1. Standards Review: English Language Arts (ELA)/Literacy and Mathematics
Motion for the Board to vote on proposed revised standards. HP
Introduce Susan Wheltle (former Literacy/Humanities Director at ESE, consultant), Rachel Bradshaw (Literacy Specialist, lead on ELA/literacy revisions, former secondary English teacher);
Barbara Libby (former STEM Director at ESE, consultant), Connie Varoudakis (Mathematics Specialist, lead on mathematics revisions, former secondary math teacher and assistant principal)
Susan and Barbara have worked on every standards revision since the inception of the standards.
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

2. Why is this so important?
Reason #1: The standards define the expectations for what teachers should teach and what students should learn for the nearly 1 million students in our schools. Reason #2: The standards are based on the premise that if students are successful in attaining the knowledge and skills defined by the standards, they will be successful after high school. Reason #3: The standards should be a cornerstone of all of our work across the agency. For example, we should be asking ourselves, “How does my work link to ensuring students access and achieve these ambitious goals for their learning?” HP
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

3. Reminder: How did we approach revisions?
We asked: Will this proposed revision…. Increase coherence? Increase rigor (ambition)? Increase clarity? HP
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

4. Acknowledgements
We are grateful to the hundreds of Massachusetts pre-K–12 educators, higher education faculty, and other stakeholders who contributed hundreds of hours of time and thoughtful feedback to build Massachusetts’ standards for ELA/literacy and mathematics—the highest-quality standards in the nation. HP
The commitment to ambitious standards and high expectations for all students is reflected in the revisions to the ELA-literacy and mathematics standards that I am now recommending for your approval. The revised standards presented here draw from the best of prior Massachusetts standards and represent the wisdom of hundreds of the Commonwealth’s pre-K-12 and higher education faculty. The standards embody the Commonwealth’s commitment to providing all students with a world-class education. These updated standards were developed by Department staff from the Center for Instructional Support collaborating with classroom teachers, curriculum specialists, and college faculty across the Commonwealth and with staff in Student Assessment Services. The documents for your review represent our collective efforts to maintain the highest quality curriculum standards in the nation, standards that we are proud to include in the 2017 Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks for English Language Arts and Literacy and Mathematics.
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

5. Process: Three Phases
Phase 1 (January–July 2016): Gathered recommendations for revisions.
Phase 2 (July–October 2016): Completed proposed revisions; updated Board on progress.
Phase 3 (November 2016 – Spring 2017): Conducted public comment period; made final revisions. HP
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

6. Sources of Public Comment
Online public comment survey (997 full or partial responses, 78% pre-K–12 teachers, 10% pre-K–12 administrators)
10 public regional meetings hosted by the Department (473 participants)
Student Advisory Council meeting (60 participants)
4 public conference calls hosted by the Department (162 participants)
Principal and Teacher Advisory Cabinets (~75 participants)
Additional correspondence related to the draft frameworks HP
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

7. Public Comment Survey: ELA/Literacy
Item
Agree or
Somewhat Agree
Disagree or Somewhat Disagree
The revisions improve or maintain the clarity of the Framework.
91.5%
8.5%
The revisions improve or maintain the coherence of the Framework.
90.8%
9.2%
The revisions improve or maintain the rigor of the Framework.
89.5%
10.5%
Rachel
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

8. Department Responses to Public Comment: ELA/Literacy
Examples:
Public Comment
Action
Removing “with prompting and support” from the pre-K–2 standards risks causing confusion about expectations for young learners.
Phrase restored in grades pre-K–2.
Changing “research projects” to “research” signals that students no longer need to conduct and present rigorous academic research.
References to projects restored; expectations for research clarified and strengthened.
Expectations for writing poetry in the elementary grades are not sufficiently explicit.
Progression specific to writing poetry added in grades K–5.
Rachel
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

9. Public Comment Survey: Mathematics
Item
Agree or
Somewhat Agree
Disagree or Somewhat Disagree
The revisions improve or maintain the clarity of the Framework.
90.6%
9.4%
The revisions improve or maintain the coherence of the Framework.
85.7%
14.3%
The revisions improve or maintain the rigor of the Framework.
89.7%
10.4%
Connie
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

