Subcommittee meeting held June 3
UPDATED, May 28: The waiting lists for parents to enter their children into after-school programs continue to lengthen this year.
A report about enrollment in after-school programs for 2019-2020 from Chief Financial Officer Michael Mason, reveals that as of May 6, many of the programs already have lengthy waiting lists. Dallin’s program, the Afterschool Connection, lists an enrollment of 187 children with 59 on the waiting list.
The School Committee was told May 9 that several other programs report many students on their waiting lists: Peirce, 41; Thompson, 40; Hardy, 35; Brackett, 22; and Stratton, 21. Only four students are on the waiting list for after-school spots at the Bishop which had none wait-listed the year before. See memo and chart here >>
The Community Relations Subcommittee has a meeting planned for Monday, June 3, at 630 p.m. and has invited representatives from the after-school programs to join them. Here is the agenda >>
Mason further broke down the after-school applicants by levels: 83 percent are in K-5 and the remaining 13 percent in the middle schools.
Chart termed work in progress
The chart, displaying the finances and enrollment for the after-school program, Mason said, was still a work in progress. The enumeration of children already enrolled in after-school programs has been impeded by lack of reporting, more specifically by the nondistrict-sponsored programs. In addition, data on the middle schools are either missing or fragmentary since the programs started enrollment later.
Committee member Paul Schlichtman advised that it is important to become partners with the private providers and work more closely together. He is the committee secretary, but chaired the meeting because Len Kardon was delayed and Jane Morgan, the vice chair, was absent.
“This is the first time we have had any data,” member Kirsi Allison-Ampe reminded the committee, despite some gaps.
Kardon and others on committee concurred that the chart was a valuable first step since last year, when many parents alerted the committee to the dearth of available day-care slots.
See links at the end of this summary to two 2018 YourArlington news reports about the lack of after-school slots last year.
Going forward, Kardon said, data that would be even more valuable “is what is the available space [for after-school programs].” This is necessary, he continued, “because any waitlist over 30 is a problem.”
What constitutes available space, however, turns out to be a complicated question. Customarily, it is up to school principals to report what would be considered surplus space and the ways of determining what is surplus vary considerably.
For instance, are classrooms surplus space? As a former teacher teacher, member Bill Hayner described how teachers were frequently upset by the condition of their classrooms after an after-school program has used them. He said that “some programs are excellent, most are not.”
Mason agreed to update his report, which would include, as much as can be determined, additional space in each school. The committee decided to meet in October to reframe the questions and include others for a new after-school program survey to better inform policy.
Racially troubling question on MCAS essay
Members also addressed a disturbing question on the 10-grade MCAS test and qualification barriers to recruiting out-of-state applicants for teaching positions.
As to MCAS, members passed unanimously, 5-0, the “Resolution to Hold Harmless 2019 10th-grade MCAS Due to Racially Troubling Question” and the “Resolution Pertaining Educator Diversity and Professional Licensure.” See both here >>
A 10th-grade MCAS essay question asked the student to write an essay from the point of view of a racist woman appearing in Colson Whitehead’s novel, The Underground Railroad. Schlichtman asked committee members to sign on to a resolution, written by two members of Somerville School Committee about that essay question. The resolution asks the state Department of Secondary Education to exempt 10th-grade students from this test as a graduation requirement.
Hayner commented that in the past teachers were allowed to discuss questions after the exam and give feedback to the MCAS staff about test issues of clarity and relevance. Now restrictions forbid any discussion of test contents, so, he said, this is an example of what happens when teachers not being able to evaluate the test and give feedback.
Allison-Ampe reminded the committee that there was a question of a similar style among the test review questions, and she wanted parents to know there were concerns.
Schlichtman pointed out that students “traumatized [by the essay assignment] might not be able to perform on the rest of the test” and therefore the 10th-grade MCAS scores should not count for graduation.
Hayner inquired whether MCAS test results had ever been thrown out before. Schlichtman replied that not in Massachusetts, but in other states.
Hayner thought this resolution would “push MCAS to be accountable.” They should be informed that it was “causing consternation among students and having a negative effect.”
Committee member Jennifer Susse asked whether all students were asked to respond to this question. Schlichtman replied, “no,” that the essay question “was pulled halfway through testing.” He praised the commissioner of education, Jeffrey C. Riley, for pulling the question right away once it was reported and taking ownership of the problem.
The committee voted to support the resolution, 5-0, and send it to the state Department of Education and the governor.
Change of teacher licensure rules backed
Schlichtman introduced a resolution to change licensure requirements, which he described as a barrier to creating a more diverse teaching staff. As a member of the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education’s Accountability and Assistance Advisory Council, he reported on its discussion about excessive requirements for licensure, making it difficult to recruit teachers from out-of-state. This difficulty, he said, leads to a much smaller pool of minority candidates.
The current regulations, established by John Silber, a former chair of the Board of Education, were instituted in 1998. Under them, a provisional teacher, in addition to having a bachelor’s degree with appropriate courses, must pass a series of tests called MTEL, which stands for Massachusetts Tests for Educator Licensure.
They includes a writing sample, a reading subtest of 42 multiple-choice questions, a writing subtest of 35 multiple choice questions, seven short-answer correction items and two open-response assignments. Subject tests take another four hours, with as many as 100 multiple choice questions and two open-response assignments.
Schlichtman argued that the process of requiring all of these tests acts as a deterrent to out-of-state candidates who need to take fewer tests in other states and reducing the diversity of the applicant pool. Moreover, he said, there is no empirical evidence that the testing screens out unqualified teachers.
“Teachers are not involved in licensure,” Schlichtman said, as he lodged another criticism of the certification process. “Teacher licensure in Massachusetts is governed by those who are not teachers.”
In addition, Hayner reminded the committee that provisional teachers are evaluated during their first 90 days in the classroom and can be dismissed if found unqualified. Because of this process, he asserted, much of the teacher testing is unnecessary.
The committee voted to support the resolution, 5-0.
Science curriculum, tech plan
In other business, the committee heard an update on the new science standards curriculum by Science Coordinator Larry Weathers and Technology Plan by Assistant Superintendent Rod MacNeal, Chief Technology Officer David Good with Susan Bisson. See the presentations here >>
The meeting adjourned at 9:30.
June 2, 2018: After-school programs add slots for next year, but a broader solution remains
April 21, 2018: Parents seek answers to after-school child-care puzzle
This news summary by YourArlington freelancer Jo Anne Preston was published Sunday, May 19, 2019, and updated May 28, to add an agenda..
