you know tests that give us ideas of where we stand is important. um I don't think that uh giving them any less value and I I appreciate the report encouraging explicitly that these are really going to be tests that they should be getting that
033students should be preparing for and get an understanding that they're not just for graduation. I mean but but also for the idea so we could see where we should be focusing on. So again, I I appreciate the the the the updated report with all the the uh the timelines and and and really obviously to to member Johnson's item. I think they they go handinand glove which shows us, you know, where we are and especially with the EL students and where we are with disabil uh students with disabilities. I think obviously it gives us the idea of where we should be working and how we can work collaboratively. Thank you. >> Thank you, member Johnson. Thank you. Um, [clears throat] in all seriousness, um, this is actually a great report. I really really appreciate this, um,
034report back. Um, and I'm glad that they were put together because I I think by adding them both together, given the MCCAST stuff and the stuff that I was um looking for actually really captures the whole thing. Um, I I am I'm actually very impressed with um this report back. Um so just I I guess I have one question which might lead to two but in regards to this so so I know like in a accountability report you know when we talk about different um subgroups uh and and things like that I know in this we we highlighted our you know English learners and and um is that to say you And we talked a lot about the tier one instruction and things like that. Is that to say that if we are targeting and
035and really taking a look at that that that subgroup or those groups that that could potentially lead for improved accountability within our schools overall? Am I is that why? >> Superintendent Allen >> to the chair. Yes. Um we believe that the focus for all students should be that tier one instruction and then as needed the tier 2 and tier three supports for those students who also may need those supports. But we feel that um excellent tier one instruction will lead us towards improved student performance. >> And my actually last question I have is in in regards to that and I guess maybe this will come through the chair to administration. Maybe this would come up during budget when you give the overview and kind of explain on some of the decisions we made when it
036comes to equity um based budgeting and and things like that that we're going to see in our budget in in the budget that we get. We're going to see what you're talking about here on where some that money went and improvements went within our school system. Correct. >> Superintendent through the chair. Yes. Um, and ideally there'd be more resources that we can allocate specifically for equity- based budgeting. And so this is the equity based budgeting process is more of a work in progress over multiple years. But yes, you'll see where we're targeting resources to directly support students at tier 1 and tier 2 and tier three instruction. >> I have no other question. Thanks for the report, >> member Bena. >> So I want to thank thank you for the report. Um, I One of
037the things I think when we do the budget process is uh to look at those indicators that the state have identified that get us the extra points that we need to get. So uh a state report just came out. Mari Haley just reported this week that Massachusetts for the first time ever have the most students in the United States taking the AP courses and getting scores of three and above. and uh Worcester, you know, we pushed the AP agenda for a long time, but we need to continue to keep pushing that, get more kids involved in it. The early college classes, again, get you uh points because those are advanced courses that are being offered to our students. Um the group that I think we need to focus on more and Mr. And I have
038talked about that is what do we do for the kids that are in the alternative school that need those extra resources? So they they they may not they might be able to take early college but they might not be interested in advanced placement. I think we you know we need to look at the alternative school what are we providing those students right uh when the vision of a graduate I feel like they they they're not getting the benefits of all that. So, I think that's a good idea to look at what we're doing for them. They need to have special teachers, right? They might need extra literacy. The state has launched a a new literacy program, but a lot of it is just focused on the elementary school. And what are we doing for the
039for the we have people in high school, adults in high school that are students that can't read. So, what are we doing for those students that are in alternative programs and some of them still can't read? some of them might have special needs like what are we doing specifically. So I think we need to look at um the alternative programs uh to see are we providing a credit recovery but plus are we could we still provide because it used to be very effective um a program where students don't stay in their homeschool but they can actually go to the cremer center and not just be a make up a course program where you actually go there and you can uh take electives and you can actually get your diploma. And then the other part of
040it is what are we doing vocationally for those kids? Like what types of programs are we offering them so they also might be when they get out can get a career. So, I think that would help us with our dropout rate. That would help us with with our uh four-year extension rate because those are the numbers of special ed kids and L kids, the older kids that come from other countries here and they can't get a diploma uh simply because they age out before they can get the credits. But what can we do for those kids? I think a really renewed focus on what we can do for special ed uh high school kids. Uh what can we what can we do for the L's that are coming to us or MLS from from other
