Race to the Top. Massachusetts Report. Year 4: School Year 2013-2014. [State-Specific Summary Report]
Author: Department of Education (ED)
Date: 2015-04-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Academic Achievement,Academic Standards,Accountability,Achievement Gap,Administrator Effectiveness,Alignment (Education),Budgets,Career Readiness,Charter Schools,College Readiness,Core Curriculum,Data,Educational Assessment,Educational Change,Educational Improvement,Elementary Secondary Education,Federal Legislation,Federal Aid,Educational Legislation,Federal Programs,Formative Evaluation,Grants,Higher Education,Language Arts,Leadership Effectiveness,Literacy,Low Achievement,Mathematics Achievement,Measurement Objectives,Models,Outcomes of Education,Partnerships in Education,Poverty,Principals,Professional Development,Program Effectiveness,Program Implementation,School Districts,School Effectiveness,School Turnaround,State Government,State Standards,STEM Education,Teacher Effectiveness,Teacher Evaluation,Student Characteristics,National Competency Tests

The State-specific summary report serves as an assessment of Massachusetts' annual Race to the Top implementation. The Year 4 report for Phase 2 grantees highlights successes and accomplishments, identifies challenges, and provides lessons learned from implementation from approximately September 2013 through September 2014. In Year 4, Massachusetts continued to refine its use of the Delivery process to track project implementation within the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (ESE), gather data on progress, and share updates with senior leadership. The State's college- and career-readiness initiatives included multiple strategies for supporting educators in meeting the demands of new standards and raising standards for students. In school year (SY) 2013-2014, the State developed and made available a variety of instructional resources, standards-aligned assessments, and curriculum documents to support educators in the transition to new standards. State-developed model curricula cover 95 percent of grades and core academic subjects, which exceeds the State's goal. Many educators can access these resources through the Edwin Teaching and Learning platform. In addition, after delays, teachers accessed pre-Advanced Placement course training in Year 4 to offer middle school students rigorous coursework that prepares them for Advanced Placement courses in high school. Forty-seven Innovation schools and six Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM) Early College High School (ECHS) programs continued to serve students in school settings with greater flexibility and STEM-focused themes, respectively. In the area of Great Teachers and Leaders, Massachusetts local education agencies (LEAs) made progress in implementing the professional practices component of new evaluation systems. Finally, the State continued to support initiatives for specific education professionals, including a superintendent induction program, a performance assessment for leaders, and planning for a teacher licensure performance assessment. In addition, the State made progress in preparing to implement new educator preparation program approval standards. The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (ESE) continued to support schools identified as low performing through site visits and data analysis. As of fall 2013, Level 4 schools demonstrated progress that resulted in 14 of 34 schools exiting Level 4 status. In addition, the State's one Level 5 district showed significant gains in student achievement. In Year 4, the State continued to face challenges in meeting goals related to some of its data systems work. In addition, the State was unable to make progress on projects intended to support educator use of data to inform instruction due to delays and vendor challenges. The State's adjusted approach will extend into SY 2014-2015, reducing the time in which educators can engage with the training with grant supports. While the State made progress in implementing the professional practice component of the new evaluation system, the State is delayed in fully implementing the student growth component. Massachusetts will continue multiple critical work streams during the no-cost extension period of its Race to the Top grant in SY 2014-2015, or Year 5. Approximately 20 percent of LEAs that accessed grant funds will continue into Year 5 supporting local efforts in curriculum work, technology investments, and teacher trainings, among other things. In Year 5, the State will maintain the myriad resources for educators transitioning to new standards and assessments. The State also plans to enhance content currently in the Edwin Teaching and Learning system, continue tagging items in the interim and formative assessment bank, vet additional locally developed items, and provide guidance on how best to use assessment items. Due to delays in Year 4, the State will continue to provide pre-Advanced Placement training for teachers in Year 5. In SY 2014-2015, ESE plans for every participating LEA to become compliant with the interoperability framework, which will enable many more educators to use the Edwin Teaching &amp; Learning system's assessment and instructional resources. To meet this critical milestone the State will continue to provide technical assistance to LEAs implementing the interoperability framework and will begin to gather statewide data elements from LEAs that are able to transmit data in real-time. In Year 5, schools and districts identified as low performing will continue to work with vetted partners to provide services related to intervention implementation. Teacher and leader turnaround teams will also continue to convene. In addition, the State will host seminars to build upon local successes in implementing Wraparound Zones and share best practices throughout the State. A glossary is provided. [For &quot;Race to the Top. Massachusetts Report. Year 3: School Year 2012-2013. [State-Specific Summary Report],&quot; see ED580335.]