MA ELT School Newsletter – May 2015
MA Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
IN THIS ISSUE
SPRING MESSAGE............................................................................................................................ 1
EVENTS ............................................................................................................................................ 1
REAPPLICATION PROCESS ............................................................................................................... 1
UNEXPENDED GRANT FUNDS ......................................................................................................... 2
ACCOUNTABILITY ............................................................................................................................ 2
ELT SITE VISITS: ........................................................................................................................... 2
CHECK-IN VISITS: ......................................................................................................................... 3
ELT PERFORMANCE AGREEMENTS: ............................................................................................ 3
SUSTAINABILITY .............................................................................................................................. 4
RESOURCES AND TRAININGS .......................................................................................................... 4
CONTACTS AND ADDITIONAL STAFFING......................................................................................... 6
SPRING MESSAGE
Happy spring! With the school year in the homestretch, it is a relief to finally see the arrival of spring
after such a challenging winter. Hopefully you and those at your schools have found the spring sunshine
rejuvenating and helpful in finishing strong!
EVENTS
As you know, the winter storms of 2015 forced the rescheduling of the Massachusetts Expanded
Learning Time Network Inaugural Convening hosted by the National Center on Time and Learning (NCTL)
(Mass 2020). This is a reminder that the event will now take place on June 9, 2015 at the Marriott
Courtyard located at 75 Felton Street in Marlborough. This event brings together expanded learning
time schools across Massachusetts and will provide a venue in which to share strategic approaches to
expanding time successfully.
Should you have any questions regarding the convening, please contact Shaunda Lewis at NCTL directly
at slewis@timeandlearning.org. We are looking forward to seeing you there!
REAPPLICATION PROCESS
On April 29th, you should have received an email from Moira Connolly which included the link to the MA
ELT RFP. Please let us know if you did not receive this email and we will be sure to forward it to you as
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soon as possible. If you would like to access the RFP, it has been posted on our web site and can be
found at http://www.doe.mass.edu/grants/2016/225/. It is important to remember that MA ELT is
funded through a line item in the state budget, and funding is subject to legislative appropriation each
year. Although the budget process typically wraps up late in the school year, we have posted the
Request for Proposals (RFP) for reapplications, with proposals due on Friday, June 5, 2015. Please note
that no award will be final until the FY16 budget has been passed and the amount available funding is
certain. Although there is a blank budget workbook that can be found in the documents attached to the
RFP, final SIMS data is not yet available, nor has the budget cycle completed. Please refrain from filling
out the budget workbook until you receive one that is specific to your district and schools from Moira
Connolly.
In reading over the RFP and the documents attached to it, you may notice a change in the language on
the “Total Annual Hours” worksheet. Due to the need for clarity around the additional time that must be
provided for students at MA ELT schools, we have decided on a minimum number of hours for
elementary schools at 1365 and 1425 for the middle/high schools. If you have been participating in the
MA ELT initiative prior to June, 2014, but do not meet these minimum requirements, please contact
Moira Connolly at 781-338-3216.
UNEXPENDED GRANT FUNDS
Please be reminded that funding is subject to annual budget appropriation, which means there is always
the possibility that the legislature will terminate ELT funding or cut a portion of the funding. For this
reason it is imperative that all funds allocated to districts/schools be expended completely in order to
demonstrate the need for, at minimum, level funding. Failure to expend all ELT funds allocated makes it
difficult to advocate for funding in the future. Given the economic climate, schools receiving this
performance-based grant need to be strategic and meticulous in spending. Should you realize that you
will not be spending your entire allocation by or before June 30, 2014, you are expected to notify us
immediately and well before the end of the school year. Should you anticipate returning FY15 funds we
strongly encourage you to develop a plan to spend down your grant funding, whether by amending your
budget and reallocating funds to another budget line, or by reallocating funds for summer activities with
Department approval. Should funds be returned, the amount will likely factor negatively into your
allocation for the next fiscal year, particularly if the line item is reduced. Funds cannot be carried over
into the next fiscal year. If you need to amend your budget, please contact Moira Connolly immediately
and she will send an amendment-ready workbook to you and guide you through the process.
ACCOUNTABILITY
ELT SITE VISITS:
We have nearly completed our full ELT Site Visits to Cohort II schools, which include:
Boston Arts Academy, Boston
Silvia (North End) Elementary School, Fall River
Greenfield Middle School, Greenfield
Newton Elementary School, Greenfield
Ferryway School, Malden
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City View Discovery School, Worcester
Site visits are one of the means by which the Department documents each ELT school’s performance
and progress over time, corroborating and augmenting the information reported each year in the
school’s reapplication within the context of its ELT Performance Agreement. Equally important, the visits
enhance the Department’s understanding of ELT program strengths and challenges, and provide an
opportunity to offer feedback to schools as well as inform statewide technical assistance.
