The Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education

The mission of the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education is to strengthen the Commonwealth's public education system so that every student is prepared to succeed in postsecondary education, compete in the global economy, and understand the rights and responsibilities of American citizens.

Goals & Priorities, 2008-2010

Progress Report: August 2009

1. Educator Effectiveness

Work in partnership with key stakeholders to establish an effective educator workforce development system, including recruitment, preparation, licensure, license renewal, induction, mentoring, supervision, evaluation, and career enhancement.

• Established a new Center for Educator Policy, Preparation, Licensure and Leadership Development to place the Department's work in supporting the educator continuum under one division; hired a new associate commissioner to oversee the center
• Implemented new math MTEL requirements for elementary and special education teachers
• Proposed policy standards for administrators, approved by the Board in June 2009; continued development of performance indicators for principals; initiated development of performance indicators for superintendents
• Launched partnerships with WGBH/WGBY, the Working Group for Educator Excellence, and other institutions to strengthen agency efforts along the educator workforce development continuum
• Renewed 45,000 educator licenses in FY09 (the five-year "bubble year" for license renewal) while issuing over 25,000 new licenses
• Collected all educator collective bargaining contracts statewide; in the process of making them publicly available and searchable online
• Redirected the work of the Education Personnel Advisory Committee to develop a report on the status of the Massachusetts educator workforce in 2009-2010
• Developed new protocols for joint approval/accreditation reviews with the Teacher Education Accreditation Council and pilot-tested an outcomes-based teacher preparation program approval process with five organizations in the spring, with an additional six scheduled for the fall

2. Curriculum and Instruction

Work in partnership with key stakeholders to build capacity of schools and districts to provide high quality curriculum and instruction for all students and prepare them for college and careers.

• Created a Center for Curriculum and Instruction within the Department to focus on supporting school and district efforts to improve curriculum and instruction
• Held a Curriculum and Instruction summit last fall; plan to hold a second summit in November 2009
• Signed the new MCAS testing contract, which includes reduced testing time and results returned to schools prior to the end of the school year
• Developed and piloted a growth model to measure individual student progress over time on MCAS; data will be available publicly on October 27
• Launched revisions of mathematics, English language arts, and science, technology, and engineering frameworks; coordinating that work with the proposed national standards
• Implemented the Educational Proficiency Plan (EPP) requirement by developing an MCAS/EPP assessment, creating a web-based resource center of requirements and sample documents, and holding regional trainings for districts
• Provided over 45 Professional Development Institutes on topics ranging from Assessing English Language Learners With Disabilities to the Massachusetts Intel Mathematics Initiative for teachers in the Commonwealth free of charge during summer 2009
• Provided professional development on issues related to English language learners for elementary and secondary teachers and administrators; designed and implemented a new training module for elementary teachers in collaboration with Boston College
• Collaborated with the Center for School Assistance to design and develop professional development offerings for the newly created District and School Assistance Centers.

3. Accountability Redesign

Work in partnership with stakeholders to develop processes for district and school review and assistance to produce an efficient, integrated, transparent, fair, and effective system for building the capacity of districts and schools to ensure high level teaching & learning.

• Absorbed the work of for former Office of Educational Quality & Accountability (EQA) into the Department and launched an initial district evaluation in Fall River. Completed the 15 reviews mandated for 2008-2009.
• Developed, in conjunction with stakeholders, a refined accountability and assistance model that uses districts-not schools-as the Department's key point of entry.
• Planned and are about to launch six regional District and School Assistance Centers to better serve the state's smaller school districts
• Coordinated accountability and compliance reviews to meet our statutory obligation to conduct no more than one major review in any nine-month period
• Continued our evaluation of the Expanded Learning Time program and conducted additional analyses of school and district resource allocation
• Developed self-assessment tools for districts around observing instruction and the use of common planning time, among others

4. Supports for Students and Families

Work in partnership with stakeholders to provide students and families with access to the school- and community-based social, health, nutrition, and other supports they need to benefit from educational opportunity.

• Chairing the Children's Behavioral Health Task Force and facilitated the development of a framework and self-assessment tool for schools to review and document strategies that address students' behavioral health needs, to be piloted this fall in 10 to 15 schools
• Launched multiple initiatives to reduce dropouts, including: the Dropout Prevention and Recovery Work Group, the first DESE website on dropout reduction, a pilot test of an on-time graduation early warning system, and numerous engagements with stakeholders
• Collaborated with other agencies to ensure a coordinated school and public health response to the H1N1 flu epidemic
• Developing a College & Career web portal in coordination with the Massachusetts Educational Financing Authority
• Worked with Department of Children and Families, Department of Youth Services, and special education directors to better coordinate services for students, including those with disabilities, who are in the custody of the Commonwealth.
• Launched the Health Hints webpage, a collection of short grade-appropriate messages on different health topics from asthma to violence prevention.
• Worked with school districts and collaborated with state and local agencies to ensure the educational rights of over 12,000 homeless children and youth.
• Awarded Academic Support grants providing MCAS support programs to 18,400 students and 21st Century Community Learning Center grants providing academic enrichment to over 19,300 students statewide.

5. State Leadership and Operations

Organize and build capacity within the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to assist schools and districts.

• Reorganized the Department so that it could better implement its goals and priorities
• Relocated the Department's more than 550 employees, who were working in 3 separate work locations in Malden, into a single building at 75 Pleasant Street
• Held 11 regional meetings throughout the state on the ARRA (federal stimulus funding for education), including 2 customized for charter schools
• Held four summer seminars for DESE staff on major areas of agency policy development and implementation