Introduction to the CORE District

Waiver for Interested Local

Education Agencies (LEAs)

May 2013

ESEA WAIVER OVERVIEW

WAIVER OVERVIEW

Principle One: College- and Career-Ready Expectations For All Students

All districts have committed to transitioning to Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and Smarter Balanced Assessments (SBAC);

Member districts have agreed upon a strategic implementation timeline, including detailed activities for each phase. Districts have already begun to implement these activities; and

CORE, working closely with district leaders and teacher-leaders, has developed pilot assessment materials to better prepare teachers for this transition

Principle Two: Differentiated Recognition, Accountability, and Support

CORE and its member districts have established a rigorous accountability structure based on achievement targets in the academic, social, and school climate domains; and

Districts have built consensus on a framework and implementation timeline for identifying and supporting Reward, Priority, and Focus schools

Principle Three: Supporting Effective Instruction and Leadership

Districts have agreed to refine educator evaluation systems to align with the common effectiveness indicators developed as part of Principle Two, and a timeline for doing so; and

CORE will support districts in this effort and will develop guidelines for classroom observation procedures and data collection, as well as provide a forum for further educator collaboration

ESEA Waiver Core Principles

Principle One College- and Career-Ready

Expectations For All Students

Principle Two Differentiated Recognition,

Accountability, and Support

Principle Three Supporting

Effective Instruction and

Leadership

Following California’s decision to forgo applying for an ESEA Waiver, in 2012 CORE districts began laying the groundwork for seeking the first-ever district level ESEA waiver. To date, CORE and its member districts have made significant progress in

the 3 core principles of the waiver application:

PRINCIPLE 1. TRANSITION TO COLLEGE- AND CAREER-READY

STANDARDS

Building Shared Knowledge and Understanding

Building capacity for transition to CCSS

2011-12

TransitionBringing life to the

CCSS2012-13/2013-14

ApplicationPutting the CCSS in

practice2013-14/2014-15

CORE CCSS Transition Timeline

College and Career-Ready Graduates

Academic Domain Social/ Emotional Domain

School/District Culture & Climate

DomainElimination of Disparity and Disproportionality

Achievement and Growth

All StudentsNCLB Subgroups

Gaps

Graduation RatePersistence Rate

Suspension/ Expulsion

Chronic Absenteeism

Non-Cognitive Skills

Shareholder Voice/ Perceptions

Students, Staff,Parents

Special EducationIdentification

English LearnerEntry/Exit

PRINCIPLE 2. DIFFERENTIATED RECOGNITION, ACCOUNTABILITY,

AND SUPPORT

Standardized annual Achievable Measurable Objectives for all schools will provide a system to reward, support and intervene as

needed

Districts will use CORE-defined AMOs to identify Reward, Priority, and Focus schools and to implement intervention and support as

needed

District Guidelines: Teacher, Principal, Superintendent Evaluation

& Support System

(For both CORE and non-CORE LEAs)

A common set of educator effectiveness indicators agreed upon by CORE member districts with input from non-member LEAs

Classroom observation procedures that provide teachers with quality feedback regarding instructional practice, aligned to adopted educator effectiveness standards

At least one significant component based on a measure of student academic growth

Data collection with sufficient frequency to provide a basis for evaluation

Ratings that meaningfully differentiate among teaching effectiveness using at least four categories

Support for growth and capacity building

Increase in teacher collaboration to inform classroom instruction for increased academic achievement

Principle 3: Supporting Effective Instruction and Leadership

Participating districts will create or redesign their evaluation systems to include the principles agreed upon by CORE districts as

part of the waiver process

Notes: Above framework adopted from Greatness By Design, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson’s Taskforce on Educator Excellence, September 2012

Implementation of redesigned evaluation systems will take place over 3 years

Build Shared Knowledge and Understanding

Building capacity for new educator evaluation systems

2012-13

Design & PilotDesign new, modify or pilot educator evaluation systems aligned to local

district contexts2013-14 / 2014-15

ImplementationImplementation of new educator

evaluation systems2015-16

• Districts engage bargaining units, administrators, and other stakeholders to build support for tenets of waiver application

• Districts participate in CORE-facilitated cross-district collaboration sessions

• Design or refine educator evaluation system (teacher, principal and superintendent) to align with CORE Districts agreed upon common effectiveness indicators

