Despite increases in the high school graduation rate in the United States, large disparities persist for English learners (ELs). These disparities are particularly important given that ELs are the fastest growing segment of the United States public school population. EL youth, though, are not a homogeneous population. Instead, EL youth speak many…

We address the concern that classification of English learners (ELs) primarily based on standardized tests does not accurately reflect what students know and can do with English. While qualitative classroom discourse analyses show that ELs' language-in-use is not as limited as test scores indicate, available evidence is sparse and prone to…

Much recent debate among policymakers and policy advocates focuses on whether states should reduce teacher licensure requirements to ease the burdens of recruiting high quality teachers to the workforce. We examine the effectiveness of individuals who entered the teacher workforce in Massachusetts during the pandemic by obtaining an emergency…

The Massachusetts Early College Initiative eases the pathway to postsecondary education for thousands of high school students annually. Early college programs provide strategically-sequenced, real college classes with strong career orientations during students' regular high school day. When fully realized, they also provide enhanced academic and…

On the second day of a 2019 high-stakes English Language Arts assessment, Massachusetts 10th graders faced an essay question that was based on a passage from the novel "The Underground Railroad" and publicly characterized as racially insensitive. Though the state excluded the essay responses from student scores, an unresolved public…

Along with a student's academic progress, the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) English Language Arts, MCAS Mathematics, and MCAS Science exams dictate whether a student in the Massachusetts public school system earns a diploma or a certificate of attainment. The difference is that students who do not receive a diploma are not…

Catching students up who have fallen behind academically is a key challenge for educators, and can be difficult to do in a cost-effective manner. This field experiment examines the causal effect of a program designed to provide struggling sixth and seventh graders with math instruction delivered in small groups of roughly ten students by select…

These are the appendixes for the report, "Relationships between Schoolwide Instructional Observation Scores and Student Academic Achievement and Growth in Low-Performing Schools in Massachusetts." This study examined the relationships between schoolwide instructional observation scores in these domains and schoolwide student academic…

The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, like other state education agencies and school districts, recognizes that the quality of instruction is a key lever to turning around low-performing schools. As part of annual monitoring of low-performing schools, the department uses Teachstone's Classroom Assessment Scoring…

When English Language Arts (ELA) students are not engaged in ELA coursework, they miss out on opportunities to practice reading, writing, speaking, listening, and--most importantly--critical thinking. The purpose of these two cycles of Action Research was to investigate the authentic pedagogies of ELA teachers at Ryken private preparatory school…

Much research has noted the misalignment between kindergarten through 12th grade (K-12) academic standards and curriculum materials used in classrooms. Many states and education organizations have been pushing for greater use of standards-aligned curriculum, especially during the past several years. In this report, the authors share results…

The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, like other state education agencies and school districts, recognizes that the quality of instruction is a key lever to turning around low-performing schools. As part of annual monitoring of state-designated low-performing schools, the department's external monitors observe…

The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, like other state education agencies and school districts, recognizes that the quality of instruction is a key lever to turning around low-performing schools. As part of annual monitoring of state-designated low-performing schools, the department's external monitors observe…

There has been much debate about having standardized curricula content standards for all. Some have criticized state curriculum content standards for varying in quality by state. The purpose of this study was to compare content complexity as it appears within the high school English Language Arts Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and the former…

There is empirical evidence of substantial heterogeneity in economic mobility across geographic areas and the efficacy of schools has been suggested as an explanatory factor. Using administrative microdata from seven states covering nearly 3 million students, we explore the potential role of schools in promoting economic mobility by estimating…