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The Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education

Race to the Top Update

To:
Members of the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education
From:
Mitchell D. Chester, Ed.D., Commissioner
Date:
June 15, 2012

At the special meeting of the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education on Monday evening, June 25th, we will review our progress in implementing our state's Race to the Top grant program. We will provide an overview of the current status of the program and highlight two initiatives of particular strategic importance and visibility: the new educator evaluation framework and the wraparound zones initiative.

RTTT program review

Our discussion of the program overall will be informed by our recent program review by the U.S. Department of Education (USED). A team of several USED staff spent a week here in Massachusetts in late May interviewing program managers and visiting three participating districts: Boston, Lowell, and Reading. Their questions focused on the depth and quality of the implementation of our proposed initiatives. Staff from the Race to the Top implementation team will share findings from their report, which we expect to have by the time of the Board meeting.

Educator evaluation

One of the major initiatives of our Race to the Top program is our new educator evaluation framework. Staff from the Office of Educator Policy, Preparation, and Leadership will update you on our implementation progress since the most recent Board discussion in December 2011 and identify the upcoming milestones for districts. Your packets include the following background materials:

Wraparound zones

We are also making promising strides in systematically addressing students' non-academic barriers to learning in five Level 4 and 5 districts through our Wraparound Zone initiative. Staff from the Office of District and School Turnaround will describe the major features of the program and highlight early results from the participating schools. As background information, we have included a PowerPoint presentation summarizing the program in your packets; we will present an abbreviated version at the meeting.

Enclosures:

Download Word Document
Regulations on Evaluation of Educators: An Overview
Download PDF Document
Implementation Support: Approved Vendors
Download PDF Document
The 5-Step Educator Evaluation Cycle: Train-the-Trainer Modules
Download PDF Document
DESE Professional Development & Technical Assistance Resources