Tag Archives: OSSE

Farewell from Ward 1 Representative Emily Gasoi

It has been an incredible honor and an incredible learning experience to have served on the D.C. State Board of Education over these past four years—three of them through the pandemic. I appreciate the opportunity to share some highlights in this farewell. In my first year on the State Board, I helped start the WardContinue reading “Farewell from Ward 1 Representative Emily Gasoi”

Farewell from Ward 3 Representative Ruth Wattenberg

When I joined the State Board eight years ago, the State Board itself was just eight years old! It had been rightly and urgently focused on initial tasks, like getting the city’s first academic standards written and approved. It was not really an arena for elevating issues and voices. Under our rules at the time,Continue reading “Farewell from Ward 3 Representative Ruth Wattenberg”

Farewell from Ward 5 Representative Zachary Parker

As my time ends on the D.C. State Board of Education, I am proud to reflect on the tremendous impact the State Board has had on the D.C. education landscape in recent years. In my first year on the State Board, I authored a resolution calling on more robust support for students with learning disabilities,Continue reading “Farewell from Ward 5 Representative Zachary Parker”

Farewell from Ward 6 Representative Jessica Sutter

It has been the honor of a lifetime to serve my neighbors, the students, and the schools of Ward 6 for the past four years. Being trusted by my colleagues to serve as State Board President for the last year of the term was the icing on the cake of a wonderful experience of publicContinue reading “Farewell from Ward 6 Representative Jessica Sutter”

2020 in Review Part 3: D.C. State Board of Education Annual Report

Dear Residents of the District of Columbia, This is not the year we expected. Our city, our school communities, and the State Board’s agenda planned for 2020 were changed in unprecedented ways by the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, schools were forced to suddenly close this spring, and, as of now, our city is stillContinue reading “2020 in Review Part 3: D.C. State Board of Education Annual Report”

School-Based Behavioral Health, Community of Practice, and More: Resource Sharing from OSSE’s Technical Assistance Calls

By Rachel Duff, Policy Fellow Since July 2020, the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) has been hosting virtual webinars and meetings on a variety of topics for local education agencies and school leaders (registration can be found here). On September 15, OSSE brought in a panel of experts to focus on mentalContinue reading “School-Based Behavioral Health, Community of Practice, and More: Resource Sharing from OSSE’s Technical Assistance Calls”

School Climate in the District and Beyond

By Sandra Mansour, Policy Fellow School climate has always been an important area in education, but given the global COVID-19 pandemic, education officials are giving this area of schooling increasingly more attention. School climate does not refer to whether a school’s temperature is hot or cold, as the name might entail. Rather, while there isContinue reading “School Climate in the District and Beyond”

SBOE Director Shares Best Practices to Engage State Policymakers

Earlier this month, Executive Director John-Paul Hayworth had the pleasure to serve as a panelist at the first in-person convening of the Leadership Exchange for Adolescent Health Promotion (LEAHP) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.