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

This module provides users with an interactive learning experience so that they can learn what they need to know about the special education process. While this guide is geared towards families, it will be useful to anyone who needs to know more about topics like referral, evaluation and eligibility (among others).

Access session materials from the 2018 LEA event on topics including 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.

DESE’s October 2019 Leading with Access & Equity Conference had a great line-up of sessions! Access all conference materials here.

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.

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. The manual was updated 2022 (Version 2).

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.

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

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

These grade and 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.

This EDWIN report helps school and district leaders understand equity gaps in students’ learning experiences with effective educators; for example, the report shows how often students had assignments with different types of teachers over the past one to five years. This series of three videos and related guidance explain how the report works and how to interpret and use the data.

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

Use this tool to do help evaluate systems and structures supporting curriculum at the school or district level.

DESE convenes panels of Massachusetts teachers to review and rate evidence of alignment and quality of comprehensive core curricular materials. Findings for each resource product are published in a user-friendly report for educators across the Commonwealth to consult and make informed, local decisions about curricula.

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

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

Three quick reference guides explaining how to evaluate text complexity and analyze complex text to support reading comprehension.

Produced jointly by the Department’s Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE) and Office for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS), this guide provides best practices and resources that parents and educators can utilize as they work to achieve a positive school climate, lower disciplinary issues, and enhance school safety.

These free training modules for educators are part of the Clough Foundation Training and Access Project (TAP) Online series, which offers free courses designed to build the capacity of school communities to address social-emotional learning and behavioral health. TAP is a part of the Boston Children’s Hospital Neighborhood Partnerships Program (BCHNP). 

This landmark consensus report issued by the National Commission’s Council of Distinguished Scientists unites scholars from multiple fields to affirm the interconnectedness of the social, emotional, and academic components of learning.