Joint BESE/BHE Meeting in December

Note: this meeting was postponed due to an impending weather event.

The Joint Meeting with the Boards of Elementary and Secondary Education and Higher Education on Tuesday, December 17* is scheduled for 9:30-11:30 AM. Agenda has not yet been posted, but is expected to include discussion of early college programs, teacher diversity initiatives, and "evidence-based policy-making" (quotations mine).

BESE regular meeting is scheduled to follow from 12:00-3:00 PM. Do look for the agenda (which is not yet posted) and any backup docs once they are posted (sometimes on Tuesday, often on Wednesday, definitely by Thursday before a Tuesday meeting) and read them for context and to learn more about any agenda items of particular interest.

• The regular meeting agenda is expected to kick off with discussion of Competency Determination (CD) and includes: 
• a.) preliminary results from a Brown University Study and 
• b.) a vote to extend the interim CD passing standard for one additional year to the class of 2023.

• The second item is another regulatory matter on a topic discussed recently at a meeting of the Board's Educator Diversification Committee^. During that meeting we heard about initiatives to increase educator diversity in Massachusetts, including recruitment/pipeline development^^; hiring, retention, and culturally responsive workforce; and educator licensure policy, including waivers and teacher licensure assessments. This item is an initial discussion with the whole Board about a proposal to amend the Ed Licensure Regs (603 CMR 7.00) in order to provide a pathway to pilot some alternatives to the MTEL (Massachusetts Tests for Educator Licensure). The need for this flexibility (the proposed pilot period would run through June 30, 2023) is based on data and research the Board has been hearing about over the past year: 40% of MA public school students are students of color, while only 8% of teachers are of color and if students of color have even one teacher who looks like them in their elementary school experience, improved high school completion and life outcomes result. We'll discuss the proposal, then vote to solicit public comment for amending the regulations.

• Next, we'll get an update on the Student Opportunity Act, signed into law on November 26. Among the specifics we'll hear about are new responsibilities for the Commissioner/DESE (ushered in as a result) and anticipated next steps.

• Closing out the meeting will be: 
• a.) Discussion and Vote to accept the surrender of the charter for City on a Hill Charter Public School New Bedford and 
• b.) Update and Discussion of City on a Hill Charter Public Schools located in Dudley Square and Circuit Street in Boston.

The meeting will be held at:
Mount Wachusett Community College
Main Building, First Floor, South Cafe
444 Green Street
Gardner MA 01440
Direction and maps may be found HERE.

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* The Board will not meet Monday, December 16.
^ The Committee is Chaired by Board Member Fernandez and includes Members Doherty, Rouhanifard, Stewart, and Chair Craven (ex-officio). Chair Fernandez and Senior Associate Commissioner Ventura Rodriguez worked together to prepare the Committee's meeting agenda/presentations.
^^ You'll note some agenda overlap on this issue with the two Boards; DESE is partnering with DHE on initiatives to increase educator diversity.