We're digging out....and digging in
See below for what WEC has been up to--despite the snow!
Resiliency partnership wins planning grant

For the past two years we have written about WEC's work on the problem of exclusionary discipline--out of school suspensions. We're now delighted to announce funding of a planning grant.


 

The Health Foundation of Central Massachusetts Inc. has provided $165,000 from its Health Care and Health Promotion Synergy Initiative to the Worcester Public Schools in partnership with WEC to develop WorcesterHEARS (Healthy Environments and Resilience in Schools) a comprehensive set of strategies that will result in the significant reduction of school suspensions.

 

Chief among these strategies is tackling the effects of toxic stress and trauma. Readers of this newsletter will recall our earlier writing about  trauma in students' lives--from violence, abuse and neglect to chronic poverty--and its impact on learning and long-term life and health outcomes.  In research that grew out of our forum, "Not Present, Not Accounted For: School Suspension in Worcester" WEC learned that, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics, trauma is "the greatest unaddressed public health threat of our time."

 

WorcesterHEARS is built on research originally conducted by the Kaiser Permanente Foundation and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study. The ACE Study is one of the largest investigations  ever conducted to assess associations between childhood maltreatment and later-life health and well-being.  Children who experience trauma face tremendous challenges in learning, making friends and trusting adults. They are the "problem" kids. Schools suspend them.

 

The planning grant from The Health Foundation of Central Massachusetts will allow us bring together a wealth of expertise to develop an intervention focused on social and emotional learning-specifically cultivating resilience as a means of mitigating the effects of students' exposure to adverse childhood experiences and the toxic stress that such exposure creates

 

WEC and Worcester Public Schools are convening an array of community partners to implement planning for Worcester HEARS.  These partners  include: Clark University, Community Healthlink, the Edward M. Kennedy Community Health Center, and Family Health Center of Worcester.

 

Worcester HEARS will change school climates and policies on discipline and suspension; build resilience in children and families as a means of mitigating the effects of toxic stress; and ultimately result in more students attending school more consistently and with greater capacity to learn.

 

Stay tuned for further developments!

 

 

WEC  helping to "build on what works" in education

 

WEC has joined a coalition advocating a new approach to education reform: "Building on What Works." 

 

The coalition, which includes the Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education and Massachusetts Institute for a New Commonwealth (MassInc), has proposed a competitive, $75 million state fund to help communities where more than 50% of the students are from low income families. To qualify, communities would need to demonstrate a readiness to focus their collective energy on this work and be prepared to be held accountable for tangible results. 

 

If funded, resources would be directed to communities that provide additional, quality learning time and empower educators to work together creatively to get the most out of teacher talent, technology, external partners and public resources. Proposals would be judged on their strategic quality, capacity to implement effectively, and innovation.

 

For more information, contact Winthrop Roosevelt: [email protected]  617-224-1710 ext. 156


Reading Together in the snow

 

 

We had to scale a few snow banks to continue our Reading Together
program with the kindergarten and first grade students  at Goddard School of Science and Technology, Grafton Street School, Lincoln Street School and Woodland Academy. 
Despite the weather challenges it's been so rewarding to see how excited the children are and how much they enjoy the program.
In addition to reading a book selected with assistance from Worcester Public Library's childrens' librarians and the schools' reading coaches, we do an  activity with the children. WEC  also gives a copy of the book to each student along with a booklet of literacy activities designed to engage their families.  

Thanks to our generous sponsors, Hanover Insurance Group and United Way of Central Massachusetts that make this wonderful program possible!

 

 

Time to recalibrate school financing

In an op-ed article in a recent issues of the Telegram and Gazette, Jennifer Davis Carey, WEC's executive director, calls for a serious reconsideration of the state's school finance  legislation. School districts like Worcester's today are no better off than they were before education reform took effect in 1993, Carey writes.  That's because of dramatic increases in the cost of health care coverage for school employees and a significant increase in the number of children requiring special education services and the growing cost to educate them.

 

"To open up the 1993 statute and re-evaluate the concept of adequacy in the context of the needs of this century will demand considerable will on the part of the people of the commonwealth and considerable intestinal fortitude on the part of those whom we elect and appoint to conduct our business," Carey writes. "We need to amass both if our entire state is to remain competitive and our children truly are to have a 21st century education."

Looking forward to Spring...

Principal for a Day

We're gearing up for WEC's Fourth Annual Principal for a Day April 15, an event that gives community leaders a closeup view of public education by

Anne Kruse, left, convention sales manager at the DCU Center, was matched with Erin Dobson, right, principal of Tatnuck Magnet School for Principal for a Day in 2014
pairing them with principals for a morning of on-the- job experiences.

There also will be a luncheon at Mechanics Hall for the principals and others including

members of the Worcester public schools administration and the School Committee. The principals will have an opportunity to discuss their experiences and hear from our guest speaker Deborah Lantaigne of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education who will speak on Turnaround Schools. 

 

 

Forum on Turnaround Schools

Join us for a free public forum, "Lessons Learned from Turnaround Schools" on Thursday, April 9 at 7:45 a.m. at Mass College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences'  Fuller Conference Center, 25 Foster St. Speakers include: Marie Morse, principal, Union Hill  School; Kareem Tatum, assistant principal, Union Hill School; Deborah Lantaigne, Dept. of Elementary and Secondary Education; and Len Zalauskas, president of the Educational Association of Worcester. To reserve, please email [email protected]

  

Jennifer Davis Carey
Executive Director
Worcester Education Collaborative
508-757-5631 ext.252