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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

House bill quietly filed on education funding

Added payments for low-income students emerging as key difference

WHILE BIG EDUCATION funding bills filed by Gov. Charlie Baker and a key state senator have garnered lots of attention, a third school financing bill was quietly filed in the House last week that also proposes a sweeping update of the state’s 26-year-old education aid formula. Rep. Paul Tucker, a Salem Democrat, submitted legislation hours

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

Entering the fray on education accountability

The Gateway Cities Journal

Recently MassINC convened education leaders from across New England for a dialogue on redesigning state accountability frameworks to comply with the new federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). We’ll be bringing this group together for several dialogues focused on how states should approach accountability with particular attention to Gateway Cities. The arguments are compelling: small-to-midsize

The ‘third way’ in education

Education leaders seek to bridge the charter-district divide

POLARIZATION AND TRENCH WARFARE, the partisan watchwords these days in Washington, have also come to define education debates. In Massachusetts, as much as $30 million could be spent between now and November in what promises to be a bloody showdown between charter school advocates and opponents over a ballot question to raise the charter school

Warren hails civil rights legacy of education law

Says it’s crucial that Every Student Succeeds Act maintain the federal commitment to vulnerable children

WHILE IT’S EASY to get caught up in the details and debates over mandated testing regimens and teacher evaluation policies,the federal education law that stirred such backlash for more than a decade until it was replaced last year is one of the legislative pillars of the civil rights gains of the 1960s. Sen. Elizabeth Warren,
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