Dear Natick Public Schools Community:

Our nine schools have been very active this first half of the year and continue to perform exceedingly well. Results from all indicators continue to demonstrate continuous improvement.

Some specific actions our district has been involved with include:

• All educators have been diligently working on establishing District Determined Measures (DDMs). This is the next phase of the new Educator Evaluation System. DDMs are defined as measures of student learning and achievement related to the Massachusetts Frameworks and Common Core Standards, which are comparable across grade or subject level district-wide. These measures may include commercial assessments and district-developed pre and post unit and course assessments. As required, we are currently developing two DDMs in all grades and subject areas. We expect the results of our DDMs will lead to opportunities for healthy conversations about student achievement, and ultimately improve educator practice and student learning.

• A number of our teachers and administrators are involved with the new RETELL training. The RETELL initiative is an intensive course designed to prepare our educators to best serve the multifaceted needs of the English Language Learners population. Strategies learned in the course, however, are applicable to all students.

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