Document 15156369
MA Innovation Schools Newsletter – June 2015
MA Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
IN THIS ISSUE
Contents
ANNUAL INNOVATION SCHOOLS NETWORK CONVENING WEBINAR .................... 2
WELCOME MESSAGE
Congratulations for enduring the challenges brought by the snow and making it successfully to the end of the school year! As always we would like to begin this newsletter by taking the opportunity to thank all of you for your ongoing dedication and commitment to improving public education for all children throughout Massachusetts. This final newsletter of the 2014-2015 academic year contains important information on FY15 grant funds closeout procedures, the status of FY16 innovation schools funding, the recent annual convening webinar, an upcoming network survey, innovation schools coding, and additional resources. Please review the following information carefully and share the contents of this newsletter with others as appropriate.
1 | P a g e
FY15 GRANT FUNDS CLOSEOUT PROCEDURES
The project duration for all FY15 fund codes concludes on June 30, 2015. All grant recipients must submit a Final Financial Form (FR1) to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
(Department) no later than 60 days from the end of the grant program. Grant contacts are encouraged to work with your budget offices to ensure the submission of this required report. The link to the
Department’s Grants Management Procedural Manual, Section IV, and Final Reporting Process is included for your reference http://finance1.doe.mass.edu/grants/procedure/manual.html#iv-c .
Please contact Shay Edmond should you have any questions.
STATUS OF FY16 INNOVATION SCHOOLS FUNDING
As many of you know, the FY16 state budget cycle is well underway and is nearing conclusion. In the governor’s initial budget proposal, the innovation school line item (7061-9011) was consolidated along with ten (10) other Department accounts to support the proposed “Partnership Schools Network
Initiative.” Following the governor’s budget proposal, the House Ways and Means submitted its budget recommendations. The recommendations did not support the innovation schools line item or the creation of the Partnership Schools Network Initiative. Lastly, the Senate submitted its budget recommendations which included $736,898 to support the innovation schools line item. The draft FY16 budget is currently in conference committee and will conclude with the final FY16 budget approved and signed by the governor. We will be sure to share the outcome of the budget process as soon as we are able. To view the state budget process in detail, please go to https://malegislature.gov/Budget/Process .
4 th ANNUAL INNOVATION SCHOOLS NETWORK CONVENING WEBINAR
The 4 th Annual Innovation Schools Network Convening was held in webinar format on Thursday, June 11,
2015. The webinar was conducted in two parts: the first connecting the redesign model of innovation schools and the ways in which it supports the goals of the Department. Thank you to Senior Associate
Commissioner Russell Johnston, Associate Commissioner Cliff Chuang, and Assistant Director Ruth Hersh for participating in this portion of the presentation. The second half of the presentation was a discussion on the renewal process as outlined in the innovation schools statute and renewal examples from
Pathways Early College and the Paul Revere Innovation School provided context for this discussion.
Thank you to those that participated in the webinar. A copy of the presentation was emailed to registered participants and a copy will be posted at http://www.doe.mass.edu/redesign/innovation/?section=news .
NETWORK SURVEY, CODING, AND RESOURCES
Network Survey
The Innovation Schools Network (ISN) was launched in 2012 by the Executive Office of Education (EOE) as a means to bring together innovation school educators, stakeholders, planners, and partners across the state to share best practices. In keeping with this goal, we anticipate surveying the field to determine both interest and to solicit input for future network events during the 2015-2016 academic year. When it is available, we will send a link to the survey to all of you in the hope that you will share
2 | P a g e
your input to inform the planning of relevant and useful future network events.
Innovation Schools Coding
Two years ago the Department began providing each approved innovation school (new and conversion) and innovation academy with a specific program code in the Student Information Management System
(SIMS) to collect demographic and achievement data systematically for enrolled students. This new streamlined approach allowed the Department to create an “Innovation Schools and Academies” drop down option on the Department’s School and District Profile page, creating innovation-school specific search capabilities, including, but not limited to, school demographic and achievement data. Please keep in mind that the Department’s ability to collect data specific to innovation school students does not change the reporting structure for districtwide or schoolwide reporting. If you have not already done so, please complete the “Notification of a New Public School” form which can be found at http://www.doe.mass.edu/infoservices/data/diradmin/ . All completed forms must be faxed to the
Department’s office of Education Data Services, to the attention of Kerrie Anastas. Submission instructions are included on the form.
Resources
We are fortunate to have a number of resources on and accessible through our website here at the
Department. In this newsletter, we would like to highlight some resources that can be found on our
Curriculum and Instruction page that you and your teachers may find helpful and informative:
1.
The National Summer Learning Association is an organization that is dedicated to ensuring that every child is safe, healthy, and engaged in learning during the summer. It’s website states that it is “…the only national organization exclusively focused on closing the achievement gap by increasing access to high-quality summer learning opportunities to young people.” http://www.summerlearning.org/ .
2.
The Turnaround Practices Report and Emerging Practices Reports on the Office of School and
District Turnaround home page highlight strategies and practices observed in schools that have shown significant progress in student achievement. The reports can be found at http://www.doe.mass.edu/apa/sss/turnaround/default.html
.
3.
The budget autonomy paper on the innovation schools website provides district and school leaders with guidance to assist in the development of systems and structures needed for indistrict autonomous schools to implement budget autonomy. The information contained in this paper is not meant as a prescription; rather, it is to be used as a tool to assist district and school leaders to communicate about and set clear expectations regarding budget autonomy and its implementation. The paper can be found at: http://www.doe.mass.edu/redesign/innovation/BudgetAutonomy.pdf
.
4.
On the Curriculum and Instruction home page, there is a menu of options from which to choose including Common Core State Standards, Professional Development, Model Curriculum, along with a variety of other menu options. That page can be found at: http://www.doe.mass.edu/candi/ .
5.
By clicking onto the Model Curriculum option on the menu, teachers will find access to a number of model curriculum units that have been developed for teachers, by teachers. The model curriculum link can be found at: http://www.doe.mass.edu/candi/model/ .
Please share these resources with interested staff.
3 | P a g e
FY15 CONTACT INFORMATION
As always, should you have any questions or need any assistance please feel free to contact us:
Shay Edmond, Innovation School Specialist, Office of Charter Schools and School Redesign sedmond@doe.mass.edu
/ (781) 338-3217
Ruth Hersh, Assistant Director, Office of Charter Schools and School Redesign, rhersh@doe.mass.edu
/
(781) 338-3211
Cliff Chuang, Associate Commissioner, Center for Educational Redesign, cchuang@doe.mass.edu
/
(781) 338-3222
4 | P a g e
