Massachusetts School and District Profiles

Boston College
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2015
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Annual Goals

This report lists the annual improvement goals reported to ESE in the educator preparation program provider’s state annual report. Providers may report up to three goals for the upcoming year and are asked to report on progress made toward the prior year’s goals. Annual goals are reported in May of the academic year listed.

Annual Goals - 2015
Educator preparation program improvement goals for the upcoming program year
Goal #1 Faculty will continue to identify CAEP Standards and their intersection with ESE Program Approval Standards in preparation for CAEP/ESE joint visit in Fall 2016. The Evidence Task Force will continue to collect & use data to enrich the culture of evidence that supports effort to preparing competent & caring educators that meet partnering district needs as well as districts across the country that hire our candidates. Data sources will include surveys from candidates, alumni and principals, as well as research projects funded by LSOE Collaborative Fellows program that draws on longstanding PK-12 partnerships & A&S collaborations across academic disciplines. Faculty focus will be on reviewing & refining outcome measures that assess the learning of our candidates & their effectiveness in the field over time. Anticipated MA ESE employment data linking educator evaluation of alumni with pupil learning will also provide evidence to inform ongoing program development in a spirit of continuous improvement
Goal #2 Given the longstanding B.C. participation in several NTEP Task Forces and Advisory Boards, in collaboration with MA ESE and NIET, the Lynch School is well positioned to pilot the new Teacher Performance Assessment with all Initial licensure candidates during the full practicum experiences in both Fall 2015 and Spring 2016 semesters. Delivery of the new TPA is expected in June 2015 and a series of rigorous professional development sessions for clinical faculty supervisors is under way and will continue throughout the field pilot, utilizing all expected materials, resources and training support that ESE will provide. B.C. administrators will develop training sessions with a focus on inter rater reliability using the MA ESE TPA rubrics when they are made available. Practicum directors and clinical supervisors will provide regular updates to LSOE faculty and administrators, as well as MA ESE, to include feedback from candidates, cooperating teachers and supervisors throughout the TPA Pilot period.
Goal #3 B.C. Faculty & administrators recognize the extent to which technology is transforming teaching and learning in our increasing global society. Toward that end, and in light of CAEP, ESE and IN TASC standards, B.C. has been awarded an Academic Innovation Program Grant, to develop & implement opportunities for all teacher education candidates to learn, practice and demonstrate technology competencies aligned to ISTE/NETS to ensure their readiness to use technology to enhance critical thinking, problem solving and pupil learning. Faculty and administrators serving on the Tech Task Force are engaged in identifying specific competencies across the developmental continuum of candidates? knowledge and skills to ensure that they are able to experience, practice and demonstrate effective use of instructional technology in coursework and field experiences. Candidates will earn a series of badges as evidence of their growth and include authentic artifacts in a digital portfolio over the course of their programs.

Annual Goals - 2014
Educator preparation program improvement goals from the prior year
Goal #1 Faculty and administration at Boston College?s Lynch School of Education will continue their commitment to continuous improvement with an explicit focus on the emerging CAEP Standards and their intersection with ESE Program Approval Standards as we prepare for our CAEP/ESE joint visit in Fall 2016. Toward that end, we will continue to collect and use data as we enrich our culture of evidence that supports our commitment to preparing competent and caring educators that meet partnering district needs as well as districts across the country that hire our candidates.
Goal #2 Consistent with the B.C. commitment to collaborate with school districts across a broad range of social contexts, public and private, we will establish an Advisory Board to include B.C. faculty across an array of disciplines, and Prek-12 teachers, guidance counselors and administrators, to ensure that together we are preparing candidates to meet the needs of the children and families in schools and communities. Focus areas will include the needs of English Language Learners, implementation of the Common Core State Standards, College Readiness, Social Emotional Learning and Teacher Performance Assessment.
Goal #3 The ESE Network for Transforming Educator Preparation (NTEP) initiatives provide the context for a goal for the forthcoming year as Boston College faculty & administration consider how these initiatives will impact our teacher education programs in terms of curriculum, field experiences, supervision, and the specifically the course content for the Inquiry Seminar. Toward that end, three B.C. senior administrators are serving on two NTEP Task Force groups. One group is charged with exploring options for a reliable & valid teacher performance assessment to replace the ESE PPA. B.C. has agreed to pilot the new assessment in the next year. The other group is charged with developing indicators for the new Professional Standards for Teachers at the pre-service level thus establishing a common language across the professional lifespan.

