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October 15, 2015

Study: Draft Science & Technology/Engineering Standards Should Be Withdrawn

Study Calls for Draft Science and Technology/Engineering Standards to Be Withdrawn “Astonishing” gaps in science content too large to be resolved editorially BOSTON – Massachusetts’ draft pre-K through introductory high school Science and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...
Education
October 15, 2015

Pathways to Equal Opportunity: Vocational-Technical Education & the Liberal Arts

A century ago, two prominent African-American educators, W.E.B. DuBois and Booker T. Washington, initiated a national debate between proponents of vocational-technical education and those who favor liberal arts as the best means of achieving equality of opportunity. This debate continues today. Please...
Education
September 23, 2015

Statement on 2015 MCAS Results and Preliminary, Incomplete 2015 PARCC Results

The release of 2015 MCAS results together with a patchwork of preliminary 2015 PARCC testing results provides little new information to help Massachusetts choose between the two tests. PARCC supporters claim the test’s rigor is evidenced by the fact that fewer students...
Education
August 18, 2015

How Massachusetts Promoted Achievement Before Common Core & PARCC

Before the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) officially decides to adopt PARCC’s testing system in place of the testing system that the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) developed in the 1990s and early 2000s, local school committees,...
Education
August 3, 2015

Kids and Families Deserve More: Catholic Education and School Choice

Pioneer held an education forum on Friday, July 31, 2015, “Know-Nothings’ Nativism, Catholic Education and School Choice,” with a keynote address by Salem State University Professor Nancy Lusignan Schultz, author of Fire & Roses: The Burning of the Charlestown Convent, 1834. Dr. Cara Candal...
Education
July 22, 2015

Study: Common Core & 2 Testing Consortia Violate Federal Laws, Unlikely to Improve Academic Achievement

Study: Common Core and Two Testing Consortia Violate Federal Laws, Are Unlikely to Improve Academic Achievement “Competitive federalism” doesn’t run afoul of federal law, would produce better results Contact Jamie Gass, 617-723-2277 ext. 210 or jgass@pioneerinstitute.org BOSTON – In the wake of...
Education
July 7, 2015

Education Commissioner Mitchell Chester Should Recuse Himself from Upcoming Decision on PARCC & MCAS

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...
Education
June 16, 2015

Why Massachusetts Should Abandon the PARCC Tests & Common Core

It is difficult to find any public analysis and comments by teachers, parents, researchers, or literary scholars on PARCC’s “practice” and “sample” test items for English language arts for grades 3-11.   Taking the bull by the horns, that is what I...
Education
June 10, 2015

New Report: The Successes and Challenges of Educating Military-Connected Children

Study finds college and career readiness focus of Common Core a disconnect with students from Military Families since majority are under seven years old BOSTON – A remarkable education system has been created to benefit Military-Connected Children, enabling them to perform academically...
Education
January 9, 2015

Don’t Waste the Crisis over Common Core

The entire Common Core project is rapidly going south, and within two years may be no more than a dim memory of a nightmare in the minds of a growing army of angry parents and teachers from coast to coast. Before this...