Educator Effectiveness

Teachers' Top Three from ESE - October 22, 2015

1. Resource: "What to Look For" Observation Guides for Math and Science
   In collaboration with educators, ESE has developed a suite of observation guides for grades 1–8 in mathematics and science. The guides describe what observers should expect to see in a classroom at a particular grade level in a specific subject area, including the knowledge and skills students should be learning and using and best practices related to curriculum, instruction and assessment.

   The guides are not designed to replace any evaluation system or tools districts currently use but are an additional resource to help classroom observers efficiently identify what teachers and students should be experiencing in specific subjects and grade levels.

   The Department anticipates releasing observation guides for English language arts in grades 1–8 by December.

2. In the news: "Teaching should be a team sport"
   Boston area teacher and writer Jessica Lander recently wrote about the collaborative approaches of other professions and of teaching in other countries. She proposes a pilot program for Massachusetts focused on three key factors—time, space and culture — to encourage teacher collaboration. The full article is available on the Boston Globe website (attached for email subscribers).

   What do you think? How do teachers collaborate in your school and district? Share examples and ideas on Twitter using #Top3fromESE.

3. The Buzz: MCAS 2.0?
   At Monday afternoon's meeting of the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, Commissioner Chester said that he was considering a new option in his deliberations over PARCC: using the effort we've invested in PARCC to create MCAS 2.0. His full statement to the Board    is available online. In addition, you may be interested in reading the statement that went out to superintendents after Tuesday's Board discussion (attached for email subscribers).

   In both statements, the commissioner makes the following points:

   • MCAS has served Massachusetts well, as evident in our students' strong performance nationally and internationally. "Now that we have the benefit of two decades of experience [with MCAS] and have upgraded our curriculum frameworks and content standards, it is time to upgrade our assessments."
   • PARCC sets a higher bar for students "that is not about just being harder," rather "PARCC is designed to assess our updated understanding of learning progressions in mathematics, text complexity and the interplay of reading and writing, research skills, and the academic expectations of higher education and employers."
   • "While Massachusetts has exercised a leadership role among the consortium states, any path forward that includes PARCC must be a path over which we have control. To be confident that we exercise ultimate agency over the direction of the Commonwealth's assessment program, I am considering options for taking advantage of our access to PARCC to build MCAS 2.0."