District/School Administration Administration
Education Reform

Education Fact Sheets: Principles of Effective Teaching & Effective Administrative Leadership

August 1998

Chapter 69, Section 1B
"The Board shall establish guidelines for establishing systems of personnel evaluation, including teacher performance standards. Public school districts in the Commonwealth shall be encouraged to develop programs and standards, which provide for a more rigorous and comprehensive evaluation process. Said guidelines shall be reviewed at least every other school year."

Chapter 71, Section 38
"The superintendent, by means of comprehensive evaluation, shall cause the performance of all teachers, principals, and administrators within the school district to be evaluated using any principles of evaluation established by the board of education … and by such consistent, supplemental performance standards as the school committee may require."

In July 1995, the Board of Education approved revisions to the regulations on evaluation of teachers and administrators, new principles of effective teaching and effective administrative leadership.

Features

• First time the Board is articulating what it means to be an effective teacher or administrator, the Principles are in line with the values and goals for students articulated in the curriculum frameworks.

• School committees should establish a rigorous and comprehensive evaluation process for teachers and administrators through local public hearings and collective bargaining, where required; all performance standards for teachers and administrators in each school district shall be consistent with and meet the Principles, and all administrators and teachers without "professional teacher status" need to be evaluated at least annually. All teachers with "professional teacher status" need to be evaluated at least once every two years.

Professional Development/Recertification

Professional Development

General Laws Chapter 71, Section 38Q:
Every school district shall adopt, implement, and update annually a professional development plan for all its professional staff. The Commissioner shall prepare and the Board shall approve an annual statewide professional development plan.

On June 22, 1998, the Board approved the annual State Plan for Professional Development, which directs districts and professional development providers to focus their staff development resources, structures, time and funding on the following priorities:

• expanding educators' knowledge of subject matter;
• increasing teachers' knowledge of standards-based curriculum, instruction, and assessment; and
• analyzing and reducing the gap between goals for student achievement and students' actual progress.

Local districts are required annually to adopt and implement a professional development plan for all principals, teachers, other professional staff employed by the district, and school council members. Districts are also required to set forth a budget for professional development within the confines of the foundation budget. The plan should identify specific content to be addressed, including training in the teaching of the curriculum frameworks and other skills required for the implementation of the Education Reform Law, including participatory decision making and parent and community involvement (Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 71, Section 38). Districts are strongly encouraged to connect professional development with continuous district and school improvement planning.

The FY 99 state budget requires districts to spend $100 per pupil from state aid funds on professional development. These funds may be used for tuition, conference fees, contracted services, stipends, salaries, and materials. Districts are responsible for selecting providers of professional development that are of high quality and that address the identified learning needs in the district. Districts also identify the data to be collected on professional growth and on the quality and impact of professional development. School councils are also required to include professional development for school staff and allocation of professional development funds in the school budget in the school improvement plan.

This year, the Department is collecting districts' professional development plans as an eligibility requirement for entitlement grants so that we may prepare to provide assistance to districts on professional development planning connected to district and school improvement goals and the goals of Education Reform.

Recertification

General Laws Chapter 71, Section 38G:
The Education Reform Act, as amended in January 1994, replaces lifetime certificates with 5-year renewable certificates for all educators. Massachusetts joins 45 other states in requiring educators to renew their certificates periodically by demonstrating professional development that keeps them current in their field.

Timeline
Educators with a standard certificate on June 18, 1993 have until June 18, 1999 to renew at least one certificate. Each new or renewed certificate is valid for five years. In the first round, recertification applications received and approved by the Department any time prior to June 18, 1999 will be valid through June, 2004. As of June 1999, a new plan for recertification for the second 5-year cycle will be adopted.

Recertification applies to all educators (teachers, administrators, guidance counselors, etc.) who are certified; is a relationship between the individual and the state; and is intended to improve student learning by continually improving the quality of teaching and educational administration.

Key Points

• Educators develop an Individual Professional Development Plan
• Educators are encouraged to align their professional development activity with district and state goals and priorities
• Educators engage in a broad range of quality professional development activities, including school-based and self-directed activity, to earn "Professional Development Points" for recertification.
• Educators are responsible for initiating, documenting and reporting their recertification activity
• Professional development for recertification must address content and professional skill areas in the educator's primary certificate and may address "other related educational areas"
• School districts must offer "no cost" options to their employees for recertification
• Recertification eliminates previous "lifetime certification."
• The professional development options for recertification are flexible and innovative; they include activities such as participation in school-based study groups, professional mentoring, publication of books, articles and software, as well as seminars and college/ university courses.

