The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's (Department) Early Learning Team, in collaboration with the staff from the Education Data Services team, will be providing technical assistance on the state’s Early Childhood Experiences data element (DOE050), which was added to Student Information Management System (SIMS) in the 2018-19 school year. A one-hour webinar on the data element, along with technical assistance on how to collect the information needed to report in SIMS, will be offered on two different dates (September 23rd at 2:00 PM and 25th at 9:00 AM) for early childhood coordinators, elementary principals and data administrators responsible for SIMS data collection. Additionally, the Early Learning team will be hosting office hours during the week of September 30th for districts who want to speak with staff individually about data collection efforts related to this element. Please register online for the webinar and/or office hours.
Update on Full-Day Kindergarten and Tuition
This summer, the non-profit organization, Strategies for Children updated data on full-day kindergarten tuition. For a map of districts offering full-day kindergarten (free, or for a fee) along with information on the cost of the tuition for those districts that charge, we encourage you to visit their website. For more information, contact Titus DosRemedios, Director of Research and Policy, (617-330-7387 or tdosremedios@earlyeducationforall.org).
Directory Administration
The Early Learning Team often uses the lists we have access to through School and District Profiles people search to send information to district Early Childhood Coordinators and Elementary Principals. Each district has a staff person with the assigned role of serving as Directory Administrator, and that person can update your district's contact information. To ensure that your information is updated and correct in Directory Administration, we encourage you to contact your local Directory Administrator.
Elementary Principal Professional Development Opportunity
The Early Learning Team and the Massachusetts School Administrators Association (MSAA) will be hosting a series of early learning networking and professional development opportunities for elementary principals (Preschool-3rd grade) during the 2019-2020 school year. This year’s series will focus on social-emotional learning and trauma-informed practices and will commence with a statewide kick-off event on October 10th. The kick-off event will include a keynote presentation from Dr. Nicole Christian-Brathwaite (from Riverside Community Care), networking opportunities as well as workshops on early learning topics. Please register online for this event by September 20th.
The statewide kick-off event will be followed by a webinar with Joe Ristuccia from Massachusetts Advocates for Children and the Trauma and Learning Policy Initiative (TLPI) in November, regional networking sessions in December and April and a final ½ day statewide convening in May (all post kick-off specific dates are still to be confirmed). The regional meetings and the statewide convenings will include professional development (PD), site visits and additional networking opportunities.
Professional development points will be provided to those who participate in at least 10 hours of professional development and submit information to demonstrate completion of a product/project related to early learning.
Social and Emotional Learning 1st-3rd Grade Resources Pilot
All Massachusetts’ elementary principals, teachers and other educators/administrators working with students in grades 1, 2, and/or 3 are invited to consider participating in a pilot of new draft resources for social emotional learning (SEL) recently developed to support early grade elementary school students. The MA SEL Resources being piloted include Core Resources in all five social emotional competency areas, as defined by CASEL: Self-awareness, Self-Management, Social Awareness, Relationship Skills, and Responsible Decision Making.
A Pilot Introduction Webinar will be presented multiple times, starting with webinars on Friday October 18th at 10 a.m. and Monday, October 21st at 1:00, with additional dates later this fall. Educators who want to signal their interest in pilot participation should complete the online Pilot Recruitment Survey. Questions regarding the pilot may be addressed to Jane Haltiwanger at jhaltiwanger@doe.mass.edu.
PreK and K Social Emotional and Approaches to Play and Learning Online Courses
Early childhood educators are invited to register for two different facilitated courses: the ten-hour online version of the Introductory Course on the Massachusetts Standards for Preschool and Kindergarten Social and Emotional Learning and Approaches to Play and Learning, and/or a four-hour online course on Family Engagement in Social Emotional Learning. The Collaborative for Educational Services (CES) developed both courses in partnership with our Department and the Department of Early Education and Care. Cost per participant: $100 for 10 hour course, $40 for 4 hour course, unless subsidized by district.
DESE is sponsoring multiple presentations of these courses for the coming year using the Blackboard learning platform. Each class is limited to 20 participants. Educators who complete the full ten-hour course earn 10 professional development points (PDPs) or 1 continuing education unit (CEU).
To register, see contact information below. For other course related information, contact Jane Haltiwanger.
Fall 2019:
Intro to SEL/APL standards; September 9–October 21, 2019 (in English and Spanish); Di-Ann Ethier
Family Engagement in SEL; September 16–30, 2019; Dotti McDevitt
Intro to SEL/APL standards; October 6–November 10, 2019; Jody Figuerido
Family Engagement in SEL; October 18–November 1, 2019; Di-Ann Ethier
Intro to SEL/APL standards; October 21–November 24, 2019; Caroline Blackman Winter 2020:
Family Engagement in SEL; January 6–17, 2020; Dotti McDevitt
Intro to SEL/APL standards; January 13–February 16, 2020; Jody Figuerido
Intro to SEL/APL standards; February 24–March 29, 2020; Caroline Blackman Spring 2020:
Intro to SEL/APL standards; March 2–April 10, 2020; Dotti McDevitt
Intro to SEL/APL standards; April 6–May 10, 2020; Caroline Blackman
Adult Literacy Hotline
The Massachusetts Adult Literacy Hotline provides referrals to over 300 adult education programs that offer one-on-one tutoring, small-group or classroom instruction to adult learners. The Hotline provides information about basic reading, math, adult basic education, English language training, family literacy, High School Equivalency Test preparation or testing sites.
Massachusetts Down Syndrome Congress 15th Annual Educators Forum
The Massachusetts Down Syndrome Congress (MDSC) recognizes that supporting students with complex learning profiles requires training and professional support for teachers and administrators. This year’s conference is designed to provide general and special educators, administrators, paraprofessionals, support professionals, and parents with practical workshops that will support them as they work hard each day to meet the educational needs of students.
