Goals 2000 Five Year Master Plan
Goal 5 Table of Contents
Create a Statewide Infrastructure of Support for Schools
Line-Item 1: Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Operations
Line-Item 2: Communications and Public Outreach
Line-Item 3: Executive Office of Education Operations
Line-Item 4: Mass Ed Online
Line-Item 5: Early Childhood Education
Line-Item 6: Family and Adult Learning Network
The fifth goal of this Plan focuses on the statewide infrastructure of
support that will be needed to implement the other four goals. Whereas the
final goal of the Implementation Plan focused exclusively on the Department's
internal capacity to implement Education Reform, this goal coordinates relevant
components of the planning, communications, and internal operations of
Executive Office of Education and of the Massachusetts Corporation for
Educational Telecommunications as well other state agencies.
While the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's overarching mission is to improve student
learning, its role is not to achieve this mission directly. The Department's
role is, in essence, to create the conditions for schools to create the
conditions for teachers to create conditions for students learn.
Initiative
# 60: Planning, Policy Development, and Resource Allocation
Massachusetts public education must be coordinated by a single agenda and
decision-making structure. The Commonwealth can no longer afford to fragment
this process among various agencies and oversight boards. By filing this Plan
with the United States Department of Education as the Massachusetts Goals 2000
State Improvement Plan, the Board of Education is establishing a common
framework for policy coordination. The annual process of implementing, analyzing, reporting, and updating this
Plan will provide a process for coordinating all state education-related
initiatives. While broad-based participation will be sought from many other
individuals and groups throughout this process, the Board of Education will
have overall oversight responsibility for the implementation of this work. All
major items of education policy with implications for this Plan, will be
presented by the Commissioner of Education to the Board of Education. The
Board may not have direct authority over every matter, but should be involved
in reviewing all statewide policies that impact K-12 education. Each year, this Plan will be updated and projected an additional year into
the future. In addition, each year a detailed Implementation Plan and budget
will be developed by the Commissioner and presented to the Board of Education
for approval. By developing a common budget process, ESE, EOE, MCET, and
others will better coordinate related projects and more easily prioritize
resources between agencies. The annual Implementation Plan will serve as a
blueprint to direct ESE, EOE, and MCET actions as well establishing a standard
of performance by which to measure the three agencies. As an extension to this new budgeting system, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
is in the process of transforming its internal budget to a zero-based system in
which all programs are allotted resources based on their annual objectives.
This approach will facilitate the process of reallocating resources from old
priorities to new.
Initiative
# 61: ESE Staffing, Management, and Operations
In the five years prior to the passage of the Education Reform Act, the
Department of Elementary and Secondary Education went through the first stage of a massive restructuring
which resulted in the closing of all five regional centers and the reduction of
over 50% of all state positions. During the first two years of Education Reform implementation the
Department engaged in a second stage of this transition, reorganizing the
Department's administrative structure, prioritizing its focus towards the
implementation of the Education Reform Act. Not only has the Department recently changed its focus and organizational
structure, the Department moved its entire facility from Quincy to Malden and
began re-engineering every aspect of its operations. This process will
continuously change over the next five years as new technologies and systems
are integrated into the Department's operations.
Initiative
# 62: Staff Development
As with school personnel, the majority of Department staff are expected to
do fundamentally different work today than they did five years ago. Over the
next five years, the Department will model the assumptions of the Foundation
Budget by devoting approximately 3% of its personnel budget to professional
development for its staff.
Initiative
# 63: Consolidated Grant Administration
During the 1993-94 school year, the Department took a major step forward in
coordinating all state and federal grants administration into a single
integrated system. Over the next few years the Department will continue to
simplify and coordinate this system. By the 1996-97 school year, the
Department will take the next major step in this process by collapsing all
available grants into integrated school improvement grants for those schools
districts with approved plans.
