Code of Massachusetts Regulations › 603 CMR - DEPARTMENT OF ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION › Title 603 CMR 35.00 - Educator Evaluation Regulations › Section 35.02 - Definitions

Current through Register 1525, July 5, 2024
As used in
				603 CMR 35.00, unless the
				context clearly requires otherwise, terms shall have the following
				meanings:
Administrator
shall mean any person
				employed in a school district in a position requiring a certificate or license
				as described in
				603 CMR
				7.09(1) through (5) or who
				has been approved as an administrator in the area of vocational education as
				provided in 603 CMR 4.00:
Vocational Technical Education
or
				who is employed in a comparable position in a collaborative, and who is not
				employed under an individual employment contract.
Artifacts
shall mean products of an
				educator's work that demonstrate knowledge and skills of the educator with
				respect to specific performance standards.
Board
shall mean the Board of
				Elementary and Secondary Education or a person duly authorized by the
				Board.
Commissioner
shall mean the
				Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education or his or her
				designee.
Common Assessments
shall mean
				identical or comparable assessments of student learning, growth, and
				achievement related to the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks, Massachusetts
				Vocational Technical Education Frameworks, or other relevant frameworks used by
				educators in the same role across the district. These assessments may be
				commercial assessments or district developed, and may include, but are not
				limited to: portfolios, pre- and post tests, unit and course assessments,
				performance assessments, and capstone projects.
Department
shall mean the Department
				of Elementary and Secondary Education.
Educator Plan
shall mean the growth or
				improvement actions identified as part of each educator's evaluation. The type
				and duration of the plan shall be determined by the evaluator. The Educator
				Plan shall include, but is not limited to, at least one goal related to the
				improvement of practice, one goal for the improvement of student learning, an
				action plan with benchmarks for goals established in the Plan, and the
				evaluator's final assessment of the educator's attainment of the goals. All
				elements of the Educator Plan are subject to the evaluator's approval. There
				shall be four types of Educator Plans:
(a)
Developing Educator Plan
shall
				mean a plan, developed by the educator and the evaluator for one school year or
				less for an administrator in the first three years in a district; or for a
				teacher without Professional Teacher Status; or, at the discretion of an
				evaluator, for an educator in a new assignment;
(b)
Self-directed Growth Plan
shall
				mean a plan of one or two school years for experienced educators who are rated
				proficient or exemplary, developed by the educator;
(c)
Directed Growth Plan
shall mean a
				plan of one school year or less for educators who are in need of improvement,
				developed by the educator and the evaluator;
(d)
Improvement Plan
shall mean a plan
				of at least 30 calendar days and no more than one school year for educators who
				are rated unsatisfactory, developed by the evaluator with goals specific to
				improving the educator's unsatisfactory performance.
Educator(s)
shall mean teacher(s) and
				administrator(s).
Evaluation
shall mean the ongoing
				process of defining goals and identifying, gathering and using information to
				improve professional performance (the "formative evaluation" and "formative
				assessment") and to assess total job effectiveness and make personnel decisions
				(the "summative evaluation").
Evaluator
shall mean any person
				designated by a superintendent who has responsibility for evaluation.
Expected Impact
shall mean the
				educator meets or exceeds anticipated student learning gains on multiple
				measures of student learning, growth, and achievement. The evaluator shall use
				professional judgment to determine whether the educator is having expected
				impact on student learning, based on student learning gains on common
				assessments and, where available, statewide student growth measures. The
				evaluator's professional judgment may include, but is not limited to,
				consideration of the educator's student population and specific learning
				context. Anticipated student learning gains must be consistent across the
				district for common assessments and agreed upon by the educator and evaluator
				for other assessments. The Department shall establish anticipated student
				learning gains for statewide student growth measures in guidance.
Experienced Educator
shall mean an
				administrator with more than three years in an administrative position in the
				school district or a teacher with Professional Teacher Status.
Family
shall mean parents, legal
				guardians, or primary caregivers.
