RTTTCollegeandCareerReadinessEvaluationBriefs

MassCoreProgramof Studies

September2012Introduction

TheRTTTCollege and CareerReadiness Evaluation Briefsarea series of

INSIDE THIS

ISSUE:

Introduction / 1
MassCore
SurveyFindings / 1-4

Forinquiries aboutthe evaluation,please contactPatricia Leeat the UMassDonahue Institute:PLee@ donahue.umassp.edu, (413)587-2402

publications writtenforparticipantsinthe RacetotheTopevaluation being conductedbythe UMass Donahue Institute (UMDI). The Briefs willshare key findings fromevaluation site visits, interviews,surveys, and reports. Itisa high priorityfortheMassachusetts DepartmentofElementaryand SecondaryEducation (ESE)thatyou receive feedbackfromthe evaluation.Your participationhasbeen veryhelpfuland greatlyappreciated.

MassCoreisa setofcourses and otherlearningopportunities thatthestate recommends studentscomplete before graduatingfromhigh school,in ordertoarrive atcollege orthe workplacewell-prepared and withoutneedforremedialcoursework. The155districts thatselected RTTTcollege and careerreadinessgoal4Awere required toimplementa setof strategies toincreasethepercentage of theirstudents who completetheMassCore curriculum, and an additional 119 districts also opted to

participateinthis effort.

MassCore SurveyFindings

This Brieffocuses onresults froma surveyof RTTTadministratorsfromthe 155districts thatselected RTTT Goal4A(MassCore).The surveyresponse rate was 74% (N=106)1,with the largestgroupsofrespondentsbeing assistantsuperintendents(30%),superintendents(23%), curriculumcoordinators (11%), and RTTTcoordinators (10%). Respondents were asked ifMassCorecompletion isa graduation requirementin theirdistrict,and outof

84 respondents, 50% said yes, 46% said no, and4%didn'tknow.

Table1 (see nextpage)shows responses to a seriesofquestions about districts' goals, knowledge, attitudes, and use offunds inrelationto MassCore.More than 80% ofrespondents agreedthatincreasingtherate ofstudent MassCorecompletion wasa high districtpriorityand arealistic goalforalmostallof theirstudents,andthatthe districtfeelsa high levelofaccountabilityforachievingRTTTMassCoretargets and believesthatdoingso isa realistic goal. In addition,more than 70% agreed thattheirdistrictisusingRTTT and non-RTTTfundsto take actionsthattheybelieve willleadtoincreasedrates ofMassCorecompletion.

Respondentswerealso asked aboutseveralactions thattheirdistrictmight have taken with the purpose of increasingMassCore completion rates, and theirresponsesareshown inTable 2(see nextpage).The most common actions alreadytaken included conductinga needsassessmentto identifyareasin which existingcourses or supports needto beexpanded ornewones added(68%),addingnewcoursesorexpandingexistingones(68%), successfullychangingdistrictpolicies (66%), and startingor expandingonlinecreditrecoveryopportunities (58%). Only47% reportedthattheirdistricthad developed a written action plan to increaseMassCore

completion.Theactionplanned orimplemented with the lowestfrequency was addingfacilities(e.g., science labs,artclassrooms, physicaleducation), with 64%ofdistricts sayingthattheyhad noplan to take this action.

1Thesurveysampleincluded142ofthe155 administrators,because4 ofthe155districtsdidnotservehighschool

students,4 ofthedistrictadministratorsoptedoutofreceivingsurveys,and5 oftheadministratorsservedtwodistrictseach.