Audits
The Department will randomly audit applications for recertification to ensure integrity. Full documentation will be requested, including a copy of the educator's Individual Professional Development Plan.

School Choice

School choice (MGL Chapter 76, Section 12B) allows pupils to attend public schools outside of their own district.

In FY99, 117 Massachusetts school districts are accepting pupils through this program. School committees choose whether or not to become school choice receiving districts, and they may designate a maximum number of available school choice seats for an upcoming year. If there are more applicants than available openings, the selection of students must be conducted on a random basis, and must be free from discrimination on the basis of race, color, religious creed, national original, sex, age, sexual orientation, ancestry, athletic performance, physical handicap, special need or academic proficiency.

Pupils' local districts are charged tuition based upon 75 percent of the receiving districts' per pupil cost, capped at $5,000 except for special education. Tuitions are calculated by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education based upon enrollment reports submitted twice a year by receiving districts. Sending districts are assessed through the quarterly local aid distribution. Below-foundation districts receive additional Chapter 70 aid to partially offset these assessments. Tuition is transferred to the receiving districts, where it is placed in a separate account and may be spent by the school committee without appropriation.

Transportation
In 1994, the Board approved regulations governing a reimbursement program which allows for the reimbursement of transportation costs to low income parents whose children are participating in school choice.

Important School Choice Statistics

*FTE = Full time equivalent, which is the average enrollment during the entire school year.

*New system for 1998-99 school year
** Not accepting new enrollments this year

Special Education

Special education is provided to eligible students in Massachusetts in accordance with the Massachusetts Board of Education Chapter 766 Regulations, and the federal Individuals With Disabilities Education Act, 1997 Amendments (IDEA-97).

Federal: The reauthorization of IDEA-97 has represented considerable change in practice in Massachusetts's schools. Some key elements of change include:

• Ensuring that students with disabilities have access to the general curriculum. Massachusetts has identified the curriculum frameworks in the areas of English language arts (including reading), history and social sciences, science and technology, and mathematics as key components of the general curriculum;
• Codifying the right of students with disabilities to be included in state and district-wide assessments;
• Developing a state methodology for alternate assessments for the small percentage of students who are unable to participate in the MCAS;
• Clarifying the rights and responsibilities of public school districts to provide special education services to students enrolled in private schools, limiting services equivalent to a "proportionate share" of the federal funds received by the district for such students;
• Revising discipline policies and procedures to ensure that students with disabilities receive educational services even when the student's disability does not affect ability to understand or follow a discipline code.

The federal regulations implementing IDEA-97 have not yet been released (July 1998) and will likely include further changes to practices in Massachusetts schools.

State: As a result of legislative activity and public interest during 1997-98, the legislature is studying the effect of changing the requirement for special education services from the current "maximum feasible benefit" standard to the federal standard of "free and appropriate education."

Additionally, requirements of IDEA-97 will prompt the legislature to continue review of the funding of special education, particularly a popular account known as "50/50" in order to revise any funding provisions which result in a financial incentive for more restrictive placement.

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education continues to support inclusion activities in schools. In 1997-98, a total of $4 million was provided to public for Supporting Access to the Curriculum. This grant program will be continued in the 1999 school year, and will include private special education schools and collaboratives.

State Testing Program

Student Testing Program: Accountability and Evaluation
The Education Reform Act of 1993 mandated a new statewide testing program to measure individual student, school, and district academic achievement based on the states new Curriculum Framework standards. The new testing program, the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) was administered for the first time in May 1998. It replaced the MEAP program which was administered from 1988 to 1996. MEAP, unlike MCAS, did not provide individual student results. Results from the May administration will be reported in November 1998.

October 1994 - Issued Request for Proposals for testing contract

September 1995 - Test Contractor selected (Advanced Systems in Measurement and Evaluation, Inc.)

January 1996- Began Test development

April 1997 - Administered Question Tryout of mathematics and science & technology questions to all public school students in grades 4, 8 and 10

November 1997 - Administered Question Tryout of English language arts questions to all public

January-February 1998 - Issued Guides to the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (English language arts, mathematics, science & technology)

February 1998 - Board of Education adopted four general performance labels and corresponding definitions to be used to report MCAS results.