Progress Toward Goals - 2014
Progress made toward prior program year goals
Goal #1 Faculty and administrators at Boston College?s Lynch School of Education have attended CAEP & AACTE Conferences, established an Evidence Tak Force, and participated in multiple meetings with MA ESE Educator Preparation key personnel in an effort to demonstrate the commitment to continuous improvement with an explicit focus on the emerging CAEP Standards and their intersection with MA ESE Program Approval Standards. Faculty and administrators are making effective use of the CAEP resources recently posted (February/March 2015) and anticipate a confirmed CAEP and State Partnership p Agreement, to further clarify roles, responsibilities and expectations for the CAEP/ESE joint visit in Fall 2016.
Goal #2 A PreK?12 School Partnership Advisory Board, consisting of classroom teachers, school liaisons, administrators & school support personnel, working collaborating with B.C. faculty and administrators was established to share teacher preparation, mentoring and induction practices that will effectively impact pupil learning & enhance life chances for children and families. The board met in June, November, & March. Meeting notes & data collected from teacher surveys informed the development of a new menu of B.C. offerings for professional development opportunities aligned to district based initiates and teacher preferences. A Principal Survey will be distributed to gain data on their evaluation of B.C. alumni currently employed as teachers in their schools, as well as that of B.C. pre-service candidates who are completing practica in their schools. These data will be shared with faculty to guide continuous improvement of teacher preparation, and professional development across the professional lifespan.
Goal #3 B.C. engagement & collaboration with MA ESE as participants in the NTEP initiatives resulted in successfully meeting this goal as well as serving the broader Massachusetts educator preparation community. B.C. is well represented on the ESE TPA Advisory Board as ESE moves toward the development of a new Teacher Performance Assessment, in collaboration with the National Institute for Excellence in Teaching. The new TPA will be aligned to the new Professional Standards for Teaching, and includes recently approved pre-service indicators, that are aligned to the MA Educator Evaluation System, in ways that are developmentally appropriate for the candidate to demonstrate at the conclusion of the teacher preparation program. A senior B.C. administrator also serves on the PST Alignment Working Group and is actively engaged with LSOE faculty to ensure alignment with coursework, and with adjunct clinical faculty to ensure alignment with field supervision in preparation for the new TPA Field Pilot in Fall 2015.

Annual Goals - 2013
Educator preparation program improvement goals from the prior year
Goal #1 Boston College's Lynch School of Education will continue its ten year commitment to prepare educators to teach English Language Learners in mainstream classrooms, to not only meet, but to exceed all criteria set forth by DESE in compliance with new regulations for the RETELL initiatives and SEI Endorsement across all programs. Moreover, we will develop a plan for SEI professional development for all faculty and adjunct clinical faculty supervisors across all programs, as well as for practitioners in our partnership schools K-12, in the forthcoming academic year.
Goal #2 Boston College's Lynch School of Education will continue revise and develop curriculum for the capstone Inquiry Seminar class which is co-requisite to the full time practicum for all candidates in licensure programs. We will continue to draw on lessons learned from Spring 2011 to date, from integrating key components of edTPA in the Inquiry Seminar. Moreover, the curriculum for Full Practicum and Inquiry Seminars will continue to require evidence of our candidates' ability to develop an inquiry stance in daily practice, as well as evidence of our candidates' ability to assess and promote pupil learning, as required in the B.C. enhanced Pre-Service Performance Assessment Plus.
Goal #3 Boston College is well positioned, through our Collaborative Fellows Program, (1999 to present) to address the revised regulations for Program Approval, which call for evidence of Collaboration and Program Impact through collaborative partnerships with local districts. In the year ahead, we will rigorously continue to recruit school-based practitioners in our Partnership Schools (urban and suburban) in the greater Boston area, to engage with our students and faculty in educator preparation programs through this program, which has a rich history of research, and outreach to build bridges between theory and practice for teacher preparation, school guidance counseling, mental health counseling and educational leadership. A detailed report can be found at: http://www.bc.edu/content/dam/files/schools/lsoe/pdf/FINAL_CFPR09.pdf

Progress Toward Goals - 2013
Progress made toward prior program year goals
Goal #1 Boston College's Lynch School of Education successfully achieved this goal by earning ESE approval in compliance with new regulations for the RETELL initiatives and SEI Endorsement across all programs. Moreover, we successfully implemented an intensive SEI professional development program for all adjunct clinical faculty supervisors across all programs. We are in the stage of designing SEI professional development modules for practitioners in our partnership schools K-12, with an initial pilot in place for summer 2014.
Goal #2 Boston College's Lynch School of Education continues to revise and develop curriculum for the capstone Inquiry Seminar integrating key components of edTPA to ensure candidates' ability to develop an inquiry stance in daily practice and to assess and promote pupil learning. Moreover, our Director of Assessment serves on the ESE NTEP Task Force which is charged with adopting, adapting or creating a Teacher Performance Assessment that is reliable and valid. B.C. has been invited to participate in a Pilot of the new assessment in Fall 2015.
Goal #3 Boston College continues to be well positioned, through our Collaborative Fellows Program, (1999 to present) to address the state and national regulations which call for evidence of Collaboration and Program Impact through collaborative partnerships with local districts. Most recently, the Lynch Leadership Academy has expanded to include a cohort model of Aspiring Principles for select teacher (Fellows) who have the opportunity to learn, observe, practice and implement new skills and to receive feedback from expert practitioners, thereby significantly improving their professional capacity for a direct and measurable impact on student achievement. A detailed report can be found at: http://www.bc.edu/content/dam/files/schools/lsoe/pdf/FINAL_CFPR09.pdf and at: http:/www.bc.edu/schools/csom/lynchacademy.html.