Commissioner's Update
October 27, 2009
Dear Superintendents, and Leaders of Charter Schools and Collaboratives:
In this Update I have four announcements and five items for your review.
Nominations for the School and District Accountability and Assistance Advisory Council
The Advisory Council on School and District Accountability and Assistance currently has one vacancy for an at-large member - ESE is soliciting nominees to serve on this advisory council. The fifteen-member council was created in Chapter 311 of the Acts of 2008, An Act Relative to School District Accountability, to advise the Department and Board on the policies and practices of both the Department's Center for School and District Accountability and its Center for Targeted Assistance.
Council members serve three year terms and serve without compensation. The council will meet at least four times this year in Worcester. For more information on the Advisory Council on School and District Accountability and Assistance, please visit: http://www.doe.mass.edu/boe/sac/councils/sda.html.
We are seeking a wide range of nominees to serve on the council and invite you to nominate individuals whom you believe will serve with distinction. Nominations will be accepted through Monday, November 3, 2009, and recommendations will be made to the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education for action at its November 17th meeting. Interested parties should submit 2 copies of a letter of interest along with a resume to Commissioner Mitchell D. Chester at the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148.
Attention High Schools: Enroll a Design Team in the Real World Design Challenge!
The Massachusetts Aeronautics Commission and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education are pleased to support the Real World Design Challenge for High School Engineering/Technology Teams.
The Real World Design Challenge excites students about science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) by allowing them to tackle a real world aeronautical design problem and see the impact of their solutions. Design teams of 3-7 students are provided an aviation challenge, a professional mentor, and the software to design and model solutions to the challenge. Participating teams compare solutions at a state event; the best solution goes on to a national competition in Washington, DC.
The Real World Design Challenge hopes to build an innovative workforce for the future by inspiring and engaging all students in STEM education and to systematically highlight the potential opportunities open to workers in scientific and engineering fields.
What schools get:
- Teacher professional development;
- Science and engineering mentors;
- Real aviation challenge defined by industry;
- Professional engineering software tools.
More information: http://www.realworlddesignchallenge.org/overview.html
Registration: http://www.realworlddesignchallenge.org/
Click on "Register Your Team for the 2009-2010 Challenge"
Registration is open through November 16, 2009, so please enroll soon!
Science and Technology/Engineering Curriculum Framework Review Panel Forums
You are cordially invited to attend a public forum to learn about the work and suggestions of the Science and Technology/Engineering Curriculum Framework Review Panel as it completes Phase I of the revision process.
About the Science and Technology/Engineering Curriculum Framework Review Process
In August of 2007 the Board of Education established a schedule for the review of all of the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks. In the spring of 2009, the Department began the process of revising the 2001/2006 Science and Technology/Engineering Curriculum Framework. The review is a two-phase process that began with the appointment of a panel to review the existing Framework and to make suggestions for revision to the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. The Science and Technology/Engineering Curriculum Framework Revision Panel, appointed in March 2009, has 42 members including teachers, administrators, higher education faculty, cultural institutions, parents and members of the business community. They have been meeting regularly since May 2009.
At each of the five (5) Public Forums, members of the Science and Technology/Engineering Framework Review Panel and Department of Elementary and Secondary Education staff will share the work of the panel to date and will solicit comments and feedback.
All members of the public are invited.
The dates, locations and times for the Public Forums can be found at http://www.doe.mass.edu/conference/?ConferenceID=752.
Items Posted at www.doe.mass.edu:
- November is Family Literacy Month
- 2010 MCAS/MEPA Bias and Sensitivity Committee Recruitment
- 2010 MCAS Assessment Development Committee (ADC) Recruitment
- Additional MCAS High School Science and Technology/Engineering Test Administration Opportunity for Grade 12 Students in the Class of 2010
- Annual Student Government Day, April 9, 2010
Sincerely,
Mitchell D. Chester, Ed.D.
Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education
last updated: October 27, 2009
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