May 1998 - First actual administration of MCAS tests to all public school students in grades 4, 8 and 10 in English language arts, mathematics, science & technology and History/Social Science (grade 8 only)

May 1998 - Board of Education approves content- and grade-specific descriptors for use in establishing scores for MCAS tests.

July-August 1998 - Conducted 3 regional Scoring Institutes involving approximately 600 Massachusetts teachers in the scoring of student responses to the May 1998 administration of the Long Composition component of the English Language Arts MCAS test.

November 1996 - The Board of Education voted to administer an annual test of reading achievement to all third graders beginning in the spring of 1997, and a one time achievement test of tenth graders in the spring of 1997.

December 1996 - Commissioner issued Request for Proposals for nationally-norm referenced test, grades 3 & 10.

February 1997 - Test contractor selected (Riverside Publishing Company)

April 1997 - Administered Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS) in reading to grade 3 students and the Iowa Tests of Educational Development to grade 10 students

August 1997 - Commissioner released state, district, and school level results for the 1997 Grade 3 Reading Test. The results of the Grade 3 Reading Test showed that among all third graders in Massachusetts, 69% met or exceeded the standard for Proficient reader.

February 1988 - Over 200 randomly-selected schools participated in one or more components of the 1998 administration of the National Assessment of Educational Progress. Grade 4, 8 and 12 students participated in the reading, writing and/or civics national assessment, grade 4 students participated in the state NAEP in reading and grade 4 and 8 students participated in the state NAEP assessment in reading and writing.

April 1998 - Second annual administration of the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS) in reading to grade 3 students

July 1998 - Commissioner released state, district, and school level results for the 1998 Grade 3 Reading Test. Statewide results show little change from 1997: sixty-eight percent of grade 3 students met or exceeded the standard for Proficient reader, although twenty-five percent of students remained at unacceptable Pre-reader and Basic reader levels.

Teacher Quality: 12-62 Plan

The 12-62 Plan: Commissioner of Education David P. Driscoll's Framework for Strengthening Massachusetts' Future Teaching Force

From the 12 year old student who comes to recognize the appeal of a teaching career to the 62 year old veteran who sparks enthusiasm in new teachers, we need comprehensive state action for improving Massachusetts' future teaching force by attracting, training, retaining, mentoring, and developing our top teachers into masters of their profession.

Setting the stage: Attracting the Best and Brightest

• We need programs such as the Future Teachers of America Clubs to excite middle and high school students of diverse backgrounds about the nobility of the teaching profession;

• We need $20,000 signing bonuses, spread over the first few years of a teacher's career, to break the mold and entice our highest achievers to enter this profession;

• We need to enhance the Attracting Excellence to Teaching Program to offer significant loan forgiveness packages to the best and brightest college graduates;

• We need to offer full scholarships at state colleges and universities to top performing high school students to encourage them to commit to a career in teaching; and

• We need to remove costly and time-consuming barriers and create greater flexibility to entry into teaching and to achieving full certification.

The Teacher Life-Cycle: Induction, Mentoring, and Career Development

• New teachers will be "apprentice teachers," to be mentored by master teachers;

• A corps of 1000 master teachers will be created by 2003 -- master teachers will need to complete the most rigorous national assessment of teacher competence, the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, and an additional content test;

• State funds should be used to reimburse and reward the master teachers who complete the NBPTS program (which itself has only a 39% passing rate);

• The recertification process needs to be based on subject matter competence and performance, not seat time, and it needs to be tied to higher standards with accountability as its central element;

• Teachers should be given opportunities to enter or exit the profession through part-time and job-sharing arrangements; and

• Veteran teachers should look forward to the capstone of their career and be given opportunities to pass on their wisdom and experience to the next generation of teachers.

There are other elements and details to this framework to be worked out, but I believe we must seize this opportunity to use the results of the Teacher Tests to move aggressively in strengthening Massachusetts' future teaching force. This comprehensive proposal needs state support, through a dedicated stream of funds for bonuses as well as mentoring by master teachers of apprentices.

The Board of Education has asked me to look at issues surrounding teacher quality, and I will make a full presentation of policy options to the State Board September 15.

Commissioner David P. Driscoll introduced the plan on July 27, 1998 during a press conference at the State House in Boston. Commissioner Driscoll was joined at the event by Governor Paul Cellucci, Senate President Tom Birmingham, and House Speaker Tom Finneran.

