The Every Student Succeeds Act

After passing in the Senate and House, the new federal education bill, Every Student Succeeds Act, was signed into law by President Obama on Wednesday.

While it remains to be seen exactly what impact the bill will have on public education in Massachusetts, it will clearly have an impact.  For more information on the bill, check out the US Department of Education’s ESSA (Every Student Succeeds Act) webpage.

MCAS 2.0?

On November 17, the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education voted to reimagine one of the major benchmarks used to assess student achievement.  A new assessment would incorporate elements of the PARCC in a brand new MCAS test.

For more information, follow this link to read the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s press release from November 17, 2015.

Registration Reminder!

Spring 2016 CES Licensure course registration is now open. Register online today.

How do young readers build foundational skills that will serve them well, K-12? Word Study, a skill set introduced in K-3 for all students and as a Tier 2 intervention for older students (particularly for students whose schooling has been interrupted), is mission-critical for children learning to read.  How do teachers differentiate instruction for students from diverse backgrounds?  Word Study is an excellent tool in the toolkit of both general education and special education teachers.

Based on teacher input regarding important licensure program content, CES has introduced a one-day Word Study workshop requirement for Moderate Disabilities licensure candidates. The course is available for free to candidates enrolling in a Moderate Disabilities licensure program as of November 1, 2015. Others may pay to take the workshop for professional development. Sign up for this or other courses via our online course catalog.

On Wednesday, December 9th, CES will host two special Welcome Wednesday information sessions for educators interested in joining one of our newly redesigned Administrative Licensure programs. Classes toward Administrative Licensure in either the Principal/Assistant Principal or Supervisor/Director fields will begin this coming January, 2016. Attend a free info session in either Marlborough or Northampton to learn more about these programs.

Info sessions are held from 4:30pm – 5:30pm in Marlborough and 4:00pm – 5:00pm in Northampton. Dates and locations for this and all future Welcome Wednesday sessions can be found on our website.

You can also view and register for Administrative licensure courses via our online course catalog. Spring 2016 course registration is currently open.

Students who enroll in both a CES Initial Licensure program and the Master’s of Education program in partnership with Fitchburg State University have the added benefit of two student advisors. Many of our extended campus students have been used to working with Dr. Steve Hemman in regard to graduate plans of study. Dr. Hemman has recently taken on a new role, and our students will now be advised by Curriculum and Teaching Graduate Program Chair, Dr. Elaine Francis. Elaine can be reached at efrancis@fitchburgstate.edu.

You can learn more about the hybrid-online Masters program through CES and Fitchburg State on our website.

On August 19th, CES Licensure became one of the first programs to gain DESE approval under the rigorous new Educator Preparation Program regulations. Thank you to all of our current and former students whose input and participation helped to ensure that CES Licensure will continue to offer effective, practical routes to teacher licensure in Massachusetts.

In addition to the approval of our teacher Initial licensure programs, CES was also approved to offer two Administrator licensure programs, Principal/Assistant Principal and Supervisor/Director. Our new Administrator licensure programs will begin in January 2016.

Read more about our program approval in the CES Newsroom.