MA: VISTA-D
(Views of Instruction, State Standards, Teaching, and Assessment)
January 13, 2016
Thank you for taking this survey. The purpose of this survey is to learn more about your experiences with several educational reforms currently underway in Massachusetts. ESE would like your feedback on your district and the state’s programs to support reform efforts related to the implementation of the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks, educator professional growth and development, and personalized and digital learning tools. The survey is divided into five main modules:
A: State Curriculum Frameworks
B: Educator Growth and Development
C: Role of Evaluation in Supporting Educator Growth and Development
D: Personalized Learning Tools
E: Digital Learning Tools
If you, as superintendent, respond to all modules, the survey should take approximately 40 to 50 minutes to complete. You will be given the option to have a designee from your district staff complete one or more of the five modules. However, you are asked to respond to a few questions even if you designate someone else to respond to all of the modules.
If you are unsure about a question, please respond in a manner that most closely reflects your experiences or seek information from others (e.g., Curriculum Directors) to provide an answer.
NOTE: To protect confidentiality, no individual survey response will be reported. They will be combined together with responses from other district administrators in the state and reported only if a sufficient number of district administrators respond to the question to ensure confidentiality.
Q1.1 Do you, as Superintendent, want to answer all the questions related to the five main modules or do you wish have someone else in your district office answer questions related to one or more of these modules? If you wish to assign someone else, please provide the email address of this person and have them respond to ALL of the content within the module(s) you assign them.
YESI will complete the module / NO
I will assign the module to a designee(s)
MODULE A: STATE CURRICULUM FRAMEWORKS / □ / □
MODULE B: EDUCATOR GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT / □ / □
MODULE C: ROLE OF EVALUATION in SUPPORTING EDUCATOR GROWTH and DEVELOPMENT / □ / □
MODULE D: PERSONALIZED LEARNING TOOLS / □ / □
MODULE E: DIGITAL LEARNING TOOLS / □ / □
Q1.2 Please provide email of the person you would like to respond to each of the following:
EMAILMODULE A: STATE CURRICULUM FRAMEWORKS / ______
MODULE B: EDUCATOR GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT / ______
MODULE C: ROLE OF EVALUATION in SUPPORTING EDUCATOR GROWTH and DEVELOPMENT / ______
MODULE D: PERSONALIZED LEARNING TOOLS / ______
MODULE E: DIGITAL LEARNING TOOLS / ______
What grade levels does your district serve?
F1. What grade levels does your district serve?
PLEASE SELECT EITHER “ALL GRADES K – G12” or INDIVIDUALLY SELECT ALL THAT APPLY.
13 □ All Grades K – G12
0 □ Kindergarten
1 □ grade 1
2 □ grade 2
3 □ grade 3
4 □ grade 4
5 □ grade 5
6 □ grade 6
7 □ grade 7
8 □ grade 8
9 □ grade 9
10 □ grade 10
11 □ grade 11
12 □ grade 12
F2. Including the current school year (2015-16), how long have you worked as a district-level and/or school-level administrator?
Please do not include student practicum
Years / Monthsa. Total amount of time as a district-level administrator in current district / | | | / | | |
b. Total amount of time as a district-level administrator / | | | / | | |
c. Total amount of time as a school-level administrator / | | | / | | |
To protect confidentiality, survey responses will not be reported at the individual-level.
This module asks for your views on the alignment, support and implementation of the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks (English Language Arts, Mathematics, and Revised Science and Technology/Engineering) in your district
A1.1 During the 2015-16 school year, including summer 2015, what activities did your district engage in to ensure the curricula in the elementary grades, K – 5, are aligned with Curriculum Frameworks?
Mathematics / English Language Arts / Science and Technology/Engineering
YES / NO / YES / NO / YES / NO
a. Selected new curricula that are specifically aligned with current state standards / □ / □ / □ / □ / □ / □
b. Reviewed existing curricula for alignment with current state standards / □ / □ / □ / □ / □ / □
c. Modified or developed our own curricula to ensure that they are aligned with current state standards / □ / □ / □ / □ / □ / □
d. No alignment activities occurred / □ / □ / □ / □ / □ / □
e. Other (specify)
______ / □ / □ / □ / □ / □ / □
A1.2 During the 2015-16 school year, including summer 2015, what activities did your district engage in to ensure the curricula in the middle school grades, G6 - G8, are aligned with Curriculum Frameworks?