• Districts will begin to pilot refined evaluation systems in 2014-2015 school year

• CORE will continue to offer support and facilitate collaboration sessions in order for district leaders to learn from one another’s implementation efforts

Update on Timing

February 28: CORE ESEA Waiver Application Submitted

April 19: Peer review complete; US ED feedback

sent to CORE

Mid-April to Mid-May: CORE, member districts, and other stakeholders review and address peer reviewer key feedback areas with particular focus on further refining Accountability System and AMOs

March April May

End of May: Target for revised application submission

CORE and member districts have received feedback from US ED and peer reviewers and have an ambitious plan to improve on the

Waiver application

Comment Review and Waiver Revision

LEA’s Next Steps

Carefully review all waivers (pg. 12), assurances made (pg. 13) and accountability, implementation, and improvement plans outlined in CORE waiver

Gather input from teachers, administrators, and other key stakeholders to ensure adequate community engagement

Record stakeholder meeting dates, attendees, and meeting notes; send to CORE in tracking document (included as attachment)

Sign MOU with CORE (once finalized) by June 30th

Immediate(Or by May, 2014

for inclusion in SY ‘14-’15 waiver)

Post-waiver approval

Principle 1 Must-Dos

Develop district CCSS instructional plans which include necessary pedagogical shifts for engaging all students to master all standards (with EL, SwD emphasis)

Identify ELD benchmarked learning targets within the CCSS and new CA ELD standards

Develop district professional development plan for all teachers aligned to CCSS and SBAC

Engage all teacher leaders in CCSS and SBAC based professional development for preparation of CCSS implementation

Prepare for full district transition to CCSS in 2014-15

Agree to fully transition to SBAC assessments in 2014-15, even if CA does not

Must-Dos for participation in CORE ESEA Waiver

Must-Dos for participation in CORE ESEA Waiver

Post-waiver approval

Principle 2 Must-Dos

Post-waiver approval

Principle 3 Must-Dos

Share district data, including: Summative and formative achievement data Graduation rates (Using CORE agreed upon calculation formula) Attendance (chronic absenteeism) Discipline (suspension/expulsion) Special education identification College and career readiness framework indicators (tbd)

Submit requested data to CORE for accountability reporting monitoring at defined intervals Employ defined interventions for priority and focus schools

Share “Schools of Distinction” coaching teams of teachers/administrators with other districts for priority and focus school interventions

Accept coaching for priority and focus schools from Schools of Distinction, and potential closure or charter restructure for persistently low performing schools

Adhere to and monitor schools and districts performance using CORE accountability model AMOs in three domains

Year-end achievement data at final schools’ grade level All students and NCLB subgroups growth, gaps and achievement

Growth model (tbd)

Ensure that district teacher/principal evaluation system is aligned to the CORE Districts agreed-upon common standards

If necessary, modify or design teacher/principal/superintendent evaluation systems by the spring of 2014

Ensure that system Includes student learning as a significant component (this may need to be bargained)

Ensure and set up systems for data collection with sufficient frequency to provide a basis for evaluation

Employ ratings that meaningfully differentiate among teaching effectiveness using at least four categories

Pilot newly designed or modified teacher/principal/superintendent evaluation systems during 2014-15

Implement in 2015-2016 Share aggregate evaluation system data, reports and evidence regarding progress in increasing

student outcomes and closing the achievement gap by: Tracking and reporting the aggregate distribution of teachers and principals at the district

level by performance level data starting for the 2015–2016 school year

Appendix

Supporting Document Links: Stakeholder Engagement

Supporting Documents

Feedback Form

Sample Statement of Support

Stakeholder Engagement Letter

Stakeholder Engagement Letter: A template letter district leadership can use to inform key stakeholders about the ESEA waiver process and to collect feedback

Feedback Form: To be filled out and sent to CORE. Form should include information about stakeholder engagement sessions, including date, attendees, and feedback received from teachers, administrators, and others

Statement of Support: A template letter to collect statements of support across all CORE and participating districts

Supporting Document Links: Application Process

Waiver: Official US ED waiver. All boxes should be checked before submitting to CORE and US ED

Assurances: To be reviewed and agreed to by participating districts. All boxes must be checked before submitting to CORE and US ED

MOU: To be reviewed and signed by participating districts’ superintendents. MOU must be signed in order to be included in

CORE waiver