Accountability & Assistance
Advisory Council Meeting
April 6, 2016
Best Western Royal Plaza Hotel
Marlborough, MA
Agenda
Welcome & introductions
Transition to new assessments & federal law:
Implications for accountability & assistance
Review of January discussion
Small group discussion & report out
Whole group discussion & consensus-building
Next steps & closing
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
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New member introductions
 Erica Brown
Deputy Director, Massachusetts Charter Public Schools Association
 Ethan Cancel
Executive Director of Assessment, Accountability, Technology &
Student Data Research, Brockton Public Schools
 Jason DeFalco
Chief Academic Officer, New Bedford Public Schools
 Mary Skipper
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Superintendent, Somerville Public Schools
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Purpose of this discussion
Gather advice and recommendations from
Council regarding core principles and
framework for design of accountability &
assistance system for SY 2017-18 and beyond
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Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Quick review of January
meeting material
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Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
How schools are classified
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Context: Key elements of current system
 Annual determinations, typically based on 4 years of
data, for all schools
 Normative & criterion-referenced components
 School percentile - comparison to other schools
 Progress & Performance Index - progress against targets,
set thru 2016-17
 Grade 3-8 determinations based in full on assessment
results
 District level based on lowest performing school
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
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Context: 2015 assessment choice
 In spring 2015 schools chose to administer PARCC or
MCAS tests in grades 3-8
 ESE calculated comparable statistics for 2015
accountability reporting regardless of test selected
 CPIs, % Adv, % W/F, & SGPs
 ESE announced we would not use 2015 data in school
percentiles for 2016 reporting & beyond
 Hold harmless for PARCC schools & districts
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
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November 2015 Board vote
 Transition to next-generation MCAS for grades 3-8 by
spring 2017
 Allow assessment choice (MCAS->PARCC) again in G3-8 in
spring 2016
 Augment spring 2016 MCAS with PARCC items
 Remain member of PARCC consortium
 Commit to computer-based assessment by 2019
 Hold harmless – again – for PARCC schools & districts
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
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“Hold harmless” deconstructed
 In this context hold harmless means a school or district
accountability & assistance level can improve, but cannot
get worse as compared to prior year
 Applies to G3-8 PARCC schools and districts in 2015 and
2016, and all G3-8 schools & districts in 2017
 Does not apply to Level 5 designations
 Exception for Level 4 designations in 2017 – “reasons other
than 2017 test scores”
 ESE continues to publish accountability-related data
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
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Statewide assessment transition timeline
Year
Grades 3-8
High School
2015-16
PARCC & MCAS
• Science – MCAS only
• HH for PARCC schools &
districts*
MCAS
• No HH
2016-17
Next Generation MCAS
MCAS
• ELA, math, & science
• No HH
• HH for all schools & districts*
2017-18
Next Generation MCAS
• No HH
Next Generation MCAS
• Earliest possible
transition year
• No HH announcement
as of 4/2016
* HH=Hold harmless. Exception for Level 5 designations and, in 2017,
Level 4 designations
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
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Every Student Succeeds Act enacted
 Signed by President Obama 12/10/15
 Reauthorizes the federal Elementary & Secondary
Education Act (ESEA)
 Replaces No Child Left Behind (NCLB)
 Gives us a new acronym - ESSA
 Maintains certain accountability requirements for
schools, which take effect in SY 2017-18
 ESEA/NCLB flexibility waiver expires 8/1/16
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
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Accountability & assistance under ESSA
 Maintains NCLB’s annual testing requirements
 Requires system of “annual meaningful differentiation”
for all public schools
 Long-term goals & measures of interim progress, for all
students and subgroups
Including test-based proficiency, English language proficiency,
graduation rates, and indicator of “school quality or student
success”
May incorporate growth
 Identification of & intervention in lowest performing 5
percent of schools & high schools with graduation rates
below 67%
 Identification of & support for schools with low performing
subgroups
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
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ESSA accountability transition timeline
Year
Federal context
2015-16
ESEA flexibility waiver
• Current accountability requirements
2016-17
Transition year
• Support low performing schools while reconsidering
design of system
2017-18
ESSA
• New accountability requirements
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Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Accountability reporting timeline
Testing year
Reporting
year
Publication
date
Determinations
apply to
Key
planning
done by *
SY 2015-16
2016
August 2016
SY 2016-17
May 2016
SY 2016-17
2017
August 2017
SY 2017-18
Dec 2016
SY 2017-18
2018
August 2018
SY 2018-19
June 2017
* Anticipated timeline, as of April 2016.
Includes time for regulatory changes.
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
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Planning for transition to 2017-18
April-June 2016
June-Sep 2016
Sep-Dec 2016
Listening
Modeling
Proposing
External stakeholders
ESE staff
External stakeholders
ESE staff
ESE staff
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Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Discussion
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Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Guiding questions for discussion
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Thinking broadly, what aspects of MA’s current accountability &
assistance system do you value? Why?
In your opinion, what types of behaviors/actions does MA’s current
accountability & assistance system incentivize? Are these the right
things?
Does the system as currently designed effectively classify the right
schools and districts into the right categories (Commendable? On
target? Off target? Low or very low performing?) Explain.
Do the assistance elements of the system as currently designed
provide appropriate and effective support to schools? Districts?
Explain.
Thinking broadly, what aspects of MA’s current accountability &
assistance system—if any—would you like to change in the future?
Why?
What types of changes do you think we should we consider during
this transition period? Large-scale? Primarily technical in nature?
Somewhere in between? Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
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Group discussion
Small Group Discussion (30 minutes)
1.
2.
3.
Select Roles:

