Lowell Sun: Taking Huck Finn Out of Curriculum a Classic Disaster
With its adoption of Common Core, Massachusetts has chosen to hit the reset button on nearly two decades of unparalleled student achievement.
Entries by Jamie Gass
Fitchburg Sentinel & Enterprise: Taking Huck Finn Out of Curriculum a Classic Disaster
Because of the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education’s decision to adopt weaker national standards known as “Common Core,” students will learn less than half as much classic literature and poetry than they did under Massachusetts’ previous standards.
Fall River Herald News: Common Core Takes Classics Out of Curriculum
But with its adoption of Common Core, Massachusetts has chosen to hit the reset button on nearly two decades of unparalleled student achievement.
Worcester Telegram & Gazette: Schoolkids missing the Twain
But with its adoption of Common Core, Massachusetts has chosen to hit the reset button on nearly two decades of unparalleled student achievement.
Boston Herald: Intrusive to the Core
The so-called Common Core State Standards in English and math were almost entirely developed inside the Beltway by a small group of D.C.-based education trade organizations.
Testimony to the Joint Education Committee
“Testimony to the Joint Education Committee” was provided in May 2011.
Accountability Overboard
Special interest groups opposed to charter schools and highstakes testing have hijacked the state’s once-independent board of education and stand poised to water down the MCAS tests and the accountability system they support.
Strengthening Standards-Based Education
The purpose of Pioneer’s policy brief is to spell out the successful standards-based reforms that have made Massachusetts the highest performing K-12 state in the country, and to suggest how the BESE and the 21st Century Skills Task Force can strengthen the state’s nationally recognized curriculum frameworks, student assessments, educator licensure regulations, and teacher subject area tests.
Scaling Up Educational Innovation
Considering this record of low student achievement and the deep pockets of chronic under-performance, the Patrick Administration’s Readiness Project and Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) are right to call for a long, hard look at the state’s achievement gaps, education accountability, targeted assistance, and policymaking.
Education Reform in Massachusetts: Aligning District Curricula with State Frameworks
This study, produced by Pioneer Institute’s Center for School Reform, analyzes school district performance assessment data reported by the Massachusetts Office of Educational Quality and Accountability (EQA). This agency audits school districts regularly to evaluate their progress in implementing the reforms articulated by the Massachusetts Education Reform Act of 1993 (MERA).
Education Reform in Massachusetts: Using Student Data to Improve District Performance
This study, produced by Pioneer Institute’s Center for School Reform, analyzes school district performance assessment data reported by the Massachusetts Office of Educational Quality and Accountability (EQA). This agency regularly audits school districts to evaluate their progress in implementing the reforms articulated by the Massachusetts Education Reform Act of 1993 (MERA).