Vocational-Technical Education

The School to Career Cluster has been formed to assist school personnel in developing high-quality career pathways and vocational-technical programs that prepare students for success in postsecondary education and careers. The new cluster merges the School to Employment Services Cluster with the School to Work Office. The merger provides additional opportunities for staff collaboration in program and professional development.

The School to Career Cluster provides state-wide leadership in integrating academic, career development, and vocational-technical education that reflect the high standards of the Education Reform Act. All of the current initiatives in the clusters share the following themes:

• All students will be held to high academic and vocational performance standards;
• All students need career development to make better educational and career decisions;
• All teaching practices have to be integrated and be connected from the classroom to the community; and
• All students leaving high school should be prepared for postsecondary education and the world of work.

Office for School to Work
Massachusetts was one of the first eight states to receive a five-year implementation grant from the federal government (29 more states have since received grants). Massachusetts was awarded $33.5 million from FY95-FY99 for implementation of School-to-Work initiatives. Forty partnerships have been identified with all school districts belonging to a partnership. The grantseach for three yearswere awarded in three phases, and ranged from $150,000 to $1.2 million. Each Local Partnership pursues strategies suited for their region and are housed, for example, at high schools, colleges, chambers of commerce, and other sites.

As of July 1, 1996 the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education became the fiscal agent for the School-to-Work state grant. The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, within the goals and objectives of the Education Reform Act, encourages the establishment of a comprehensive career development system within local school districts. Furthermore, the Department provides technical assistance to school districts in integrating school-to-work initiatives with education reform.

Connecting Activities
State funded Connecting Activities connects classroom and worksite learning for young people. Last year the state allocated $2.78 million; this year it allocated $4.5 million. The state matches $1 for every $2 employers pay students. The money goes toward staff persons to create the connection between the school and business, and ensure that the internships are a rich learning experience.

• Nearly 14,000 students participate in paid or unpaid workplace internships that are related to educational goals within classrooms.
• Forty-four percent of the high schools reported providing internships for their students.
• More than 800 teachers of all grades and subjects spent time this past year in a business outside their school.
• More than 4,700 students spent their 1997 summer at a worksite that was connected to academics, including time spent in a classroom.

School-to-Employment
Massachusetts is recognized throughout the country as a leader in providing quality vocational technical education to interested high school students. The success of the vocational technical education system can be measured by the large number of students served, the low number of dropouts, and the high rate of placement of its graduates. The Education Reform Act calls for increased integration of academic and vocational technical education, and emphasizes the importance of career preparation for students.

Vocational technical education in Massachusetts is governed by Chapter 74 and its regulations. The regulations are currently under review and will be updated to incorporate Education Reform and related initiatives in the Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act and the School to Work Opportunities Act.

General Laws Chapter 69, Section 1D(iii): "The certificate of occupational proficiency shall be awarded to students who successfully complete a comprehensive education and training program in a particular trade or professional skill area and shall reflect a determination that the recipient has demonstrated mastery of a core of skills, competencies and knowledge comparable to that possessed by students of equivalent age entering the particular trade or profession from the most educationally advanced education systems in the world."

General Laws Chapter 69, Section 1F: "The board shall set standards for vocational technical education and programs for school to work transition. The board shall give particular emphasis for setting standards for the integration of academic and vocational education and to the progress in educating students for all aspects of a chosen industry."

General Laws Chapter 74, Section 1 includes the following definition: Vocational technical education shall mean organized education programs offering sequences of courses designed to educate and prepare students for both employment and continuing academic and occupational preparation. Such programs shall integrate academic and vocational education and shall include competency based applied learning which contributes to an individual's academic knowledge, higher order reasoning, and problem-solving skills, work attitudes, general employability skills and the occupational-specific skills necessary for economic independence as a productive and contributing member of society. Vocational technical education also includes applied technology education to be taught by personnel certified in technology education.

*The positive placement rate is the percent of students having pursued higher education, gone into the military or become employed in a related field within one year of graduation.

Tech Prep
Tech Prep is a program of study for students which begins in high school , continues at a postsecondary institution and culminates in an associate degree, two-year certificate, apprenticeship or further postsecondary study in a particular field of health, business or technology. In Massachusetts, Tech Prep is delivered through a statewide network of eleven consortia, each comprised of secondary schools, postsecondary institutions, employment and training providers and business and industry. Collabratively, consortium members develop and provide a sequential integrated curriculum of applied academics, technical courses and workplace experiences for students.

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