041countries to support them so they can you know graduate possibly with a diploma but if not we help them to that next step. what's our vision of the learner for for those students and I think if we look at those things attendance um school is important to students they feel like they belong which I know we already do but that there is school is focused on the needs of those groups then you're going to have higher scores on your on your MCCAST and then finally the thing about the test I I was for the MCCAST to stay simply because of of the issues that we're having now students don't take it as a serious test. And so for high school principles uh and high school staff, it it it's a chore, right? The elementary kids,
042they're still taking it, but it's the high school students that said, "I don't need this to graduate anymore." So, how do you do that? Uh I don't when I was principal, uh we had to still take it. But things like everybody gets a special pancake breakfast the day that you give the the MCCAST and then they're excited. They know this is important. Look, we made breakfast for you. So that you take your test seriously, right? So, uh, rewards and and things like that that make them realize we're still being assessed and our district is being assessed and you have a very important part in making sure that our district rises and people recognize the work that you're doing and the staff does. So, I just think we really have to think about we do great
043on tier one. Um, but there are kids that are requiring more than we're providing right now and we really have an obligation to reook at that alternative program uh and how we're working with with our MLS and special ed. Thank you. >> Thank you. Um, member Alvarez. >> Yes. Um, you know, looking through this report, it brought a lot of concerns to me, especially in in the with the Hispanic population um and students with disabilities. I as I read through it, I had a hard time understanding um where we're pulling from. Like when it comes to English, English language learners, um I think it is important to recognize that when we see slower progress among Hispanic students, it may reflect several overlapping factors. Many Hispanic students are also English learners or former English learners. And
044the language demands of the MCCAST can make it more difficult for students who are still developing academic vocabulary and reading comprehension. There are also broader structural factors that can impact outcomes, including first generation family dynamics, economic barriers, and chronic absentism. In some cases, early literacy gaps that begin in elementary school can also grow over time if they're not addressed early. So, the data may not just reflect an achievement gap, but a combination of language development, access, and opportunity factors that district needs to address strategically. And I say this because between the years of 2009 and 2012 when I was a high school student, I remember doing really great in my English classes, but it wasn't until my junior year where I when I was placed in a high honors classroom. Um I remember writing a
045um back to school par paragraphs. I don't know. It was a question about like how did your summer go? Um this was when texting had boomed and I spent all summer um talking in slang with all you know all my friends. I came back and I kind of kept that from over the summer. And when I wrote this I remember receiving my paper back and like almost everything was read. It was so embarrassing to me. Um, but I don't remember any conversations had around, hey, let's take a let's take a look at what um, you wrote and the corrections that I made. Um, I never was offered any other help around like um, potentially like getting a tutor or if my writing continued to reflect grammatical errors um, or the structure of my writing wasn't
046meeting the expectation of an honor classroom. So my parents never got a notification that I was um struggling with my English when I was writing at the time. Um so it really made me feel like I failed. And I remember she kept me after class one day. This was less than a month of of the when I returned back to school. Less than a month, not even four weeks passed by. and she already made the decision, the teacher at the time, had made the decision that um I was a better fit in a regular um I forgot the name of it, a regular college classroom, I guess I think you call it. And I remember I was like, "All right, this is my teacher. I'm going to I'm going to trust her. Um if she
047thinks that this is too much for me and I'm not um able to sit here and and complete this class this year, then I should go." And I did. And when I went there, I'm telling you, every single time I took a test, every single time I completed an assignment, I was getting 100, 100, 100. And my teacher looked at me and kept me after the class and she was like, "Vanessa, what are you doing in here? Like, you're getting hundreds. Like, I don't understand." And I said, "Well, I was recommended to come back like in this classroom." And I remember her face turned red and she just left the classroom. Then she came back and she was like, "Okay." um and she started like giving me more like homework to challenge me on in
048different ways. So when I think of my experience as a a child of a of immigrant parents whose whole family like traveled here um it really makes me question like how much power teachers hold like when it comes to guiding their students. And I know every teacher is different and every teacher shapes and molds their classroom based on their values, right? Um but I'm just wondering like what what didn't she see in me that day? So when I look at these MCAs uh report back, I think of other people that also went in my experience. And if we have such a large gap and we're continuing to see our Hispanic student numbers rise, what are we actually doing? What are we what is our plan to better um this? It's obvious. It's obvious it's a
049problem, especially if um the numbers are proving it. So, I do have a question. Um I just want to find it super quick. I apologize. And my question is around Based on the data presented, what are the primary drivers behind the slower progress for Hispanic students in WPS? For example, is it more strongly correlated with English learner status, attendance patterns, early literacy gaps, or another factor? Is this something that can be answered right this second? If not, then that's something that we should be able to take a look at. Um, another question before I keep going is there >> I'll let you next question to the superintendent. Do you want to ask would you like to answer that first? So through the chair um I don't know that Worcester is an outlier in comparison to
