Jointly developed by Massachusetts 2020, the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, and Focus on Results, the ELT Expectations for Implementation define what good work is in an ELT school. The Expectations for Implementation are divided into seven areas with corresponding indicators that detail the practices associated with each area.
The Expectations form the backbone of the ELT initiative and are designed to be used by schools and districts that are implementing or planning and any other organization or partner that is working with an ELT school. The Expectations should guide schools and districts during all stages of planning and implementation to do the following:
- Clarify
Help all involved be clear about what “good work looks like” at schools that are implementing an ELT redesign or developing plans for implementation.
- Align
Help all involved marshal their resources around helping schools meet these expectations.
- Reflect
Support all schools, districts, and partners in organized reflection on progress and challenges and make plans to move planning and implementation of ELT forward.
- Accelerate
Help ensure that ELT schools are making progress and that improved results for students and increased engagement are evident in the near term.
I. ELT Redesign Supports A Clear, School-wide Academic Focus
The school’s plan for implementation of ELT is aligned with the school’s overall academic focus. This academic focus drives instructional improvement and continuous measurable growth in student learning throughout the redesigned day and year. The design and implementation of ELT is based on a data-driven assessment of student needs and works to support a clear set of school-wide achievement goals.
II. Additional Time for Core Academics
The school uses additional time in order to accelerate learning in core academic subjects by making meaningful improvements to the quality of instruction in support of school-wide achievement goals.
III. Additional Time for Enrichment
The school uses additional time (either in core and/or specialty classes) to offer enrichment opportunities that connect to state standards, build student skills and interests, and deepen student engagement in school/learning in support of school-wide achievement goals.
IV. Additional Time for Teacher Leadership and Collaboration
The school uses additional time to build a professional culture of teacher leadership and collaboration (e.g., designated collaborative planning time, on-site targeted professional development) focused on strengthening instructional practice and meeting school-wide achievement goals.
V. Focused and Collaborative Leadership
The principal as instructional leader and the leadership team are fully committed to expanding learning time to improve instructional practice and to bringing many others - teachers, students, families, partners, and the community - into the process of redesign and implementation in support of school-wide achievement goals.
VI. Resources Are Aligned and Focused
The school demonstrates clear evidence that it is making decisions around resource allocation (time, people, talent, energy, and money) that are aligned with the successful implementation of the ELT redesign and focused on meeting school-wide achievement goals.
VII. District Leadership Supports ELT The district actively supports all ELT schools around the ELT Expectations for Implementation by providing leadership, support, supervision, long-term district planning, and creative problem solving to remove barriers and ensure schools can meet rigorous achievement goals.
