DESE VISTA Survey Project, 2016-2017

Welcome to the 2016-2017 Views of Instruction, State Standards, Teaching, and Assessment (VISTA) Survey Project page.

Introduction

VISTA is an annual survey sponsored by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Educators were asked to share their views on the implementation of five statewide initiatives:

• The Massachusetts curriculum frameworks,
• Educator growth and development,
• Educator evaluation,
• Social and emotional learning, and
• DESE supports.

The 2016-2017 VISTA surveys were administered to all superintendents and principals. 193 or 57% of superintendents provided feedback, with 937 or 52% of principals participating in their survey. Westat provided survey design, data collection, analyses and data reporting for the 2016-2017 VISTA survey projects.

2016-2017 VISTA Survey Findings

Executive Summary and Descriptive Reports

Executive Summary

A two-page summary of high level findings:

• Superintendent 2017 executive summary

• Principal 2017 executive summary

Descriptive Reports

State-wide representative descriptive data:

• Superintendent 2017 report

• Principal 2017 report

C-SAIL: Studying the implementation of college- and career-ready learning standards

For details on current implementation efforts, school and district experiences, and initial student outcomes in Massachusetts, visit the Center on Standards, Alignment, Instruction, and Learning (C-SAIL) web page. C-SAIL was established in July 2015 to serve as an objective resource on the implementation and effects of the full breadth of college- and career-readiness standards, including the ambitious student learning standards here in Massachusetts. The Center is funded through a grant from the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) of the U.S. Department of Education and partnered with Massachusetts and four other states: California, Kentucky, Ohio, and Texas. C-SAIL's research pays special attention to the experiences of English language learners and students with disabilities.

• Link to Massachusetts state report: Year 1 State Report: Massachusetts

2016-2017 VISTA Webinar Presentation

On June 8, 2017, DESE and Westat presented a webinar to educators highlighting the results of VISTA 2017. The presentation is provided with notes pages.

Webinar Presentation

• Slide deck and notes pages of webinar presented to educators on June 8, 2017. Webinar provides highlights of VISTA 2017's results

The VOICE One-Page Summaries

Curriculum and Instruction

Issues 1 – 3

• Issue 1: Views of curriculum frameworks

• Issue 2: Clarity of curriculum frameworks

• Issue 3: Teacher instructional supports

Educator Evaluation

Issues 4 – 6

• Issue 4: DESE's evaluation resources

• Issue 5: Common Assessments

• Issue 6: Evidence for Summative-Performance-Ratings

Educator Growth and Development

Issue 7

• Issue 7: Embedding SEL instruction

Social and Emotional Learning

Issues 8 – 9

• Issue 8: Staff SEL proficiency

• Issue 9: Staff SEL proficiency by school type

DESE Support

Issue 10

• Issue 10: Views of DESE

 

The surveys that were administered in 2017 can be viewed by clicking the links in the table below.

Superintendent (or Designee)

Content:
5 statewide initiatives (curriculum frameworks, educator growth and development, educator evaluation, social and emotional learning and DESE supports.

Time:
20 – 30 minutes

Sample:
All Superintendents in the state

• VISTA-D (2017)

Principal

Content:
5 statewide initiatives (curriculum frameworks, educator growth and development, educator evaluation, social and emotional learning and DESE supports.

Time:
20 – 30 minutes

Sample:
All Principals in the state

• VISTA-P (2017)

Last Updated: January 17, 2018