Commissioner's Update
January 13, 2012

Dear Superintendents and Leaders of Charter Schools and Collaboratives:

In this Update I have two announcements and three items for your review.

Educator Evaluation Model System Launch

Since late June, when the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education adopted regulations to improve student learning by reforming educator evaluation in the Commonwealth, Department staff have been working closely with stakeholders to develop the Model System called for in the regulations. With the help of thoughtful suggestions and candid feedback from a wide range of stakeholders, the Department has developed the first six components of the Model System:

• District-Level Planning and Implementation Guide
• School-Level Planning and Implementation Guide
• Guide to Rubrics and Model Rubrics for Superintendent, Principal, and Teacher
• Model Collective Bargaining Contract Language
• Implementation Guide for Principal Evaluation
• Implementation Guide for Superintendent Evaluation

These materials were released on January 10, 2012 via the statewide webinar and conference call for district teams from Race to the Top Districts referenced in my December 8, 2011 update. The materials will be posted on the Department's educator evaluation website at: http://www.doe.mass.edu/edeval/.

The Department will continue to revise and improve the Model System, including the Implementation Guides, based on what we learn from the field over the next months and years. To help us do that, please send your comments, questions, and suggestions to EducatorEvaluation@doe.mass.edu.

Early Warning Indicator System for the 2011-12 School Year is Now Available

The Department is pleased to announce that the 2011-12 version of the Early Warning Indicator System (EWIS) is now available. The EWIS assigns high school freshmen one of five risk levels for not graduating on time. Detailed rosters for your students are provided in an Excel workbook via the Security Portal in the Accountability 2011 Data Dropbox in Dropbox Central. Only district staff assigned the "Accountability - District" security role may access these data. This security role is assigned by your district's Directory Administrator.

The EWIS is intended to be used as a starting point for identifying and supporting students who may be at risk of not graduating on time from high school. Research is clear that a variety of factors contribute to a student's likelihood of not graduating on time. We recommend that you consider augmenting the EWIS data with local data such as course grades, course completion rates, and freshman year attendance rates, among other sources of information.

In addition to the roster, we have created:

• a tool that automatically calculates risk levels for students who are not listed on the roster,
• aggregate EWIS information for all districts, and
• a guidance document that provides information on how the risk levels are calculated.

The calculator, summary data, and guidance are available. Technical questions about the EWIS may be directed to the Office of School Improvement Grant Programs via email to ayp@doe.mass.edu. General questions about the use of the EWIS may be directed to the Office of College and Career Readiness via email to achievement@doe.mass.edu.

Please note: The Department is working on the development of an expanded EWIS (covering Kindergarten through grade 12), which will build on the work started with the current EWIS. The EWIS will be part of an integrated suite of tools and resources that were introduced in the September 20, 2011 Commissioner's Update. If you would like to receive updates about the new EWIS, including information about upcoming opportunities to provide feedback, please complete this brief form to be added to our contact list.

Items Posted at www.doe.mass.edu:

1. Register for Spring 2012 MCAS and MEPA Test Administration Training Sessions by January 27, 2012
2. New MCAS Participation Guidelines for Koplik Award Eligibility
3. New MCAS Test Security Requirements and Test Administration Protocols

Sincerely,

Mitchell D. Chester, Ed.D.
Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education