The results of this study show that factory model contracts are more likely to be found in the Commonwealth's lowest-performing school districts, many of which serve disproportionate numbers of poor and minority students. This policy brief concludes with six recommendations for actions that school districts can take to ensure that teacher collective bargaining contracts in the state of Massachusetts become better aligned with the professional model.

Testimony to the California Academic Content Standards Commission provided in July 2010.

The purpose of this April 2010 progress report is to indicate how Common Core's March drafts have addressed the deficiencies and limitations in its September and January drafts, and to spell out major areas needing further work. The analysis we present in this progress report shows that, although progress has been made, considerably more work is needed, particularly at the secondary level, to enable Common Core's mathematics and English language arts (ELA) standards to be internationally benchmarked and to serve as the basis for valid and reliable high school exit level assessments.

In short, the rush to move from 50 state standards to a single set of standards for 50 states in less than one year, as well as the lack of transparency in CCSSI’s procedures, have excluded the kind and extent of public discussion merited by the huge policy implications of such a move.

The story of charter schooling in Massachusetts is, by and large, the story of an idea that took hold at the local level and was quickly adopted by legislators who saw charter schools as one key to addressing devastating problems with the state's urban school districts. It is also the story of diverse groups of constituents—politicians, businesspeople, parents, and concerned citizens—coming together to create innovative schooling options for the Massachusetts students that need them most.

Located in the “bicep of Cape Cod,” the Town of Barnstable, Massachusetts, is widely considered that area’s economic and municipal hub. Home to a thriving business sector, healthcare facilities, an airport, and a host of other municipal services, many of Cape Cod’s citizens rely upon Barnstable and its seven surrounding villages for economic and cultural prosperity.

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.

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.

Teachers are critical to attaining world-class levels of performance in mathematics and science. A growing body of research has documented a wide range in the effectiveness of individual teachers with respect to raising student achievement.

Charles Chieppo provides testimony to the Joint Committee on…