Canton schools prepping for program review, site visit

Dr. Jennifer Fischer-Mueller, Superintendent of the Canton Public Schools, was informed by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) of an upcoming Coordinated Program Review that will be taking place this school year.

As part of this review, DESE staff will visit the Canton Public Schools during the week of April 25. Such visits are routinely conducted by the department to satisfy federal and state requirements for the periodic review of specific education programs and services in schools throughout the commonwealth. The department is reviewing several programs during a single visit in order to use DESE and school staff’s time most efficiently and to encourage strong connections among the programs.

The department’s Coordinated Program Review will address the following programs: special education, civil rights and English language learning. After reviewing school district procedures for these programs, a DESE team will make its onsite visit, during which it will review individual student records, interview administrators, teachers and paraprofessional staff, survey parents and observe instructional spaces. After the onsite visit it will prepare a report for the superintendent and School Committee with detailed findings for each program.

Using a scale of ratings ranging from “Commendable” to “Not Implemented,” the report will rate the implementation of each requirement reviewed by the department. Where requirements are found not implemented or only partially implemented, the district must propose to the department corrective action to bring those areas into compliance with statutes and regulations. Districts and schools are encouraged to incorporate the corrective action into their district and school improvement plans and professional development plan. The school district will be provided with technical assistance from the department in developing a corrective action plan. Both the department’s report and the corrective action plan are public information and will be available to the public upon request. Program review final reports are also available on the department’s website at www.doe.mass.edu/pqa/review/cpr/reports.

Any member of the public may request to be interviewed by telephone by a member of DESE’s visiting team. Those wishing to be interviewed should call the superintendent’s office at 781-821-5060 ext. 1134 no later than April 12 to leave their name and phone number, or they may call the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education at 781-338- 3739. A member of the visiting team will contact each person desiring an interview within two weeks after the completion of the onsite visit. If an individual is not comfortable communicating in English or requires some other accommodation, the department will make arrangements to communicate appropriately with the individual.

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Posted by Canton Citizen on Apr 6 2018. Filed under News, Schools. Both comments and pings are currently closed.