Mekka Smith – Rappaport

Organization

Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston

Program

Rappaport Public Policy Fellow

Year

2021

Rappaport Public Policy Fellows spend 10 weeks each summer serving within the highest levels of state and municipal governments in the Greater Boston Area. The program includes students from graduate and professional programs at local universities.

Graduate School
Harvard Graduate School of Education

Undergraduate School
Amherst College

Mentor
Stephen Chan, The Boston Foundation and Rappaport Institute Advisory Board Member and Kelsey Edmond, UMass Boston and former Rappaport Public Policy Fellow Placement: Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Agency
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Supervisor
Jackie Gantzer, Director of Remote Learning

Description of Fellowship
Mekka worked with the Remote Learning team at the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, which was created in the spring of 2020 to provide technical assistance to districts in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

During the summer of 2021, Mekka supported this team’s strategic planning process to transition to a sustainable Educational Technology (EdTech) team. She provided comparison research data, facilitated planning protocols with education and technology consultants, and synthesized information from internal and external stakeholders. Her deliverables included a SY22 work plan for the DESE EdTech Team, featuring a new mission and vision supported by defined goals and metrics.