Readiness Representative Primer
Dear Readiness Representative:
Welcome, and thank you for becoming a Readiness Representative!
This document is a brief guide to help you in your new role as a Readiness Representative.
It's a simple primer---it's not a script or a "how to" because the most important contribution you can provide is your dedication, your local input, and your personal reasons for caring about the future of education in Massachusetts. This is a resource to help you find information easily and a reference for you in your outreach to community leaders.
Please know that your feedback will be vital to the success of the Project. When you meet someone to talk about the goals of the Project, please share any feedback with your local city or town Readiness Coordinator. If you have ideas or suggestions on how best to move the Readiness Project's agenda forward, tell your local Readiness Coordinator. If you want to become a city or town coordinator, share that with your local Readiness Coordinator!
The Governor and each of us who have dedicated ourselves to the success of the Readiness Project know just how busy everyday life can become. Please know that you can make as much or as little out of being a Readiness Representative as your schedule allows, but every action step you take---no matter how little time you can commit---will make a difference.
Sincerely,
Clare Kelly
Advocacy Director
Deval Patrick Committee
Readiness Representative PRIMER
Introduce yourself and your role as a Readiness Representative. For example:
I am a member of Governor Patrick's Readiness Project. I'm working as a Readiness Representative in our community to build support for the Readiness Project, and advocating for our students and our schools.
Tell them why you've committed yourself. For example:
I am committed to the Readiness Project because I have children who go to school in Anytown, Massachusetts, and I'm worried about the quality of their education. Just last year, the schools were forced to cut music and arts classes. I want to make sure that in the future, our schools have the funding to support important classes like music and art because it's important that we give our children access to a well-rounded education---one that prepares the whole child.
Tell them the way forward, and let people know what you'll be doing. For example:
I'll be working to recruit support here in our community for the Readiness Project and its initiatives. I hope that my work will raise awareness of the importance of a forward-looking education system and increase public participation in the Readiness Project.
Ask them to help. For example:
I hope you will get engaged, and in turn, engage others, so that our voices can be heard. Would you consider attending the upcoming town hall forum to learn more?
COMMON QUESTIONS
1.What is the Readiness Project?
The Readiness Project is a statewide, sustained effort to fundamentally change the way we think about and deliver public education. It is an effort to advance a common vision for the future of public education---one that is student-centered, comprehensive, long-term, and ambitiously forward-leaning.
Under the leadership of Governor Patrick, and working with the brightest leaders and thinkers in government, education, business, and local communities, the Readiness Project Leadership Council will produce a ten-year strategic plan, which will be public, to implement the vision for education that the Governor has outlined for the Commonwealth.
It's about making sure that our Massachusetts public education system is about the whole child, not just success on a single standardized test.
It's about education that fosters student creativity of every sort and that develops students' ability to apply those kinds of problem-solving skills to a range of challenges.
It's about getting ready for our future.
2. Who is involved and what is the structure?
The Readiness Project has a formal committee structure and a grassroots, statewide organization of Readiness Representatives.
The Readiness Project Leadership Council and subcommittees consist of over 150 statewide volunteers, many of whom are teachers, parents, administrators, policy experts, business leaders, and community activists.
Subcommittees are organized around the following topics:
- Accountability & Assistance
- Curriculum Alignment
- Early Education & Care
- Education & Technology
- Expanded Teaching & Learning Time
- High School Plus
- Innovative Schools
- Long-Term Funding
- MCAS & Assessments
- Recruiting & Retaining Educators
- Public & Private Higher Education
- Whole Child
- UMass & Public Higher Education.
These subcommittees are hosting open meetings across the state as part of the formulation of the Readiness Project Plan that will be delivered to Governor Patrick early this spring.
These public meetings provide a forum for communities to provide input into the subcommittee's strategy and policy guidance.
Concurrently, people across the Commonwealth who are interested in supporting the aims and outcomes of the Readiness Project---beyond attending a public meeting---are becoming Readiness Representatives.
These Representatives will work to advocate for the goals of the Readiness Project, increase knowledge of the Readiness Project's goals in their local communities, recruit additional Readiness Representatives, and solicit input into the process and policy outcomes.
Readiness Representatives are charged with understanding the local issues affecting students, teachers, parents, and our schools, and working to build support for a movement behind education---one that is long term and committed to real progress.
3. What will be in the Strategic Plan?
The strategic plan, set to be delivered to the Governor next spring, will provide specific actions, timelines, cost projections and benchmarks to elevate Massachusetts's public education system.
The plan will set a course for the Commonwealth to:
- Provide every child with the opportunity to enter public school ready to learn.
- Provide every student with outstanding and highly qualified teachers who are respected professionals recruited from among the best and brightest in the Commonwealth.
- Provide every student with the support necessary to meet and exceed the state's high standards and expectations.
- Provide the support and infrastructure needed to ensure the opportunity for every student to have an accessible, affordable and globally competitive higher education.
- Provide an education system that enables every student to transition successfully from high school, to higher education, and to the workforce, ready to succeed and to be a productive, engaged, and contributing citizen.
How do we have input into the Strategic Plan?
There is a series of public meetings that are being held across the Commonwealth---many have been and will be convened by the Governor, and of the ones held, all involved Readiness Project subcommittees. Some meetings are focused on specific subcommittee topics; others are more broadly based. All meetings are open to the public, and provide community members with the opportunity to give input into the process.
If your community has a particular interest area and would like to host a committee meeting, please let your City or Town Readiness Coordinator know.
The feedback you provide to us through the website will be used as input to the Readiness Project.
As a resource for any policy questions, please e-mail Christina Wu, who is the Readiness Project Coordinator in the Executive Office, at Christina.Wu@state.ma.us, or call her at (617) 619-5637.