December 8, 2017

Hiring Displaced Puerto Rican Educators:

In response to inquiries, ESE has determined that educators temporarily relocating from Puerto Rico can be considered to be exchange teachers and will be exempt from the requirement of Massachusetts licensure for the 2017-18 and 2018-19 school years under 603 CMR 7.15 (10).

If possible, employers should verify the license and employment status of these educators, but in many cases, obtaining documentation may be difficult. In such situations, ESE encourages the district to obtain an affidavit or notarized letter regarding the educator’s status as an educator in Puerto Rico. As with any educator, Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) and Statewide Applicant Fingerprint Identification Services (SAFIS) background checks must be conducted.

Puerto Rican educators seeking employment at Horace Mann Charter Schools can also be employed under the exchange teacher status through the 2018-19 school year. If an educator is going to be employed in a position at a Commonwealth Charter School for which no Massachusetts educator’s license is required, employment as an exchange teacher would not be necessary. The educator would have one year to either pass the relevant Massachusetts Tests for Educator Licensure (MTEL) exams or obtain an appropriate Massachusetts educator license.

Under the current extenuating circumstances, ESE’s Office of Professional Practice Investigations can help districts by conducting background checks via the National Association of State Directors of Teacher Certification (NASDTEC) Clearinghouse. A district hiring an educator from Puerto Rico can contact ESE through the Commissioner’s Licensure Hotline, and ESE will check to ensure that the educator has not had a license revoked or suspended in another state or jurisdiction.

District Testing Mode Decisions:

A summary of testing mode decisions about whether schools will use computer- or paper-based tests for the spring 2018 MCAS tests in grades 3–8 is now available online.

Superintendents should review the testing mode decisions for their schools and communicate the decisions with their principals. If any corrections are needed, email mcas@doe.mass.edu.

Coordinating Federal Grant Programs to Improve Student Learning:

A year and a half ago, ESE created a new team within the Office of Planning and Research dedicated to helping districts use their resources more effectively. A major task for this Resource Allocation Strategy and Planning team was to better coordinate ESE’s federal allocation grant programs, which together provide Massachusetts districts with well over half a billion dollars each year.

The Department took several strides in this direction this past year by coordinating the look, feel, and timeline of the separate applications for programs funded by Titles I, II-A, III, and IV of the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). The Department is now ready to take the next step of actually consolidating the applications for these programs, along with applications for funding through the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and the Perkins secondary school programs.

Other work in this area will include collaborating with Grants Management and other stakeholders to better connect other grant programs to the agency’s strategic priorities, and providing Resource Reallocation and District Action Reports (RADAR) and related supports to districts about their current resource allocation choices.

By doing this, ESE will provide better customer service to districts and be better able to help district decision makers think strategically about how best to use these resources to support students’ needs.

Resource Reallocation and District Action Reports (RADAR):

Resource Reallocation and District Action Reports (RADAR) is a set of tools and reports from ESE that gives district leaders more and better data about how their spending and use of resources compares to state averages, similar districts, neighboring districts, and ESE-recommended practices. The RADAR Benchmarking tool allows users to compare up to 10 districts on a variety of measures, including per pupil expenditures, full-time equivalent staff per 100 students, and special education enrollment and staffing. Users can also look at five years of change in a district’s enrollment, performance, staffing and finance, all on one page. A second view in this report includes guiding questions designed to support district, school, and community leaders who want to review data together and form a shared understanding of trends affecting planning and budgeting. Districts should be sure to download the file periodically so that they have the most current version (the most recent update was December 6). Comments and questions can be addressed toradar@doe.mass.edu.

Accountability and Assistance Advisory Council to Meet:

The Board of Elementary and Secondary Education’s Accountability and Assistance Advisory Council will meet from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.Wednesday, December 13 at the Best Western Royal Plaza Hotel, 181 Boston Post Road West, Marlborough. Topics for discussion include a brief summary of 2017 accountability reporting, the overall framework for district and school accountability for 2018 and beyond, and secondary school redesign strategies.

Summer opportunity: The National Endowment for the Humanities offers tuition-free summer programs for educators across the country. Participants receive stipends to help cover travel and living expenses. Applications are due March 1, 2018.