ESE

Due to coronavirus pandemic, Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education looks to waive MCAS testing requirements for certain students

Posted on Wednesday, May 27th, 2020 by Collaborative for Educational Services

Source: Jackson Cote, Masslive
Date: 5/26/2020
Link: Complete Article

State education officials are looking to waive certain high school testing requirements for many students in Massachusetts due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education Commissioner Jeffrey C. Riley posted a memo ahead of the board’s Tuesday afternoon meeting in which he recommended modifying the “competency determination” for high school graduation for… [Read More]

ESE Issues Fiscal Conditions in Rural School Districts Report

Posted on Friday, March 2nd, 2018 by Collaborative for Educational Services

Source: Kathy Levesque, Collaborative for Educational Services
Date: 3/2/2018

In January, the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (ESE) filed a report with the Joint Committee on Ways & Means, the Joint Committee on Education and the Commonwealth’s Rural Policy Advisory Commission on Fiscal Conditions in Rural School Districts. The report was part of a feasibility study requested by the legislature, relative to establishing… [Read More]

Jeff Riley Will Be Massachusetts’ New Education Commissioner

Posted on Tuesday, January 30th, 2018 by Collaborative for Educational Services

Source: Max Larkin, WBUR.org
Date: 1/30/2017
Link: Complete Article

It’s official: Jeff Riley will be the state’s next education commissioner. Members of the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education voted 8-3 to recommend Riley for the post. Among his supporters, Education Sec. James Peyser, who will make the official appointment. “Riley is probably the best choice for us at this time,” Peyser said. Riley… [Read More]

State hopes to hire new education czar by end of the year

Posted on Wednesday, August 16th, 2017 by Collaborative for Educational Services

Source: Katie Lannan, Lowell Sun
Date: 8/15/2017
Link: Complete Article

MALDEN — The state education board is embarking on its first search for a new elementary and secondary education commissioner in a decade, with top officials hoping to land on a candidate by the end of the year. Commissioner Mitchell Chester — who had been the longest-serving chief state school officer in the country —… [Read More]

Mitchell Chester, State’s Longtime Education Commissioner, Dies At 65

Posted on Tuesday, June 27th, 2017 by Collaborative for Educational Services

Source: Katie Lannan, WBUR
Date: 6/27/2017
Link: Complete Article

Longtime Elementary and Secondary Education Commissioner Mitchell Chester died Monday evening after a short illness, the state’s education board chairman announced at a Tuesday meeting. He was 65. “We were obviously stunned by his death and deeply saddened,” Board of Elementary and Secondary Education Chair Paul Sagan said. Chester had been battling cancer. The board… [Read More]

Three Charter Schools in Massachusetts approved

Posted on Tuesday, February 28th, 2017 by Collaborative for Educational Services

Source: Rebecca Greenberg, WWLP
Date: 2/27/2017
Link: Complete Article

MALDEN, MA – The state education board approved three new charter schools, two of which will be here in western Massachusetts. The decision comes after Massachusetts residents voted against allowing state to authorize up to 12 new charter schools or expansions per year. The board of Elementary and Secondary Education met in Malden Monday to… [Read More]

State board rejects Hadley Chinese charter school expansion

Posted on Tuesday, February 28th, 2017 by Collaborative for Educational Services

Source: Scott Merzbach, The Daily Hampshire Gazette
Date: 2/28/2017
Link: Complete Article

HADLEY, MA — After hearing testimony that the Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter School is draining resources from local school districts and not educating a sufficiently diverse student body, the state’s Board of Elementary and Secondary Education on Monday turned down a proposed expansion to nearly double its enrollment. In a voice vote about four… [Read More]

The Collaborative for Educational Services launches statewide Special Education Team Leader Institute

Posted on Tuesday, July 19th, 2016 by Collaborative for Educational Services

Source: Martha Maloney, Collaborative for Educational Services
Date: July 19, 2016

Northampton, MA — The Collaborative for Educational Services (CES) in Northampton, MA has announced the launch this fall of the Special Education Team Leader Institute. The Institute’s mission, in partnership with and supported by the MA Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (ESE)’s Office of Special Education Policy and Planning, will be to equip special… [Read More]

Massachusetts receives $4 million Gates Foundation grant

Posted on Friday, November 20th, 2015 by Collaborative for Educational Services

Source: Lauren Fox, Boston Globe
Date: 11/20/2015
Link: Complete Article

Massachusetts has been named one of five recipients nationwide that will receive a $4 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Commonwealth will use the funds for educator preparation programs, officials said. The state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education announced Thursday in a statement that the money will be utilized… [Read More]