Formative Assessment
shall mean the
				process used to assess progress towards attaining goals set forth in educator
				plans, performance on performance standards, or both. This process may take
				place at any time(s) during the cycle of evaluation.
Formative Evaluation
shall mean an
				evaluation at the end of year one for educators on two-year self-directed plans
				used to arrive at a rating on progress towards attaining the goals set forth in
				the plans, performance on performance standards, or both.
Goal
shall mean a specific,
				actionable, and measurable area of improvement as set forth in an educator's
				plan. A goal may pertain to any or all of the following: educator practice in
				relation to performance standards, educator practice in relation to indicators,
				or specified improvement in student learning, growth, and achievement. Goals
				may be developed by individual educators, by the evaluator, or by teams,
				departments, or groups of educators who have the same role.
Measurable
shall mean that which can
				be classified or estimated, in relation to a scale, rubric, or
				standards.
Model System
shall mean the
				comprehensive educator evaluation system designed and updated as needed by the
				Department, as an exemplar for use by districts. The Model System shall include
				tools, guidance, rubrics, and contract language developed by the Department
				that satisfy the requirements of
				603 CMR 35.00.
Multiple Measures
shall include a
				combination of classroom, school, and district assessments and student growth
				percentiles where available.
Observation
shall mean a data
				gathering process that includes notes and judgments made during one or more
				classroom or worksite visit(s) of any duration by the evaluator and may include
				examination of artifacts of practice. An observation may occur in person or
				through video.
Performance Rating
shall be used to
				describe the educator's performance. There shall be four performance
				ratings:
(a)
Exemplary
shall mean that the
				educator's performance consistently and significantly exceeds the requirements
				of a standard or overall;
(b)
Proficient
shall mean that the
				educator's performance fully and consistently meets the requirements of a
				standard or overall;
(c)
Needs improvement
shall mean that
				the educator's performance on a standard or overall is below the requirements
				of a standard or overall, but is not considered to be unsatisfactory at this
				time. Improvement is necessary and expected;
(d)
Unsatisfactory
shall mean that the
				educator's performance on a standard or overall has not significantly improved
				following a rating of needs improvement, or the educator's performance is
				consistently below the requirements of a standard or overall and is considered
				inadequate, or both.
Performance Standards
shall mean the
				performance standards locally developed pursuant to M.G.L. c. 71, § 38 and
				consistent with, and supplemental to,
				603 CMR 35.00.
Professional Teacher Status
or
PTS
shall mean the status granted to a teacher
				pursuant to M.G.L. c. 71, §41.
Rubric
shall mean a scoring tool that
				describes characteristics of practice or artifacts at different levels of
				performance.
School Committee
shall mean the school
				committee in all cities, towns, and regional school districts, local and
				district trustees for vocational education, educational collaborative boards,
				boards of trustees for the county agricultural schools, and the boards of
				trustees of charter schools.
Standards and Indicators
shall mean
				603 CMR
				35.03:
Standards and Indicators of
				Effective Teaching Practice,
and
				603
				CMR 35.04:
Standards and Indicators
				of Effective Administrative Leadership Practice.
Summative Evaluation
shall mean an
				evaluation used to arrive at a rating on each standard, an overall rating, and
				as a basis to make personnel decisions. The summative evaluation includes the
				evaluator's judgments of the educator's performance against performance
				standards and the educator's attainment of goals set forth in the educator's
				plan.
Superintendent
shall mean the person
				employed by the school committee pursuant to M.G.L. c. 71, § 59 or §
				59A. The superintendent is responsible for the implementation of
				603 CMR 35.00. The
				superintendent shall be evaluated by the school committee pursuant to
				603 CMR 35.00 and such other
				standards as may be established by the school committee.
Teacher
shall mean any person employed
				in a school district in a position requiring a certificate or license as
				described in
				603
				CMR 7.04(3)  or who has been
				approved as an instructor in the area of vocational education as provided in
				603 CMR 4.00:
Vocational Technical Education
or who is
				employed in a comparable position in a collaborative.