Academic Standards

Attacks on MCAS for not producing “college-ready” graduates demonstrates lack of understanding of test’s purpose BOSTON – Political realities dictate that, as with any tests, passing scores on those developed by the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC)...

Study:  MCAS Less Expensive, More Rigorous and Provides Better Information than PARCC  Authors call for state to phase out both PARCC and Common Core BOSTON – In the wake of an apparent shift by Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education Mitchell Chester making...

Study Calls for Draft Science and Technology/Engineering Standards to Be Withdrawn “Astonishing” gaps in science content too large to be resolved editorially BOSTON – Massachusetts’ draft pre-K through introductory high school Science and Technology/Engineering standards contain such startling gaps in science that...

BOSTON – Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education Mitchell Chester, who later this year will make a recommendation to the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (the board) about whether to replace MCAS tests with those developed by the Partnership for the...

Recently, the Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education (MBAE) continued its advocacy for Common Core and the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC), a federally funded testing consortium, with the release of a study concluding that the Massachusetts Comprehensive...

Press Release: Study Finds That New Technology, Relaxation of Protections Threaten Student Privacy Federal government using grants to induce states to build identical, increasingly sophisticated student-data systems Contact: Jamie Gass, 617-723-2277, ext. 210 or jgass@pioneerinst.wpengine.com BOSTON – New technology allows advocates for education...