OVERVIEW
On June 28, 2011 the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education adopted
new regulations to guide the evaluation of all educators serving in positions requiring a license—teachers, principals, superintendents, and other administrators. As part of the state’s model system for evaluation, ESE released a model classroom teacher rubric, which has since been adopted or adapted in over 90% of Massachusetts districts. The purpose of the rubric is to serve as the foundation for both deep reflection and rich dialogue about practice that drives the professional growth and development of our educators.
Regulations require that ESE update the ESE Model System as needed. In 2016, ESE launched a two-year Rubric Refinement Project to study, refine, pilot, and update the model rubric for classroom teachers. Having engaged in deep partnerships with districts and collaborations with individual educators for over five years, ESE identified four focus areas for study and possible refinement:
- Exemplary Descriptors
- Redundant Content
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- Support of Social-Emotional Learning practices
- Alignment to MA Curriculum Frameworks
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In Phase 1 of the Rubric Refinement Project (2016-17), ESE worked closely with teachers and principals to develop proposed refinements in these four focus areas. All proposed refinements are intended to clarify, streamline and strengthen the rubric, making it more actionable and relevant to the practice of today's classroom teacher. In Phase 2 (2017-18), ESE will pilot these refinments for possible statewide release in Summer 2018 (Phase 3).
2017-18 PILOT
ESE is soliciting volunteer schools and districts to pilot the draft model teacher rubric during the 2017-18 school year with a subset or all of their classroom teachers. It is important to note that the draft rubric retains the same structure as the current model rubric (the four Standards, 16 Indicators, and elements with descriptions of practice aross four performance levels), and much of the original content. Refinements are limited to the four focus areas and intended to streamline, clarify, and/or strengthen existing content. Every effort was made to avoid adding substantively new expectations of practice. Teachers and evaluators who pilot this draft rubric should therefore not experience vast changes or expecations with regard to performance evaluation.
Benefits of participation. Pilot schools and districts will receive the following:
- Technical assistance to evaluators and teachers in two key areas: strategic evidence collection and providing high quality feedback
- Direct input on final revisions to the model teacher rubric via systematic feedback mechanisms and working group representation
Criteria for consideration. The following criteria will be used to ensure the pilot is representative of educators throughout the state:
- Location/geography (rural, suburban, urban)
- Size (number of participating educators)
- Student populations represented
Expectations for participation
As part of the pilot, schools and districts will be expected to engage in the following activities, including but not limited to:
- Participation by a critical mass of teachers, to be determined by the school/district (ex: non-PTS teachers in their first two years of employment, PTS teachers in their first year of a 2-year cycle, etc.)
- Identification of a core leadership team including district, school, and teacher representation
- Commitment to provide feedback on rubric refinements via online survey and focus groups
- Identification of one representative to sit on working group
Once pilot participants are determined, agreement and completion of the MOU will be required which will outline specific expectations for implementation and feedback. Training and support will be organized and scheduled through the fall.
Informational Webinars: Monday, July 17 @ 11am and Wednesday, August 16 @ 11am
By submitting this form, you will automatically be invited to attend an informational webinar on Monday, July 17 from 11am-12pm OR Wednesday, August 16th from 11am-12pm. Participants will learn about the four focus areas, the process used to develop the proposed refinements, and the expectations for pilot schools and districts.