In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic caused a mandatory shift from in-person instruction to online learning for many young children. Teachers needed to adjust to virtual teaching, children were isolated from their peers, and parents played a bigger role in learning during the pandemic. In 2021, the shift back to in-person learning occurred. Research has…

While most community colleges admit all students who apply for admission, the vast majority have required students to demonstrate specified levels of literacy and numeracy before they can take college-level courses. Typically, students have been assessed using a single placement test, such as the College Board's ACCUPLACER. Colleges--or sometimes…

Despite strong evidence self-regulation skills are critical for school readiness, there remains a dearth of longitudinal studies that describe developmental trajectories of self-regulation, particularly among low-resource and underrepresented populations such as Spanish-English dual-language learners. The present study examined individual…

Policymakers and educators continue to grapple with issues of persistent achievement gaps in student performance at third grade and beyond. As they do, they look for ways to create a more seamless system of education that is "connected from one stage to the next -- reducing the chances that students will be lost along the way or require…

Partnering with Commonwealth schools and districts focused on continuous learning and improving student outcomes has had a profound impact on how the Rennie Center thinks about effective and sustainable change. This knowledge has guided the creation of Rennie's Change Management Framework, a rigorous, structured approach to planning and…

The transition to kindergarten is an important time in the young life of a preschooler. Research has shown that the quality of children's kindergarten transition processes has implications for their future academic and social outcomes, and the level of family engagement in kindergarten. Research further indicates that children living in families…

Traditional definitions of school readiness have focused primarily on the skills, knowledge and abilities children need for educational success. However, these definitions have evolved in recent years to encompass a multidimensional view, adding physical and mental health, social and emotional skills, executive functioning and self-regulation, and…

General measures of process quality are widely used in the early childhood education (ECE) field. However, the evidence regarding associations between the most widely used process quality measure, the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS; Pianta et al., 2008), and children's school readiness gains during the preschool year is mixed. Using…

A growing number of states are interested in tracking the readiness of children entering kindergarten. In 2010, just seven states (Alaska, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Maryland, Minnesota, and Vermont) collected Kindergarten Entry Assessment (KEA) data for the purposes of aggregating data at the state level. Since this time, most states report…

This document compiles information from multiple sources to offer readers a snapshot of Preschool Development and Expansion Grant (PDG) states' progress towards implementing a full comprehensive assessment system, as well as the tools they are using for each of the components.

Much of the currently available evidence on the causal effects of public prekindergarten programs on school readiness outcomes comes from studies that use a regression-discontinuity design (RDD) with the age cutoff to enter a program in a given year as the basis for assignment to treatment and control conditions. Because the RDD has high internal…

The "2016 Data Report" identifies and measures state-level indicators linked to outcomes to inform decision-making among Massachusetts education leaders. These indicators focus on critical stages in learning and development from school readiness and early learning to the emergence of a strong and productive workforce. Important…

The Condition of Education in the Commonwealth project is one way the Rennie Center fulfills its mission of producing non-partisan and independent research that promotes improvement in public education for all Massachusetts children. Its principles include: (1) Education encompasses more than academics; and (2) Schools should not--and cannot--work…

The Condition of Education in the Commonwealth project provides an annual, evidence-based review of student progress and proficiency throughout the education pipeline from birth into adulthood. Serving as a bellwether for Massachusetts education reform agenda, the project examines learning outcomes and investigates policy solutions to support…

Michigan's public education system remains in a perennial rut, as it has for decades. According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), Michigan's fourth grade reading scores show no significant change over the past 16 years. Even before the pandemic, too many dreams have stalled, and academic achievement remains largely…