Regional Forums

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Regional Forums

• Massachusetts Race to the Top Discussion
• December 2009

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Agenda
45 minutes Review RTTT criteria
introduce MAs proposed initiatives and MOU 30
minutes QA on initiatives and MOU 40
minutes District small group discussions 5
minutes Next steps
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Race to the Top is a historic opportunity for
education in Massachusetts

• Up to 250M investment
• Supplement, not supplant
• Ed reform 2 RTTT will let us do what we need to
  do next faster

To be competitive, we have to be working together
to develop a comprehensive proposal that builds
on our strengths and sets ambitious new goals
Source Race to the Top Final Notice
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Timeline for the RTTT process
Spring/ Summer
November
December
January
Nov 12 US ED released final guidelines
Jan 13 District submits signed RTTT MOUs to ESE
April US ED announces RTTT state grant awards
Mid-Dec ESE posts draft proposal summary for
comment
Jan 19 ESE submits final proposal to US ED
This week ESE sends MOU to districts
Dec 18, 830-10 am ESE hosts QA webinar on
district MOUs
July District submits RTTT grant application
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FINAL CRITERIA The final criteria will help us
shape the final proposal

• 52 of total points awarded based on the States
  past accomplishments, 48 based on future plans
• 48 of State Success Factors points are awarded
  based on the strength and number of MOUs with
  participating districts

Source Race to the Top Final Notice
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FINAL CRITERIA US ED clarified the role of
participating districts in the states proposal
The final guidelines make clear the importance of
district participation
and earlier guidance showed how funds should be
distributed
(A)(1)(ii) Participating LEAs are strongly
committed to the States plans and to effective
implementation of reform in the four education
areas, as evidenced by the Memoranda of
Understanding (MOUs) between the State and its
participating LEAs that include (a) Terms and
conditions that reflect strong commitment (b)
Scope-of-workthat require participating LEAs to
implement all or significant portions of
theplans and (c) Signatures from as many as
possible of the LEA superintendent, the president
of the local school board, and the local
teachers union leader
At least 50 of funds will be passed on to
participating districts using the Title I formula
Remaining 50 may be used by the State or
distributed to any participating districts
MA guidance up to 250M
Relative shares will be based on total funding
received in FY 2009, including both the regular
Title I and ARRA (stimulus) Source Race to the
Top Final Notice
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How might RTTT dollars flow in MA?
USED Guidance for MA up to 250M
50 of funds for use by state or further
distribution to participating districts
50 passed onto participating districts using the
Title I formula
Relative shares will be based on total funding
received in FY 2009, including both the regular
Title I and ARRA (stimulus) Source, Final RTTT
Notice
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RTTT and Title 1 G can significantly supplement
(not supplant) state funding
FY 2011
FY 2012
FY 2013
FY 2014
FY 2015
Supplement to Title 1
Regular Title 1 assumes the federal estimate
for FY2010 of 216,608,214 remains constant
through 2015 RTTT estimated based on MA
guidance of up to 250M over 4 years Source Race
to the Top ED.gov site
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MAs proposal anchors on seven initiatives
DRAFT
All students receive a world-class education and
graduate ready to succeed in the 21st century

• Roll out statewide P-12 teaching and learning
  system to accelerate and personalize student
  learning, including world-class
  benchmark/formative assessments, model
  curriculum, timely data to inform instruction,
  teacher supports and knowledge sharing
• Increase college and career readiness among all
  MA students by enhancing standards and providing
  new supports and incentives
• Transform district and state human capital
  approaches, rooted in teacher and leader
  effectiveness, by aligning policies and best in
  class practices for educator preparation,
  evaluation, licensure, compensation, career
  progression, and equitable distribution
• Enhance the statewide teacher and leader
  pipeline, including teacher recruitment,
  preparation, and equitable distribution, to
  improve STEM, SPED, ELL and educator diversity
  statewide