We thank the schools that have already hosted our visits, as well as those volunteers who have been so
generous with their time and expertise in serving on site visit teams.
CHECK-IN VISITS:
Half-day check-in visits are designed to gather some observational and qualitative evidence regarding
the schools’ implementation of expanded time and provide feedback, although on a more limited basis
than for full site visits. We have had the opportunity to conduct several check-in visits thus far, and have
been impressed with each school’s implementation of ELT, continuous self-reflection, and corollary
refinement of the use of time.
ELT PERFORMANCE AGREEMENTS:
Cohort I schools and all four of our new schools have signed and submitted new ELT Performance
Agreements. While performance measures can be challenging to develop, hopefully they provide each
school an opportunity to reflect on progress to date and to create a meaningful road map for success
over the next three years.
As a recap, performance agreements inform funding decisions and are one of the means by which the
Department monitors each school’s implementation and outcomes. Due to the high demand across the
state for limited ELT funds through line item 7061-9412, coupled with the ongoing emphasis on
outcomes, expectations for schools currently receiving this funding are correspondingly high. As you
know, ELT funds provided through state budget line item are intended to be used to effectively leverage
time to improve student performance.
While the term for performance agreements will continue to be three years, each will be reviewed on an
ongoing basis, and when concerns arise, the Department will require schools to meet prescribed annual
benchmarks in order to retain grant funding. The following changes to the ELT Performance Agreements
are in effect this academic year for all Cohort I and for all redrafting cohorts going forward:
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If a school’s academic performance causes significant concern based on sustained performance
below expectations or more precipitous short-term losses, we will inform the Commissioner.
The Commissioner then may place a school on notice of academic conditions that must be met
in successive years in order to retain funding under the grant, regardless of the point in the
three-year cycle of the school’s performance agreement.
As in the past, at the end of the third year of implementation of any ELT Performance
Agreement, a funding determination will be made for schools with expiring performance
agreements. This determination will be made based on student performance data, qualitative
evidence of high quality ELT implementation primarily gathered via site visits, and success in
meeting ELT Performance Agreement measures. As always, continued funding during the
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performance agreement period is subject to completing a reapplication annually as well as
annual appropriations by the Legislature.
Schools new to the initiative have drafted new performance agreements, setting three-year goals, as all
other cohorts have done, and can expect to have the full first three-year cycle to meet their stated
goals.
SUSTAINABILITY
Since the inception of the MA ELT initiative in 2006, the Commonwealth has invested over
$119,466,180.00 in grant funding for districts and schools expanding time. With 22 schools and many
ELT veterans among them, the Legislature has asked the Department to take stock and report on models
that provide good return on investment. In its request for a report, the Legislature casts an eye toward
both affordability and assessing the cost of creating opportunity for additional schools and districts to
offer more time for their students and educators (FY15 legislative language).
In order to provide a robust response, the Department, in partnership with the National Center on Time
& Learning, conducted focus groups and interviews with ELT stakeholders. All participants were
generous, candid, and invested in sharing successes, challenges, and ideas to inform the future of ELT.
The result of this work is now complete and the report was emailed to all ELT district and school leaders
on April 2nd and can now be found on our web site at:
http://www.doe.mass.edu/research/reports/2015/03ELT-Sustainability.pdf.
Thanks to all who have participated in this important conversation. If you would like additional
information, please feel free to contact, Kathy Cross, our TIME Collaborative Coordinator.
RESOURCES AND TRAININGS
INSTRUCTION:
We are fortunate to have a number of resources accessible through our website here at the
Department. In this newsletter, we would like to highlight some resources that can be found on our
Curriculum and Instruction page that you and your teachers may find helpful and informative:
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On the Curriculum and Instruction Center home page, there is a menu of options from which to
choose, including Common Core State Standards, Professional Development, Model Curriculum,
and a variety of other helpful menu options. That page can be found at:
http://www.doe.mass.edu/candi/..
By clicking on the “Model Curriculum” option in the menu, teachers will find a number of model
curriculum units that have been developed for teachers, by teachers. The model curriculum link
can be found at: http://www.doe.mass.edu/candi/model/.
Teachers choosing the menu option “MA Teachers’ Domain” will automatically link to PBS
LearningMedia, a partnership between PBS and WGBH. This site allows educators to browse by
standard and click on the statement within that standard that they are most interested in
addressing. It will then link to a number of frequently updated resources that teachers may find
helpful and engaging. It also allows educators to filter by grade and subject. There is a plethora
of material on this site, so all are encouraged to navigate the site comprehensively for what is
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most useful. Those interested in accessing this website may do so through the teachers’ domain
or at the following: http://www.pbslearningmedia.org/ .
