Gateway City leaders have a vision for educational excellence.

Their farsighted plan leverages unique urban assets to create exceptional learning environments. Achieving this vision is fundamental to making Gateway Cities more attractive communities for families to live and more productive places for employers to locate. The Gateway Cities Vision initiative is a collaborative effort to promote education policies that better position Gateway Cities to realize their shared vision for the future of learning in inclusive urban communities.

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Articles from The Gateway Cities Vision

MassINC Research Provides Common Ground for Win-Win Chapter 70 Compromise

Uncovering the need for more focus and attention on local accountability

The dog days of summer are here. While parents, students, and a good number of teachers try to put school far out of mind, Massachusetts legislators are under the golden dome working through a once-in-a-generation education aid package. The sticking point seems to be “accountability”—some want schools to accept more supervision from the state in

Great need for increased attention to accountability at the local level

Exploring the opportunity through our Gateways podcast series

How do we get to a future where communities provide more accountability locally and also play a central role helping the state improve its accountability practices? To answer these questions, we embarked on a series of podcasts. The first stop was Worcester, where we talked Local Accountability with Tracy Novick, former school committee member and

Distilling local accountability lessons from near and far

Gateways Episode 22

As the education funding debate heats up on Beacon Hill, Ben continues our series on local accountability with a look at Chicago, IL and Springfield, MA. In a short chat with MassInc intern Alexis Polokoff, Ben unpacks Chicago’s famed local school council model. Next, Ben interviews Paul Foster, Chief

State House Forum Brings to Life the Power of Early College

Event Recap

MassINC unveiled new research on Early College high schools last Thursday, June 6th, at a State House forum. Our new report showcases data from two independent randomized controlled trials suggesting Early Colleges have demonstrated ability to double post-secondary degree completion among low-income high school students. Based on these strong results, rigorous cost-benefit analysis finds Early

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

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  • MassINC is a key partner to the Boston Foundation, and all of us who are seeking to advance the regional conversation around economic opportunity and a strong quality of life for all.  MassINC's robust, nonpartisan research is exactly what our citizens and leaders need to make good decisions.

    Paul Grogan, Former President of The Boston Foundation

  • I watch my inbox for CommonWealth magazine’s Daily Download. I can count on the newsletter to tell me succinctly what’s happening in politics and public policy. The magazine itself always delivers in-depth news, analysis and commentary. It's simply outstanding, quality journalism. I am happy to support unbiased reporting through my participation in Citizens Circle.

    Helen Chin Schlichte Former Public Administrator; President Emeritus, South Cove Manor at Quincy Point

  • MassINC's long-term dedication to Gateway Cities makes them a valuable resource to all of our communities. They are a true thought partner. They go the distance to help others appreciate our unique opportunities, needs, and perspectives.

    Tim McGourthy Chief Financial Officer, City of Worcester

  • MassINC serves as a credible, thoughtful resource for all of us who are invested in the future of the Commonwealth. Its emphasis on careful analysis that is grounded in data, research, and polling makes an important contribution to and helps elevate the conversation about the challenges and opportunities facing the region.

    Trevor Pollack, Manager of Special Projects for the Barr Foundation

  • The potential of Massachusetts’ Gateway Cities is limitless. MassINC’s dedicated work in promoting these cities has been, and will continue to be, instrumental in their individual and collective success.

    Jay Ash
    Massachusetts Secretary of Housing and Economic Development and former chair of the Gateway Cities Innovation Institute

  • MassINC has always provided research showing the detrimental impact of the state’s unforgiving criminal justice system on our communities. Their polling confirmed that the public understood the need for change in our system. That criminal justice reform is at the forefront of bipartisan local and national debates today is in no small measure due to MassINC’s persistent and fair commitment to the issue.

    Juliette Kayyem Faculty Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, Founder Kayyem Solutions LLC

  • Through my partnership with MassINC, the Building On What Works Coalition is working to unite a diverse collection of civic leaders around an urgent call to encourage the state to act on the progress that has been made ensuring all children in Massachusetts have a true chance to succeed in the state’s economy. MassINC’s research and commitment to data driven public policy are helping to give the children of Massachusetts a better education.

    Kim Driscoll Mayor of Salem

  • MassINC's work with the Gateway Cities is unmatched. As Eastern Bank strives to help businesses in these communities thrive, MassINC has been a tremendous partner, providing data-driven research and affirming that these cities are full of opportunities.

    Bob Rivers Chairman and CEO of Eastern Bank

  • When MassINC speaks, it’s well worth listening. After all, the nonpartisan think tank has established itself as a thoughtful, careful, credible voice on public policy in Massachusetts.

    Scot Lehigh Boston Globe Op-Ed Columnist

  • Few organizations in the country have better understood the important role of governance reform and accountability in education policy and economic development than MassINC.

    Bruce Katz Former Vice President and Founding Director of the Metropolitan Policy Program at The Brookings Institution

  • [MassINC's] understanding of the complexity of the challenges facing the state’s older cities, its belief in the opportunities that present themselves in those communities, and its advocacy of the role that public higher education can and should play in them, has added to the understanding that policy makers need to have as they move our state toward the future.

    Jean MacCormack

                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

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