Code of Massachusetts Regulations
603 CMR - DEPARTMENT OF ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION
Title 603 CMR 35.00 - Educator Evaluation Regulations
Section 35.02 - Definitions
As used in 603 CMR 35.00, unless the context clearly requires otherwise, terms shall have the following meanings:
Administrator shall mean any person employed in a school district in a position requiring a certificate or license as described in 603 CMR 7.09(1) through (5) or who has been approved as an administrator in the area of vocational education as provided in 603 CMR 4.00: Vocational Technical Education or who is employed in a comparable position in a collaborative, and who is not employed under an individual employment contract.
Artifacts shall mean products of an educator's work that demonstrate knowledge and skills of the educator with respect to specific performance standards.
Board shall mean the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education or a person duly authorized by the Board.
Commissioner shall mean the Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education or his or her designee.
Common Assessments shall mean identical or comparable assessments of student learning, growth, and achievement related to the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks, Massachusetts Vocational Technical Education Frameworks, or other relevant frameworks used by educators in the same role across the district. These assessments may be commercial assessments or district developed, and may include, but are not limited to: portfolios, pre- and post tests, unit and course assessments, performance assessments, and capstone projects.
Department shall mean the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
Educator Plan shall mean the growth or improvement actions identified as part of each educator's evaluation. The type and duration of the plan shall be determined by the evaluator. The Educator Plan shall include, but is not limited to, at least one goal related to the improvement of practice, one goal for the improvement of student learning, an action plan with benchmarks for goals established in the Plan, and the evaluator's final assessment of the educator's attainment of the goals. All elements of the Educator Plan are subject to the evaluator's approval. There shall be four types of Educator Plans:
(a) Developing Educator Plan shall mean a plan, developed by the educator and the evaluator for one school year or less for an administrator in the first three years in a district; or for a teacher without Professional Teacher Status; or, at the discretion of an evaluator, for an educator in a new assignment;
(b) Self-directed Growth Plan shall mean a plan of one or two school years for experienced educators who are rated proficient or exemplary, developed by the educator;
(c) Directed Growth Plan shall mean a plan of one school year or less for educators who are in need of improvement, developed by the educator and the evaluator;
(d) Improvement Plan shall mean a plan of at least 30 calendar days and no more than one school year for educators who are rated unsatisfactory, developed by the evaluator with goals specific to improving the educator's unsatisfactory performance.
Educator(s) shall mean teacher(s) and administrator(s).
Evaluation shall mean the ongoing process of defining goals and identifying, gathering and using information to improve professional performance (the "formative evaluation" and "formative assessment") and to assess total job effectiveness and make personnel decisions (the "summative evaluation").
Evaluator shall mean any person designated by a superintendent who has responsibility for evaluation.
Expected Impact shall mean the educator meets or exceeds anticipated student learning gains on multiple measures of student learning, growth, and achievement. The evaluator shall use professional judgment to determine whether the educator is having expected impact on student learning, based on student learning gains on common assessments and, where available, statewide student growth measures. The evaluator's professional judgment may include, but is not limited to, consideration of the educator's student population and specific learning context. Anticipated student learning gains must be consistent across the district for common assessments and agreed upon by the educator and evaluator for other assessments. The Department shall establish anticipated student learning gains for statewide student growth measures in guidance.
Experienced Educator shall mean an administrator with more than three years in an administrative position in the school district or a teacher with Professional Teacher Status.
Family shall mean parents, legal guardians, or primary caregivers.
Formative Assessment shall mean the process used to assess progress towards attaining goals set forth in educator plans, performance on performance standards, or both. This process may take place at any time(s) during the cycle of evaluation.
Formative Evaluation shall mean an evaluation at the end of year one for educators on two-year self-directed plans used to arrive at a rating on progress towards attaining the goals set forth in the plans, performance on performance standards, or both.
Goal shall mean a specific, actionable, and measurable area of improvement as set forth in an educator's plan. A goal may pertain to any or all of the following: educator practice in relation to performance standards, educator practice in relation to indicators, or specified improvement in student learning, growth, and achievement. Goals may be developed by individual educators, by the evaluator, or by teams, departments, or groups of educators who have the same role.
Measurable shall mean that which can be classified or estimated, in relation to a scale, rubric, or standards.
Model System shall mean the comprehensive educator evaluation system designed and updated as needed by the Department, as an exemplar for use by districts. The Model System shall include tools, guidance, rubrics, and contract language developed by the Department that satisfy the requirements of 603 CMR 35.00.
Multiple Measures shall include a combination of classroom, school, and district assessments and student growth percentiles where available.
Observation shall mean a data gathering process that includes notes and judgments made during one or more classroom or worksite visit(s) of any duration by the evaluator and may include examination of artifacts of practice. An observation may occur in person or through video.
Performance Rating shall be used to describe the educator's performance. There shall be four performance ratings:
(a) Exemplary shall mean that the educator's performance consistently and significantly exceeds the requirements of a standard or overall;
(b) Proficient shall mean that the educator's performance fully and consistently meets the requirements of a standard or overall;
(c) Needs improvement shall mean that the educator's performance on a standard or overall is below the requirements of a standard or overall, but is not considered to be unsatisfactory at this time. Improvement is necessary and expected;
(d) Unsatisfactory shall mean that the educator's performance on a standard or overall has not significantly improved following a rating of needs improvement, or the educator's performance is consistently below the requirements of a standard or overall and is considered inadequate, or both.
Performance Standards shall mean the performance standards locally developed pursuant to M.G.L. c. 71, § 38 and consistent with, and supplemental to, 603 CMR 35.00.
Professional Teacher Status or PTS shall mean the status granted to a teacher pursuant to M.G.L. c. 71, §41.
Rubric shall mean a scoring tool that describes characteristics of practice or artifacts at different levels of performance.
School Committee shall mean the school committee in all cities, towns, and regional school districts, local and district trustees for vocational education, educational collaborative boards, boards of trustees for the county agricultural schools, and the boards of trustees of charter schools.
Standards and Indicators shall mean 603 CMR 35.03: Standards and Indicators of Effective Teaching Practice, and 603 CMR 35.04: Standards and Indicators of Effective Administrative Leadership Practice.
Summative Evaluation shall mean an evaluation used to arrive at a rating on each standard, an overall rating, and as a basis to make personnel decisions. The summative evaluation includes the evaluator's judgments of the educator's performance against performance standards and the educator's attainment of goals set forth in the educator's plan.
Superintendent shall mean the person employed by the school committee pursuant to M.G.L. c. 71, § 59 or § 59A. The superintendent is responsible for the implementation of 603 CMR 35.00. The superintendent shall be evaluated by the school committee pursuant to 603 CMR 35.00 and such other standards as may be established by the school committee.
Teacher shall mean any person employed in a school district in a position requiring a certificate or license as described in 603 CMR 7.04(3) or who has been approved as an instructor in the area of vocational education as provided in 603 CMR 4.00: Vocational Technical Education or who is employed in a comparable position in a collaborative.
