On November 8, 2016, while the rest of the world anxiously awaited the outcome of the U.S. presidential election, a subset of voters with a keen interest in education had their eyes on Massachusetts. This was the day Bay Staters would vote on Ballot Question 2, a proposal to raise the state's cap on public charter schools by up to 12 new schools…

Unified enrollment systems have become increasingly popular because they facilitate public school choice, streamline burdensome application processes, and ideally increase equity, but there are pros and cons to these systems for charter schools and in general. Our report, "Unified Enrollment: Lessons Learned from Across the Country,"…

In cities where public charter schools serve a large share of students, the costs of ongoing sector divisions and hostility across district and charter lines fall squarely on students and families. Exercising choice and accessing good schools in "high-choice cities" can be difficult for many families, especially some of the most…

In 2009, a group of local foundations, the school district, arts organizations, and the Mayor's Office launched the Boston Public Schools Arts Education Initiative (BPS-AE)--a multiyear, citywide, public--private initiative aimed at increasing BPS students' access to in-school arts education. Managed by a strong local intermediary with deep…

This post is one in a series highlighting MDRC's methodological work. Contributors discuss the refinement and practical use of research methods being employed across MDRC. MDRC has begun working with research partners through the Expanding Children's Early Learning (ExCEL) Network, a collaboration of researchers, preschool providers, and local…

This study leverages naturally occurring lotteries for oversubscribed Boston Public Schools prekindergarten program sites between 2007 and 2011, for 3,182 children (M = 4.5 years old) to estimate the impacts of winning a first choice lottery and enrolling in Boston prekindergarten versus losing a first choice lottery and not enrolling on…

In 2013-14, the United States spent over $630 billion on its public education system in hopes of providing children with greater opportunities to excel academically and improve their life trajectories. While public education dollars have risen at a relatively fast pace historically, education policymakers and practitioners should be seeking to…

Research Findings: A substantial body of research has demonstrated social and academic benefits of sociodramatic play (SDP) for young children. However, substantially less research has explored the factors related to increased amounts of SDP occurring during free play, an activity time that comprises the greatest portion of the daily schedule in…

This research report examines the dramatic turnaround of the Mildred Avenue School in Mattapan, which won EdVestors' 2017 School on the Move Prize. We teamed up with EdVestors to investigate the role of teacher leadership and labor-management collaboration in driving rapid school improvement. In 2013, the Mildred was a school in crisis. Academic…

"Children at the Center" provides a closely observed account of a decade-long effort to reshape the scope, direction, and quality of the Boston Public Schools' early childhood programs. Drawing on multiple perspectives and voices from the field, the authors highlight the reflective, collaborative, inquiry-driven approach undertaken by…

This appendix augments a report that updates 2013 guidance to school district leaders and their partners across the country who are interested in launching summer learning programs or improving established ones. In that report, the authors present recommendations based on evaluations, conducted between 2011 and 2016, of summer programs in five…

One urban district administered the Black Male Teacher Environment Survey (BMTES) to each of its Black male teachers to measure their school-based experiences. This article highlights descriptive statistics from the 86 Black male teacher respondents. Findings suggest that participants' background characteristics and school-based experiences varied…

School choice policies necessarily impose registration timelines, constraining access to schools of choice for students who register late. Drawing on administrative data, survey data, and interviews with 33 parents in Boston, we find that late registration is common and highly stratified: Nearly half of black kindergarteners miss the first…

Public education in the United States is increasingly focused on ensuring that all students graduate from high school and matriculate to college. Unfortunately, students themselves have demonstrated widespread academic disengagement across the middle and high school years. This disengagement is associated with a host of negative academic outcomes,…

All students and their families should know their rights, whether or not they seek to challenge a disciplinary decision. Well-informed students, families, educators and community stakeholders can use this information to advocate for fair disciplinary practices in their school and district. This booklet is based on New Jersey state law. While an…