New Opportunities for Urban Education

The Gateway Cities Journal

Last Monday, Gateway City leaders assembled at Clark University for an address by Senator Elizabeth Warren on the Every Child Succeeds Act. At the same institution where they met in 2013 to draft a shared vision for community-wide learning, Gateway City leaders joined a dialogue about opportunities in the new federal law to advance their

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,

Providing a passport out of poverty

The Gateway Cities Journal

The front cover of last Sunday’s Boston Globe drew attention to how rising income inequality is leading to increasing segregation of residents by income. While this phenomenon raises many concerns, nowhere is the effect more problematic than in the classroom. As income disparities grow, increasing numbers of disadvantaged students are being asked to learn in

Charter schools’ early days in Massachusetts

Two players from 1993 ed reform reflect on charter history – and future

JUST HOURS BEFORE Gov. Charlie Baker joined with Hispanic leaders in East Boston on Tuesday afternoon to rally on behalf of his proposal to raise the cap on charter schools, two people who were there when charter schools were first authorized in the state 23 years ago shared some of that history – and considered

The Gateway Cities Journal

Riding SEL's momentum for substance abuse prevention

The opioid legislation taken up by the House this week excludes a controversial provision from the Senate bill requiring public schools to screen all students in grades 7 through 10 for substance abuse problems. As the bill moves to conference committee, an opening remains to build on the spirit of the Senate’s screening provision  with

Advancing the Gateway Cities vision for social-emotional learning

Joining together to develop a common education vision in 2013, Gateway City leaders made full build-out of community-wide social and emotional support systems a central pillar of their strategy. Two years on, the topic of social-emotional learning and support is gaining increasing traction in Massachusetts and beyond. Transforming Education, a new nonprofit focused on social-emotional

Amanda Kershaw

This week’s Gateway Cities Leader

Cities are shaped by their citizens. From New Bedford to Pittsfield, passionate young leaders are spearheading innovative efforts to reinvent their communities for a new generation. The Gateway Cities Leaders series profiles their work and introduces their ideas, visions, and aspirations to the wider Gateway City world. Is there a young leader in your city that

Social-emotional learning and the missing link in ed reform

First three years of life are crucial

UNDER THE UMBRELLA of “social-emotional learning” (SEL), there has been an explosion in knowledge about how children develop the kinds of skills that are crucial to academic and lifelong success. As defined by the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL), social-emotional learning includes five interrelated competencies: self-awareness, self-management (or self-regulation), social awareness, relationship

Those who tell the stories, rule the world

“Those who tell the stories rule, the world” goes the proverb. Gateway City leaders know firsthand that there’s still a lot of truth in this old wisdom. Too often, the performance and potential of Gateway Cities are defined by those on the outside who have little understanding of the struggle. When we make policy based

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