Boston taps high-stakes testing opponent

New superintendent opposes 10th grade MCAS graduation requirement

THE BOSTON SCHOOL COMMITTEE answered the question of who will lead the district by tapping former Minnesota education commissioner Brenda Cassellius to be the city’s next school superintendent. But the answer to that question has raised a new one about the commitment of the state’s largest district to one of the central pillars of the

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.

Welcome Juana!

Gateways Episode 12

In this episode of Gateways, Ben talks with Juana Matias about her journey to MassINC and her hopes and aspirations for the organization. They also dive into the education funding debate. Together they puzzle over how lawmakers give Gateway City schools sufficient resources to close opportunity gaps.

House budget advances Gateway City neighborhood stabilization effort

The Gateway Cities Journal

The FY 2020 House budget released yesterday directs $1 million to MassDevelopment’s Transformative Development Initiative (TDI)-with $750,000 of that earmarked for neighborhood stabilization activities. This represents an important step forward (and a strong show of support) for a concerted effort to create a comprehensive neighborhood stabilization program for Massachusetts. With these funds, MassDevelopment could build

Accountability in the school funding debate

Gateways Episode 10

In Part II of our deep dive on local education accountability, Ben talks with Rep. Aaron Vega, author of the Promise Act, and Ed Lambert, former mayor of Fall River and current Executive Director of the Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education.

Ending the Cycle of Segregation

The Gateways City Journal

Gateway City leaders converged on Beacon Hill last week to plead for more education funding. The facts are undisputed: In recent years, state aid has not kept pace with rising healthcare and special education costs. Changes to the way the state counts low-income students penalized Gateway City schools that serve large numbers of immigrants. And

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 third way on the school funding/accountability debate

The answer isn’t more state rules but greater local oversight

BEACON HILL LEADERS are searching for ways to provide public schools with a significant infusion of new dollars. Taking a page from Massachusetts’s landmark 1993 Education Reform Act, some have proposed attaching higher levels of accountability to any new funding. Others are not so hot on this idea. After all, they reason, the state skirted

Local Accountability

An Untapped Strategy for Advancing Student Achievement in Massachusetts Public Schools

This volume combines the three papers in the local accountability series in one document with an executive summary. The five-page executive summary encapsulates the findings and recommendations and provides further context to demonstrate why strengthening local accountability is a powerful imperative for Gateway Cities.

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