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Blog: School Choice

Education
August 7, 2011

Do exam schools add value?

Historically, many of Massachusetts’ political and economic leaders have built their success on the education received at the city’s historic exam schools—Boston Latin School, Boston Latin Academy and the John D. O’Bryant High School of Mathematics and Science, which in total enroll...
Education
June 10, 2011

Uncommon and common goals

The dual mission of Phoenix Charter Academy—giving second chances to troubled youth and a relentless focus on academics—may seem a mission impossible. It isn’t, but the work to address systemic truancy and high dropout rates in our urban school districts presents numerous...
Education
June 5, 2011

Passion and Fellowship

Massachusetts charter schools have a strong record in serving urban and suburban minorities. What about children who are clearly at-risk or have special needs? Chelsea-based Phoenix Charter Academy (PCA) serves at-risk students from Chelsea, Everett, Lynn, Revere, Winthrop, and Boston. The school’s...
Education
June 3, 2011

Mother Courage

Earlier this week, I shared a couple of videos introducing the Chelsea-based Phoenix Charter Academy (PCA). PCA is unique in that it focuses on getting at-risk students back working at school, but also insists on high-quality academic achievement. The academic culture at...
Education
June 2, 2011

If walls could speak

Walk into a building and you can already tell a lot about an institution. An excellent teacher can be found in a building that screams stasis, but a culture of excellence in a school will not over time abide such a feeling...
Education
May 30, 2011

Phoenix Charter Academy's Mission Impossible?

The month of May opened with the official granting of 16 charters. That’s a great start by the Patrick administration on implementing the charter provision of the January 2010 education law. Full implementation of the law will double the number of students...
Education
May 17, 2011

4 lessons from vocational-technical schools

Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve shared a number of videos on the way in which regional vocational-technical schools have made impressive progress on key metrics of academic learning, leveraged parental involvement and the business community, and provided lessons for all...
Education
May 12, 2011

Voc-tech schools lowering the dropout rate

This is the fifth and final leg of my series on the tremendous progress being made in our regional vocational-technical (VTE) schools in Massachusetts. These schools have changed markedly in the past ten years, as they moved from a stance of opposition...
Education
May 7, 2011

Vocational-technical schools working with business

The local business community has always been heavily involved in our public institutions, through voluntary associations, of course, but also ensuring the good functioning and affordability of a once very robust network of community hospitals as well as our public schools. Throughout...
Education
May 6, 2011

Choosing to succeed in regional vocational-technical schools

What sets Massachusetts’s education reform efforts apart from those in other states can be reduced to three things. The reforms begun with the 1993 landmark law: Put into place were comprehensive in that they spanned content, accountability, and choice. Massachusetts did not...