Supporting our Students through COVID-19 and Beyond

Friday, March 19, 2021 - 10:00 AM

Senate President Karen Spilka hosted a virtual forum for parents and educators as a part of her MetroWest Kids Initiative to promote the benefits of social-emotional learning during this challenging time. Members of our Rennie Center team presented on how schools and communities can support students’ health and well-being during COVID-19 and in the years to come. And representatives from Framingham, Natick, and Methuen Public Schools shared strategies for supporting students' social-emotional well-being and helping students heal from trauma.

EVENT PROGRAM PRESENTATION RESOURCE GUIDE

SPEAKERS

Senate President Karen E. Spilka
(D-Ashland)

Katie Brown
Transition Coordinator, Office of Student Services, Natick High School

John Crocker
Director of School Mental Health and Behavioral Services, Methuen Public Schools

Annelise Eaton
Research Director, Rennie Center for Education Research & Policy

Tiffany Lillie
Director of Community Resource Development, Framingham Public Schools

Sophie Zamarripa
Associate, Rennie Center for Education Research & Policy

Blog

Rethinking Grading

March 28, 2024

Schools have assessed student learning and growth with essentially the same grading system for more than a century. Since this system was created, the field has learned so much more about the way students learn, the systemic inequities embedded in the design of traditional grading and assessment, and what type of learning leads to success in life. Grading should be aligned with what we know about the learning process, child and adolescent development, and the demands of career, college, and community life. But traditional grading is so deeply ingrained in our culture, that making changes to this system can seem like an insurmountable task. That’s why we partnered with DESE and reDesign to support five unique high schools as they interrogate their traditional grading practices and make shifts toward new systems that better measure student learning and growth.