Commissioner pick will signal direction for education policy

3 finalists each bring a different profile

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 will be making a statement about the direction of state education policy going forward. The decision will come at a time when Washington is stepping back from the

The MassINC Polling Group Announces Launch of MPG Media

Media, communications services will augment opinion research

Boston, MA – MassINC and The MassINC Polling Group (MPG) are excited to launch their new in-house media group, MPG Media. The new division offers public, private, and social-sector clients a suite of digital storytelling services, including photography and videography, messaging and distribution, and social media strategy and web design. Ahead of its official launch,

CommonWealth’s Winter 2018 issue is out!

Politics, Ideas, and Civic Life in Massachusetts

Apps are wild in CommonWealth’s winter issue, which is in the mail and up on our website today. The apps we’re writing about are Airbnb, Uber, and Lyft – all of them popular with the public but creating headaches for policymakers who are slowly – and warily – grappling with their fallout. Jack Sullivan writes about Airbnb, an

Taking matters into their own hands

The Gateway Cities Journal

In 2013, Gateway City leaders developed an education vision. Their strategy was rooted in a belief that these inclusive urban communities could create exceptional learning environments by building on their core strengths, including their diversity, strong cultural institutions, sophisticated early learning providers, and local higher ed partners. At the time, educators described pressure to perform

A year of opportunity and impact

A Recap of 2017

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year! 2017 was a year of opportunity and impact for the MassINC family, which includes our Policy Center, CommonWealth magazine and the MassINC Polling Group. Please take a moment to look through our top highlights of the year and consider making a year-end donation that will help us continue our efforts to improve the quality of life in

The Topline

A Year in Review

“Polling is an act of political resistance. It agglomerates the messy and inconvenient opinions of everyday people, kneads them into a whole, and forces them through the door into the air-conditioned echo chambers of political elites. This is not newly true, it’s just newly apparent.” That’s from a CommonWealth Magazine piece I wrote early this year, arguing

T notes: Bus lanes do save time

Big changes may be coming on the Green Line

MBTA OFFICIALS ON MONDAY said initial results from two experiments in Boston and Somerville showed dedicated bus lanes could dramatically cut route times. Jeffrey Gonneville, the T’s deputy general manager, said a one-day test on December 12 of a dedicated bus lane on Washington Street between Roslindale Square and the Forest Hills T station showed travel

Measuring School Climate in Massachusetts

MICCR forum explores the connection between School Climate and Student Success

Last week, the Massachusetts Institute for College and Career Readiness (MICCR) convened education leaders and policymakers to examine efforts to ensure that all students attend schools with productive school climates. Cliff Chuang, DESE’s Senior Associate Commissioner, kicked the conversation off by emphasizing the link between school climate and student success. He also described a host

The Topline

Changing the gender balance on Beacon Hill

It’s been a busy couple weeks in #mapoli, and for MPG. We have you covered with a new WBUR article and not one but two new podcasts. WBUR: How The Mass. Legislature Can Get Closer To Gender Balance  Steve Koczela and Jake Rubinstein, writing for WBUR: “State Sen. Harriette Chandler, a Democrat from Worcester, became the acting

Education policy forum highlights power of RPP model in Gateway Cities

Shedding new light on effective practice

Education leaders and policymakers gathered in downtown Boston to hear about early efforts to build research-practice partnerships (RPPs) through the Massachusetts Institute of College and Career Readiness(MICCR), a collaborative effort led by the Rennie Center, Boston University, and MassINC, with support from the Institute of Education Sciences (IES). MICCR paired researchers up with 14 participating

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