10. Department Responses to Public Comment: Mathematics
Examples:
Public Comment
Action
Removing the phrase “explain a proof” of the Pythagorean Theorem in the standards for grade 8 resulted in lost rigor.
Standard edited to clarify that grade 8 students must be able to “analyze and justify” the theorem.
Edits to model course standards in the two high school pathways (traditional and integrated) resulted in different expectations for student learning.
Edits made to high school model course standards to ensure consistent expectations across pathways.
The model course standards were edited, but not the Conceptual Category standards, causing misalignment.
Conceptual Category standards edited to reflect the learning expectations of both pathways.
Connie
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

11. Literacy Across the Curriculum
ELA/Literacy:
More attention to abbreviations and symbols related to content areas (e.g., kg., B.C.E., #, >)
References to mathematics where other content areas are mentioned, as appropriate
New Speaking and Listening strand in standards for Literacy in the Content areas
Instructional examples, sample student writing, and guidance related to various content areas
Mathematics:
Strengthened introductory language to stress importance of literacy skills to effective communication about mathematics
Rachel
Sample abbreviations and symbols at each grade level were chosen to align with grade-level expectations set by other Massachusetts curriculum frameworks. They are meant to support integration across subjects, not add new content to curriculum.
The grades 6-12 disciplinary literacy standards now reference mathematics in the Writing and Speaking and Listening strands, but the Reading ones are still math-free because they are less obviously applicable to the discipline. (There is still no Language strand in the standards for disciplinary literacy.)
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

12. Civic Learning and Engagement
Introductory material reflects new definition of college, career, and civic readiness adopted by Boards of Elementary and Secondary Education and Higher Education in 2016.
Civic content knowledge
Civic intellectual skills
Civic participatory skills
Civic dispositions
Civic readiness
Rachel
The standards already emphasized civic participation—e.g., by expecting civil discourse and respectful collaboration; the revisions just make that emphasis more explicit in the guidance material that accompanies the standards in each Framework.
(Civic content knowledge: how the government works, e.g.
Civic intellectual skills: how to evaluate arguments for and against a given policy, e.g.
Civic participatory skills: how to communicate productively with elected officials, e.g.
Civic dispositions: commitment to equity and freedom of speech, e.g.)
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

13. Improved Glossaries
The glossaries included in both Frameworks have been improved for clarity. New or improved definitions have been added for terms such as:
ELA/Literacy:
audience
read closely
allusion
verb
Mathematics:
fluency
know from memory
algorithm
standard algorithm
Connie
In addition to improved glossaries, we revised the Guiding Principles of the Frameworks.
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

14. Next Steps Copyedit Transmit to the Joint Committee on Education
Make available statewide
Provide implementation support to districts—examples:
Regional networks & professional learning for educators
Extensive guidance materials (e.g., cross-walks between revised and previous standards)
Links to current resources (e.g., videos of teaching, model curriculum)
Align the Next-generation MCAS with the revised standards for the spring 2018 administration HP
Reference work underway on Author Lists.
copyediting that is needed and then transmit the new frameworks to the Joint Committee on Education, per state law, and disseminate them statewide. The Department will provide implementation support to districts, produce guidance documents, conduct in-person and virtual professional development sessions to deepen educators’ understanding of the revised standards; and continue to design and implement regional networks to support implementation. The Department will gradually incorporate the new standards into the Next-generation MCAS.
This spring, students in grades 3 through 8 will participate in the first administration of the Next-Generation MCAS tests in ELA and mathematics; these 2017 tests are aligned to the standards in the 2010 curriculum frameworks. Should the Board vote to approve the proposed revisions presented here, the second administration of the next-generation tests in spring 2018 will align to the revised frameworks. In 2017 and 2018, the legacy grade 10 mathematics tests will continue to be dually aligned to the 2000/2004 and 2010 Curriculum Frameworks, and the legacy grade 10 ELA tests will continue to be dually aligned to the 2001/2004 and 2010 Curriculum Frameworks. Both will transition to align with the revised frameworks when the next-generation grade 10 tests are given for the first time in spring 2019.
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

15. Thank you for your support of this work.HP
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education