Timekeeper

Reporter (share with larger group)

Recorder (ESE staff members)
Respond to question(s)

Discuss ideas

Bullet key points on chart paper
Brainstorm and draft recommendation(s)

Write on chart paper
Large Group Share-out (10 minutes maximum/group)
1.
2.
3.
Group 1 Reporter shares original question, bulleted ideas, and draft
recommendation(s)
Whole group asks clarifying questions, shares ideas, and offers suggestions (if any)
to the group’s recommendation(s)
Repeat process for other groups
Discussion & consensus-building (25 minutes)
1.
Discussion and consensus-building on recommendations by AAAC membership
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
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Next steps
Next meeting:
June 10, 2016, 9:00-12:00
Best Western Royal Plaza, Marlborough
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Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Reserve slides
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Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Role of AAAC
 Under state law -- Review & advise ESE and BESE on
policies and practices of office of school & district
accountability and ESE’s targeted assistance and
intervention efforts
 Within ESE’s “MCAS 2.0” project management plan -Review & advise on transition to MCAS 2.0 results in
state’s school & district accountability system
 We need your help!
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Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Accountability & assistance system
under ESEA flexibility waiver
 Goal: Reducing proficiency gaps by half by 2017
 Accountability & assistance levels for schools &
districts (Levels 1-5)
 Progress & Performance Index (PPI) – a performance
measure that includes student growth, science, &
other indicators
 School percentiles – representing performance relative
to other schools of the same school type
 “High needs” subgroup data reported
 Low income students, students with disabilities, current &
former English language learners
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
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2014 & 2015 School Levels
School Totals by Level
2014
2015
Level 5
Level 4
Level 3
Level 2
Level 1
Total
#
4
36
293
857
425
1615
%
0%
2%
18%
53%
26%
100%
#
4
34
280
824
468
1610
%
0%
2%
17%
51%
29%
100%
Insufficient Data 1
245
--
251
--
1 Schools
with insufficient data to be eligible for a level are schools ending in grade
PK, K, 1, or 2, very small schools, and schools without four full years of data.
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
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2014 & 2015 District Levels
District Totals by Level
2014
2015
Level 5
Level 4
Level 3
Level 2
Level 1
Total
#
2
9
65
234
73
383
%
1%
2%
17%
61%
19%
100%
#
2
9
59
239
71
380
%
1%
2%
16%
63%
19%
100%
Insufficient Data 1
24
--
25
--
Schools and single-school districts with insufficient data to be eligible for a
level are schools ending in grade PK, K, 1, or 2, very small schools, and
schools without four full years of data.
1
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
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