PRIDE & PROGRESS
WEC has been a steadfast leader in the community, in partnership with individuals and organizations. At our 12th Annual Meeting, we celebrate our accomplishments and preview the year ahead.
Our newest project, Woo-Labs, has received overwhelmingly positive feedback.
"I am thrilled to say that all the learning that we got in the summer was able to kick off school year learning for students...This opportunity came just at the right time" says Christina Puleo, Executive Director of YMCA of Central Mass.
Juana Matias, MassINC's Chief Operating Office,
Following a presentation on Woo-Labs, we were joined by MA Elementary and Secondary Education Commissioner, Jeffrey Riley, MA Higher Education Commissioner, Carlos Santiago, and MassINC's Chief Operating Office, Juana Matias.
Highlights and key takeaways:
Our major focus should be on early childhood education. We must approach all issues through a racial equity lens, in order to build the right infrastructure for students and families to succeed from the start.
Colleges and universities need to hyper-focus on multifaceted issues that affect marginalized students. Schools have to deal with affordability, eliminating remediation, and changing the admissions practices.
The COVID-19 pandemic allowed us to step back and rethink how should assess students, moving forward. We need assessments that tell us how students are doing with multiples intelligences.
Juana Matias, Chief Operating Officer of MassINC, facilitated a critical conversation,“Reimagining Education; Breaking Down Walls.” The conversation touched upon key topics related to in- and out-of-school alignment.
WHAT WE HEARD FROM OUR SPEAKERS
Carlos Santiago, MA Higher Education Commissioner,
Jeffrey Riley, MA Elementary and Secondary Education Commissioner
on Diversity & Equity in Teacher Population
Jeffrey Riley, MA Elementary and Secondary Education Commissioner, says
"We are seeing now that the workforce in Massachusetts has become more diverse since the pandemic, due to emergency licenses and grants which support student teachers.
The hard work will be to continue to employ and retain teachers who represent the student population."
on Early College Access & Support Systems
Carlos Santiago, MA Higher Education Commissioner, says
"We have told our campuses that we must begin to look at students differently. Rather than looking at them to meet a particular bar, we must ask ourselves - do we have what it takes to support them? We need to be honest about how we are guiding students. Especially those who are the first in their family to attend college. This must be a cultural change."
Video segments part 1 - 6. available on YouTube.
P-16 Continuum
"Are there ways we can better link learning goals between the Pre-k through 16 continuum?"
Leveraging interventions to ensure success
"Is there a single intervention that our non profit, private, and public sector partners should be leveraging in their districts? What would that be?"
Disparity gaps in learning opportunities
“Are there sound practices that we can increase access to these opportunities for all students? In particular, for students who have been traditionally disenfranchised?”
Funding opportunities
“What are you both doing to ensure that the funding is going to programs that are demonstrating success?”
A better way to assess student performance
One of the disruptions of the pandemic led to increased scrutiny of the MCAT's. Concurrently, there's been and interest in using alternative measures of assessment, considering social and emotional learning and school climate a
What do you see on the horizon, with assessments, that provide more actionable information at the student level for parents, teachers, and students?
Diversity in teacher population
Diversifying the teacher workforce is a priority, but we are challenged with teacher shortages. Question: Given that both wings of the education sector have a role to play in getting teachers in classrooms, what work is being done either independently or in concert, to meet these needs and to incentivize new, diverse teacher development?
THANK YOU
To all our youth development professionals, educators, and education leaders
who have worked so tirelessly throughout the pandemic
to support our students through unimaginable challenges.