CURRICULUM TRAINING:
The Building Aligned Curriculum Training is an opportunity for districts to better align existing curriculum
to the state frameworks by implementing new curriculum units. The training, on June 17 and 18 in
Westford, will prepare teacher leaders to work with teams of teachers to adapt and implement model
curriculum units (MCUs). The program is designed to:
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Increase teacher leaders' ability to guide a team through planning, adapting, and implementing
frameworks-aligned curriculum by using or adapting one or more of ESE's model curriculum
units;
Increase teachers' ability to use data to modify curriculum to address students' needs and
districts' priorities;
Connect instructional changes with educator evaluation; and
Prepare teacher leaders to facilitate and review a pilot of a new curriculum unit.
Teacher leaders will leave the training with the knowledge to successfully customize, pilot, and revise a
new curriculum unit. This training, similar to the assistance provided in the Building Aligned Curriculum
Grant (Fund Code 133), is open to all districts, with priority given to districts designated Level 1 or 2.
Registration is limited to two teacher leaders per district.
For more information, please contact Sarah Churchill Silberman, 781-338-3586 or Karen White, 781-3383588.
SERVICE LEARNING TRAINING:
Get Started with Service-Learning (2-days)
Thursday, June 25th and Friday, June 26th (8:30-3:30 both days)
Holiday Inn and Suites, Marlborough
Register Here (by June 22nd)
The 2-day Get Started with Service-Learning sessions are designed to prepare participants to implement
a high quality service-learning project using KIDS Consortium’s award winning service-learning model.
Participants will leave with tools, strategies and enthusiasm to implement a SL project in their school
and community. At this 2-part session, participants will:
•Understand the difference between the KIDS model of SL and other community-oriented educational
experiences;
•Understand the importance of community partnership(s), student ownership, and connections to
learning objectives that define KIDS service-learning projects;
•Be impelled to incorporate SL into their teaching environment(s);
•Advocate for SL based on the impacts it has on students, teachers, and communities; and
•Learn tools and strategies to: (a) identify a high-quality SL project, (b) create a plan to incorporate SL
into their classroom environment; and (c) implement a high-quality SL project for diverse learners.
These sequential days are designed to prepare participants to implement a high quality servicelearning project using KIDS Consortium’s award winning service-learning model. Participants will leave
with tools, strategies and enthusiasm to implement a SL project in their school and community.
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The session is free of charge. Participants must commit to attending both days.
SPECIAL EDUCATION:
Many ELT schools serve large populations of students on the autism spectrum. The following is
information regarding proposed licensure endorsement in autism:
Autism Endorsement Regulations Open for Public Comment:
The Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (Board) has issued proposed regulations to establish
a teacher license endorsement in autism for Massachusetts licensed teachers. The proposed regulations
are available online, and the Board welcomes public comment. Written comments may be submitted by
mail to: Sarah Whitman, SEPP, Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, 75 Pleasant Street,
Malden, MA 02148; by fax to 781-338-3371; or by e-mail to: swhitman@doe.mass.edu.
RESEARCH:
 In July, 2014, the Institute for Strategic Leadership and Learning (INSTLL) completed a three year
analysis of turnaround practices for the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and
Secondary Education. You may find many of the successful practices outlined in this report
helpful and validating. If you are interested in reading the report, you may find it through our
web site at the following link:
http://www.doe.mass.edu/apa/sss/turnaround/2014PracticesReport.pdf
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Our Office of Planning and Research has a number of helpful data tools available on our website.
The role of the Office of Planning and Research is “to provide analysis, research, and tools to
inform decision-making and to support high quality planning and implementation for ESE's
highest priority initiatives”. With this mission in mind, some resources that serve to support
research and data-based decisions can be found at
http://www.doe.mass.edu/research/resources/tandr.html. We encourage you to browse that
portion of our website for data tools and a variety of reports on timely educational issues in
Massachusetts.
COMMISSIONER’S MESSAGE:
We also encourage you to keep abreast of key updates from the Department by reading the
Commissioner’s Weekly Message each Friday.
CONTACTS AND ADDITIONAL STAFFING
As always, we are happy to hear from you with any questions, concerns, or requests for clarification.
Please remember that we are also available to answer questions during the summer months, should you
need assistance.
For inquiries regarding MA ELT:
Moira Connolly, Education Specialist for ELT; 781-338-3216; mconnolly@doe.mass.edu
Patrick Buckwalter, ELT Program Specialist; 781-338-3208; pbuckwalter@doe.mass.edu
Kathy Cross, TIME Collaborative Coordinator; 781-338-3231; kcross@doe.mass.edu
For inquiries regarding the TIME Collaborative and sustainability issues:
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Kathy Cross, TIME Collaborative Coordinator; 781-338-3231; kcross@doe.mass.edu
For inquires regarding MA ELT or the TIME Collaborative and sustainability issues:
Ruth Hersh, Assistant Director; 781-338-3211; rhersh@doe.mass.edu
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