Initiative
# 75: ESE Information Management and Technology [funded in Line-Item 5.4]
In order to manage the extensive data collection, analysis, and reporting
requirements of Education Reform, it is essential that the Department integrate
the use of emerging technologies into all of its work. The student assessment
system alone [see Initiative #2] creates the need for a distributed relational
data base with over a million records. Certification, school performance
profiles, and Opportunity-to-Learn reports will add additional requirements. Throughout this work, the Department will fully coordinate its systems with
the implementation of the Mass EdOnline plan [see Initiative #70].
Education Reform requires a sustained statewide support from educators,
parents, community leaders, and public policy makers. A recent statewide
survey by Mass Insight found that less than a third of the public have heard of
the Education Reform Act. When the main components of the Act were described,
the vast majority expressed strong support.
Initiative
# 64: Communication and Public Information
The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and Executive Office of Education have both
initiated aggressive public relations campaigns around key initiatives. In January, 1994, for example, as part of a public input campaign
corresponding to the development of the Common Core of Learning [see Initiative
#1], the Department distributed over 50,000 pamphlets and 5,000 videos to every
school and school district. Eight months later, when the Common Core was
completed, the Department posted subway and billboards about the Core and
distributed 60,000 packets to every teacher in the state, each of which
included a fold-together version of the Core, a pamphlet version, and a
newsprint version for every elementary and middle school student.
Simultaneously, billboards. Although major campaigns have been conducted for other initiatives as well,
even more will need to be done over the next five years if the majority of the
public is to become informed and involved.
Initiative
# 65: Document Approval, Reproduction, and Distribution
Despite a major focus of attention and resources, the Department has barely
kept pace with the growing need of schools and districts to receive current
information. Although much work is being done to utilize emerging technologies
to assist schools in accessing this information, printed documents will remain
an important vehicle to distribute information for the foreseeable future.
Initiative
# 66: ESE Internet Information Server
During the 1994-95 school year the Department established a full connection
to the Internet and began publishing documents electronically
By the end of 1995, all relevant Department documents will be available
through either the World Wide Web or Gopher. The Department's server has been
developed in conjunction with the Mass EdOnline LearnNet [see Initiative
#72].
Initiative
# 67: Conference Coordination.
In order to increase the efficiency of administration of conference
logistics, a central office will be established..
Initiative
# 68: Advisory Councils to the Board of Education
In response to the tremendous changes called for by the Education Reform
Act, the Board of Education and Department of Elementary and Secondary Education convened dozens of task
forces, working groups, committees, and commissions. Among these groups were:
- Adult Basic Education Working Committee
- Adult Education Committee
- Advisory Commission on Adult Resource Ratios
- Assessment Advisory Committees (3)
- Charter School Advisory Council
- Child & Family Service Advisory Panel
- Commission on Regulatory Relief
- Commission on the Common Core of Learning
- Commission on Time and Learning
- Comprehensive Health Education Advisory Council
- Curriculum Framework Advisory Committees (7)
- Ed. Alternatives for Disruptive Students Study Group
- Education Reform Review Commission
- General Track Focus Group
- Governor's Commission on Bilingual Education
- Governor's Commission on Early Childhood Education
- Governor's Foundation Review Commission
- Mass EdOnline Steering Committee
- Massachusetts Education Reform Implementation Taskforce
- Network of Model School Councils
- Performance Standards for Educators Working Groups (3)
- Professional Development Working Group
- Recertification Focus Group
- School Safety Oversight Committee
- School Standards Taskforce
- Young Parent Outreach Demonstration Task Force
These groups played a critical role in shaping the early stages of the
Reform implementation. In 1994, the Board appointed the fifteen more
formalized advisory councils called for by the Reform Act in the following
areas:
- Adult Basic Education
- Bilingual Education
- Comprehensive Interdisciplinary Health Education
- Early Childhood Education
- Educational Personnel
- Fine Arts Education
- Gifted and Talented Education
- Global Education
- Life Management Skills and Home Economics
- Math and Science Education
- Parent and Community Education And Involvement
- Racial Imbalance
- Special Education
- Technology Education
- Vocational-Technical Education
Over the next five years, the Department and Board will increasingly rely
upon these advisory councils for statewide public input.
