In the News: catching up to recent links of interest

From the Milford Daily News, articles of interest for Franklin:

• A man died Sunday after being hit by a car while walking across Route 495 South, state police said.

http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20160703/franklin-man-dies-in-highway-pedestrian-crash

• Beginning next spring, Massachusetts students will take a revamped version of the state’s standardized exams, which are being designed to be given online.

http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20160704/schools-readying-for-new-mcas

• The school district has hired a new food service director as it works to create an in-house food program for the 2016-2017 school year.

http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20160704/franklin-schools-hire-food-service-director-to-bring-meals-in-house

• A man was taken to the hospital via LifeFlight helicopter Sunday afternoon after falling out of a tree.

http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20160705/franklin-man-flown-to-hospital-after-falling-from-tree

• The town devoted an additional $200,000 to fund post-employment benefits for its employees as it continues to set aside money for the expense.

http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20160705/franklin-increases-fy16-contribution-for-opeb

In the News: Medway objects, testing transition

From the Milford Daily News, articles of interest for Franklin

"In a letter to the state Energy Facilities Siting Board, Medway said it opposes Franklin’s intervention in the board’s permitting of Exelon’s proposed expansion of the existing power plant on Summer Street. 

The letter, written by Jeffrey Bernstein, a lawyer hired to represent the town in all dealings with Exelon, called into question the Franklin’s reasons for participation, calling them legally insufficient “to allow the late filing of a petition to intervene nearly six months” after the deadline to intervene in June. 

“The town of Medway has significant concerns about the veracity of statements made both in the Town of Franklin’s filings and the affidavit in support thereof,” Bernstein wrote."

Continue reading the article online here (subscription may be required)
http://www.milforddailynews.com/article/20151214/NEWS/151217920/1994/NEWS

"The Franklin School District is in the midst of transitioning from the MCAS test to PARCC, and school officials said local students performed well in both this past year. 

Assistant Superintendent Joyce Edwards noted that students outperformed the state in PARCC, but said the test itself is not in its final form. 

"It takes a very long time until a new test is fully tested and validated," she said. "I think it will be a few years before the data is completely reliable."

Continue reading the article online here (subscription may be required)
http://www.milforddailynews.com/article/20151214/NEWS/151217926/1994/NEWS

Franklin Public Schools: MCAS and PARCC results 2015

The presentation scheduled to be used for the update to the Franklin (MA) School Committee at their meeting on Tuesday, Dec 8, 2015.

Franklin School Committee: MCAS and PARCC 2015 from Franklin Matters

the key to learning

In the News: MCAS 2.0, Clerk recount Thursday, Sen Spilka visits Franklin, Methodist Church events

From the Milford Daily News, articles of interest for Franklin

After test-driving the PARCC exam for two years, Massachusetts will instead opt for a new hybrid exam beginning in 2017. 

“This is going to be one of the most important policy decisions I think any group in the commonwealth will make for many years to come,” Board of Elementary and Secondary Education Chairman Paul Sagan said. 

The board voted 8-3 Tuesday to adopt Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Commissioner Mitchell Chester’s proposal to develop a new standardized test that incorporates elements of both PARCC and MCAS. Chester touted the new exam as a “next-generation MCAS” and “MCAS 2.0.”

Read the full article online here (subscription may be required)
http://www.milforddailynews.com/article/20151117/NEWS/151116385/1994/NEWS

The votes cast in the town election earlier this month will be recounted Thursday to definitively name the winner of the town clerk race. 

Current Town Clerk Deborah Pellegri said candidate Diane Padula-O'Neill has formally requested the reconsideration after coming up 32 votes shy in the Nov. 3 count. 

The recount will take place at 10 a.m. at the Franklin Municipal Building, Pellegri said.

Read the full article online here (subscription may be required)
http://www.milforddailynews.com/article/20151117/NEWS/151116015/1994/NEWS

State Sen. Karen Spilka visited the Franklin Downtown Partnership office recently, viewing the progress being made on the Downtown Roadway and Streetscape Improvement Project and discussing the FDP’s work on a number of downtown initiatives. 

Franklin Downtown Partnership Executive Director Lisa Piana and Planning and Community Development Director Bryan Taberner reviewed the Streetscape construction project’s progress to date. They also shared plans for new development and improvements to the downtown, such as a new retail building, park, and Horace Mann statue at the corner of Emmons and West Central streets.

