DESE Instructional Leadership Institute - August 2023

In August 2023, DESE hosted the first ever summer Instructional Leadership Institute. District teams gathered from across Massachusetts to engage in an interactive, learning-centered approach to building the effectiveness of instructional leadership teams towards advancing innovative, high quality instructional practices and equitable student outcomes.

This opportunity was developed in response to requests from school and district leaders for more support with:   

1. deeply examining what relevant, real-world, and interactive grade-level work looks and sounds like within the Massachusetts ELA and Mathematics Curriculum Frameworks,

2. deepening their understanding of how to equitably use high-quality instructional materials to engage all learners at the rigor of the standards, and

3. helping to build the necessary equity-centered routines and rituals for instructional leadership teams to effectively support high-quality instruction across all classroom and drive professional learning.

The Institute materials are now available to any school or district.

Resources

Instructional Leadership Institute materials

Source

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and TNTP

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.

2020 MTSS Planning Institute Materials

Welcome to the February 2020 MTSS Planning Institute. This opportunity was developed in response to educator feedback from September’s MTSS Leadership Institute, requesting additional guidance, professional development, tools, resources, and facilitated planning time to help them design, implement, and lead cohesive tiered systems of support.

Resource Links

Access all conference materials.

Breakout Sessions Day 1: MTSS Overview Session

• Getting Started with MTSS

• Moving Beyond MTSS Basics

• Moving from MTSS Theory to Practice

Breakout Sessions Day 1: MTSS Implementation Modules

• Elementary Scheduling

• Secondary Scheduling

• Resource Allocation

• Improving Professional Learning and Coaching

• Selecting High Quality Curricular and Intervention Materials: ELA

• Selecting High Quality Curricular and Intervention Materials: Math

• Selecting High Quality Curricular and Intervention Materials: SEL

• Staffing

Breakout Sessions Day 2: Student Opportunity Act Breakouts

• Researched-based early literacy programs and professional development

• Early college programs serving all students

• Community partnerships for in-school enrichment and wraparound services

• Acceleration Academies to support skill development and accelerate advanced learners

• Dropout prevention and recovery programs

• Parent-teacher home visiting programs

• Inclusion/co-teaching for students with disabilities and English learners

• Recruitment and retention strategies to diversity the educator and administrator workforce

• Increased staff and services to support holistic student needs

• OPTIC (Online Platform for Teaching and Informed Calibration): Calibration Training to Support Effective Instruction & High Quality Feedback Using a Dynamic Professional Learning Platform

Breakout Sessions Day 2: Team Planning Time

• MTSS Self-Assessment

• Calibrating with your Team

• Pause and Reflect on Existing Plans Protocol

Source

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

2019 MTSS Leadership Institute Materials

Welcome to the September 26 & 27th MTSS Leadership Institute. This professional development opportunity focused on giving district teams the opportunity to learn about the new MTSS blueprint and discuss how to lead within an MTSS framework. Please see below for breakout session material links.

Resource Links

Access all breakout sessions.

Access the keynote speaker and breakout sessions.

Access the MTSS Blueprint.

Source

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Leading with Access & Equity 2018 Conference Materials

Welcome to the November 1, 2018 Leading with Access & Equity Conference! This annual professional development opportunity focuses on systems and strategies to meet students’ holistic needs and ensure that every child has equitable access to a world-class education. The event represents a collaboration across multiple offices and initiatives at DESE and focuses on topics including, but not limited to: creating a pipeline of diverse educators, developing multi-tiered systems of support, equitable access to high quality curriculum, bilingual education, ensuring racial and cultural equity, effectively engaging families, student mobility, approaches to addressing students’ mental health needs, integrating social emotional and academic learning, and more. Please see below for breakout session material links.

Resource Links

Access all breakout session materials.

Access the 2019 Leading with Access & Equity Conference materials.

Source

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Leading with Access & Equity 2019 Conference Materials

Welcome to the October 24, 2019 Leading with Access & Equity Conference! Please see below for breakout session material links.

View the incredible performance from the Springfield High School of Science and Technology (SciTech) Band!