When: Thursday, November 7, 2019 Where: College of the Holy Cross – Hogan Conference Center Keynote Address: Restructuring for Caring & Effective Education; Dr. Richard A. Villa, President, Bayridge Consortium, Inc.
For more information and to register please visit the MDSC website.
On Tuesday, September 24th at 6.00 pm at Baypath University (Concord, MA), Dr. Kerber, a Pediatric eye doctor from Children’s Vision Massachusetts coalition, will be speaking about childhood vision disorders, how to recognize when a child may be struggling with their vision, designing modifications that can be implemented in the classroom to help children, as well as dispelling vision “myths” and much more.
This free session provides helpful information for any early childhood, preschool or elementary school educator, reading specialist or Special Education teacher. There will be plenty of opportunity for question and answers.
The Massachusetts Department of Mental Health (DMH) has a new initiative aimed at fighting stigma and helping children, families and teachers talk about mental health and wellness. Different Kinds of Hurt: Isaac’s Story is a graphic novel and video where Isaac and his friend Mia openly share how they needed treatment for “different kinds of hurt”. In addition to the book, there are discussion guides and resources to help teachers and parents discuss the book and the video with young children. Our goal is to encourage children to start talking about mental health early before stereotypes and stigma set in.
DMH recently kicked off the campaign when the book was read by Secretary of Health and Human Services, Marylou Sudders to a group of elementary school students in Boston. In the upcoming weeks, we will hold reading events across the Commonwealth.
To learn more about the initiative, view the video or order the graphic novel, visit the website: www.isaacs-story.com
Produced in partnership by:
The Massachusetts Department of Public Health Immunization Division welcomes you to a new school year! The annual School Immunization Surveys for Childcare/Preschool, Kindergarten, and Grade 7 opened September 9. Introductory letters including school PIN were mailed to school nurses in recent weeks.
Childcare/Preschool survey is conducted on SurveyMonkey (the link is contained in the email sent to school nurses)
Kindergarten and Grade 7 surveys are conducted on the Massachusetts Immunization Information System (MIIS)
The MIIS school survey module has been completely redesigned for easier navigation. Be sure to register for MIIS access, which takes several weeks to complete. Your school nurse leader should be able to add you to your district’s MIIS account. If you have trouble getting access to MIIS, call the MIIS Helpdesk (617-983-4335).
The deadline for submitting the surveys is December 13, 2019 and no surveys will be accepted thereafter. These surveys play a vital role in helping us identify immunization trends and areas of increased susceptibility to vaccine-preventable disease. Thank you for your help!
The Department of Early Education and Care is happy to welcome Samantha Aigner-Treworgy who was appointed Commissioner effective August 2019. Please see her bio for more information.
Building Inclusive Communities (BIC) in Early Childhood
The Departments of Early Education and Care (EEC) and Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) invite:
Special Education Directors;
Early Childhood Coordinators;
Teachers;
Early Care and Education Directors;
Head Start Disabilities/Education Coordinators;
Family Services Coordinators;
Commonwealth Preschool Partnership grantees;
Early Intervention providers;
Coordinated Family and Community Engagement grantees; and
Community Partners
Join us to:
Hear from renowned, national experts on inclusion - Rich Villa and Dr. Jacque Thousand;
Learn about regulations, polices, and best practices to create quality inclusive early childhood services;
Ensure services are grounded in access, participation and supports for children with and without disabilities;
Receive leadership strategies to support inclusion;
Learn support strategies to engage families around inclusive practices; and
Hear about an opportunity to participate in the second cohort of the BIC initiative.
Building Inclusive Community team application process:
EEC and DESE will be choosing 5 new school district teams to participate in the BIC initiative. Priority will be given to teams that include the mixed delivery system (public and community program teachers, directors, coordinators, Early Intervention, Head Start and where they exist, a Preschool Expansion Grant/Commonwealth Preschool Partnership liaison).
Outcomes of the Building Inclusive Community (BIC) Initiative:
Receive information regarding The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act definition and what the research says about inclusion and inclusive practices in early childhood;
Develop an action plan that describes how your team will create strong partnerships with community partners to strengthen inclusive practices;
Receive strategies for building relationships with families to engage them in decisions around inclusion;
Learn and implement practices to address disproportionality and implicit bias;
Receive strategies, resources, and tools for developing appropriate practices for promoting inclusive settings; and
Learn ways to implement good inclusive practices and sustain this work to build strong community connections for children with and without disabilities
There is no cost to attend this kick-off conference or to participate in this initiative.
Public higher education in Massachusetts is the first system in any state to elevate equity as the top-level performance and policy priority for all its public institutions. DHE will work with campuses and strive to significantly raise the enrollment, attainment and long-term success outcomes among under-represented student populations, paying close attention to the impact of geography and race. It is intended that the equity lens priority will guide campus and system performance measurement and promote initiatives and policies that collectively expand success for residents and for our economy and society. DHE’s newPerformance Measurement Reporting Systemwill provide the foundation for measuring success at achieving equity.
The fiscal year 2020 state budget includes a $268 million increase in chapter 70 funding for public schools. As advocates for high-quality early education, we are interested in learning how this funding will be utilized in your district, and if district leaders are planning any new investment in preschool, kindergarten, or early learning more broadly. Please contact us you have information to share or would like help requesting this information from your school district. Titus DosRemedios, Director of Research and Policy (tdosremedios@strategiesforchildren.org; 617-330-7387). For information on early education and care items in the state budget, visit StrategiesForChildren.org.
Superintendents, assistant superintendents, principals, and charter school leaders will receive the update automatically. For others wishing to receive this update, please subscribe
