DESE Instructional Leadership Institute 2025

In August 2025, DESE hosted the 3rd Instructional Leadership Institute on

Session topics included:

• Creating a coherent instructional vision

• Translating instructional vision into practice

• Using DESE Instructional Planning Tools

• Designing for school belonging

• Student support structures

• Building systems and high quality curriculum for multilingual learners

• Making effective budget decisions

• Scheduling

• Distributed leadership
  

Resources

Instructional Leadership Institute 2025 Session Materials

Source

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

DESE Educational Vision

Ground your learning community in DESE’s vision for Massachusetts students. Available in 8 languages.

Resource Link

Educational Vision - Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Improving Math Instruction for Students with Disabilities Protocols for Mathematics and Special Education Leadership Teams

This series of five protocols are designed to promote collaboration between mathematics and special educators to improve math instruction and outcomes for all students including students with disabilities. The protocols are intended to assist district or school-based leadership teams by providing a structure for developing a shared vision, common language and foundational knowledge on mathematics instruction and the instructional needs of students with disabilities. These protocols are the result of a four-year collaboration between the Offices of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics and the Special Education Planning and Policy at the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, EDC and math and special educators from the districts participating in the Massachusetts Urban Math Support Network.

Resources

Protocol 1 Resources: Shared Beliefs About Mathematics Instruction for Students with Disabilities

• Overview

• Summary

• Beliefs

• Facilitator Notes

• Math Leadership

• Talking Points

Protocol 2 Resources: Essential Understandings About Students with Disabilities

• Overview

• Facilitator Notes

• Essential Understandings about Student with Disabilities

• The Six Areas of Demands and Difficulties

• Memory Learning

• Math Language

Protocol 3 Resources: Essential Understandings About Rigorous Mathematics Instruction

• Overview

• Facilitator Notes

• Math Practices Summary

• Rigorous Math Instruction

• Staircase Problem

• Talking Points

• Standards Math Practice

Protocol 4 Resources: Aligning Barriers and Strategies

• Overview

• Facilitator Notes

• Talking Points

• Math Accessibility Strategies

• Six Learning Areas

• Aligning Barriers

• Candies Problem

• Kym’s Description

• Kym’s IEP

• Kym’s Work

Protocol 5 Resources: Using an Accessibility Framework to Support a Group of Students

• Overview

• Facilitator Notes

• Talking Points

• Learning Needs

• Strategy Cards

• Work for Students

• Individual Reflection

Source

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Education Development Center, Inc.

Building Systems to Support the Whole Child Amid COVID-19

DESE offered a webinar, hosted by the Rennie Center for Education Research & Policy and the Center for Optimized Student Support at Boston College, focused on systems to remotely identify and organize a response to students’ strengths and needs in this moment of crisis. In particular, the webinar focused on successfully closing out the academic year while simultaneously beginning to plan for supporting students through the summer and into the fall. District and school presenters included Somerville Public Schools and the Parker Elementary School in New Bedford.

Resources

Presentation Slides

Source

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, Rennie Center for Education Research & Policy, Center for Optimized Student Support at Boston College

MTSS Tiered Resource Map

This resource mapping template will help you inventory the Curriculum & Instruction/ Interventions, Assessments, and Data-Based Decision practices you are currently using (or have the goal of using) at each tier. Please note that this template should not be used in place of the MTSS Self-Assessment, which helps teams unpack where they have strengths and needs relative to the systems needed to effectively implement MTSS. Map away!

Resource Link

MTSS Tiered Resource Map (word document)

Source

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education with Novak Educational Consulting and Rodriguez Educational Consulting Agency

MTSS Diagnostic

The MTSS Diagnostic assessment is intended to be used to determine current understanding of the research and theory behind the design and delivery of effective multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS). This assessment can be used by individuals or teams to determine prior knowledge, uncover variability, and introduce learners to the MTSS Blueprint.

Resource Link

MTSS Diagnostic

Source

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education with Novak Educational Consulting and Rodriguez Educational Consulting Agency

MTSS Self-Assessment

The MTSS Self-Assessment is designed to help district teams assess the systems and structures that they have (or do not have) in place to foster an effective multi-tiered system of support (MTSS). The results of the self-assessment will help illuminate current gaps and strengths and can be used for prioritization and planning purposes. This tool was designed to give a district-level perspective and should be used by a team consisting of a range of stakeholders (i.e., representation from different departments, roles, etc.). The self-assessment is aligned to the 2018 MTSS Blueprint redesign.