Resource Links

Breakout Session Materials:

• Session A2:  Building a Prenatal through Post-Secondary Family Engagement Framework:  An Opportunity for Communities to Strengthen and Align Family Engagement Practices

• Session B2:  Drafting and Implementing a Revised District Code of Conduct

• Session C2:  Reducing Anxiety and Increasing Engagement in the Classroom

• Session D2:  Six Components of Integrating Social-Emotional Learning into Daily Classroom Practice

• Session E2:  Using Psychosocial and Behavioral Data to Support Multi-Tiered Systems of Support

• Session A1: A Diagnostic Approach in an Integrated Public Preschool: A Framework for Assessing English Learners

• Session B1: Advancing Racial Equity in the Commonwealth

• Session C1:  Building a Multi-Tiered System of Support 

• Session D1:  Building a Prenatal through Post-Secondary Family Engagement Framework:  An Opportunity for  Communities to Strengthen and Align Family Engagement Practices -  One hour version

• Session E1:  Building an Alternative School 

• Session F1:  College and Career Advising and My Career and Academic Plan:  A Whole School Plan for Student Success 

• Session G1:  Culturally Responsive Teams:  4 Strategies to Strengthen Family-School Partnerships on 504 and Special Education Teams 

• Session H1: Deeper Dive into Supporting Students in Foster Care or Experiencing Homelessness

• Session I1:  Educational Equality in Opportunities and Outcomes for ELs:  Bilingual Education Programs 

• Session J1:  Embedding Social and Emotional Learning in Secondary Classrooms 

• Session K1:  Equity and Literacy: Reaching the Brilliant and the Bored - Centering the Literacy Lives of Young People of Color in Our Classrooms

• Session L1:  Hiring for Equity: Disrupting Bias in the Interview and Selection Process 

• Session M1: Impact of Today’s Poverty, Trauma, and Stress on Learning

• Session N1:  Leveraging Prep Partnerships to Diversity the Workforce 

• Session O1:  Promoting Culturally Responsive Education

• Session P1:  School and Youth-Serving Agencies Together to Create Flexible Solutions for "Potentially" Suspended Students 

• Session Q1:  Strengthening and Diversifying Existing Teacher Recruitment and Retention Programs

• Session R1:  Supporting Students in Foster Care or Experiencing Homelessness 101

• Session S1:  Supporting Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Students

• Session T1:  The CURATE (CUrriculum RAtings by TEachers) Project:  Broadening Access to High-Quality Curriculum in Massachusetts

• Session U1: The Power of Play in New Bedford Public Schools

• Session V1:  Thinking About Student and Teacher Assignment Strategically

• Session W1:  Tier II Mental Health Services:  Implementing a Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) Group Programs 

• Session X1:  What Does Equitable Access in Math and Science Classrooms Look Like? 

• Session Y1:  Where Equity and SEL Collide:  Adult Self-Care 

Access all breakout sessions.

Access general conference materials.

Access 2018 convening materials.

Source

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

OPTIC: Online Platform for Teaching and Informed Calibration→

OPTIC is a dynamic professional learning platform that supports educators to develop and refine a shared understanding of high-quality teaching and feedback using over 100 videos of classroom instruction aligned to the MA Curriculum Frameworks and the Model Classroom Teacher Rubric.

Resource Links

OPTIC

Source

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Family Guides to the Standards→

Family-friendly guides to learning standards for each grade level, designed to structure and strengthen school-family partnerships.

Resource Links

Family Guides to the Standards

Source

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Curriculum & Instruction

Social and Emotional Learning in Math →

Resources describing connections between the Massachusetts Mathematics Curriculum Frameworks and development of students' social and emotional skills.

Resource Links

Social and Emotional Learning in Math

Source

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Curriculum & Instruction

Middle Grades Math Book Study→

A virtual book study for administrators and teachers to engage with the challenges of middle grades math. The book study consists of 8 online session modules with facilitator guides and questions that participants will go through. Each participating team will receive up to 10 copies of NCTM’s, “Putting Essential Understanding of Ratios and Proportions into Practice: 6 – 8” for their team directly from DESE at no charge.

Resource Links

Middle Grades Math Book Study

Source

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Curriculum & Instruction

What to Look for Observation Guides: Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics→

These content-specific What to Look For (WtLF) Observation Guides are designed to support observations of classroom content and practice. They highlight what the teacher and students should be doing in a standards-aligned classroom. The front page outlines content and skills from grade level standards that students will be learning in the classroom. The back page outlines key features related to the MA teacher rubric to use as a guide for collecting evidence in planning and instruction.

Resource Links

• Science, Technology & Engineering

• Mathematics

Source

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Curriculum & Instruction

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

MA DESE Instructional Leadership Team (ITL) Project→

Distributed leadership is identified in the Massachusetts Turnaround Practices as an essential element of school improvement. Development and support for Instructional Leadership Teams (ILTs) is an efficient, high leverage means to build school and district capacity to engage sustainable continuous cycles of improvement. This strategy for building distributed leadership is an emerging focus of Massachusetts Statewide System of Support assistance. The ILT project provides focus, resources and training to ensure that ILT development is supported in turnaround schools across the commonwealth.         

Resource Links

• Instructional Leadership Teams

Source

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Statewide System of Support