Initiative
# 69
Under the leadership of Secretary of Education, Piedad F. Robertson, the
Executive Office of Education represents Governor Weld to the Legislature,
Board of Education and other important educational constituencies. The
Executive Office assists the Department in implementing all its initiatives and
takes a leadership role in coordinating the development of initiatives such as
Attracting Excellence to Education [see Initiative #10], School Profiles [see
Initiative #21], Dual Enrollment [see Initiative #28], School-to-Work [see
Initiative #29] Charter Schools [see Initiative #45], Mass EdOnline [see
Initiative #70], and School-Linked Services [see Initiative #78]
Mass Ed Online is not a single initiative or technology. It is a the name of
a comprehensive plan for educational technology developed during the 1993-94
school year by the Executive Office of Education. During the 1994-95 school
year, the Commonwealth implemented the first two major pieces of the Mass Ed
Online plan: 1) upgrading the existing education network operated by
Massachusetts Corporation for Educational Telecommunications (MCET) into a
statewide client-server network with full access to the Internet, and 2)
working with school districts to assist them in developing local technology
plans.
Initiative
# 70: Mass EdOnline Planning and Coordination
An interagency steering committee consisting of the agency heads of the
Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, Executive Office of Education, Higher Education
Coordinating Council, MCET, and Office of Management of Information Services
has been established to coordinate the implementation of Mass EdOnline. By the
end of the 1994-95 school year the MEOL Steering Committee will file a major
bond to finance critical statewide and local infrastructure improvements. MCET is charged by the Education Reform Act with the responsibility of
leading the implementation of Mass Ed Online. This refined focus of its
originally broad mission was clarified by an internal strategic planning
process which clearly established MCET's basic mission as in services of
Massachusetts K-12 schools.
Initiative
# 71: Local Technology Planning and Support
Ultimately, the responsibility to plan for, fund, and make use of
technology in schools is a local one. Nonetheless, there are several ways that
the state can support school districts in integrating technologies into their
schools: 1) the state will establish clear criteria and processes to approve
districts' local technology plans; 2) the state will provide resources and
expertise to assist in the development of local technology plans; 3) the state
will seek state, federal, and private funds to support districts in
implementing approved plans.
Initiative
# 72: Statewide Information Network (Mass.Ed.OnLine LearnNet)
During the 1994-95 school year, an interagency working group worked with
MCET to upgrade its existing network, the LearnNet, into a statewide
client/server network with state funded access for 12,000 initial users. This
initial pilot distribution of accounts provided full access to state resources
and the Internet to all superintendents, district business managers, district
technology directors, principals, school-based technology facilitator, and an
additional teacher account for every 500 students per school. Over the next few years MCET will work with cooperative agencies and school
districts to expand access to the network by distributing the network through
community-based servers. A pilot of 20 community servers will commence in
FY'96 with the support of a grant from the US Department of Commerce.
Additional communities will be brought on line as funds become available.
Development of common platforms for community access to the network will bring
full connectivity within reach of all districts and ensure equitable access by
all schools. In addition to supporting districts' access, the state will
continue to provide network services and work to decrease district
telecommunication costs. Development of a statewide information network is essential to the success
of many of the other initiatives in this Five Year Plan. Without a network, it
would be not be feasible to collect the student and school performance data
[see Initiatives #2 and #20] that is at the core of the new system of
accountability. In addition, the network will bring unprecedented information
into the classroom for students learn with and will enable teachers to share
best practices.
