Section:
Most Recently Amended by the Board of Education: June 28, 2022
(1) Designating districts as underperforming The Board may designate a district as underperforming upon recommendation of the commissioner based on findings from a district review, monitoring report, or follow-up review showing serious deficiencies, relating to one or more district standards, that are likely if they are not addressed effectively and in a timely manner to have a substantial negative effect on student performance in the district, putting the district at risk of being designated as chronically underperforming.
(2) Designating schools as underperforming
(a) A school shall be eligible for designation as underperforming if it scores in the lowest 20% statewide of schools serving common grade levels on a single measure developed by the Department that takes into account at least:
school MCAS achievement in English language arts, mathematics, and science; and
student growth in English language arts and mathematics.
(b) The commissioner may designate a school as underperforming on the basis of quantitative data including but not limited to:
school MCAS achievement in English language arts, mathematics, and science;
change in school MCAS achievement;
annual student growth on MCAS for students at the school as compared with peers across the Commonwealth;
in the case of high schools, graduation and dropout rates; or
other indicators of school performance including student attendance, dismissal, suspension, exclusion, and promotion rates upon the determination of each indicator's reliability and validity, or lack of demonstrated significant improvement for two or more consecutive years in core academic subjects, either in the aggregate or among subgroups of students, including designations based on special education, economically disadvantaged, English learner status, and racial classifications; or on the basis of information from a school or district review performed under M.G.L. c.15, § 55A.
(c) Charter schools and Commonwealth of Massachusetts virtual schools shall not be eligible for designation as underperforming schools. Charter schools shall also be held accountable under the provisions of M.G.L. c. 71, § 89, and 603 CMR 1.00. Commonwealth of Massachusetts virtual schools shall also be held accountable under the provisions of M.G.L. c. 71, § 94, and 603 CMR 52.00.
(d) Not more than 4% of the total number of public schools may be designated as underperforming or chronically underperforming, taken together, at any given time.
(3) Notification The Department shall notify districts in which any school is designated as underperforming. The notification shall be made to the school committee, superintendent, and local teachers' union or association president, and the principal and the parent organization of any school designated as underperforming.
(4) Appointment of assistance and accountability personnel Upon designating a district as underperforming, the Department may make any or all of the following appointments:
(a) an assistance lead:
to support the district in developing and carrying out a turnaround plan for each of its underperforming schools, if any; and
to support the district in district improvement planning pursuant to 603 CMR 2.05(8), if required;
(b) an accountability monitor to determine and report on:
whether the goals, benchmarks, and timetable in the turnaround plan for each of the district's underperforming schools, if any, are being met; and
if the district has an Underperforming District Plan pursuant to 603 CMR 2.08(c), whether its goals, benchmarks, and timetable are being met; and
(c) an individual or team to conduct monitoring site visits to the district or its schools.
(5) Turnaround plans for underperforming schools
(a) The turnaround plan developed for each school designated as underperforming shall:
be authorized, pursuant to M.G.L. c. 69, s. § 1J(j), for a period of up to three years, and remain in effect until the statutory process to develop any new, modified, or renewed turnaround plan has been completed, or the school has been removed from underperforming status;
fulfill the other requirements of M.G.L. c. 69, § 1J;
provide for the implementation of the standards and indicators published pursuant to 603 CMR 2.03(6)(a) and (b);
include benchmarks by which to measure progress toward the annual goals included in the plan pursuant to M.G.L. c. 69, § 1J, and the standards and indicators, and a timetable for achieving those benchmarks;
include descriptions of the assistance to be provided by the Department in support of the action steps in the plan, as agreed on by the Department and the superintendent, subject to the availability of resources for the Department to provide the assistance; and
be prepared on a format provided by the Department.
(b) Once the superintendent has received the recommendations of the local stakeholder group under M.G.L. c. 69, § 1J(b), the superintendent may request that the school committee and any union bargain or reopen the bargaining of the relevant collective bargaining agreement, pursuant to M.G.L. c. 69, § 1J(g). If necessary, the 30 days provided by M.G.L. c. 69, § 1J(e) for the superintendent to submit a turnaround plan for modifications to the local stakeholder group, school committee, and commissioner shall be extended, without exceeding the time periods mandated by M.G.L. c. 69, § 1J(g), to provide time for bargaining, ratification, a dispute resolution process, the submission of a decision by the joint resolution committee, or a resolution by the commissioner, pursuant to M.G.L. c. 69, § 1J(g).
