Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Delivery Goals, Projects, and Targets

December2012

ESE’s mission is to prepare all students to succeed in the world that awaits them after high school. To help us reach this mission, ESE has established strategic plans for the overall mission and four supporting goals:

  • Strengthen curriculum, instruction, and assessment
  • Improve educator effectiveness
  • Turn around the lowest performing districts and schools
  • Use technology and data effectively to support student achievement

The agency uses a systematic process to drive progress toward these goals and deliver results, called Delivery. Our partnership with theUS Education Delivery Institutehelped the agency establish its own delivery unit, whose sole purpose is to ensure the agency is delivering on its goals, and thus promote transformational change in student achievement.

The following is a brief description of each goal, the projects the agency is working on to help realize each goal, and the specific targets to which we’re holding ourselves accountable.

Goal: Success after high school

Prepare students to succeed in entry level college credit-bearing courses and for entry level jobs with career opportunities.

Priority projects addressing the goal

  1. Academic Support
  2. Early Warning Indicator System
  3. High School Graduation Initiative
  4. High School Turnaround
  5. MassCore Policy and Implementation
  6. Mass Model for School Counseling
  7. School to Career Connecting Activities

College and career readiness targets / Current / 2014 goal
5-year high school graduation rate / 84.7% / 88.3%
MassCore completion / 68.9% / 82.5%

Goal: Strengthencurriculum,instruction, and assessment

Improve curriculum and instruction, and thus student achievement, across the grade levels, but especially in literacy in the early grades and numeracy in the middle grades. These improvements will better prepare students for further academic study and ultimately to improve students’ readiness for college and careers.

Priority projects addressing the goal

  1. Implementing the 2011 Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks for English Language Arts & Literacy and Mathematics
  2. Create and implementmodel curricula and curriculum-embedded performance assessments
  3. Establish a tiered system of support
  4. Enhance the state-supported literacyprofessional developmentsystem
  5. Expandliteracy networks
  6. Integrate and targetgrants for the improvement of curriculum and instruction
  7. Implement World-class Instructional Design and Assessment (WIDA)
  8. Strengthen professional development for teachers of English language learners through Rethinking Equity and Teaching for English Language Learners (RETELL) training

Curriculum & Instruction early grades literacy targets (G3 ELA) / Current / 2014 goal
Overall CPI / 84.1 / 88.8
High needs CPI / 73.6 / 80.1
Percent advanced / 15.5% / 18.0%
Curriculum & Instruction middle grades mathematics targets (G8 math) / Current / 2014 goal
Overall CPI / 75.5 / 90.5
High needs CPI / 59.9 / 74.9
Percent advanced / 22.3% / 35.9%

Goal: Improve educator effectiveness

Improve the effectiveness of administrators and teachers across the state by supporting continuous improvement along all stages of the career continuum.

Priority projects addressing the goal

1.Career Ladders for Teachers

2.Diversity Initiative

3.Educator Evaluation

4.Enhancing Recruitment

5.Human Resource Pilot

6.Monitor Teacher Supply and Demand

7.Performance Assessments for Leaders

8.Preparation Program Approval

9.Professional Development Delivery System

10.Professional Development Quality Assurance

Educator effectiveness targets / Current / 2017 goal
English language learner proficiency: ELA / 23% / 48%
English language learner proficiency: mathematics / 24% / 43%
Minority teacher recruitment: percent minority in MA / 7.2% / 10.2%
Number of teachers on waivers in high need areas* / 351 / 175
Student growth percentile in L4 schools: ELA / 44 / 50
Student growth percentile in L4 schools: mathematics / 46 / 50
Percent of teachers that agree/strongly agree that PD is differentiated to meet the needs of individual teachers / 40% / 46%

*Waivers in high need areas include moderate disabilities, severe disabilities, and English as a second language.

Goal: Turn around the lowest performing districts and schools

Turnaround underperforming districts and schools so that all students have access to high-quality learning opportunities that prepare them for college and careers.

Priority projects addressing the goal

Establish and sustain district and school capacity for strategic planning and implementation support through the following projects:

1. School Redesign Grants

2. School Turnaround Plans

3. Grants Integration

4. Level 4 District Plans

5. Priority Partners

6. Implement Wraparound Zone Grant

7. Provide tiered instruction support for English language learners and students with disabilities

8. Educator Evaluation and Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF)

9. Level 5 school operators and lead partners

School and district turnaround targets / Current / 2014 goal
Turn around the lowest performing schools / -- / --
  • % of L4 schools meeting exit criteria by 2014
/ n/a / 75%
Narrow proficiency gaps in L4 schools / -- / --
  • L4 Special ed SGP relative to state (ELA)
/ 37 / 41
  • L4 Special ed SGP relative to state (mathematics)
/ 41 / 44
  • L4 ELL SGP relative to state (ELA)
/ 46 / 50
  • L4 ELL SGP relative to state (mathematics)
/ 46.5 / 55
Make progress in schools on the cusp of Level 4 status / -- / --
  • SGP in schools on the cusp (ELA)
/ 42 / 64
  • SGP in schools on the cusp (mathematics)
/ 41 / 65

Goal: Use technology and data effectively to support student achievement

Provide tools along with a technical and cultural environment that supports effective and efficient data use to improve policy decisions and ultimately student achievement.

Priority projects addressing the goal

  1. Edwin Analytics: Expand educator report delivery and access; integrate agency data
  2. Early Warning Indicator System
  3. Edwin Teaching and Learning (includes vocational competency tracking)
  4. Educator training on data use
  5. Schools Interoperability Framework (SIF)
  6. Create a data team leader endorsement for licensure in ELAR (RTTT)
  7. Educator evaluation (collect 7 data points)
  8. Professional learning community expansion

Data use targets / Current / 2014 goal
On-budget, on-time roll-out of projects, within scope / All
Teaching and Learning System (Edwin) / -- / --
  • Teachers with access to Edwin (in 75% of LEAs)
/ 0 / 50,000
(by 2013)
  • Teachers who use Edwin (in 90% of LEAs)
/ 0 / 8,000
(in 2013–14)
Educators trained in EWIS / 100+ / 2,000
Educators trained on Edwin / 0 / 25,000
Data leader licensure endorsement available / -- / Done
(by 2012-13)

Delivery goals, priorities, and targetsDecember 2012 page 1