Mathematics / English Language Arts / Science and Technology/Engineering
YES / NO / YES / NO / YES / NO
a. Selected new curricula that are specifically aligned with current state standards / □ / □ / □ / □ / □ / □
b. Reviewed existing curricula for alignment with current state standards / □ / □ / □ / □ / □ / □
c. Modified or developed our own curricula to ensure that they are aligned with current state standards / □ / □ / □ / □ / □ / □
d. No alignment activities occurred / □ / □ / □ / □ / □ / □
e. Other (specify)
______ / □ / □ / □ / □ / □ / □
A1.3 During the 2015-16 school year, including summer 2015, what activities did your district engage in to ensure the curricula in the high school grades, G9 - G12, are aligned with Curriculum Frameworks?
SELECT ONE RESPONSE PER ROW AND SUBJECTMathematics / English Language Arts / Science and Technology/
Engineering
YES / NO / YES / NO / YES / NO
a. Selected new curricula that are specifically aligned with current state standards / □ / □ / □ / □ / □ / □
b. Reviewed existing curricula for alignment with current state standards / □ / □ / □ / □ / □ / □
c. Modified or developed our own curricula to ensure that they are aligned with current state standards / □ / □ / □ / □ / □ / □
d. No alignment activities occurred / □ / □ / □ / □ / □ / □
e. Other (specify)
______ / □ / □ / □ / □ / □ / □
A2. Please indicate the degree to which you think the following are aligned to the state Curriculum Frameworks.
Not at All Aligned / Somewhat Aligned / Aligned / Strongly Aligned / NOT SUREa. State-mandated assessments used by your district / □ / □ / □ / □ / □
b. District-mandated summative assessments / □ / □ / □ / □ / □
c. School-created summative assessments / □ / □ / □ / □ / □
d. Teacher-created summative assessments / □ / □ / □ / □ / □
e. Formative or diagnostic assessments used district-wide / □ / □ / □ / □ / □
f. Mathematics textbooks used in your schools or district / □ / □ / □ / □ / □
g. English Language Arts textbooks used in your schools or district / □ / □ / □ / □ / □
h. Science and Technology/Engineering textbooks used in your schools or district / □ / □ / □ / □ / □
i. Mathematics curriculum selected or developed by your district / □ / □ / □ / □ / □
j. English Language Arts curriculum selected or developed by your district / □ / □ / □ / □ / □
k. Science and Technology/Engineering curriculum selected or developed by your district / □ / □ / □ / □ / □
l. State-developed or organized professional development activities for teachers / □ / □ / □ / □ / □
m. District-developed or organized professional development activities for teachers / □ / □ / □ / □ / □
A3. To what extent has each of the following resources you received from ESE helped your district implement the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks?
Did not Receive this / Not Helpful / Somewhat Helpful / Helpful / Very Helpful / Don’t Know if we Received Ita. Curriculum resources aligned to the state standards / □ / □ / □ / □ / □ / □
b. Information about how the state standards change what is expected of students / □ / □ / □ / □ / □ / □
c. Information about how the state standards change what is expected of our teachers’ instructional practice / □ / □ / □ / □ / □ / □
d. Professional development for principals on the state standards / □ / □ / □ / □ / □ / □
e. Clarification of how instruction is expected to shift in order to align to the curriculum frameworks / □ / □ / □ / □ / □ / □
f. Information about how to implement strategies to address the instructional needs of English Language Learners (ELLs) / □ / □ / □ / □ / □ / □
g. Information about how to implement strategies to address the instructional needs of students with individualized education programs (IEPs) / □ / □ / □ / □ / □ / □
h. Other (specify): / □ / □ / □ / □ / □ / □
A4. Please characterize the level of support provided by your district to schools to help them implement the state’s Curriculum Frameworks.
