Congratulations to the Five District Partnership, the first of four 2015 Gateway Cities Innovation Award winners that we’ll be announcing over the coming weeks! For the first time, we’re preparing case studies that provide an in depth look at the four innovative initiatives that we’re recognizing with Gateway City Innovation Awards in November. Each of these profiles describes
Starting a National Conversation on Career Literacy
“The Massachusetts Institute of College and Career Readiness hosted a webinar for leaders in Gateway Cities and communities across the country working to build robust college and career pathways for their students.” The webinar—which features presentations from Pathways to Prosperity author William Symonds and BU Associate Dean of Research, Scott Solberg—can be viewed in its entirety
Building Community-Wide Social and Emotional Support Systems in Massachusetts Gateway Cities
Assessing Progress from the Perspective of Local Educators
Social and emotional support systems are a key pillar of the vision for education that Gateway City leaders developed collectively in 2013. These systems protect at-risk children who, without effective intervention, face difficulties that can result in enormous costs for entire cities. The universal learning experiences at the core of these systems are equally important.
New low-income student designation may have consequences for immigrant-rich Gateway Cities
While the new approach the state has adopted to track low-income student enrollment does not change the share of the state’s low-income students served by Gateway City districts in the aggregate, it does lead to some significant changes between these urban district. On average, those with higher levels of English Language Learners tend to lose
New school poverty figures obscure need in Gateway Cities
Since Massachusetts passed education reform in 1993, the share of Gateway City students who are low-income has risen from less than half to two-thirds. This concentration of poverty in Gateway City school districtsmeans nearly every student in these urban centers now attends a school wheremore than 40 percent of the students are poor—a threshold social
Financing Education Reform
The Next Chapter
The Building on What Works Coalition released a white paper this week that looks at creative new ways to invest in the learning models of the future. As leaders on Beacon Hill solidify budget priorities for the next fiscal year, the paper explores near-term steps that could be taken in the FY 2016 budget to pave the
Recap
The 2014 Gateway Cities Innovation Awards and Summit
We hope you were one of the many who attended the second annual Gateway Cities Innovation Awards & Summit last Thursday at UMass Boston. If you could not make it, you can watch the video here. Over 300 leaders from the Commonwealth’s Gateway Cities gathered to recognize five organizations advancing educational excellence in their communities
At the Apex
The 2030 Educational Attainment Forecast and Implications for Bay State Policy Makers
This analysis draws attention to the problem the Massachusetts economy will confront as the large and highly skilled Baby Boom generation ages out of the state’s workforce. To help inform policymakers at this critical juncture, the report examines the drivers of recent gains in educational attainment and projects skill levels in Massachusetts out to 2030.
MassINC Announces the Winners of the 2014 Gateway Cities Innovation Awards
MassINC’s Gateway Cities Innovation Institute announced the winners of the 2014 Gateway Cities Innovation Awards on Tuesday. The awards are made annually to organizations and individuals that utilize innovative models to grow the economies of the Commonwealth’s Gateway Cities. The 2014 awards will be presented at the Institute’s annual event in November. “This year’s awards
House budget reduces support for key Gateway City education initiatives
Stacked up against Governor Patrick’s budget proposal, the FY 15 House budget reduces funding for key Gateway City education initiatives. Governor Patrick’s budget request increased investment in line items related to the Gateway Cities Vision by nearly $40 million; in contrast, the House budget increases funding in these areas by $26 million. The most significant