Office of Planning and Research

DESE Research Update, October 2020

Recent Research From OPR

Over the last year, DESE collaborations with external researchers have resulted in a variety of academic papers, policy briefs, and other publications. Outlined in this newsletter are summaries of a select few, highlighting findings in early education, teacher preparation, and student achievement. For other research findings drawing on data from the Commonwealth, please see the reports page on the DESE website.

Academic Papers

Shapiro, A., Martin, E., Weiland, C., & Unterman, R. (2019). If You Offer It, Will They Come? Patterns of Application and Enrollment Behavior in a Universal Prekindergarten Context. AERA Open, 5(2)

The authors used census data and administrative records to determine what, if any, are the observable differences between the families who apply for the Boston Public Schools prekindergarten program and those who do not. Findings from this study showed that although there is variation among those who do not apply, appliers are more likely to be White, higher income, native English speakers. Furthermore, those who apply and those who do not are concentrated in different neighborhoods in Boston, which vary by language and demographic makeup. Also, appliers were more likely to attend kindergarten in an Early Learning Center and attend kindergarten in schools with fewer students. The researchers suggest that analyses of who applies to prekindergarten programs be used in recruiting the students who could benefit most. Doing so could enable a district to address kindergarten readiness gaps and ensure that all children enter kindergarten with the skills they need to achieve.

Weiland, C., Shapiro, A., Unterman, R., Staszak, S., Rochester, S., & Martin, E. (2019). The Effects of Enrolling in Oversubscribed Prekindergarten Programs Through Third Grade. Child Development, Advanced Online Publication

This study sought to estimate the impacts of winning a first choice lottery and enrolling in Boston prekindergarten versus losing a first choice lottery and not enrolling. The outcomes of interest are subsequent enrollment and persistence in district schools, grade retention, special education placement, and third-grade test scores. For the sample of students in the study, the findings are that there are large effects on enrollment and persistence, but no effects on the other examined outcomes. More specifically, first choice lottery winners enrolled in the BPS at higher rates at each grade compared to those who did not win. Furthermore, lottery winner compliers (i.e., those who won the lottery and actually attended) enrolled in BPS continuously from K-3 at a rate nearly twice as high as the control group compliers (i.e., those who didn't win and did not attend). In sum, offering prekindergarten in the public schools appears to be one avenue for attracting and retaining families that might otherwise enroll elsewhere.

Policy Briefs

In June 2020, a report released by John Papay and colleagues showed five key findings based on 20 years of education reform in Massachusetts. Findings showed that: 1) MCAS scores predicted individuals' later educational and economic outcomes; 2) that educational attainments have risen in MA over the past 20 years; 3) gaps in four year college completion across ethno-racial and socioeconomic groups have widened in recent years; 4) that educational attainment gaps across ethno-racial and socioeconomic groups persist even when students have the same MCAS scores; and 5) that there are large gaps in later earnings for students across socioeconomic groups.

In December 2019, Melanie Rucinski and Joshua Goodman released a policy brief examining racial diversity in the teacher pipeline in MA. Following a large group of prospective teachers across the state, they show that the lack of diversity in the teacher workforce in MA has its origins in the early stages of the teacher development pipeline - with licensure exam takers being less ethno-racially diverse than the college enrolled population.

Books

In June 2020, Margaret Terry Orr and Liz Hollingworth released a new book exploring the role and use of authentic performance assessment for evaluating educational leader readiness and performance drawing on evidence from MA.

In August 2020, Nora Gordon and Carrie Conaway released their new book, Common-Sense Evidence: The Education Leader's Guide to Using Data and Research, providing an accessible guide to help education leaders find and interpret data and research, and then put that knowledge into action.