(c) Within 30 days of the issuance of the superintendent's final turnaround plan under M.G.L. c. 69, § 1J(e), the commissioner shall review the plan and may, in consultation with the superintendent, propose modifications to the plan if the commissioner determines that
such modifications would further promote the rapid academic achievement of students in the school;
a component of the plan was included, or a modification under M.G.L. c. 69, § 1J(e) was excluded, on the basis of demonstrably false information or evidence; or
the superintendent failed to meet the requirements of M.G.L. c. 69, § 1J(b) to (e), inclusive.
(d) Within 30 days of the issuance of the superintendent's final turnaround plan under M.G.L. c. 69, § 1J(e), the school committee or local union may appeal to the commissioner one or more components of the plan pursuant to M.G.L. c. 69, § 1J(f). Within 30 days of the receipt of such appeal, the commissioner shall decide the appeal and may, in consultation with the superintendent, make one or more modifications to the plan based on the appeal if the commissioner makes any of the determinations in 603 CMR 2.05(5)(c)1 through 3. The commissioner's decision on the appeal shall be final.
(e) Within 30 days of the receipt of the last appeal made under M.G.L. c. 69, § 1J(f) and 603 CMR 2.05(5)(d), or, if no such appeal is received within 30 days of the issuance of the superintendent's final turnaround plan under M.G.L. c. 69, § 1J(e), at the expiration of those 30 days, the commissioner shall return the turnaround plan to the superintendent incorporating any modifications made under 603 CMR 2.05(5)(c) or (d), or both. Such return of the plan to the superintendent shall constitute the commissioner's approval, pursuant to M.G.L. c. 69, § 1J(b), of the plan returned.
(6) Annual reviews of underperforming schools Superintendents shall use a format provided by the Department for the reviews to be submitted to the commissioner and school committee at least annually pursuant to M.G.L. c. 69, § 1J(k).
(7) Receiver for an underperforming school
(a) If the superintendent appoints a receiver for an underperforming school pursuant to M.G.L. c. 69, s. 1J(h), the superintendent shall define the scope of the receiver's powers, up to and including all of the powers of the superintendent over the school, including all of the powers granted by M.G.L. c. 69, s. 1J. The superintendent may from time to time modify the scope of the receiver's powers based on conditions in the school. The receiver shall report directly to the superintendent.
(b) If the commissioner requires the superintendent to terminate the receiver for an underperforming school pursuant to M.G.L. c. 69, § 1J(k), the superintendent may, with the approval of the commissioner, select and appoint another receiver for the school in accordance with M.G.L. c. 69, § 1J(h) and 603 CMR 2.05(7)(a).
(8) District improvement planning for underperforming districts
(a) The turnaround plan developed pursuant to 603 CMR 2.05(5) for any underperforming school shall include, among its provisions pursuant to 603 CMR 2.05(5)(a)(3) for the implementation of the standards and indicators, provisions for the improvement of district systems for school support and intervention in accordance with the standards and indicators published pursuant to 603 CMR 2.03(6)(a) and (b).
(b) If a district has been designated as underperforming pursuant to 603 CMR 2.05(1), the Department shall notify the underperforming district that it is required to develop an Underperforming District Plan in order to correct the serious deficiencies identified in the district pursuant to 603 CMR 2.05(1).
(c) Each underperforming district notified by the Department pursuant to 603 CMR 2.05(8)(b) shall develop an Underperforming District Plan that includes goals and benchmarks appropriate to the reasons it has been required to develop an Underperforming District Plan, along with strategies, action steps, and a timetable for achieving those goals and benchmarks. The Underperforming District Plan shall be prepared on a format provided by the Department.
(d) An underperforming district shall submit any required Underperforming District Plan and any successor Underperforming District Plan for approval by the Department. A district whose Underperforming District Plan is approved by the Department shall receive priority for Department assistance. From year to year, continued priority for Department assistance shall be dependent on the district's success in achieving the goals and benchmarks in the approved Underperforming District Plan or approved successor Underperforming District Plan in accordance with the approved timetable.
(9) Annual report to Board The commissioner shall report annually to the Board on the progress made by districts and schools designated as underperforming.
(10) Removal of underperforming school designation
(a) The commissioner shall define for each underperforming school the academic and other progress that it must make for it to be removed from underperforming status. Such progress may include:
an increase in student achievement for three years for students overall and for each subgroup of students, as shown by;
an increase in MCAS scores and an increase in student growth;
(for a high school) a higher graduation rate; and
(for a high school) a measure of postsecondary success, once the Department identifies one that is sufficiently reliable, valid, and timely; and
progress in implementing the standards and indicators published pursuant to 603 CMR 2.03(6)(a) and (b).