Table1:MassCoreGoals,Knowledge,Attitudes,andUseofFunds
Pleaseindicateyourdistrict'slevelofagreementwiththefollowing statements. / N / Agreeor Strongly Agree (%) / Neutral
(%) / Disagreeor Strongly Disagree (%)
IncreasingtherateofstudentMassCorecompletionisa highpriorityformy district. / 86 / 91 / 6 / 3
MydistrictisusingRTTT fundstotakeactionsthat webelievewillleadto increasedratesofMassCorecompletion. / 85 / 72 / 10 / 18
Mydistrictisdevotingnon-RTTTresourcestotakingactionsthat webelieve willleadtoincreasedratesofMassCorecompletion. / 85 / 80 / 11 / 9
Mydistrictfeelsa stronglevelofaccountabilityforachievingtheMassCore targetsforourdistrictintheRTTT GoalsWorkbook. / 85 / 83 / 13 / 4
AchievingtheMassCoretargetsinthe RTTTGoalsWorkbookisa realistic goalformydistrict. / 85 / 83 / 12 / 5
MassCorecompletionisa realisticgoal foralmostall studentsinmydistrict. / 85 / 84 / 8 / 8
Note:Respondentswhoselected“Don’tKnow”were notusedtocalculatepercentages.
Table2:ActionsTakenin Serviceof IncreasingMassCoreCompletionRates
Mydistricthasplannedand/ortakenthefollowingactionsin serviceofincreasingMassCorecompletionrates: / N / Action Already Taken (%) / ActionPlanned ButNotTaken Yet(%) / NoPlanToTakeThisAction(%)
Conducteda needsassessmenttoidentifyareasinwhichexisting coursesor supportsneedtobeexpandedor newonesadded. / 81 / 68 / 22 / 10
DevelopedawrittenactionplantoincreaseMassCorecompletion. / 80 / 47 / 37 / 16
Successfullychangedoneormoredistrictpolicies. / 77 / 66 / 16 / 18
Addednewcoursesorexpandedexistingcourses. / 80 / 68 / 21 / 11
Hiredadditionalpersonnel. / 79 / 40 / 16 / 44
Addedfacilities(e.g.,sciencelabs,artclassrooms,physicaleducation). / 77 / 16 / 20 / 64
Startedorexpandedonlinecreditrecoveryopportunities. / 77 / 58 / 26 / 16
Startedorexpandedteacher-ledcreditrecoveryopportunities. / 73 / 48 / 19 / 33
Other / 15 / 53 / 7 / 40
Note:Respondentswhoselected“Don’tKnow”were notusedtocalculatepercentages.

Respondentswho selected the "Other"responseoptionsaidthattheirstudents werealreadymeetingMassCore requirements, sotheirdistrict’s focus was on makingsurethatthiscontinued (N=3).Theyalso reported partnering with colleges (N=2), providingsummercreditrecoveryprograms (N=1), developingmiddle schoolprograms to increase readiness for7th and 8th graders (N=1), startingan earlycollege programforfirst-generation low-income students (N=1), providingdualenrollment(N=1),developinga tiered systemforacademic andnon-academic learningsupports(N=1),and changingthe graduationrequirementsfor 2016 (N=1).

Respondentswerethen asked the extentto whichvarious challenges affected MassCorecompletion in their district. As showninTable3 below,eight areas were considered majorormoderate challenges toMassCore completion bymore than athird ofrespondents, includingneedingto buildcapacityto offerneeded mathcourses (38%), sciencecourses(40%), worldlanguage courses(51%), specialeducationservices(45%),and ELLservices (50%);needingadditionalsciencelaboratoryspace (41%);coursescheduling(38%);andthegap between MassCoreexpectationsandstudentskilllevels (40%).Theremainingareas were also seenas major ormoderate challenges bya substantialminorityofrespondents,includingneedingadditionalphysicaleducationfacilities (23%)and artclassrooms (20%), andthattheMassCore curriculumrequiresmore time foracademic curriculum thanis availableforvocationalstudents (26%).

Table3:Challengesto IncreasingMassCoreCompletionRates
Towhatextentdothefollowingareaspresenta challengetoincreasingMassCorecompletionratesin yourdistrict? / N / Major Challenge (%) / Moderate Challenge (%) / Minor Challenge (%) / Nota
Challenge
(%)
Weneedtobuildcapacitytoofferneededmathcourses. / 83 / 13 / 25 / 21 / 41
Weneedtobuildcapacitytoofferneededscience courses. / 83 / 11 / 29 / 20 / 40
Weneedtobuildcapacitytoofferneededworld languagecourses. / 81 / 26 / 25 / 15 / 34
Weneedtobuildcapacitytoofferneededspecial educationservices. / 82 / 21 / 24 / 21 / 34
WeneedtobuildcapacitytoofferneededELLservices. / 79 / 23 / 27 / 20 / 30
Weneedadditionalsciencelaboratoryspace. / 80 / 23 / 18 / 13 / 46
Weneedadditionalphysicaleducationfacilities. / 81 / 12 / 11 / 14 / 63
Weneedadditionalartclassrooms. / 78 / 6 / 14 / 17 / 63
Our masterschedulemakesit difficultfor studentsto takethecoursestheyneed. / 81 / 17 / 21 / 25 / 37
ThegapbetweenMassCoreexpectationsandstudent skilllevels. / 80 / 13 / 28 / 26 / 33
Forvocationalstudents,MassCorecompletionrequires moretimeforacademiccurriculumthanisavailable. / 53 / 17 / 9 / 19 / 55

