Dear Colleagues,
Happy Friday Junior! Even better news is that after the real Friday tomorrow, the next week is April Break and time for you to get much deserved rest, relaxation and rejuvenation! Please model for your staff and take time for yourself as it has been an exhausting time since February Break. You need to take care of you! To model this need you could put an away message on your email that says that you are stepping away for much needed rest, relaxation and rejuvenation to be refreshed for the last chapter of the school year. Think about it as it could be an important message to send to your staff.
In this pre vacation edition you will find the following: (1) DESE/MSAA joint position paper on play, (2) a call for future leaders to enroll in our Leadership Licensure Program (LLP), (3) professional development on mental health offered over the next few months via the Rennie Center, (4) NAESP/NASSP are offering an anonymous survey in conjunction with the CDC to identify how to safely sustain or return to in-person learning and optimize educational and mental health outcomes for students and school communities, (5) and, finally, five thought provoking articles which hopefully lead to positive actions in your schools and districts.
Play Position Paper (click here)
DESE and MSAA are pleased to release a joint position statement on play as an instructional strategy in the early grades. Entitled Approaches to Intentional and Playful Learning in Preschool through Grade 3 (PK–3) Classrooms: A Joint Position Statement of the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) and the Massachusetts School Administrators Association (MSAA), this statement calls attention to the importance of deepening the learning and engagement of our youngest students through intentionally planned playful learning opportunities that are tied to our state's learning standards.
The importance of this statement has been heightened with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and our planning for recovery and beyond.
We encourage district and school administrators, classroom educators, community organizations and families to engage with this position statement, create opportunities to talk about what playful learning looks like in school-day classrooms and out-of-school time programs and how families and organizations can extend playful learning into the community and beyond.
Leadership Licensure Program LLP
Please consider who in your building is that standout teacher leader(s) and encourage them to pursue their licensure in administration! Our LLP (Leadership Licensure Program) is the premiere program in the Commonwealth - we need to support our future leaders! See below for the descriptor and link.
The Leadership Licensure Program (LLP) has been in existence for more than 15 years. LLP candidates share that their supervisors (Superintendents, principals, assistant principals, etc.) were instrumental in leading them towards application.
Some of the strengths of LLP is that instructors are practitioners in their field. They are full time superintendents, principals, and other leaders across the state and then teach LLP courses during the summer and weekends. These leaders combine the theoretical and real-world experiences of today’s leaders in all their classes. In addition, the LLP Coordinator is a scorer of the MAPAL system and trains new scorers, resulting in unprecedented support for candidates in completing MAPAL.
MSAA needs each of its members to seek teacher-leaders and encourage them towards a career in educational leadership. The 1+ year LLP is the vehicle to train aspiring leaders to the necessary skills that are necessary for the future.
If you know of likely LLP candidates, please direct them to the LLP website at www.leadershiplicensure.org, and encourage them to apply.
Rennie Center Mental Health PD for Schools
Check out the Rennie Center link that is offering some outstanding professional development opportunities over the next few months. This professional development is specifically dealing with mental health issues for school staff.
Through a partnership with the Department, over the next several months the Rennie Center, Massachusetts School Mental Health Consortium, and BRYT (Bridge for Resilient Youth in Transition) will offer a comprehensive school mental health PD program to Massachusetts district and school staff. Click here for a listing by date of the PD offerings.
NAESP/NASSP Anonymous Survey
NAESP and NASSP just began working with the CDC Foundation to provide assistance on an important new national data collection project. We are promoting this anonymous survey to all school leaders that seeks to gain the most up to date insights about their experiences guiding their schools through the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
We believe that this new research effort will have a far reaching impact on education policy as schools and communities continue to weigh challenging decisions regarding the safety of in-person versus remote learning. CDC Foundation is collecting data from many different communities as part of this study including teachers, parents, other school staff, and government officials. We need to make sure that the principals’ perspective is adequately represented in this expansive new research. The data that participants provide will help the CDC Foundation identify how to safely sustain or return to in-person learning and optimize educational and mental health outcomes for students and school communities.
The CDC Foundation is offering a $20 gift card when someone completes the survey. It takes about 15 minutes to complete, and personal information is kept completely confidential. If you have the capacity, we would greatly appreciate your assistance in spreading the word about the survey and asking your members and stakeholders to participate. Feel free to use the information in this message or let us know if you have any questions. You can share the link to the survey in emails, newsletters, social media, or anywhere you think it will have the most impact.
Survey link: https://survey.iad1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6LQ3F030f3k3Hsa
Articles
I have included five articles I believe are important reads as we return to in-person learning. The first two address anti-racism. The first is titled Decolonize Reading Instruction for Black Boys. The second article is titled The Exhaustion of being a Black teacher when you are one of too few educators of color. As well-intentioned schools with mostly white staffs scramble to respond to a reckoning on racism, an “invisible tax” of work falls on too few teachers and administrators like Malcolm Cawthorne in Brookline.
Articles 3 & 4 are of particular interest to me as they address the pitfalls of deficit thinking in terms of "lost learning". These articles will get you thinking about how important it is that we choose our words and actions carefully as our students return to in person learning.
The 5th article from NASSP is a delightful read on building connections through storytelling and penned by our own MSAA Board member and Principal of Joseph Case High School!
Closing Message from Bill Gaine
On behalf of MSAA and Executive Director, Bill Gaine: Stay safe, stay strong, and take time for yourself.
Warm Regards,
Beth
Beth Wittcoff
MSAA Assistant Executive Director
MSAA Matters Newsletter
Middle Level and Elementary Committee Liaison
Ring Central Gatherings
