This report summarizes the findings of MA DESE's 2020 review of the Boston Public Schools, highlighting key findings around the teaching and learning, operational, financial, and enrollment challenges the state identified. It also describes why, according to the report, BPS persistently struggles in these areas and how its struggles negatively…

By accelerating schools' adoption of technology for virtual learning, the pandemic spotlighted longstanding inequities in digital access, especially for Black, Hispanic, and low-income K-12 students. By spearheading efforts to collect data, collaborate with partners, buy digital devices and infrastructure, and reimagine effective technology use,…

Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont and Education Commissioner Charlene Russell-Tucker announced the expansion of the northeastern reciprocity agreement to include certified educators throughout the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and beyond. As of April 21, 2022, "educators in Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, New…

California's school accountability and support system, the Statewide System of Support (System of Support), was designed to transform California's approach to school improvement. Rather than focusing on punitive consequences for underperformance, the System of Support is designed to provide education leaders and educators with needed support to…

In this article, the authors use original survey data to test the determinants of priority conflict on urban school boards in the United States. The results indicate that school district demographics, including the percentage of English language learners and education spending per pupil, impact the extent to which urban school board members hold…

Because racism is permanently woven into the fabric of American society, the fight for Black equality and liberation is a constant struggle of resistance. Traditionally, a strong method of resistance utilized by oppressed people has been the use of language. Language is a form of symbolic power, a political force utilized to empower those who make…

Approved by the Kansas State Board of Education in 2017, the school redesign project has seen more than 160 schools to reimagine their learning models in a state-led, multiyear process. Annual cohorts named for NASA lunar missions, the fourteen schools in seven districts that formed the initial Mercury cohort engaged in intensive planning and…

Districts are increasingly investing in coaching programs to improve teacher practice and student outcomes. However, merely providing schools with the funding for a coaching position is not enough. To maximize the return on the investment of coaching, our research on the Dynamic Learning Project (DLP) shows that districts need to ensure that they…

Student outcomes don't change until adult behaviors change. Or said differently when placed in the context of governing, patterns of behavior that are exhibited in the boardroom can reasonably be expected to be found paralleled in the classroom. This concept, which offers a summation of the current literature on board behaviors and their…

Gifted education policies vary across the United States. Previous studies have demonstrated a disconnect between these policies at state and district levels, but alignment of school-level practices with state and/or district policies is unknown. To further examine these relationships, we examined via qualitative document analysis state and…

Purpose: In the wake of school board protests nationwide, it is essential for educational leaders, policymakers, and researchers to understand locally controlled educational governance. The stability of educational districts depends on superintendents navigating relationships with their school boards, yet little research exists that addresses…

The Maryland State Board of Education and Maryland State Department of Education are developing a multiyear Strategic Plan that will be released in three phases leading up to June 2023. The Strategic Plan will anchor the vision, mission, values, priorities, enablers, goals, and flagship programs, initiatives, and strategies to realize the…

A Catholic school is distinguished from a public school through its Catholic identity based on its mission statement which clearly outlines what it means to be Catholic through a theological, evangelical, and ecclesial foundation (Engle et al., 2020). The purpose of this study was to discover the reason for a diminished Catholic identity at St.…

Twenty percent of occupational therapists are employed in schools nationwide. Despite years of service since the Brown vs. U.S. Board of Education Law was enacted in 1954, school-based occupational therapists are restricted from advancing into formal Professional Educator License leadership roles. Due to state legislation and credentialing issues,…

There is a wide gap between what research evidence identifies as effective reading intervention and what is currently offered in schools. This effectiveness study reports the results of a long-term research/school system partnership that is implementing reading intervention for children with reading difficulties in Canadian community schools. In…