Implementation of the New Educator Evaluation System in Massachusetts is an August 2014 research brief reporting on the implementation of the Massachusetts Educator Evaluator Framework conducted by SRI International and partners. Among the key findings: A majority of educators reported receiving sufficient training on the new system. Most educators perceived their own evaluator's assessment of their performance as fair, but school staff perceived inconsistencies within and across schools in how evaluators conducted evaluations and expressed concern about the fairness of the system as a whole.
Teaching to the Student: Charter School Effectiveness in Spite of Perverse Incentives , a research brief by Sarah Cohodes of Harvard University, examines the assertion that Boston Charter schools raise standardized test scores more than their traditional school counterparts by greater test preparation. She estimates the impact of charter school attendance on MCAS subscales and examines them for evidence of score inflation. Findings show that there is no greater "teaching to the test" by the charter schools.
Intensive College Counseling and the College Enrollment Choices of Low Income Students , an August 2014 report by Ben Castleman and Joshua Gordon (University of Virginia, Harvard University and NBER) examines Bottom Line, which operates programs in Boston and Worcester, MA, providing intensive college counseling to low-income students throughout their senior year of high school. Their findings: Bottom Line strongly influences whether students enroll and persist in college; Bottom Line's impacts are particularly pronounced for English language learners; and Bottom Line advising results in students attending more affordable institutions.
The Gaston Institute of University of Massachusetts Boston provides an overview of the educational outcomes in two reports: Latinos in Massachusetts Public Schools: Pittsfield and Springfield (June, 2014). Large disparities exist in certain subjects, but the achievement gap in grade 10 English language arts between Latino and white students has been shrinking slightly over recent years in both cities. The data also indicate that Latino students graduate and enroll in postsecondary education at much lower rates than white students in these districts.
The Rennie Center Education Research and Policy Winter 2014 Issue Brief, Advancing Comprehensive Reform: Rethinking District Use of Title I Resources, presents an overview of research into district-level responses to Massachusetts' waiver from the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, which provided the opportunity to implement comprehensive approaches to support low-income students and turn around underperforming schools. Districts that took advantage of this opportunity extended instructional time (longer days, school years or summer programs); expanded grade levels served (e.g., kindergarten programs); increased Title I programming school- and district-wide; and hired data coaches or specialists or paid for professional development for teachers to conduct data analysis.
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