Week In Review: DCF Bella Bond Report, Spotlight Movie, MCAS Vs. PARCC, And MGH Surgery Policy

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• "Governor Charlie Baker said Thursday that the Department of Children and Families will examine the previous work done by an employee who copied years-old reports when preparing evaluations of the mother of Bella Bond, the 2-year-old whose body was found on Deer Island in June. Baker left open the possibility that the worker could be disciplined."

• "A blogger with a slingshot can hit the occasional target, but the kind of sustained, broadly read coverage that can change entrenched policies and practices can only be provided by a robust news organization. Ultimately the Globe published more than 600 stories in its series, which won the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for public service. As 'Spotlight' director Tom McCarthy said recently, 'It takes institutions to watch institutions.'"

• "The future of school testing has long been a subject of passionate debate. It’s back in the news here in Massachusetts because of plans to ditch the MCAS, which students have been taking since 1998, in favor of the PARCC test. PARCC stands for the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers. It’s a computer-based test linked to the new Common Core standards in math and English. The shift has reignited the debate between those who demand accountability and evidence that ALL children are learning, and the critics, who say 'teaching to the test' comes at the expense of real education."

• "More broadly, MGH officials say their analysis of hundreds of orthopedic cases from 2013 and 2014 found no significant difference in complication rates between overlapping and non-overlapping cases. They describe the practice as an extension of the teaching hospital’s team approach, pairing senior doctors with residents — surgical trainees — and fellows, who have finished their general orthopedic surgery residency and are training in a subspecialty."

• "Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, who assumed the job after Menino decided not to run for re-election in 2013, appears in the background of a Boston Globe photo that captured Menino shaking hands on the campaign trail. While his face is shaded by the brim of his Red Sox hat, Mayor Walsh’s office did confirm that the man standing along the gate just by the stop sign is in fact Boston’s current mayor. The photo was taken at the Columbus Day Parade in the North End, just as Menino was gearing up for his first mayoral election."

• "It may seem like a Halloween hoax fit for the eerie October holiday. But officials from the MBTA say the discovery of two tattered rags affixed to strange masks at Government Center Station is all too real. As part of a two-year, $82 million renovation project, crews have been making repairs to the Blue Line platforms at the station, according to T spokesman Joe Pesaturo. While on the job this week, crews discovered the two star-spangled garments, formed by masks stitched to cloaks, tucked away in a hollow section of concrete that was poured more than 60 years ago."