Coherence Guidebook

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CSDP Coherence Guidebook

We believe great schools create the conditions that ensure all students regularly engage in deeper learning, where all students have consistent access to grade-level work that is relevant, real world, and interactive, which fosters not only mastery but also identity-development and creativity.

Over the last several years, the Department has published and utilized several frameworks and resources that capture elements of great schools and levers to create conditions that improve student outcomes. The Coherence Guidebook pulls them together into one place to illustrate a systems-level path toward deeper learning.

Resource Links

Explore the Coherence Guidebook and companion Self-Assessment

Appendix Resources

Source

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Safe and Supportive Schools Self-Reflection Tool

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Multi-Tiered System of Support Leadership Institute Poster.

Welcome to the revised Safe and Supportive Schools Implementation Guide & Self-Reflection Tool. The goal of the self-reflection Tool is to catalyze a reflective and creative inquiry-based, year-long or multi-year process to create and enhance a school`s work to become more safe and supportive for the entire school community (including but not limited to: students, staff, families, and community partners). This tool is intended to assist with documenting current practices that support students` behavioral health ranging from the whole school community to individual students that require more intensive supports. It also examines the role of various school professionals and staff in providing these supports. This process enables schools to identify their most pressing local priorities and create action plans that can be incorporated into School Improvement Plans to address these priorities. It may be helpful to revisit your school`s responses to this tool on a regular (e.g., quarterly, annual) basis to review progress and continually work towards full implementation on a range of practices that address and remove the barriers to learning.

Resources

Safe and Supportive Schools Self-Reflection Tool

Source

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

MTSS Blueprint

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MTSS Blueprint Imagine.

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

 

Nashville Case Study: Implementing Social Emotional Learning Across the District

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Excellent Edutopia series on how Metro Nashville Public Schools is bringing coherence and alignment to social emotional learning implementation. The series hits key messages about how to position and integrate SEL so that it is part and parcel of the school culture for adults and students, not another "flavor of the month" program. The series also highlights concrete practices for elementary, middle and high schools and explains how the district uses a common SEL Walkthrough Rubric to guide implementation. Nashville is part of a network of the Collaborating Districts Initiative working with CASEL on district-wide SEL implementation.

Each article is accompanied by a video related to the article theme. (Note: There is reuse of some footage across the videos but each also includes new footage related to the specific theme of the article.)

Resource Links

Source

Edutopia in collaboration with the National Commission for Social, Emotional, and Academic Development, with support from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative

MA DESE Conditions and Habits of Successful Partnership Guidance →

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MA ESE conducted research on successful partnerships, reviewing exited 2010 Massachusetts Level 4 schools supported by one or more partner.   The interviews, focus groups, and research led to the conclusion that there are necessary conditions at the outset of a partnership, as well as ongoing habits throughout a partnership, that make the difference between successful and unsuccessful relationships. This led to a theory of action: If districts and partners establish conditions for success and monitor these over time, then partnerships will be more likely to have greater academic return on investment, thereby increasing student achievement in high-needs districts. This guidance aims to provide clarity around the necessary conditions, as well as a set of tools for districts and partners to voluntarily implement.        

Resource Links

Conditions and Habits of Successful Partnership Guidance - Full Document

Source

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education