Read the full article online here (subscription may be required)
http://www.milforddailynews.com/article/20151117/NEWS/151116182/1994/NEWS

Franklin United Methodist Church, 82 W. Central St., will host the following Christmas events.

• Caroling: 2:30 p.m. Dec. 6.
• Quiet time service, or Blue Christmas service: 7 p.m. Dec. 17.
• Christmas Pageant: 10 a.m. Dec. 20.
• Christmas Eve services: 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. Dec. 24.

For information, call the church at 508-528-1092.

http://www.milforddailynews.com/article/20151117/NEWS/151116064/1994/NEWS

What will the DESE do with MCAS, PARCC or the new option 'Door #3'?

At the Tuesday meeting (Oct 20, 2015) of the state Board of Elementary and Higher Education where the latest standardized test scores were released, those scores weren’t the main topic of the day. Instead, talk focused on a new twist in the ongoing discussion of whether to keep using the MCAS test or switch to PARCC: How about neither one? 

Mitchell Chester, commissioner of elementary and secondary education, is due to make his recommendation on the tests to the board before its Nov. 17 vote. In a special meeting Monday, he told the board that he was now weighing a third possibility, or “Door No. 3,” as he put it: a so-called “MCAS 2.0,” which could use elements of the new PARCC tests to build a state-specific assessment.

You can continue to read the article online here:
http://learninglab.wbur.org/2015/10/20/mcas-vs-parcc-now-education-board-might-face-a-third-option/

State Education Commissioner Mitchell Chester, left, and Education Secretary Jim Peyser speak with reporters following the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education meeting on Tuesday. (image from CommonWealth Magazine)

“None of the above” now looks like the correct answer to that test question. 

What looked like an either-or choice between retaining the state’s MCAS exam or scrapping it in favor of the new Common Core-aligned PARCC test has taken an unexpected turn and landed on a compromise plan to develop a revamped state test being billed “MCAS 2.0,” which would include a lot of content from the PARCC test. 

State Education Commissioner Mitchell Chester made it clear on Tuesday that he won’t recommend formal adoption of the PARCC test, developed by a multistate consortium of education leaders, but will instead seek to have the state retain control of the standardized test it administers to public school students while at the same time drawing from the new PARCC test to upgrade MCAS.

You can continue to read the article online here:
http://commonwealthmagazine.org/education/chester-abandons-parcc/

In the News: state police alert on scams, eagle scouts recognized, development along RT 140, MCAS argued for

Massachusetts State Police issued a scam warning on their official Facebook page Thursday. According to the posting, scammers pretending to be members of the state police or affiliated with the police are calling people and soliciting money for drug prevention and intervention programs. 

The scammers may claim to be part of a narcotics unit, police said.

Continue to read the article online here (subscription may be required)
http://www.milforddailynews.com/article/20150917/NEWS/150916356/1994/NEWS

Boy Scouts Patrick Cunniff, Jonathan Tomaso and Joseph Kroon, from Troop 99 of Franklin, were honored at an Eagle Scout Court of Honor on Aug. 1 for achieving the highest rank in Boy Scouts. 

Each scout completed a community service project that benefited the community: Cunniff worked with the Franklin Girls Softball Association to build four dugouts at the Remington-Jefferson fields; Tomaso constructed a walkway between the front and back entrances to the Benjamin Franklin Classical Charter Public School benefiting both charter school students and St. Mary Parish CCD students; and Kroon, sponsored by the Town of Franklin, built an arched foot bridge over a stream on the disc golf course at Dacey Fields.

arched foot bridge at Dacey Field disc golf course

Continue to read the article online here (subscription may be required)
http://www.milforddailynews.com/article/20150917/NEWS/150916212/1994/NEWS

"There will be several different buildings," he said. "There's a gas station and, adjacent to that, a lube place and at least one restaurant. There will be several other retail spaces as well." 

According to Taberner, the developer has not labeled all of the proposed buildings, meaning it is uncertain which businesses will occupy them. 

Taberner said the board has requested more information from the developer, and would likely be considering the project for some time. He said he did not know how long the process might take. 

"The matter was continued to the next Planning Board meeting," he said. "It could be two, three, four or five - I have no idea how many meetings it might take."

Continue to read the article online here (subscription may be required)
http://www.milforddailynews.com/article/20150917/NEWS/150916038/1994/NEWS

In a meeting with the Daily News editorial board on Wednesday, Pioneer Institute’s Jamie Gass and Tom Birmingham, former Senate president and co-author of the Education Reform Act of 1993 which created the MCAS, cautioned against switching from the long-standing test. Instead, the pair recommended working within the current system for better results. 

