Entries by Jason Turesky

Pioneer’s www.massreportcards.com makes comparing schools a breeze

It’s no surprise to hear that public schools in wealthy communities tend to outperform those in less fortunate areas.  The surprise is the ease of measuring this disparity and many others, too: just take a look at the numbers on Pioneer Institute’s education transparency website, www.massreportcards.com. For example, Weston and Lawrence high schools serve opposite ends of the income spectrum.  Weston consistently ranks as one of the wealthiest towns in Massachusetts while Lawrence ranks among the poorest. This dichotomy is mirrored in their respective high schools’ graduation rates and post-graduation plans. As one might expect, Weston has a whopping 96 percent graduation rate with less than one percent of students dropping out.  Compare that to Lawrence, where less than half […]