ACHIEVEMENT SCORES AND educational attainment levels for Massachusetts students of all backgrounds have improved since the early 2000s, but large gaps remain and those for college graduation rates have grown […]
achievement gap
Posted inEducation
School funding bill should be about more than money
THE SCHOOL FUNDING BILL being debated in the Legislature is about something much bigger than school funding. It’s about fixing the state’s most daunting problem: the growing, intractable opportunity gap between […]
Posted inEducation
Black, Latino, and low-income kids counting on Legislature
TRAVELING THE STATE as members of the Governor’s Black and Latino Advisory Commissions, we meet with families whose children represent the persistent achievement gaps in Massachusetts schools. Their children are […]
Posted inEducation
Let’s test promising achievement-gap closing strategies
MASSACHUSETTS LAST PASSED a major overhaul on public education in 1993. That year, Bill Clinton became president. The World Wide Web began to take off. Whitney Houston’s single “I Will […]
Posted inEducation
We need a holistic approach to improving student outcomes
IF MASSACHUSETTS IS committed to equal educational opportunity for all, the next phase of education reform must acknowledge that schools cannot close achievement gaps without a systemic approach to addressing […]
Posted inEducation
Little-tapped Boston contract provision tied to big school improvement
JUST FIVE YEARS AGO, Mildred Avenue K-8 School in Mattapan was one of the worst performing schools in the Boston Public School system and ranked in the lowest percentile of […]
Posted inEducation
Riley gets the nod as education commissioner
TO HELM THE unfinished work of education reform to close persistent achievement gaps, the state tapped someone with a track record of being able to do it. Jeff Riley, who […]
Posted inEducation
Commissioner pick will signal direction for education policy
WHEN THE STATE education board convenes next Monday to vote on a new Massachusetts education commissioner, its members won’t just be sizing up the three finalists for the job. They […]
Posted inOpinion
Afterschool programs work
EACH YEAR, THOUSANDS of working Massachusetts families rely on afterschool programs to provide a safe, supervised haven for their children. But there are thousands more children sitting on wait lists […]