Mass. rating plan deemed unfair to high-poverty schools

Report faults state system for not using ‘growth’ as bigger factor

MASSACHUSETTS GETS A poor grade from a Washington-based policy organization on how its plan to comply with a new federal education law treats schools with high rates of poverty. But a number of education policy thinkers in the state are pushing back against the report and say its message undermines an important pillar of education reform

Seeking out the educational accountability muse

The Gateway Cities Journal

“Sometimes we live no particular way but our own” goes the Grateful Dead lyric which, in a nut shell, describes the educational accountability vibe in Massachusetts’s plan for implementing the new federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). ESSA invites states to hold schools accountable for delivering a wider range of learning. In contrast to a host of states that

MassINC issues public comments on state’s proposed ESSA plan

For the past 12 months, MassINC has been focused on the potential the new federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) offers to further educational excellence in our Gateway Cities. This work builds on over a decade of MassINC research on education accountability, including the seminal report Incomplete Grade: Education Reform at 15. Our efforts to

Next Generation Education Accountability in Boston

Recapping Our Fifth Community Conversation

Last Saturday, MassINC joined with a number of partners to bring students, parents, teachers, and civic leaders together to think about the possibilities the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) presents to improve teaching and learning in our inclusive urban school districts. The format for the meeting was slightly different than our previous forums. With more

Requesting Public Comment

Massachusetts ESSA State Plan Draft

From the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education The draft of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) state plan has been posted on the Executive Office of Education’s website. The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education welcomes your comments, and asks that you use this survey to provide feedback so that all of your thoughts can

Next Generation Education Accountability in New Bedford

Recapping Our Third Community Conversation

Gateway City leaders from the South Coast gathered on Monday for a conversation on the power of education accountability to advance a shared vision for educational excellence in inclusive urban districts. With the proposed ESSA implementation framework DESE shared with the state board last week, this conversation took on added urgency. As we’ve made our

Accurately measuring a school’s contribution to student growth

ESSA Strategy Call

Our first weekly ESSA Strategy Call focused on Gateway City priority 1: A formal accountability system that creates a level playing field for urban districts when describing performance by isolating each school’s contribution to student learning.  Accurately capturing school performance is largely about the model Massachusetts adopts to statistically control for demographic variation across schools.

Next Generation Education Accountability in Worcester

Recapping the Conversation

Worcester leaders gathered last Thursday for a spirited conversation on the opportunity that the new Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) presents to help Gateway Cities realize their vision for educational excellence. Here are four takeaways from their dialogue: A measure that “raises the bar” is critical. When urban students see that they can meet the highest

Our sponsors