K-12 EDUCATORS are pushing to move ahead in the line for COVID-19 vaccinations, saying they deserve to get their shots sooner because of their jobs dealing directly with students. Teachers […]
Elementary and Secondary Education
Posted inEducation
Riley pushes lower-stakes MCAS test
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THIS YEAR’S MCAS exams will be conducted this spring but will feature “significantly” reduced testing time for third through eighth graders and no schools will be […]
Posted inEducation
How do you teach hands-on voc tech remotely?
BIOTECH TEACHER Arlyssa LaPorte sits at a desk in her classroom at Essex North Shore Agricultural and Technical School, with one camera pointed at her face and another at her […]
Posted inEducation
Boys & Girls Clubs become remote learning centers
TUCKED INSIDE the $46 billion state budget sitting on Gov. Charlie Baker’s desk is a provision funneling $2.2 million to the Massachusetts Alliance of Boys & Girls Clubs to help […]
Posted inEducation
Brookline lost 11% of its student population
MASSACHUSETTS school districts lost 3.9 percent of their students this year, amid a pandemic-related public school exodus, but those students are not spread evenly across the state. The districts that lost […]
Posted inThe Download
Is in-person learning right for every community?
Everyone agrees children learn best in the classroom, but not every community is convinced it can be done safely when COVID-19 cases are growing within their borders. “You know, for […]
Posted inEducation
Is in-person learning right for every community?
EVERYONE AGREES children learn best in the classroom, but not every community is convinced it can be done safely when COVID-19 cases are growing within their borders. “You know, for […]
Posted inThe Download
House budget addresses COVID-related education dilemmas
The coronavirus pandemic created – and exposed – multiple problems with the state’s education system, from preschool through high school. Now, lawmakers appear poised to use the must-pass vehicle of […]
Posted inEducation
House budget addresses COVID-related education dilemmas
THE CORONAVIRUS pandemic created – and exposed – multiple problems with the state’s education system, from preschool through high school. Now, lawmakers appear poised to use the must-pass vehicle of […]
Posted inOpinion
How about a civics project instead of another MCAS test?
READERS MAY NOT BE AWARE that a number of landmark advancements occurred in late 2018 that vastly improved social studies education in Massachusetts public schools. The proposal we put forth […]
Posted inEducation
Baker presses for in-person learning
THE BAKER ADMINISTRATION on Friday ramped up pressure on the roughly 23 percent of school districts teaching remotely to return to in-person classes by releasing new metrics that downgraded the […]
Posted inThe Download
Enrollment declines crop up in public schools
Two months into the new school year, some communities are beginning to report enrollment declines, presumably an offshoot of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Worcester school district lost 1,046 students, about […]
Posted inEducation
Enrollment declines cropping up in public schools
TWO MONTHS into the new school year, some communities are beginning to report enrollment declines, presumably an offshoot of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Worcester school district lost 1,046 students, about […]
Posted inOpinion
Voc school admission guidelines racially unjust
DR. IBRAM X. KENDI, author of How to be an Antiracist, says racism is “like a metastatic disease that literally has spread to every part of the body politic.” What’s […]
Posted inEducation
MCAS exams coming in spring, education officials say
TOP MASSACHUSETTS EDUCATION officials on Tuesday insisted MCAS exams will be held next spring and urged districts to conduct in-person learning even if they are located in communities at high […]
Posted inOpinion
Civic education works: Let’s keep doing it
CIVICS EDUCATION is vital to the development of all youth and to the health of a vibrant democracy. Current events show us how young people are already leading efforts to […]
Posted inOpinion
Vocational schools need a lot more support
COVID-19 has magnified many of America’s already acute economic disparities. According to research by the Pew Research Center, those without any college education have fared particularly poorly in the economic […]
Posted inEducation
Don’t let the school year go to waste
EVEN BEFORE schools started reopening, some were already predicting this school year would be a loss, and that rampant inequities would only worsen. Yet, we take inspiration from school leaders […]
Posted inEducation
Riley: No break from MCAS exams next spring
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE MASSACHUSETTS STUDENTS should expect to take their MCAS exams next spring, Elementary and Secondary Education Commissioner Jeff Riley said Tuesday. In spring of this year, after […]
Posted inEducation
Baker denies ‘bullying’ school districts
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER on Thursday continued to push schools to bring students back in person while denying allegations by the state’s largest teachers union that his administration is “bullying” local […]
Posted inOpinion
A new vision for equitable learning
THE PHYSICAL CLOSURE of schools due to COVID-19 is taking a toll on our most precious resource; our children. The impact has been even more significant among black, Latinx, and […]
Posted inOpinion
Police need to be removed from our schools
THE MURDER of George Floyd at the hands of a white police officer reflects a broader, deep-seated racism that infiltrates all levels of our society, including our schools. The racist […]
Posted inEducation
Districts coming up short on reporting school-based arrests
A NUMBER of Massachusetts school districts are failing to adhere to data collection measures required by the 2018 Criminal Justice Reform Act, with some reporting no school-based arrests when their […]
Posted inThe Download
Role of school nurses expands during pandemic
There are a multitude of reasons to go to the school nurse — a scraped knee, an asthma attack on the playground, a case of chickenpox, symptoms of the flu, […]