Resource Link

MTSS Self-Assessment

Source

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education with Novak Educational Consulting and Rodriguez Educational Consulting Agency.

MTSS Mobilization Guide

All students are capable of success. A Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) is a framework for how school districts can build the necessary systems to ensure that each and every student receives a high quality educational experience. In order to support implementation of the MTSS Blueprint, the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education welcomes educators and leaders to use MTSS Mobilization Guide to help understand the most current research on MTSS and how to get started building a system that will address the needs of all students.

Resource Links

MTSS Mobilization Guide

Source

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education with Novak Educational Consulting and Rodriguez Educational Consulting Agency

MTSS Blueprint

All students are capable of success. A Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) is a framework for how school districts can build the necessary systems to ensure that each and every student receives a high quality educational experience. It is designed to support schools with proactively identifying and addressing the strengths and needs of all students by optimizing data-driven decision-making, progress monitoring, and the use of evidence-based supports and strategies with increasing intensity to sustain student growth. In 2018, Massachusetts updated its MTSS Blueprint to reflect the most current research and enhance the user experience. The current blueprint more explicitly focuses on equitable access and universal design for learning (UDL) and fully integrates social emotional, behavioral, and academic learning.

Resource Links

MTSS Blueprint

Source

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education with Novak Educational Consulting and Rodriguez Educational Consulting Agency

Aligning Curriculum to Massachusetts Standards→

A “quick reference guide” to tailoring nationally available curriculum products for use with Massachusetts standards.

Resource Links

Aligning Curriculum to Massachusetts Standards

Source

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Curriculum & Instruction

The Case for Curricular Coherence →

A “quick reference guide” to ensuring that instruction aligns across classrooms and tiers in ways that maximize student learning.

Resource Links

The Case for Curricular Coherence

Source

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Curriculum & Instruction

Assessing Your Curriculum Landscape→

A “quick reference guide” to evaluating systems and structures supporting curriculum at the school or district level.

Resource Links

Assessing Your Curriculum Landscape

Source

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Curriculum & Instruction

CURATE Reports & Rubrics→

"We're looking for high-quality curricular materials aligned to Massachusetts standards. Do you have any advice?"

It's an important question, and one we hear frequently. The CURATE project is our response. We convene panels of Massachusetts teachers to review and rate evidence on the quality and alignment of specific curricular materials, then publish their findings here for educators across the Commonwealth to consult. The reports outline findings from panels of Massachusetts teachers convened to review and rate comprehensive (tier 1) curriculum products.

Resource Links

• CURATE Reports

Source

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Curriculum & Instruction

Supplement to the 2018 Massachusetts History and Social Science Curriculum Framework→

A compendium of curriculum, content, and cultural resources aligned to topics in the 2018 Massachusetts History and Social Science Curriculum Framework

Resource Links

Supplement to the 2018 Massachusetts History and Social Science Curriculum Framework

Source

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Curriculum & Instruction

Writing Standards in Action→

A library of real student writing pieces, annotated to show what mastery of the writing standards looks like in action.

Resource Links

Writing Standards in Action

Source

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Curriculum & Instruction

Text Complexity and the Growth of Reading Comprehension→

A “quick reference guide” explaining how to evaluate text complexity and how it impacts reading comprehension.

Resource Links

Quick Reference Guide: Text Complexity and the Growth of Reading Comprehension

Source

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Curriculum & Instruction

Reading Closely to Analyze Complex Text→

A “quick reference guide” explaining how to use close reading lessons to promote understanding and analysis of complex text.

Resource Links

Reading Closely to Analyze Complex Texts - Elementary

Reading Closely to Analyze Complex Texts - Secondary

Source

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Curriculum & Instruction

How Learning Happens: Supporting Students’ Social, Emotional, and Academic Development→

As the nation is becoming increasingly interested in how children learn, efforts like the landmark consensus report issued by the National Commission’s Council of Distinguished Scientists are providing new insights. This report, “The Evidence Base for How We Learn: Supporting Students’ Social, Emotional, and Academic Development,” unites scholars from multiple fields to affirm the interconnectedness of the social, emotional, and academic components of learning. Take a look starting at page 9 to see "What We've Learned."

Resource Links

How Learning Happens:  Supporting Students' Social, Emotional, and Academic Development

Source

National Commissions on Social, Emotional, and Academic Development