Monday, November 25, 2013

District and School Report Cards

The annual District and School Report Cards are now available in the Profiles section of the ESE web site, on the Accountability tab for any given school or district. There is also a Report Card search box that has been added to the main Profiles page. This year there is a Report Card Overview and also a Complete Report Card. The "Overview" page connects a variety of questions to the data, including:
  • How is our school doing overall?
  • How does our school's achievement over time compare to the district and the state?
  • How does our school's growth compare to the district and the state?
  • How does our school's enrollment compare to the district and the state?
  • How do our school's teachers and classrooms compare to the district and the state?
  • How is our school doing on other important measures?
For additional information and guidance around the report cards (distribution requirements, etc), please visit http://www.doe.mass.edu/apa/accountability/reportcard/

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

PARCC Field Tests and the MCAS

As you may know, many questions have surfaced recently regarding the PARCC Field Test and the Spring 2014 MCAS. ESE has heard these questions and has put together resources related to field-test logistics, including a timeline and information related to future accountability determinations.

Additional details are contained within a recent memo to superintendents at http://www.doe.mass.edu/news/news.aspx?id=7849. Please note that the conference call registration and exemption surveys links in the memo are intended for superintendent use only. Other leaders who are not superintendents should coordinate with their superintendent as ESE has requested one phone line per district for the conference calls.

Postsecondary / College and Career Readiness Resources

ESE has released a new DART (District Analysis and Review Tool) that contains a range of high school, postsecondary, and career readiness data. Included in the tool are demographics, high school indicators, high school performance, program of study, postsecondary education outcomes, and career development education over a number of school years. DART helps users to find "comparable" schools and allows them to contrast their school's progress on student outcomes to similar schools and the state. To access DART–Success after High School, go to www.doe.mass.edu/apa/dart.

In addition, there are ongoing resources available from ESE on a variety of topics related to College and Career Readiness, including a February webinar on Graduation and Dropout rate data.
http://www.doe.mass.edu/news/news.aspx?id=7847