Access and Equity

Criteria 2: Access and Equity - Charter School Performance Criteria

The Charter School Performance Criteria (Criteria) are presented in the three guiding areas of charter school accountability defined in the current regulations, 603 CMR 1.00: faithfulness to charter, academic program success, and organizational viability.

There are ten (10) Criteria that define expected performance in the three guiding areas of charter school accountability: faithfulness to charter, academic program success, and organizational viability. The Department evaluates these criteria through the use of quantitative and/or qualitative data as well as affirmative evidence presented by the school, compiled over the course of the school's charter term. For more detailed information on the Criteria, select the Accountability tab to the left.

Criteria 2: Access and Equity is under the guiding area of faithfulness to charter in the Criteria. Criteria 2 defines the expectations for schools to ensure program access and equity for all students eligible to attend the school. The following links are a collection of laws and resources for schools to reference related to Criteria 2.

Special Education, and ESL Staff and Administrator Qualifications and Licensure

For information regarding Commonwealth Charter School Staff Qualification Requirements for Special Education and ESL instruction, reference the Charter School Technical Advisory 20-1: Educator Qualifications in Commonwealth and Horace Mann Charter Schools.

Administrator Qualifications

All principals, assistant principals, and supervisors who evaluate core academic teachers of English language learners must earn a Sheltered English Immersion (SEI) Administrator Endorsement by within the first year of employment. This ensures that educational leaders have essential knowledge and skills necessary to support SEI classrooms and the academic success of EL students.

Special Education Staff Qualifications

All staff implementing specialized instruction included in an Individual Education Plan (IEP) must meet the qualifications for a service delivery provider established by DESE of Elementary and Secondary Education, pursuant to the IDEA at 34 CFR 300.156(a). The qualifications to deliver specialized instruction independently are the following:

Hold a valid (in or out-of-state) license or its equivalent as a special education teacher for the appropriate grades and severity level, or
Have successfully completed an undergraduate or graduate degree in an approved special education program.

Specialized instruction provided by staff who do not meet the above qualifications must be delivered under the direct supervision and oversight of a qualified individual. This supervision must be documented in students' Individualized Education Plan Grid A.

ESL Staff Qualifications

Every charter school that enrolls English language learners must have the appropriate number of teachers who are licensed for ESL. Every ESL teacher in a charter school must be licensed.

MTEL Information

The Massachusetts Tests for Educator Licensure (MTEL) are designed to help ensure that Massachusetts educators can communicate adequately with students, parents/guardians, and other educators and that they are knowledgeable in the subject matter of the license(s) sought. The MTEL includes a test of communication and literacy skills as well as tests of subject matter knowledge.

Charter School Technical Advisory 20-1: Educator Qualifications in Commonwealth and Horace Mann Charter Schools

Licensure Information

The Office of Educator Licensure provides information for teachers, administrators, teacher specialists, and professional support personnel on educator licensure requirements. The site includes information on types of licenses and general requirements of those licenses.

Sheltered English Immersion (SEI) Endorsement Information

SEI is an approach to teaching academic content in English to ELs. To better serve these students, all core academic teachers and those administrators who supervise and evaluate core academic teachers are required to obtain an SEI teacher or SEI administrator endorsement. The Office of Educator Licensure provides information on how to obtain the SEI endorsement.

Last Updated: June 14, 2023