Goals 2000 Five Year Master Plan
Goal 1 Table of Contents
Ensure All Students Achieve High Standards
Line-Item 1: Student Performance Standards and Accountability
Line-Item 2: Occupational Standards and Assessment
Line-Item 3: Adult Basic Education Standards and Accountability
The focus of Goal One of the Five Year Plan is much the same as that of the first goal of the Education Reform Implementation Plan: student performance. In the final analysis, all aspects of the education system will be judged by their impact on this bottom line. If schools, districts, and the state can work together to create the conditions in which student performance improves, support for public education will grow.
Over the next five years, the Commonwealth will define standards for student performance, develop a system to authentically measure each student's achievement, and establish a system of accountability with high expectations for all students.
Initiative # 1: Common Core of Learning and Curriculum Frameworks
The first step in this process was taken in July 1994, when the Board of Education adopted the Massachusetts Common Core of Learning. The result of months of public participation from thousands of individuals, the Common Core articulates a statewide consensus of what all students should know and be able to do when they graduate from high school. In addition to the seminal role this document will play in all future Education Reform initiatives, the extensive public participation in the Core's development began the critical process of transforming the public's expectations for their schools. Throughout the 1994-95 school year, Department staff are leading a broad-based, participatory process which will result in the second stage in this process: the development of challenging Curriculum Frameworks in the seven core academic areas. The Frameworks translate the broad vision of the Common Core into three important products, each of which will form the base for other critical initiatives:
- Content and Learning Standards will describe in detail what students are expected to know and be able to do in each subject at the end of the 4th, 8th, 10th, and 12th grades. These standards will form the basis for the new statewide system of student assessment [see Initiative #2]. Throughout the standards in each subject area, a major emphasis will be placed on those interdisciplinary connections and higher order thinking skills articulated in the Common Core.
- A common chapter on recommended Teaching, Learning and Assessment Practices will describe state-of-the-art pedagogical approaches that have been proven to be effective in teaching students the higher order thinking skills at the heart of the Learning Standards. Certification standards [see Initiative #9], professional performance standards [see Initiative #7], and the statewide professional development plan [see Initiative #13] will all focus on developing teachers' abilities to teach in this manner.
- A common chapter on Structuring Schools to Support Learning-Centered Classrooms will outline principles on how a school should be constituted to create the conditions in which effective teaching and learning can flourish. The Department will assist schools in using these principles to develop comprehensive school improvement plans [see Initiative #24].
Initiative # 2: Statewide Standardized Assessment
By June, 1995, a contractor will be selected to work with Department staff and a series of constituent-based committees to develop a comprehensive assessment system based on the Common Core and Curriculum Frameworks to be administered to all students in grades 4, 8, and 10 (and potentially 12)[see Initiative #4]. The assessment system is expected to utilize open-ended questions that focus on the creative and critical thinking skills called for by the Common Core. Accommodations will be made for students with limited English ability and special needs to ensure that they will be able to participate in the assessment program as well. Substantial resources will be devoted to the development of the assessment system. Once completed, the new assessment system will become the cornerstone to a high stakes system of accountability. All students will be required to exhibit competency on the 10th grade assessment in order to be eligible to receive a high school diploma. Schools will be evaluated based on the results of the assessment system as well [see Initiative #20]. The new assessment system will take several years to develop. During the 1995-96 school year, a trial test will be administered. Results of the trial will be reported at the school building and district levels only. The purpose of the trial will be to field-test the new assessment, to provide preliminary information to schools and districts about student performance in relation to the Curriculum Frameworks and Common Core, and to begin to establish baseline information to evaluate school and district performance [see Initiative #20]. The following year, individual student results will ne reported for the first time. These results will be used to establish standards and a firm schedule for the implementation of the Competency Determination graduation requirement.
Initiative # 3: School-Based pK-12 Authentic Assessment
The new assessment will strive towards a goal of authenticity by incorporating essay, problem solving, and other open ended questions in place of multiple choice. There is. however, a limit to how authentic an assessment can be if it focuses on how a student performs at a single sitting. Other, more authentic, approaches to student assessment will utilize techniques such as interdisciplinary projects and student portfolios to measure the development of students' skills in real life situations over an extended period of time. While this approach is arguably a more accurate measure of higher order thinking skills, it is more difficult to standardize the results. Over the past three years, the Department has initiated three pilot projects to explore school-based, standardized authentic assessment: the New Standards Project, Harvard Education School's Project Zero, and the early childhood portfolio assessment system. Over the next few years, teachers' capacity to use these new assessment techniques will be expanded through a major statewide commitment to professional development activities linked to the Curriculum Frameworks [see Initiatives #1 and #13].
Initiative # 4: Certificate of Mastery and Higher Education Admission
Department staff will continue to work with staff from the Higher Education Coordinating Council, the School-to-Work Committee and participating college admission offices to coordinate college admission with state student standards and school-based standardized assessment. The goal will be to link college admissions to students' 12th grade assessment results in as many schools as possible by the Year 2000. A working committee will be established to determine when the school-based authentic assessment will be sufficiently standardized for this purpose and whether a 12th grade state-administered assessment will need to be added to Initiative #2.
All students will be expected to develop the core skills and bodies of knowledge defined by the 10th grade Competency Determination. However, not all students will focus exclusively on academic proficiency. Some students, both college and non-college bound, will choose to concentrate more on developing job skills either through a comprehensive vocational program or by participating in a school-to-work program [see Initiative #29]. This plan also calls for the design of a performance-based system of accountability for these students.
Initiative # 5: Occupational Performance Standards
Over the next five years the Department will work with vocational schools, business leaders, the Mass Jobs Council, the School-to-Work Committee, and others to develop performance-based measurements and curriculum guidelines that integrate academic and vocational training to prepare students for the jobs of the future. Since all students will be expected to meet the 10th grade standards of the Competency Determination, these vocational standards will focus on the supplemental skills that students need to pursue their desired occupation. Students who demonstrate mastery based on these standards will receive a Certificate of Occupational Proficiency. Students who receive a Certificate of Occupational Proficiency will be strongly encouraged to pursue a Certificate of Mastery in academics as well.
In keeping with the Board of Education's Adult Basic Education Mission Statement, the system of performance-based accountability will be extended to adult students.
Initiative # 6: Adult Basic Education Standards and Accountability
Department staff with experience in adult basic education have participated in the development of the Curriculum Frameworks to ensure that the Learning Standards are appropriate for adult learners. While some items in the state's new assessment system may need modification to be developmentally appropriate for adult learners, K-12 standards and assessment instruments will be used wherever possible. Although the standards and measurements of performance will be similar to those established for younger students [see Initiatives #1 & 2], a distinct set of teaching guidelines will be developed for use in programs serving adult learners. When completed, the performance standards and instructional guidelines developed will be used by adult basic education providers [see Initiative #79], the Mass JobsCouncil, the Department of Employment and Training, the Industrial Services, and the Department of Public Welfare.
[ previous | next ]
[ table of contents ]
last updated: May 15, 1995
|
State Government · State Services 