After education reform went into effect, Birmingham said the state set and met new standards that have pushed school performance to the top in the nation. If Massachusetts signs on to the PARCC test, Birmingham said he worries standards will drop to accommodate students in other PARCC states that don't have tests as rigorous as those in Massachusetts. 

“Before you outright jettison what has been coincident, at least, with our historic, unprecedented education success stories … I think you should bear in mind the words from the Hippocratic Oath, which is first, do no harm,” Birmingham said. “I’m fearful that if we do jettison MCAS and replace it with something else that is yet completely untested, we are inviting regression in terms of our education success.”

Continue to read the article online here (subscription may be required)
http://www.milforddailynews.com/article/20150917/NEWS/150915990/1994/NEWS

Info on MCAS can be found here   http://www.doe.mass.edu/mcas/

LETTER TO EDITOR: PARCC is Failing Teachers and Students | Framingham, MA Patch

A group of Framingham elementary school teachers have written a Letter to the Editor that was published in the Framingham Patch:

As teachers we cannot stay silent as PARCC makes its way into our classrooms.

In the words of Soujourner Truth at the 1851 Women’s Convention, “Where there is so much racket there must be something out of kilter.” Nationally, we’re hearing a racket about the problem of standardized tests driving instruction, knocking the process of education clearly out of kilter. Here are a few reasons why: 

1. Test Prep takes time away from REAL Reading, Writing and Math Instruction.

PARCC website

Continue to read the article to see the other reasons listed for their objections to the PARCC test.

http://patch.com/massachusetts/framingham/letter-editor-parcc-failing-teachers-and-students-0#.VQ830LCbmvY.gmail


In a related post, there is information on how to opt out of the PARCC or MCAS tests. 
http://www.citizensforpublicschools.org/the-facts-on-opting-out-of-mcas-or-parcc/

Franklin Public Schools: MCAS Presentation

Joyce Edwards, Director of Instructional Services, Franklin Public Schools is scheduled to use this document to provide an update to the School Committee on Tuesday, November 18, 2014.

The presentation provides an update on the MCAS results from last year, Franklin;s comparison overall to MA and selected school districts, and a discussion on how the results will drive education in the classroom.




The full agenda for the School Committee meeting can be found here
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2014/11/franklin-ma-school-committee-agenda-nov_18.html

"there is not an opt-out option"

On Sunday, the Boston Globe MetroWest section had an article on the growing discussion around standardized testing. PARCC is being piloted here in Franklin as well as other communities around the state. Some communities are trying to get out of the piloting and the article quotes Franklin's Joyce Edwards:

Joyce Edwards, director of instructional services for the Franklin school system, said every step had been taken to ensure that the testing, which will be conducted this week and in May in eight schools across the district, will have as minimal an impact on daily instruction as possible. 

“There is always an extra burden when there is extra testing,” Edwards said. “We took every exemption available to avoid double-testing. Beyond that the state has been quite clear there is not an opt-out option.” 

PARCC

Franklin’s schools obtained MCAS exemptions from the state for students who take the PARCC pilot test. If students take a PARCC test in English or math, they won’t have to take the same section in MCAS. 

Edwards said if an opt-out was allowed by the state, the district probably would have offered it. 

“We absolutely would have considered that,” she said. “We don’t believe in double-testing and the loss in instructional time.”

You can find the full article online here (subscription required)
http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/regionals/west/2014/04/05/some-school-districts-less-than-excited-about-new-standardized-test/yLaSdLSF26svfASDhAmYHO/story.html

More on PARCC

Additional articles on the Common Core and PARCC

Todd Gazda, Superintendent, Ludlow Public Schools: Enough is Enough!

March 19, 2014 Letter written by Ludlow Superintendent regarding too much on standardized testing

Education official: Students can't be forced to take PARCC - News - MetroWest Daily News, Framingham, MA - Framingham, MA

Just out today, March 20, 2014

PARCC

Related post:

http://www.franklinmatters.org/2014/03/franklin-voices-future-parcc-ma.html

Franklin Schools: MCAS and PARCC test schedule

The MCAS and PARCC test schedule for the Franklin schools is scheduled for discussion Tuesday evening at the School Committee meeting.




