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The Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education

Regulations on Innovation Schools, 603 CMR 48.00

To:Board of Elementary and Secondary Education
From:Mitchell D. Chester, Ed.D., Commissioner
Date:June 11, 2010

At the Board's April 27, 2010, meeting, the Board voted to solicit public comment on proposed new regulations governing innovation schools, and in particular virtual innovation schools. We received a number of comments, which are included in your briefing book (attachment 1) and are also summarized in the enclosed table (attachment 2). I have also continued to receive advice and comment from the educators who are serving at my request on a virtual schools advisory committee. Based on this feedback, I am proposing a number of revisions to the draft regulations (attachment 3), and recommend that you vote to adopt them at your June 22 meeting.

As you recall, innovation schools were established by the Legislature earlier this year as part of the Act Relative to the Achievement Gap (Chapter 12 of the Acts of 2010). Innovation schools are public schools operating within a school district with increased autonomy and flexibility to improve school performance and student achievement. The innovation schools statute (M.G.L. c.71, s.92; attachment 4) directs the Board to promulgate regulations in particular to guide the creation and operation of virtual innovation schools.

Accordingly, a significant portion of the proposed regulations deals with virtual innovation schools, defined as schools whose students receive 80 percent or more of their academic instruction on-line at a location other than a public school building. Although many Massachusetts high schools offer individual on-line courses to their students as an adjunct to classroom instruction, this represents our first foray into the world of full-time virtual schools. A number of other states have already experimented with virtual schools, and there seems to be a significant interest in and demand for this choice. I am enclosing a summary prepared by Connie Louie, the Department's Director of Instructional Technology, of these efforts in other states (attachment 5). At least one Massachusetts school district (Greenfield) is planning to open a virtual school this fall pursuant to these regulations, and there may be others.

I would like to call your attention to several specific items in the regulations that I am presenting to the Board for adoption this month. The first two are provisions that affect all innovation schools, not just virtual schools.

The following items pertain only to virtual innovation schools:

I believe the virtual school concept has significant potential for serving students who, for a variety of reasons, are not well-served in our traditional bricks-and-mortar schools. It is also clear that they are a work in progress, and we will need to carefully monitor and evaluate their performance. The regulations give the Department the authority to require additional reporting from virtual schools, and I propose to report annually to the Board on how this experiment is progressing. Based on our actual experience, I will make recommendations for additional regulatory or statutory controls as needed.

A motion for approval of the proposed regulations is enclosed (attachment 6). Deputy Commissioner Jeffrey Nellhaus, General Counsel Rhoda Schneider, and Associate Commissioner Jeff Wulfson will be available at the Board meeting to answer any questions.

Attachments:

 
Copies of Public Comments

Download PDF Document
Summary of Public Comments

 
Proposed Regulations on Innovation Schools, 603 CMR 48.00
(a clean copy and a copy showing changes from the April 2010 public comment version of the proposed amendments)

View External Link
M.G.L. c.71, s.92 (as added by St. 2010, c. 12, s. 8)

Download PDF Document
Summary of States with Full-Time, Statewide Online Schools

 
Motion to Adopt Regulations