Respondentswereasked about theinfluence ofanadditionalsetofchallenges onMassCorecompletion in theirdistrict, andtheirresponsesareshowninTable4below.Those considered majoror moderatechallenges by the mostrespondentsincluded aninadequate budgetto take needed actions(49%), the factthatMassCore completion isnota graduation requirementintheirdistrict(36%), and the factthatMassCorecompletionis not required byDESE(23%).Onlya smallminorityof respondentsratedtheremainingissuesas majoror moderate challenges,includinglackinga districtneeds assessment(11%)oractionplan (11%), disagreementbetween the districtadministration and the school board asto whetherMassCorecompletion should be a graduation requirement(3%), orthatthe districtleadership(1%)or schoolboard (1%)do notbelievethatMassCore should be a graduation requirement.

Table4:Challengesto IncreasingMassCoreCompletionRates
Towhatextentdothefollowingareaspresenta challengetoincreasingMassCorecompletionratesin yourdistrict? / N / Major Challenge (%) / Moderate Challenge (%) / Minor Challenge (%) / Nota Challenge (%)
MassCorecompletionisnota graduationrequirement withinourdistrict. / 81 / 9 / 27 / 10 / 54
MassCorecompletionisnotrequiredbyESE. / 82 / 7 / 16 / 15 / 62
ThedistrictleadershipdoesnotbelieveMassCoreshouldbe a graduationrequirement. / 79 / 1 / 4 / 6 / 89
TheschoolboarddoesnotbelieveMassCoreshouldbea graduationrequirement. / 73 / 1 / 0 / 9 / 90
Thedistrictadministrationandthe schoolboarddisagreeas towhetherMassCoreshouldbea graduationrequirement. / 71 / 0 / 3 / 1 / 96
Ourbudgetisinadequatetotaketheneededactions. / 82 / 32 / 17 / 19 / 32
Welacka districtneedsassessmenttoidentifyneeded actions. / 80 / 3 / 8 / 11 / 78
Welacka districtactionplanforincreasingMassCore completion. / 82 / 2 / 9 / 17 / 72
Other / 9 / 33 / 11 / 0 / 56

AdvicetoOthers onIncreasingMassCore CompletionRates.Administratorswere asked to provide advice to otherdistrictsabouthowto increase MassCore completionrates, based ontheirown district’ssuccessesand challenges.The mostcommon advice was toalign graduationpolicytoMassCore requirements (N=8).Twoof these respondents alsosaidthatdistrictsshouldincludeMassCoreas partoftheir strategic planningprocess.

Six respondents commented on stakeholderbuy-in. Two saidthatahigh levelofcommitmentfromthe administration,schoolcommittee, and staffwas vitalto success. Foursuggested thatadministrators activelyreach out, communicate,and campaign thepublicforsupport. One reportedthattheirdistrictwas planningto begin usingthenews mediaforthis purpose, andanotherrecommended thatadministratorsbegin thecampaign early and gatherdatato supportthe cause.

Four administratorsrecommended thatdistrictsincorporate intervention strategiesand rigor atthe elementary and middleschoollevelssothatstudentsenterhigh school preparedto succeed undertheMassCorecurriculum. Tworespondentssaid thatdistricts shouldbe preparedto provide extra supportand guidanceforstudentsin order to helpthemmeetrequirements.Finally, one suggestedthatstudentschedules beflexible enough to accommodate MassCorerequirements, while anotherrecommendeda 4x4 ABscheduleto increase course offerings.