No District Support Provided / Little District Support Provided / Occasional District Support Provided / Regular District Support Provideda. Professional development / □ / □ / □ / □
b. Expertise, or access to expertise, provided to school leaders / □ / □ / □ / □
c. Expertise, or access to expertise, provided to teachers / □ / □ / □ / □
d. Time for educators to support the implementation of the state’s curriculum frameworks / □ / □ / □ / □
e. Time for educators (teachers and/or administrators) to share and learn from the experiences of their peers / □ / □ / □ / □
f. Analyses of student assessment data (e.g., state assessments, common assessments) to inform the implementation process / □ / □ / □ / □
g. Materials and other resources needed to support the implementation process / □ / □ / □ / □
A5. To what extent is each of the following a challenge to your district’s efforts to implement the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks in your district?
Not a Challenge / Minor Challenge / Moderate Challenge / Major Challenge / NOT SUREa. Lack of support from parents / □ / □ / □ / □ / □
b. Inadequate instructional resources / □ / □ / □ / □ / □
c. Principal turnover / □ / □ / □ / □ / □
d. Teacher turnover / □ / □ / □ / □ / □
e. Lack of school resources needed to provide extra help for struggling students / □ / □ / □ / □ / □
f. Level of difficulty of the Massachusetts standards / □ / □ / □ / □ / □
g. Conflicting state initiatives / □ / □ / □ / □ / □
h. Conflicting district initiatives / □ / □ / □ / □ / □
i. Insufficient understanding of the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks by teachers / □ / □ / □ / □ / □
j. Insufficient understanding of the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks by principals / □ / □ / □ / □ / □
k. Lack of high quality teaching / □ / □ / □ / □ / □
l. Lack of high quality administrators / □ / □ / □ / □ / □
m. Amount of time required for additional district-administered tests / □ / □ / □ / □ / □
A6. Please indicate your level of agreement with the following statements.
Disagree Strongly / Disagree Somewhat / Agree Somewhat / Agree Stronglya. The state publicly rewards or recognizes districts for implementation of Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks. / □ / □ / □ / □
b. The district publicly rewards or recognizes principals based on their schools’ implementation of the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks. / □ / □ / □ / □
c. The district publicly rewards or recognizes teachers based on their classroom implementation of the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks. / □ / □ / □ / □
d. There are negative repercussions for districts in my state that poorly implement the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks. / □ / □ / □ / □
e. There are negative repercussions for principals in my district if their schools poorly implement the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks. / □ / □ / □ / □
f. There are negative repercussions for teachers in this district who poorly implement the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks. / □ / □ / □ / □
A7. Please indicate your level of agreement with the following statements.
Don’t know / Disagree Strongly / Disagree Somewhat / Agree Somewhat / Agree Stronglya. The English Language Arts (ELA) Curriculum Framework sets appropriate expectations for student learning at each grade level. / □ / □ / □ / □ / □
b. The ELA Curriculum Framework positively affects the degree to which students are prepared for college and career. / □ / □ / □ / □ / □
c. The ELA Curriculum Framework makes learning relevant to students' everyday lives. / □ / □ / □ / □ / □
d. Teachers have made instructional shifts over the last year to ensure students meet the expectations of the state’s current ELA Curriculum Framework. / □ / □ / □ / □ / □
e. ELA state assessments provide useful information about how well students in my district are mastering the state’s ELA standards. / □ / □ / □ / □ / □
A8. Please indicate your level of agreement with the following statements
Don’t know / Disagree Strongly / Disagree Somewhat / Agree Somewhat / Agree Stronglya. The ELA Curriculum Framework clearly indicates the content (topics and cognitive demands) teachers should teach. / □ / □ / □ / □ / □
b. The ELA Curriculum Framework clearly indicates the content (topics and cognitive demands) teachers should not teach. / □ / □ / □ / □ / □
c. Teachers have received guidance from my district or state that clearly indicates the order in which they should teach each content area in the ELA Curriculum Framework. / □ / □ / □ / □ / □
d. Teachers have received guidance from my district or state that clearly indicates how much time they should spend on each content area in the ELA Curriculum Framework. / □ / □ / □ / □ / □
A9. Please indicate your level of agreement with the following statements.