The full agenda for the meeting can be found here
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2014/01/franklin-ma-school-committee-agenda-jan_28.html

School Committee: MCAS Results

Joyce Edwards, Director of Instructional Service, will present an update on the MCAS results for the Franklin School District at the School Committee meeting scheduled for Tuesday, Nov 19.

The document as released with the agenda is as follows:





The full agenda for the School Committee meeting can be found here
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2013/11/franklin-ma-school-committee-agenda-nov_17.html

School Committee: MCAS and PARCC presentations

If you missed the School Committee meeting on Tuesday and want to review the presentations on MCAS and PARCC, the new test being piloted here in Franklin, you can view both documents here.


The overview on Franklin's MCAS scores




The overview on PARCC which is slated to replace MCAS




More about the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) can be found here  http://www.parcconline.org/

More about MCAS can be found here http://www.doe.mass.edu/mcas/

MCAS Postponed

A message from FRANKLIN PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT

Because we are expecting more inclement weather,the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has postponed Tuesday's scheduled administration of the long composition test for grades 4, 7, and 10 for the entire state. Regardless of the weather, which may necessitate delays or  school closings across the state, the new testing date for all districts for the long composition exam will be Monday, 3/25. All other MCAS tests will proceed as planned. Joyce Edwards Director of Instructional Services Franklin Public Schools 355 East Central Street Franklin, MA 02038 508-553-4821 FAX- 508-553-0321 This e-mail has been sent to you by FRANKLIN PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT. To maximize their communication with you, you may be receiving this e-mail in addition to a phone call with the same message. If you wish to discontinue this service, please inform FRANKLIN PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT IN PERSON, by US MAIL, or by TELEPHONE at (508) 613-1777.

"as challenging as it is rewarding"

Joyce Edwards, Director of Instructional Services for the Franklin Public Schools, is quoted in the Milford Daily News article on the new PARCC test that will replace the MCAS test.

What is PARCC? PARCC is Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers.

What is the difference between the MCAS and PARCC?

The MCAS —influenced by the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks, whose creation followed the passing of the Education Reform Act of 1993 — has consistently tested for a collection of skills that educators expect students to learn during their elementary and secondary schooling. 

However, PARCC’s goal has been to use benchmarks that will accurately predict students’ chances of excelling beyond high school, should they choose to attend a four-year institution or dive into the workforce. 

"The MCAS was not developed to look ahead and signal whether or not students are ready for success after high school," said Massachusetts Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education Mitchell Chester. "This assessment is very deliberately asking that question . . ."

While the current MCAS science test will remain, the other subject areas will move to the new PARCC test.

Bolduc added, "They are taking the MCAS and putting it on steroids." 

With two versions of the test given in one school year — though districts will have the option to administer up to four versions in a year — teachers will get initial feedback from a late year test before the comprehensive final exam, providing them with, as Edwards put it, "just in time intervention." 

To prepare for PARCC testing, districts have to make sure they have the infrastructure to administer the test (for those that do not, the state will offer a pencil and pen version) and continue fusing their curriculum with the Common Core.

When you read "the infrastructure required" what they really mean to say is the computer systems the student will used to take the test.

Read more: http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/news/x898141577/New-tests-for-Massachusetts-students-on-the-horizon#ixzz2MTYqd24v


For more information on the collaboration of the 24 states visit http://www.achieve.org/parcc/

For information from the MA Dept of Elementary and Secondary Education visit http://www.doe.mass.edu/mcas/parcc/

"It’s a mammoth undertaking"

The MCAS data for Franklin was discussed at the School Committee meeting on Tuesday.

Still, the school district faces the daunting task of aligning to the new state standards for math and English, which will challenge both students and teachers, Edwards told the School Committee during its meeting on Tuesday night. 

In a broad overview of Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System test data from the district, Edwards discussed many of the changes and methods the school has adopted to reduce some of the proficiency gaps apparent in the scores. 

English scores have been consistently better than math scores, Edwards said. To address this trend, teachers and specialists have this year met with students needing extra math help for small group tutoring sessions.

Read more: http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/x719498853/Franklin-School-Committee-reviews-MCAS-data#ixzz2DVpzAecG

Related posts
The MCAS presentation
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2012/11/franklin-public-schools-mcas.html

The School Committee agenda and links to associated documents
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2012/11/franklin-ma-school-committee-agenda-nov.html

Franklin Public Schools: MCAS Presentation

The PowerPoint presentation on the MCAS Report as scheduled for discussion at the School Committee meeting Tuesday evening is shown here:




The full agenda for the School Committee meeting including links to other documents being used can be found here
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2012/11/franklin-ma-school-committee-agenda-nov.html

Franklin Public Schools: MCAS Report 2012

The MCAS Report for 2012 for the Franklin Public Schools. This is scheduled for discussion at the School Committee meeting on Tuesday, Nov 27th.


