This scoping review explores leadership training opportunities for school nurses. The review was conducted to inform the development of a new leadership training program for school nurses in Massachusetts. A search conducted across four databases (PubMed, CINAHL, ERIC, and Web of Science) yielded four articles meeting the search criteria published…

Since the early 2000s, accountability and evaluation have been regarded by policymakers as key mechanisms for "fixing" teacher education and by many teacher education leaders as vehicles for elevating the status of the profession and uniting a fragmented field. Although educational inequity has been an enduring and endemic problem during…

To update its teaching and departmental review processes, Phillips Academy Andover, an independent boarding school in Massachusetts, commissioned RAND Corporation researchers to review the school's policies, conduct a literature review, interview other independent high schools, develop potential recommendations for revision of Andover's processes,…

In 2012, Olin College initiated an effort to improve its faculty reappointment and promotion (R&P) system in response to a lack of alignment between faculty activities, the institutional mission, and the traditional assessment criteria defined in the faculty manual. Olin engaged in a six-step use-oriented design process that guided the…

States are responsible for evaluating teacher preparation programs (TPPs) through program reviews. We use data from Massachusetts to describe the first analysis of program review ratings and their relationship to in-service outcomes for TPP graduates. When comparisons are made across all schools and districts in the state, a TPP's review scores…

An interdisciplinary group of faculty members from Tufts University developed an undergraduate civic science course designed to help students better understand and interpret the broad, sociocultural impacts of science. The course teaches principles of civic science and was designed around four facets of learning. These facets lay groundwork for…

The Massachusetts Early Childhood Support Organization (ECSO) initiative seeks to improve the quality of early education programs (EEPs) by supporting leaders to strengthen their organizational climate, provide job-embedded professional learning opportunities for educators, support the use of instructional curriculum and child assessments in their…

Research has shown that the first few years of a child's life are critical for developing executive functioning and emotional regulatory skills. This study aimed to evaluate how begin to ECSEL (Emotional, Cognitive and Social Early Learning), an intervention designed to promote young children's emotional competence, influenced children's…

The PBIS Framework has demonstrated effectiveness in supporting schools in improving various prosocial outcomes including improved social, emotional, and behavioral skills; increased academic outcomes and attendance; decreased exclusionary discipline (e.g., office referrals, suspensions); and reduced reports of bullying and substance abuse. In…

The Metropolitan Council for Education Opportunity (METCO) has operated in the Boston and Springfield areas since 1966 and was developed as a means to fuel racial integration and provide students with greater educational opportunities. Since its existence, few studies have examined the social and emotional experiences of students participating in…

Assistive technology (AT) supports engagement for individuals with disabilities by improving independence in daily living tasks, work and productive activities, learning activities, and societal participation. However, for many individuals, access to AT is limited due to high costs, device availability, and inability to be customized. The Maker…

Chronic absenteeism is a critical issue that has been linked to many adverse student outcomes. The current study focuses on improving a key system already in place in many school districts--early warning systems (EWSs)--in order to decrease chronic absenteeism in students' earliest schooling years. Using a demographically diverse population of…

Prioritizing social, emotional, and behavioral supports is essential for student success. By establishing systems to support students' social (how they interact), emotional (how they feel), and behavioral (how they act) needs and growth, educators and leaders can ensure that all students have full access to instruction and the essential skills for…

This large-scale study used a survey to collect data on K-12 world language program leadership and instructional practices in Massachusetts public schools, investigating associations between the presence of a program leader or primary evaluator who is a world language specialist and instructional practices, curriculum, and assessment. The study…

An innovative system-building initiative known as the STEM Learning Ecosystems Community of Practice (SLECoP) is transforming U.S. STEM education through cross-sector partnerships between schools, afterschool and summer programs, libraries, museums, and businesses, among others. Although logic models exist to describe how SLEs can make positive…