050similar cities like Worcester with regards to student performance and we have particular attention and focus on our multilingual learners, special ed students and so forth. >> All schools do a school improvement plan. We call it a roadmap in terms of addressing uh gaps in student achievement. That's the point of our discussions uh through last budget year about uh collaborative teaming where teachers are getting together and talking about student work is really to address these gaps that we see. I think there is a significant uh correlation between um the English learner at what skill they are up EPL level one or two is going to have a direct impact on um their test scores. And so we really, if you remember, some of our focus areas for this year was around multilingual learners and moving beyond
051compliance, right? And so just >> instead of just a compliant number of minutes for ESL instruction, what can we do to better support our students acquire English language development and then do better on test scores? Not that we're chasing test scores, but just overall their overall success um within within school. Um, correlated to that is along U member Benender's comments, it's also addressing chronic absenteeism in our alternative school. All of those are our focus area for this year, which is going to be a multi-year effort. It's not all going to be accomplished this year, but a particular focus is on multilingual learners and our special education student performance. Thank you for for saying that um out loud to the public so we can get a refreshment of what the progress has looked like, what are
052what's our plan and how we're going to address this. Um and also the plan to emphasize strengthening tier one instruction. Uh what specific changes should we expect to see in the classrooms next year and how will we ensure that those practices are implemented consistently across all of our schools in our districts? because we do have certain districts that um have less I let me reword that there are just some districts that have kiddos that just need that extra support versus other districts in my opinion. >> Superintendent Allen >> member uh Alvarez, can you just restate the question? I think I'll ask Dr. more talk about specifically what we're doing in classrooms this year which is go also going to um translate to what we're doing in classrooms next year as well. >> Sure Dr. remorse
053through the chair. Sorry. So, you've heard us speak often about what we've been doing this year regarding the systems. We've created a system of high quality instructional materials. So, we start with that. So at every level we have high quality instructional materials that are um they account for the variety of different types of learners that we have in every classroom. We have robust curriculum maps and these maps are very well-designed and filled with resources and ideas and ways to approach the uh learning standard and provide ideas for educators to meet the needs of multilingual learners um students with disabilities, students with different learning styles and dispositions. And we also have worked very hard, you've heard about this before, with our walkthrough tool, our instructional framework. We define for the entire district what high quality instruction
054looks like, the pedigogy around that and we are really building and looking at um culturally responsive pedigogy, building it all within the common tier one core. We don't want an exhaustive list of what uh high quality instruction looks like with confusing educators. We want to give simple moves. We want to provide the right resources and we want to obviously provide training. So PD is an important aspect of how we're helping leverage this really high level of instruction. We're looking for consistency and alignment in every classroom every day. And we look at data and data then gives us information about what we could do differently. Um, while there is not one-sizefits-all, we are trying to provide from the district lens a uh common understanding of what good teaching looks like and how we can best support
055a variety of different types of learners in our our district. You all know you've um invested a great amount of money in this really high quality instructional material over the past several years, which we're very grateful for because it provides the resources educators need to make this a next and necessary heavy lift. >> Thank you for that information. Um, I just think that it's an important topic and I'm glad that this report was very well put together, very informative and I trust in our team that we're going to continue to make progress and move forward. >> Thank you. So then the motion is to approve and file. All those in favor opposed, so voted. Uh the last and final item this evening is an item coming out of executive session pursuant to action taken in
056executive session on March 5th, 2026. The Worcester school committee voted to refer the open meeting law complaints filed by Robert KTO and Ashlin Doyle against the Worcester school committee to the city of Worcester legal department for response. Roll call. >> Member Alvarez. >> Yes. >> Member Vanceria. >> Yes. >> Member Benza. >> Yes. >> Member Guardiola. >> Yes. >> Member Johnson. Yes. >> Member mailman. >> Abstain. >> Vice Chair McCulla. >> Yes. >> Member Roy. >> Yes. >> Mayor Penny. >> What are you? >> Oh, is that on here? >> Oh, it's You know what? I apologize. There is another item. It wasn't on the packet that I have here. It's the item that the mayor had filed regarding graduation dates. We're actually going to hold that item. So, that is what's happening with that.
057So, um, all right. So, that is the end of the meeting and thank you all so much and drive safely. >> Do we have to take a vote to hold that? >> Do we have to vote to hold that? >> Oh, all right. Anyone opposed to that? We have to We're waiting on some information. We're holding that item because we need to check out the dates based on the new. >> Yeah. I'm just saying don't don't we have to vote on that though? >> Um, it didn't doesn't need a roll call, but it just All those in favor opposed. >> Yeah, that's fine. Yeah. Yeah. Sorry. All right. [laughter] Who know? >> No roll call.