• Build district and state capacity to intervene in
  struggling schools, including contracts with
  proven district lead partners and expansion of
  proven intervention models (e.g., EMO/CMO, IB,
  early college initiatives)
• Develop a specialized corps of effective
  turnaround teacher and leader teams and ensure
  their distribution into the lowest performing
  schools
• Invest in comprehensive student supports (e.g.
  expanded learning opportunities and
  social-emotional supports) in low performing
  schools

and those most in need of additional support
accelerate to meet that standard
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RTTT INITIATIVE 1 Roll out statewide P-12
Teaching and Learning System
DRAFT
Build a statewide P-12 teaching and learning
system aligned to the Common Core of standards
this system will include summative, benchmark,
formative assessments and curriculum-embedded
performance tasks, exemplar curricula and
instructional units, educator professional
development and innovative technology solutions

• The state will
• Lead a collaboration of districts and national
  experts to design and implement statewide
  includes funding for one-time infrastructure and
  subsidies for district rollout
• Districts will
• Partner with the state and national experts to
• Develop benchmark and curriculum-embedded
  performance tasks, exemplar curricula,
  instructional units with matching formative
  assessments, other tools
• Support educator access to state-developed
  training and assistance using face-to-face and
  online resources
• Ensure district data systems integrate with state
  systems to make data available real-time at the
  school, classroom, and individual student level

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RTTT INITIATIVE 2 Increase college and career
readiness
DRAFT
Enhance MAs standards to include more rigorous
definition of college/career readiness, in
particular for STEM, and invest in new
programs/supports/ incentives to drive
achievement of these standards

• The state will
• Enhance the Adams Scholarship to serve as a
  rigorous standard of college and career readiness
• Activate the states Certificate of Occupational
  Proficiency and create incentives for attainment
• Provide start-up funding, teacher training and
  technical assistance for district expansion of
  rigorous college and career pathways
• Engage Readiness Centers to convene K-12
  (particularly HS) educators, college faculty,
  businesses, and DHE
• Districts will
• Create new IB middle and high schools, with a
  focus on Level 3 districts
• Expand early college/dual enrollment programs, in
  particular for STEM
• Partner with regional Readiness Centers to
  implement/sustain this work

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RTTT INITIATIVE 3 Transform district and state
human capital approaches
DRAFT
Create statewide system to measure teacher and
principal effectiveness via multiple measures
(anchored in student performance) Develop new
tools, approaches, and policies to strengthen
district and state educator development

• The state will
• Collaborate with district leaders, unions, IHEs
  and national experts to develop multiple measures
  of teacher and principal effectiveness, anchored
  in student performance
• Provide assistance and start-up funds to
  districts and develop statewide models (e.g.,
  model contracts, evaluation systems, career
  ladders)
• Develop and launch a statewide performance-based
  licensure system based on measures of
  effectiveness
• Districts will
• Partner with the state in developing
  effectiveness measures collect/report aggregate
  effectiveness data and submit to the state
  annually
• Embed effectiveness into all district HR
  functions including evaluation, compensation and
  career ladders

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RTTT INITIATIVE 4 Enhance teacher and leader
pipeline ensure equitable distribution
DRAFT
Increase the number and percentage of highly
effective teachers and principals, particularly
in STEM, SPED, ELL and educator diversity, and
ensure equitable distribution

• The state will
• Publish Status of Educator Workforce Report
  annually
• Create statewide recruitment initiatives and
  invest in practice-based preparation focused on
  hard-to-staff subjects and schools
• Hold prep programs (both traditional and
  alternative) accountable for developing effective
  educators and expand highest quality programs
• Ensure equitable distribution of effective
  teachers via compensation policies, Title 2a
  funding and comprehensive support services
• Build and sustain capacity of the 6 regional
  Readiness Centers and DSACs to deliver
  high-quality professional development and
  induction support
• Districts will
• Implement programs to attract and retain
  educators in hard-to-staff subjects and schools
  by providing monetary (e.g., loan forgiveness or
  performance incentives) and non-monetary (e.g.,
  mentorship) incentives