MCAS 2012




The full agenda for the School Committee meeting can be found here
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2012/11/franklin-ma-school-committee-agenda-nov.html

New teacher evaluation system based upon MCAS data

The MetroWest Daily News reports on the use of MCAS results for teacher evaluations.

"In Massachusetts, it’s required that teachers be evaluated. Accordingly, we are making it possible for evaluators to access the ratings of educators for which they are responsible to evaluate. So an evaluator can access student growth scores and a teacher’s score in the Data Warehouse," Considine said. "An educator’s rating is considered part of his or her personnel record and will not be subject to disclosure." 

Districts that chose not to join Race to the Top – including Milford, Franklin, Hopkinton, Lincoln-Sudbury, Hopedale, Wayland and Holliston – will be required to implement the teacher evaluations by the start of the 2013-14 school year.

Later in the article

Franklin Public Schools won’t use the state’s evaluation system until next year, either, but Joyce Edwards, director of instructional services, said Data Warehouse is routinely used by the district to look at everything from growth percentiles for certain students, to specific questions from the MCAS test.

Read more of the MetroWest article here: http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/news/x21086594/Schools-will-use-MCAS-data-for-teacher-evaluations#ixzz28bwBAGdl

As an example of how the MCAS data is used by Franklin, the School Improvement Plans (SIP) for the three middle schools are scheduled for discussion at the School Committee meeting on Tuesday, Oct 9. The High School plan was reviewed on Sep 25 and the elementary plans will be review at an upcoming meeting.


The Franklin High School SIP
Presentation Document
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2012/09/franklin-high-school-update-to-school.html

SIP Document
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2012/09/franklin-high-school-improvement-plan.html 


The Middle school plans

Horace Mann

Remington

Annie Sullivan

Mixed results in region on latest MCAS

From the Spring 2012 MCAS Tests: Summary of State Results:

Executive Summary
The fifteenth administration of the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) tests took
place in spring 2012.

Participation
A total of 552,549 Massachusetts public school students in grades 3–10 participated in a total of 17
MCAS tests in English Language Arts (ELA), Mathematics, and Science and Technology/Engineering
(STE). Participation rates remained very high, ranging from 98 to 100 percent across the grades and
subjects tested. In 2012, 9,457 students with disabilities participated in the MCAS Alternate Assessment (MCAS-Alt) by submitting portfolios documenting their academic achievement in one or more subjects in grades 3–12.

Overall Achievement
Student achievement statewide improved on nine of the 17 MCAS tests administered in 2012. Between
2011 and 2012, the percentage of students scoring Proficient or higher improved in ELA at grades 4, 8,
and 10; in Mathematics at grades 4, 6, and 10; and in STE at grades 5, 8, and 10.

Trends in Achievement
Because measures of student achievement often change incrementally over short periods of time, the
Department is presenting a series of five-year views in this report in order to reveal achievement trends
that have occurred over multiple years. Over the five-year period from 2008 to 2012, an increase of five
or more percentage points indicates improvement that has been sustained. The grades and subject areas in
which the percentage of students scoring Proficient or higher increased by five or more points over the
last five years are shown in Figure E-1.

The full report (PDF) can be found here
http://www.doe.mass.edu/mcas/2012/results/summary.pdf

The detailed information for the Franklin Public School District can be found here
http://profiles.doe.mass.edu/profiles/general.aspx?topNavId=1&orgcode=01010000&orgtypecode=5&

From this link, you can select among the Franklin schools including Tri-County and the Charter School.
http://profiles.doe.mass.edu/search/search.aspx?leftNavId=

Sent to you by Steve Sherlock via Google Reader:

Mixed results in region on latest MCAS

via The Milford Daily News News RSS by Scott O'Connell/Daily News staff on 9/19/12

The number of students scoring proficient or higher on the 2012 MCAS went down in Framingham and Marlborough and up in Hopkinton and Southborough, according to district- and school-level results released by the state today.

Things you can do from here:

• Subscribe to The Milford Daily News News RSS using Google Reader
• Get started using Google Reader to easily keep up with all your favorite sites