Sample Memorandum of Understanding - SetPoint

Jump to Obligations of SetPoint or Obligations of LEA and school board.

Obligations of SetPoint consortium

Work with school and district leadership to develop plans for improvement and accountability aimed at certain agreed-upon goals for measurable increases in student achievement; with interim goals throughout the period of the engagement based on the consortium’s assessment of the school’s situation based on the Five Essential Practices
Provide technical and professional development to support high fidelity implementation of the plan for improvement and accountability
Provide on-site weekly mentoring and coaching by a team of certified specialists, to improve professional practice of staff and school leadership regarding best practices in instruction and instructional leadership
Provide expertise in areas that arise as part of the SetPoint discovery and implementation process
Align curriculum, instruction, instructional and practice time, and assessment to state and national standards, to effective schools research as exemplified in the Five Essential Practices, and to the priorities of increasing student achievement in low performing schools, in order to improve the practice of staff and leadership and attain mutually-agreed-upon goals
Provide on-site mentoring and coaching by district transformation specialist to implement district leadership and board systems, processes, policies, and procedures, in order to build the foundation for sustaining improvement in targeted schools and system-wide.
Provide program supervision, mentoring, professional development, and technology as agreed to support attainment of goals
Provide weekly reports on implementation designed to outline actions to be taken in order to continue progress toward meeting best practice standards established by the Essential Practice performance rubrics; reports are both written and web-based
Provide feedback and accountability regarding personnel progress toward implementing, integrating, and sustaining improvement through a process of certifying personnel who are achieving and demonstrating capacity to maintain and independently continue improvement
Provide model qualifications to evaluate or hire and support a principal to lead and sustain the transformation process

Obligations of LEA and school board

Support implementation of the SetPoint program, following the Five Essential Practices as outlined in JBHM rubrics, at all levels including board, district, school, and classroom, for a period not less than three years and not more than five years for elementary schools, and of 4-6 years for high schools. Period of engagement to be determined by the SetPoint consortium during Year 3 of an elementary engagement and Year 4 of a high school engagement, based upon the school and district’s progress toward achievement goals, and ratings on the rubrics of Five Essential Practices, and the best judgment of the SetPoint consortium as to the district’s developed capacity to take over and sustain the improved system of operations attained by the school during the improvement process.
Adopt JBHM performance rubrics as the district’s official performance management standard
Ensure that all policies described within the Rubric are in place, including creating those that are lacking.
School board members participate in eight hours of training related to their role and responsibility in systemic improvement
Appoint a ”transformation officer/manager” at the district level, to facilitate prompt action and lead efforts on action steps to be implemented in support of the SetPoint process
Establish district implementation team comprising key district personnel as identified by the consortium, to ensure the success of the project by implementing district-level processes and procedures in support of school improvement
Provide staff and resources necessary for pre-implementation planning and preparation to commence at least 90 days prior to start of school year, for such activities as review of existing data, review of staff requirements, inputting student data into software systems, acquiring and labeling books, establishing master schedules, etc.
Work with consortium’s guidance in selecting principal, and with the consortium and the principal in selecting staff for the school
Cooperate with and support the goals of the SetPoint transformation process, including action steps that will be outlined in a customized action plan addressing the needs for procedures, personnel, resources, etc., all addressing the alignment and research-based practices of planning, instruction, skills practice, and assessment
Provide the SetPoint consortium with authority to modify the curriculum as necessary to attain the agreed-upon growth objectives, including replacement of programs that are insufficiently evidence-based, are inefficient in their use of instructional time, or otherwise conflict with the Five Essential Practices; focusing instructional time and teaching resources on the three essential subjects of reading, math, and writing; and increasing time for practice of those essential subjects to align with targets based on research
Provide the SetPoint consortium with authority to modify school schedules as necessary to attain the agreed-upon growth objectives and necessary curriculum modifications
Provide general funding for the operation of the school and the SetPoint consortium, including interface with state and federal governmental agencies who are or may be among the sources of that funding
Provide funding for educational technology, resources, instructional material, time, paper, trade books, and other items to support the plan
Maintenance of funding of other support services, such as buses, lunches, etc., and of necessary resources at a level that, at minimum, equals the level provided to other schools, and necessary for the success of the transformation plan
Funding for a full-time, qualified school librarian in each SetPoint school
Support and participate in consortium’s coaching, mentoring, and training of school leadership and staff
Fund and enforce professional development requirements, provide staff development time and time for teacher collaboration, fund one offsite professional development and staff recognition event per year
Allow the consortium to exercise flexibility in prioritizing among academic standards to focus time on standards of immediate importance to student remediation and growth
Provide necessary flexibility in scheduling and budgeting to implement necessary changes
Provide funding and support for after-school and summer programs to provide extended learning time for interventions in reading and math
Support programs to increase parent and community involvement

Note: This list is only an example of an actual MOU, which will be more detailed and tailored to the individual situation.