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RTTT INITIATIVES 5-7 Turning around MAs
lowest-achieving schools
DRAFT
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5
7
Build district capacity to prevent schools from
entering into Levels 4 and 5 and to sustain
turnaround schools
Leverage teacher and leader pipeline (4) to
recruit, train and support a selective corps
committed to turning around schools
Provide supports to help schools and districts to
achieve the 11 Essential School Conditions
(e.g., Expanded Learning Opportunities,
social-emotional supports)

• The state will
• Fund partners to train/consult with Level 3 and 4
  districts on turnaround work Increase
  availability of social/health services in lowest
  performing schools
• Launch new statewide program to place specially
  training turnaround teachers and leaders in
  lowest performing schools
• Identify and fund proven high school models,
  e.g., STEM Early College High Schools, IB,
  AP/Pre-AP programs, and hybrid online courses
• Districts with Level 4 or 5 schools choose one of
  four turnaround models
• Turnaround model
• Restart model
• School closure
• Transformational model

See separate Appendix for description of
turnaround models
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MAs draft MOU sets three requirements for
district participation
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2
3
All participating districts
For districts with Level 4 or 5 schools
Optional
ESE will distribute MOU this week
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MOU US ED definition of teacher and leader
effectiveness
means a principal whose students, overall and
for each subgroup, achieve acceptable rates
(e.g., at least one grade level in an academic
year) of student growth. States, LEAs, or schools
must include multiple measures, provided that
principal effectiveness is evaluated, in
significant part, by student growth. Supplemental
measures may include, for example, high school
graduation rates and college enrollment rates, as
well as evidence of providing supportive teaching
and learning conditions, strong instructional
leadership, and positive family and community
engagement.
Effective principal
Effective teacher
means a teacher whose students achieve
acceptable rates (e.g., at least one grade level
in an academic year) of student growth. States,
LEAs, or schools must include multiple measures,
provided that teacher effectiveness is evaluated,
in significant part, by student growth.
Supplemental measures may include, for example,
multiple observation-based assessments of teacher
performance.
Source Race to the Top Final Notice
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MOU US ED definition of student achievement
and student growth
Student achieve-ment
means (a)  For tested grades and subjects (1)
a students score on the States assessments
under the ESEA and, as appropriate, (2) other
measures of student learning, such as those
described in paragraph (b) of this definition,
provided they are rigorous and comparable across
classrooms. (b)  For non-tested grades and
subjects alternative measures of student
learning and performance such as student scores
on pre-tests and end-of-course tests student
performance on English language proficiency
assessments and other measures of student
achievement that are rigorous and comparable
across classrooms.
Student growth
means the change in student achievement (as
defined in this notice) for an individual student
between two or more points in time. A State may
also include other measures that are rigorous and
comparable across classrooms.
Source Race to the Top Final Notice
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Agenda
45 minutes Review RTTT criteria
introduce MAs proposed initiatives and MOU 30
minutes QA on initiatives and MOU 40
minutes District small group discussions 5
minutes Next steps
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Questions for district small group discussion

• Based on todays draft, would you expect to sign
  the MOU?
• What additional information would you require to
  sign on?
• What are the key action steps required in your
  district to commit to signing the MOU?

Lets now break into our small groups
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District report back
District name
Yes
Only if
No because
Based on todays draft, would you expect to sign
the MOU?
Is your district interested in participating in
each initiative?
Very interested in the initiative
Interested in initiative, but only if
Not interested because
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Agenda
45 minutes Review RTTT criteria
introduce MAs proposed initiatives and MOU 30
minutes QA on initiatives and MOU 40
minutes District small group discussions 5
minutes Next steps
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Next steps

• Discuss RTTT with your local district leaders
  (superintendents, unions, school committees) and
  determine action steps to sign MAs MOU
• Attend the December 18th webinar re MOUs (login
  TBA)
• Submit signed MOU by no later than January 13
• For more information
• http//www.ed.gov/programs/racetothetop/index.html
  
• http//www.doe.mass.edu/arra/
• Questions? rttt_at_doe.mass.edu