(b) The commissioner, in defining the required progress for each school, shall customize it to the particular reasons the school was designated as underperforming, defining it as any or all of the progress in 2.05(10)(a)1 and 2, or any other progress the commissioner determines appropriate.
(c) After consultation with the superintendent, the commissioner shall remove a school from underperforming status when, at any time, the commissioner determines, based on evidence that may include evidence from a report from the accountability monitor appointed pursuant to 603 CMR 2.05(4)(b), a review by the superintendent submitted pursuant to M.G.L. c. 69, J(k), a review conducted by the commissioner pursuant to M.G.L. c. 69, § 1J(l), or a district review or a follow-up review, that:
the school has achieved the academic and other progress defined by the commissioner under 603 CMR 2.05(10)(a) and (b) as necessary to allow it to be removed from underperforming status; and
the district has the capacity to continue making progress in improving school performance without the accountability and assistance provided due to the school's designation as underperforming.
(d) At the expiration of the turnaround plan, in conducting a review of the school pursuant to M.G.L. c. 69, § 1J(l), the commissioner shall consider whether the conditions described in 603 CMR 2.05(10)(c)1 and 2 exist. If the commissioner determines that both of these conditions exist, he or she shall remove the school from underperforming status.
(e) Following his review, the commissioner will make a determination as to whether the school has improved sufficiently to be removed from underperforming status; maintains its underperforming designation; or is chronically underperforming. The commissioner will make the determination in a reasonable period of time, and in any event within 2 months following the release of MCAS test results. The commissioner may extend this period of time for good cause.
(f) Notwithstanding the foregoing requirements of 603 CMR 2.05(10), the commissioner may remove from underperforming status any school for which he or she approves a proposal by the district to close the school.
(11) Effect of removal of school from underperforming status; transitional period
(a) Upon the commissioner's removal of a school from underperforming status pursuant to 603 CMR 2.05(10)(c) or (d), the provisions of M.G.L. c. 69, § 1J, for schools designated as underperforming shall no longer apply to it and the employment of any receiver for the school shall end.
(b) The district and school may continue their relationship with any external partner appointed to advise or assist the superintendent in the implementation of the turnaround plan and may continue to use the turnaround plan in order to continue to improve school performance, renewing or revising it as appropriate, provided that any feature of the turnaround plan that was adopted pursuant to M.G.L. c. 69, § 1J(d), in contravention of any general or special law to the contrary shall be discontinued unless:
no more than one year before the removal of the school from underperforming status the superintendent proposed to continue such feature of the turnaround plan for a transitional period after the school's removal from underperforming status, supporting this proposal with a written explication of the reasons this continuation is necessary and providing the school committee, the teachers' union or association, and the parent organization for the school with a copy of the proposal and supporting documents; and
before removing the school from underperforming status the commissioner determined, after considering any opposition from the school committee, the teachers' union or association, or the parent organization for the school, that such feature of the turnaround plan would contribute to the continued improvement of the school and should continue after the removal.
The superintendent may propose to continue and the commissioner may allow to continue more than one such feature of the turnaround plan.
(c) Upon making a determination pursuant to 603 CMR 2.05(11)(b)2 that such feature or features of the turnaround plan should continue, the commissioner shall define the progress that the school must make for each continuing feature of the plan to be discontinued.
(d) On determination by the commissioner at any time, based on evidence that may include evidence from a school or district review or a follow-up review, that the school has made the progress defined under 603 CMR 2.05(11)(c) as necessary to allow a continuing feature of the turnaround plan to be discontinued
such feature shall be discontinued; and
any powers granted to the commissioner or Board with respect to the school under M.G.L. c. 69, § 1J, that did not cease on removal of the school from underperforming status shall cease.
(e) Two years after the removal of the school from underperforming status, if any of the continuing features of the turnaround plan has yet to be discontinued, the commissioner shall conduct a review of the school to determine whether such continuing feature or features should remain in place or be discontinued.
(12) Removal of underperforming district designation A district with an Underperforming District Plan shall be removed from underperforming status by the commissioner when the commissioner determines, based on evidence that may include evidence from a monitoring report or from a follow-up review, that
(a) the district has satisfactorily achieved the goals and benchmarks of its Underperforming District Plan; and
(b) the district has the capacity to continue making progress without the accountability and assistance provided by underperforming status.
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Last Updated: July 1, 2022
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