How one community transformed a struggling school

Gateways Episode 14

In this episode of Gateways, Ben Forman visits Worcester to talk with the team that led the transformation of Union Hill elementary. Ben speaks with Mullen Sawyer, executive director of Oak Hill Community Development Corporation, and Marie Morse and Kareem Tatum, who spearheaded Union Hill's turnaround as a formidable Principal/Assistant Principal duo.

Local education accountability with Tracy Novick

Gateways Episode 9

In this new episode of Gateways, Ben Forman visits Worcester to speak with Tracy Novick, Field Director for the Massachusetts Association of School Committees. With experience serving on both school committees and school councils in Worcester, Tracy is highly regarded as an outspoken thought leader on education policy. Ben chats with Tracy about MassINC's recent research on the importance of local accountability.

A First Test for the Local Accountability Concept

The Gateway Cities Journal

Last week, MassINC held an education policy forum at the State House. The event highlighted findings from a series of three new research reports exploring what it would mean to ask communities to play a larger role defining what they want their schools to produce and provide more accountability for delivering these outcomes. This is a

Local accountability in schools lacking, says report

Study urges stronger goal-setting by districts and schools

MASSACHUSETTS HAS BUILT its school reform effort on a combination of new state funding and accountability measures that track student and district achievement, but that has largely let local districts off the hook for setting ambitious goals of their own and holding themselves and schools responsible for meeting them. That’s the conclusion of a new

Communities are not doing enough to hold their public schools accountable

MassINC report calls for increasing “local accountability” with new school-funding package

Massachusetts’ landmark 1993 education reform act placed more accountability on public schools to improve student outcomes in exchange for a sizeable increase in state funding. Beacon Hill leaders are debating another significant infusion of state resources in Massachusetts’ public schools. Accountability is, once again, at the center of this funding discussion. A series of new

Bring it on!

The Gateway Cities Journal

Next year Beacon Hill leaders are expected to finally turn their attention to solving the Chapter 70 underfunding challenges that have long plagued Gateway City school districts and disadvantaged Gateway City students. Many are calling on the state to follow the 1993 ed reform playbook, and attach additional accountability for improving student learning to any

Local Accountability: The Forgotten Element in Education Reform

Part One in a Series of Three Papers

Prepared in partnership with the Center for Assessment, this novel paper is a first attempt to define the purpose and principles of “local accountability” practices that complement state and federal accountability frameworks. The conceptual frame in a series of three reports, The Forgotten Element in Education Reform explores the shifting balance of responsibility for monitoring school performance

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

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

Our sponsors