Initiative
# 73: Satellite Video Broadcast (Mass LearnPike)
MCET's first major project was the creation of Mass LearnPike. The
LearnPike was developed in conjunction with a federal Star Schools grants to
explore the use of distance-learning in K-12 schools. The LearnPike uses
satellite broadcast to provide semi-interactive video (1-way video/2-way
audio), to deliver unique curriculum and professional development
opportunities. The state's subsidy for district membership fees have resulted
in over 250 school districts purchasing satellite dishes and accessing
LearnPike programs. In future years, MCET will focus the majority of its programs on supporting
the Department implementing the Curriculum Frameworks [see Initiative #1] and
other initiatives through broadcast of relevant curricular programs and
facilitating professional development. Digital compression and video
conferencing will be used to expand MCET's programming and integrate video
broadcasting with the Mass EdOnline LearnNet.
Initiative
# 74: Educational Technology Evaluation and Procurement
One of the most important roles that the state can play in supporting
schools' use of technology is to evaluate, recommend, and in some cases
subsidize, technological resources. For years the Department has provided this
service for video resources. Until the 1993-94 school year, the Department
oversaw a program called Massachusetts Educational Television (MET). Through
this program, Department staff worked with school personnel to review
educational videos and buy rights to broadcast the best through WGBH, the
Boston PBS affiliate. In 1993, the Department turned over the full management
and responsibility for MET to WGBY, the Springfield PBS affiliate. Over the next few years, the Department will develop a more comprehensive
approach to reviewing all educational technology resources including software,
CD ROM. video conferencing, on-line services, and video.
Initiative
# 75: ESE Information Management and Technology
[see initiative description in Line-Item 5.1]
Initiative
# 76
By the Year 2000, all eligible three and four year-old children in the
Commonwealth will have access to high quality early childhood education.
Realization of this objective is expected to be the single largest program to
be initiated by the Education Reform Act, other than the Foundation Budget. The Governor's Commission on Early Childhood Education has been studying
the scope of programs that would need to be coordinated and is in the process
of developing a comprehensive plan which includes sliding scale of subsidies
for poorer families.
A second critical network which the state will establish over the next five
years is a human network of support and comprehensive services for parents.
The importance of this work is well established. Considerable evidence
suggests that parental support in general and parental literacy in specific may
be the single most important factor in determining a students educational
success.
Initiative
# 77: Family Support Network
The overarching structure for this support will be a comprehensive
school-based network linking all school and community parental and family
support services into a single coordinated system. Several models are
currently being explored to pilot this system with full state-wide
implementation scheduled for FY'99.
Initiative
# 78: School-Linked Services
In many communities, an equally import link in the network may be the
provision of human services to children and parents through school-based
centers. The Education Reform Act calls for 3% of each human service agency
budget towards school-based services. By locating these services in directly
in schools, human service agencies have the potential of reaching students more
effectively and linking parents with their children's education.
A pilot project initiated in FY'95 in 13 communities is investigating
various models for possible expansion. Through this program, participating
communities are asked to 1) form or identify a lead group to coordinate the
work; 2) identify all human services that students and families are currently
receiving; and 3) develop an action plan for delivering these services more
efficiently and effectively. Based on the results of these pilots, a plan will
be developed to combine the successful components into the comprehensive state
Parent Outreach and Family Support Initiative.
Initiative
# 79: Basic Education Services for Parents
One essential piece of this network is the adequate provision of Adult
Basic Education (ABE) in the community. By some estimates, Massachusetts
currently provides subsidized ABE programs to fewer than 5% of the adults in
need of such services. While other state and local agencies may fund ABE
services for specific segments of the population, most communities provide no
such services. By linking ABE services as an essential component in the Family
Support Network, the state will leverage the creation of a statewide
infrastructure of ABE services so that allied agencies can fund additional
slots.
Initiative
# 80: Parent Information Centers
A final service in this network, to which all parents in the Commonwealth
should avail themselves, is the access to information about the quality of
education that their children are receiving. Schools must make themselves into
welcoming environments for parents. They must invite parents to participate
regularly in their children's education. And, they must share information
about their schools successes and challenges.
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