Accountability Determinations and required actions Based on their accountability determination, districts and schools must meet a number of annual planning and parent/guardian notification requirements. The tables below outline schools and district responsibilities for each of the accountability categories. Required actions for districts and schools with insufficient data Insufficient data Occurs when Planning requirements Parent/guardian notification requirements A district or school is reported as having insufficient data if the district or school ends in grade PK, K, 1, or 2, is very small, or lacks two full years of data. Consider analyzing disaggregated data for all student groups to ensure interventions and supports are appropriately aligned to address needs. Review and revise district and school improvement plans with respect to the level of implementation of Massachusetts’ District Standards and Indicators and the Turnaround Practices. Disseminate the school report card to parents/guardians of all children once available. The notification must include the accountability determinations for the child’s district and school; an explanation of what the designations means; an explanation of how parents can become involved in district and school improvement activities; and information about teacher quality and right-to-know requirements regarding teacher qualifications. Required actions for districts and schools not requiring assistance or intervention Meeting Targets Occurs when Planning requirements Parent/guardian notification requirements A school is reported as Meeting Targets if the school’s target percentage is 75 percent or higher, its accountability percentile is 11 or higher, all eligible subgroups in the school have a subgroup percentile of 6 or higher, it graduates more than 66.7 percent of its students, and the assessment participation rate Consider analyzing disaggregated data for all student groups to ensure interventions and supports are appropriately aligned to address needs. Review and revise district and school improvement with respect to the level of implementation of Disseminate the school report card to parents/guardians of all children once available. The notification must include the accountability determinations for the district and school; an explanation of what the designations means; an explanation of how parents can become involved in district and school improvement activities;
serious deficiencies, relating to one or more district standards, that are likely to have a substantial negative effect on student performance in the district if they are not addressed effectively and in a timely manner. Broad/Comprehensive Support – Chronically Underperforming Occurs when Planning requirements Parent/guardian notification requirements The Commissioner may designate an Underperforming school as Chronically Underperforming at the expiration of its turnaround plan if the school has failed to improve as required by the goals, benchmarks, or timetable of its turnaround plan; or if district conditions make it unlikely that the school will make significant improvement without a Chronically Underperforming designation. Upon the recommendation of the Commissioner, the may designate a district as Chronically Underperforming on the basis of a district review; the report of a DESE-appointed accountability monitor; a follow-up review report; quantitative indicators set out in state regulations; or failure of an Underperforming district to meet the DESE-approved benchmarks or goals in its improvement plan in a timely manner. Operate joint district-DESE governance. The Commissioner and the receiver jointly create a turnaround plan to promote the rapid improvement of the chronically underperforming district. Before a district or school is designated as chronically underperforming, the school district and municipal officials, including the school committee, as well as the local teachers' union or association president or designee, a representative of the local parent organization, and members of the public, shall have an opportunity to be heard by the Board. An invitation to participate in the public meeting will be sent to parents/guardians. Disseminate the school report card to parents/guardians of all children once available. The notification must include the accountability determinations for the child’s district and school; an explanation of what the designations means; an explanation of how parents can become involved in district and school improvement activities; and information about teacher quality and right-to-know requirements regarding teacher qualifications.