1. Opening Remarks Carrie Conaway Chief Strategy and Research Officer
Ron Noble
Director, Strategy and Integration
Center for Instructional Support
Federal Grant Programs Conference
October 23, 2017

2. Massachusetts’ goal is to prepare all students for success after high school.
Our college- and career-ready standards are at the core of this work.
To support standards-based learning, we believe that every student should engage:
with grade-appropriate text every day
with meaningful real-world problems every day
in scientific conversations using data every week
in a school environment that supports social-emotional learning, health, and safety
Promote coherence across our strategies through our focus on instructional quality
Our ESSA plan summary includes lots of details. I will highlight a few broad themes around how our plan will help us work towards greater excellence and equity. 2
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education 2

3. ESE’s strategies to reach our goal
Strengthening standards, curriculum, instruction, and assessment
Promoting educator development
Supporting social-emotional learning, health, and safety
Turning around the lowest performing districts and schools
Enhancing resource allocation and data use
Promote coherence across our strategies through our focus on instructional quality
Our ESSA plan summary includes lots of details. I will highlight a few broad themes around how our plan will help us work towards greater excellence and equity. 3
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education 3

4. Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Why resource use?
Population projections for Massachusetts
Age 65+
Age 5 to 19
4% decrease in age 5-19, vs. 86% increase in age 65+
Challenges
Demographic shifts
Less share for education
UMass Donahue Institute, Population Estimates Program, 2015
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

5. Why resource use with planning and research?
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Why resource use with planning and research?
Effective resource use decisions:
Advance local and state priorities
Use evidence to inform current choices
Build evidence on implementation and impact to inform future choices
Clear ties to the historical work of OPR – strategy, planning, research, implementation
Note that the first item implies a strong strategic plan
Opportunities
~$600 million in federal grant funding annually
~100 federal and state grant programs
Tons of data on Massachusetts schools
Increasing availability of evidence about effective practices in Massachusetts and nationally
At times, missed opportunities to use and generate evidence through our work
lies a strong strategic plan
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

6. ESSA: Promoting excellence & equity
Strengthen the quality of the instructional program students experience
Early grades literacy
Middle grades mathematics
High quality college and career pathways
Historically disadvantaged student groups
Equity
Access to effective educators
School-level expenditure reporting
Resource review in turnaround schools
Standards implementation and support
Principal pipeline
Effective feedback for educators
Educator preparation
Social-emotional skills
School and district turnaround
Consolidated grant application
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

7. New opportunities & obligations under ESSA
Coordinated (consolidated) grant application
Evidence-based practices
Changes to accountability system
Equity plans (equitable access to excellent educators)
Private school equitable share
Competitive grants for lowest performing schools
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

8. ESE’s strategies to reach our goal
Strengthening standards, curriculum, instruction, and assessment
Promoting educator development
Supporting social-emotional learning, health, and safety
Turning around the lowest performing districts and schools
Enhancing resource allocation and data use
To call back to the five agency strategies Carrie shared, I’ll talk about ESE’s efforts to improve the learning standards that undergird what students are learning across the Commonwealth 8
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education 8

9. Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks
Recent revisions:
Science, Technology/Engineering (2016)
English Language Arts & Literacy (2017)
Mathematics (2017)
New frameworks:
Digital Literacy and Computer Science (2016)
Under review:
History and Social Science
Coming up:
Arts
Comprehensive Health
Foreign Language
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

10. 2017 ELA/Literacy and Math Standards
Approved in March 2017 following an educator-driven review process.
Goals of the review:
Make use of lessons learned in six years of implementing the 2011 standards
Increase clarity, coherence, and rigor where necessary
Maintain clarity, coherence, and rigor where appropriate
Avoid unnecessary disruption to curriculum, instruction, and assessment
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

11. 2017 ELA/Literacy Standards Revisions
Clarity: Sample instructional scenarios and student work provide illustrations of specific standards.
Coherence: Cross-references and parallel expectations reinforce connections across strands.
Rigor: Academic and discipline-specific language mentioned more frequently and explicitly.
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

12. 2017 Math Standards Revisions
Clarity: Descriptions of Standards for Mathematical Practice revised to provide examples specific to each grade span: PK–5, 6–8, and 9–12.
Coherence: Solidified learning progression related to recognizing patterns in numbers and ratio/proportions/rates in order to lay a foundation for algebraic thinking.
Rigor: Decision-making guidance for completing 4 years of high school mathematics culminating in an advanced math class in grade 12.
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

13. Where to Find (Most) Resources
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Where to Find (Most) Resources
The frameworks pages have been reorganized slightly: there is no longer a separate “current frameworks” page, and all current frameworks are now available on the home “frameworks” page. Most frameworks-related resources will be posted here, although some, like the What to Look For guides and the Writing Standards in Action materials, are elsewhere—as noted in the relevant slides below.
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

14. New: Quick Reference Guides
These are new resources that will be released on a rolling basis throughout
Each QRG is two pages (or one double-sided page) and designed to be very user-friendly.
Audiences for these may include teachers, coaches, and administrators as well as families.
Shown here is the beginning of a QRG on close reading in secondary ELA classrooms.
As of August 2017, four QRGs exist for ELA/literacy. More are forthcoming in both content areas.
QRGs available at

15. Updated: “What to Look For” Guides
The WTLFs are designed to be printed (as one double-sided sheet) and brought to classroom observations.
The front side of each summarizes standards for the relevant grade level and content area.
The back side lists teacher and student behaviors aligned with the model evaluation rubric and the frameworks.
As of August 2017 all ELA/literacy and math WTLFs have been updated to align with the 2017 frameworks.
In addition, WTLFs now exist for high school grades or courses in ELA and math (as well as STE).
The back page of every WTLF, in all three subjects, also underwent substantial updates in summer 2017.
WTLFs available at
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

16. Updated: Writing Standards in Action
The WSA Project annotates student work to show how it demonstrates mastery of the MA standards.
Annotated and unmarked samples can be used with teachers, families, and students themselves.
Shown here is an excerpt from a fifth-grader’s interdisciplinary research project on hot air balloons.
As of August 2017 all WSA materials have been updated to align to the 2017 ELA/literacy framework.
The 2017 ELA/literacy framework also links directly from specific standards to relevant writing samples.
WSA materials available at
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

17. Direct Engagement: Networks
Regional and statewide networks in 2017–2018:
Early numeracy (math, pre-K–3)
Proportional reasoning (math, grades 4–7)
Coursework pathways (math, grades 6–12)
Integrating standards (part of Early Grades Literacy Grant)
Integrating standards (literacy, grades 4–12)
Flexibility in student writing (literacy, grades 9–12)
Time on science (STE, pre-K–5)
Standards-aligned assessments (STE, grades 5–8)
Urban district leaders (math, literacy, STE; pre-K–12)
English learner education leaders (pre-K–12)
For more information, see:
ESE’s Center for Instructional Support will be running 12 educator networks during the academic year. The networks will convene classroom, school, and district leaders from across the state to learn about the standards and to develop, test, and refine tools and strategies for implementing them effectively. Each network will meet several times over the course of the school year and focus on a specific aspect of the ELA/literacy, math, or STE framework. Please note that several of the networks are meant to be attended by district teams rather than individuals.
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

18. District Connections: Gathering Curriculum Information
All curriculum directors were sent a form to complete.
Goal is to be able to share lists of ELA, math, and STE curricula used in every district.
Please encourage your district’s curriculum director to respond!
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education