Coherence Guidebook

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

Wraparound Replication Cookbook: Recipes for Creating Strong School Culture and Addressing Social Emotional Barriers to Learning

This cookbook is the result of the Massachusetts Wraparound Zone Initiative - an initiative aimed at helping schools tackle both academic and non-academic barriers to student learning.  A rigorous evaluation of the Massachusetts Wraparound Zone Initiative (5 districts, 30 schools) conducted by the American Institutes of Research found that wraparound strategies made a significant contribution to improved student outcomes, particularly those related to student behavior, student support, and family engagement. This handbook represents the best thinking and strategy "recipes" on how to support the social emotional aspects of learning:

  • Addressing school culture and the social emotional aspects of learning

  • Rethinking systems for holistically identifying and addressing student academic and social emotional needs

  • Creating focused partnerships and coalitions

  • Treating parents as full partners

  • Big district and state takeaways

  • How to get started and how to manage priorities coherently

  • Profiles of six districts and the strategies they used

  • Links to resources, tools, templates and more

Resource Links

Wraparound Zone Cookbook

Individual Recipes

  1. Doing a Welcoming School Walkthrough

  2. Creating a School Culture Team

  3. Rethinking Recess

  4. Students as Culture Builders

  5. Assessing Student Strengths & Needs

  6. Student Success Teams (Student Support Teams, Child Study Teams, Whole Child Support Teams)

  7. Mobilizing around a Tiered System of Supports Framework

  8. Tracking Student Support

  9. Mapping Your Resources

  10. Creating Deep Wraparound Partnerships

  11. Managing Partnership Development at Your School

  12. Organizing as a Coalition of Partners

  13. Academic Parent Teacher Teams

  14. Parent House Parties | Academic Support Parties

  15. Rethinking Parent Academies and Cafes: Pooling Community Resources

Wraparound Video Series - hear Mass educators, students, staff, parents and partners highlight their strategies and the impact

Source

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and School & Main Institute

Safe and Supportive Schools Self-Reflection Tool

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

Creating Positive Learning Environments: Recommendations and Resources to Support the Social Emotional Well-being of Students, Staff, and Families

Multi-Tiered System of Support Leadership Institute Poster.

Even in the midst of a pandemic, educators can create a safe and healthy learning environment that is joyful, engaging, and equitable for every child. On August 3, 2020 DESE released Creating Positive Learning Environments: Recommendations to Support the Social Emotional Well-being of Students, Staff and Families. This document includes a series of recommendations and sample resources and is designed to help districts and schools prioritize and support the social emotional well-being of students, staff, and families as they prepare for the new school year. DESE supported this guidance with a webinar to unpack the document and provide additional supports.

Resources

Source

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

The School & Main Institute

MTSS Scheduling Guidance

Multi-Tiered System of Support Leadership Institute Poster.

This resource is intended to provide administrators with guidance when developing a master schedule that supports a tiered system of instruction and support, inclusive of Tier 1 core instruction and common planning time. The resource includes two sections. The first examines student scheduling considerations and focuses on Tier I core instruction and time for supplemental intervention and enrichment. The second section examines teacher scheduling considerations, including common planning time.

Resource

Scheduling Guidance for MTSS

Source

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Novak Educational Consulting

RECA

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

Multi-Tiered System of Support Leadership Institute Poster.

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

Protocol 2 Resources: Essential Understandings About Students with Disabilities

Protocol 3 Resources: Essential Understandings About Rigorous Mathematics Instruction

Protocol 4 Resources: Aligning Barriers and Strategies

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

Source

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Education Development Center, Inc.

Building Systems to Support the Whole Child Amid COVID-19

Multi-Tiered System of Support Leadership Institute Poster.

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

2020 MTSS Planning Institute Materials

Multi-Tiered System of Support Leadership Institute Poster.

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

Breakout Sessions Day 1: MTSS Implementation Modules

Breakout Sessions Day 2: Student Opportunity Act Breakouts

Breakout Sessions Day 2: Team Planning Time

Source

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

 

Supporting the SEL and Mental Health Needs of Students and Educators in the COVID-19 Era

Multi-Tiered System of Support Leadership Institute Poster.

DESE partnered with Education Development Center (EDC), Transforming Education, and Walker Cares to offer an optional 90-minute webinar about how districts can address the mental health needs of students and support their social and emotional learning (SEL) needs during the COVID-19 school closures. The partners followed up with a webinar focused on district-systems to support student and educator mental health during COVID-19. In addition to the webinars, the partners organized a set of resources, ideas, and supports for schools and districts.

Access All Resources

Webinars:

Supporting Students’ SEL and Mental Health Needs During COVID-19: Webinar Slides

Establishing District-Wide Systems to Support the Mental Health Needs of Students and Educators during COVID-19

Massachusetts Resources:

National COVID-19 School Resources:

Crisis Support Resources:

Telehealth Resources:

Source

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, Education Development Center (EDC), Transforming Education, and Walker Cares

 

2019 MTSS Leadership Institute Materials

Multi-Tiered System of Support Leadership Institute Poster.

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

Leading with Access and Equity Event Poster.

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

Leading with Access and Equity Event Poster.

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:

Access all breakout sessions.

Access general conference materials.

Access 2018 convening materials.

Source

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

 

Conditions for Learning Surveys

Sample question from Conditions for Learning Survey.

The Conditions for Learning surveys (CFL) were developed collaboratively and field-tested by districts and Massachusetts Department of Elementary & Secondary Education staff involved in the Urban Leaders Network for School Climate & Student Support. The CFL metric and survey tools focus on the holistic “conditions” (including social emotional learning) students need in order to learn in a school setting. The CFL contains surveys around the following domains: school climate, academic engagement, social emotional learning, parent & family engagement, and systems of student support, with surveys for students, staff, and families. Schools and districts are welcome to utilize these survey tools.

Resource Links

Conditions for Learning Surveys

Source

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education with School & Main Institute

 

MTSS Introduction Videos and Facilitation Guide

Table of contents from MTSS Video Facilitation Guide.

This resource contains seven videos that introduce the viewer to the key drivers, foundational frameworks, and focus of the MTSS Blueprint. The videos are embedded in the MTSS Mobilization Guide (see pages 10-17 for Video Facilitation Guide) to support learning and team collaboration.

Resource Links

MTSS Videos

Source

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

 

MTSS Tiered Resource Map

Picture of resource map template.

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

First page of MTSS DIAGNOSTIC Assessment.

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

Cover page of 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

Cover page for 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

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

 

The School Climate Survey Suite

Cover page of the School climate survey suite document.

The School Climate Survey Suite is a set of four multidimensional surveys to measure student, teacher, administrator, faculty, and family perceptions of school climate. The surveys are brief, reliable, and valid for assessing perceived school climate among students in Grades 3-12. Teams can use each survey separately or in combination to assess perceptions. Each survey includes a set of demographic questions about the participant and a number of questions related to school climate with Likert-scale response option.

Resource Links

School Climate Survey Suite

Source

OSEP Technical Assistance Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports, University of Oregon