2017-18 School Year: A Renewed Belief in All Students
Welcome to our 2018 annual report to the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE). We are excited to share with you some of what took place in the Commonwealth's nearly 1,900 schools and adult education programs and how the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) worked with local districts and other education entities to:
- Strengthen standards, curriculum, instruction, and assessment;
- Promote educator development;
- Support social-emotional learning, health, and safety;
- Turn around the lowest performing districts and schools; and
- Enhance resource allocation and data use.
The 2017-18 school year brought a new leader and a new vision to the agency. Learn more from Board of Elementary and Secondary Education Chairman Paul Sagan 
and Commissioner Jeffrey C. Riley , who was appointed Massachusetts' 24th commissioner of elementary and secondary education in early 2018.
Massachusetts's learning standards are developed by educators and DESE and set high expectations for students and teachers. State assessments let districts know whether students have learned what they need to know and be able to do in grades 3-8 and 10.
Agency Highlights
- With the passage of the LOOK (Language Opportunities for Our Kids) Act in 2017, districts will have more flexibility in how they serve English learners, a growing segment of the student body.
- "Why do I have to learn this?" is an old question in high schools, and DESE's ongoing work with the Department of Higher Education is helping to answer it. The state has designated Innovation and Early College pathways in high schools and colleges to give students a path with skills and courses relevant to future careers or a head start on college.
- The Department released the first results from the next-generation English language arts and math MCAS, setting a new baseline for grades 3-8. Approximately 50 percent of the students scored Meeting Expectations or above in each of the grades and subjects.
- Civics was the center of attention as the Board approved the 2018 Massachusetts History and Social Science Curriculum Framework, which includes a new eighth grade civics course.
Bringing the work to life
Agency Highlights
- The Department collected feedback on proposed Subject Matter Knowledge Guidelines, which outline the knowledge and pedagogical skill educators need for licensure. (We released the new guidelines
in August 2018.)
- The Department joined the Council of Chief State School Officers and eight other states in the Diverse and Learner-Ready Teachers Initiative, an effort to diversify the education workforce and help educators effectively teach students of different cultural backgrounds.
- In 2018, DESE released updated model rubrics for the evaluation of classroom teachers and school-level administrators. These refinements to the rubrics streamlined content, clarified descriptors, and strengthened connections to critical instructional practices.
Bringing the work to life
We are committed to fostering safe, positive, healthy, culturally competent, and inclusive learning environments that address students' varied needs and improve educational outcomes for all.
Agency Highlights
- The Department's Leading Educational Access Project (LEAP) trained 16 educational collaborative representatives to help school districts develop systems and practices to support all students, particularly the most vulnerable.
- Massachusetts schools welcomed more than 3,000 students from Puerto Rico following the 2017 hurricanes, and the state sent additional aid to districts to help with this effort.
- The Department held a statewide Safe and Supportive Schools Convening in Worcester in spring 2018 and offered the statewide Views of Climate and Learning student survey for grades 5, 8, and 10 to help inform local efforts to improve school climate.
- The Department shared the Educator Effectiveness Guidebook for Inclusive Practice with approximately 1,000 principals through the Ambassadors for Equitable and Inclusive Practice project and offered Foundations for Inclusive Practice courses online; more than 8,000 educators and administrators registered.
Bringing the work to life
Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School District
Strengthening school climate and social-emotional learning
IV. Turn around the lowest performing districts and schools
The state supports the Commonwealth's lowest performing schools and districts with evidence-based interventions to support rapid improvement for students, including improved instruction and student-specific supports.
Agency Highlights
- The receivership in Lawrence entered a new phase as Jeffrey C. Riley stepped down and later became DESE commissioner, and Interim Commissioner Jeff Wulfson appointed the Lawrence Alliance for Education board as the new receiver. The LAE, in turn, hired Cynthia Paris as superintendent.
- Jeffrey Villar, executive director of the Connecticut Council for Education Reform and a former superintendent in Connecticut, became receiver of the Southbridge Public Schools.
Bringing the work to life
Turnaround resources for high schools
Evidence-based guidance on implementing turnaround practices at the high school level
Henry Grew Elementary School, Boston
Implementing the Massachusetts Tiered System of Supports (MTSS)
Watson Elementary School, Fall River
Family and community engagement practices at a turnaround school
We aim to provide districts with data and tools that help decision makers allocate resources in ways that address student needs and support student success.
Agency Highlights
- After a pilot, DESE offered districts Resource Reallocation and District Action Reports (RADAR) and tools to give district leaders better information about how their use of resources compares to state averages, similar districts, neighboring districts, and recommended practices.
- The Department overhauled its federal grants application, review, and monitoring process to make it smoother for districts.
- The Department offered tools and training on Planning for Success, DESE's strategic planning process, which is designed to help districts and schools build multi-year strategic plans and annual implementation plans.
