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Study Finds Results of International Assessments Confirm Quality of MCASSeptember 30, 2024 - 10:47 am
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Vitamin Parents Part 1: Twin Moms Converting a Decent Traditional School Experience Into a “Wow” Homeschool OneSeptember 19, 2024 - 12:21 pm
PRI’s Lance Izumi on The Great Classroom CollapseSeptember 18, 2024 - 7:20 am
Learning From California: Policy Lessons From Golden State ExodusSeptember 17, 2024 - 10:35 am
Is Massachusetts at a Turning Point – 10 Data Points That Give Me PauseSeptember 12, 2024 - 3:57 pm
From Stress to Success: How Daniella Transformed Her Son’s Learning with ESA FundsSeptember 12, 2024 - 11:46 am
AFC’s Denisha Allen on School Choice & Black Minds MatterSeptember 12, 2024 - 9:54 am
New England Short Circuit: Distorted Incentives Drive Energy Prices Up and Reliability DownSeptember 10, 2024 - 10:30 am
Meet the Transportation Dashboard
/0 Comments/in Blog, News /by Steve PoftakHow well did the Patriots do this weekend? That’s easy. Look at the scoreboard. How well has the state spent your tax dollars since the enactment of transportation reform? Well, that’s harder. There’s some reports that highlight the changes in management structure and some of the cost savings. But what about the things that really matter to the customer. Some of those measures are in a .pdf file on the MassDOT website, if you know where to look. (And the MBTA actually is a bit more forward with their data.) Pioneer thinks something bolder, more public, and customer-focused is needed. Using simple desktop tools, we put together a transportation dashboard with public data. It’s far from perfect, but we hope […]
Wong and Fitchburg charter official ready to defend school
/0 Comments/in Oped: Common Core, Oped: Education, Opeds /by Editorial Staffhttp://www.sentinelandenterprise.com/local/ci_19805585 FITCHBURG — Supporters of the North Central Charter Essential School were prepared to travel to Malden this morning to ask the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education to renew the school’s five-year charter with no conditions. Education Commissioner Mitchell Chester has recommended the school be placed on probation while renewing its charter, news that school administrators said came out of left field last week, because they had been lauded by state officials for the school’s academic improvements as recently as last fall. NCCES Executive Director Stephanie Davolos and Fitchburg Mayor Lisa Wong plan to speak on behalf of the charter school, a junior-senior high-school program that both said has served as a good complement to the city’s public […]
Chipping away at charter schools
/0 Comments/in Oped: Common Core, Oped: Education, Oped: School Choice, Opeds /by Editorial Staffhttp://boston.com/community/blogs/rock_the_schoolhouse/2012/01/chipping_away_at_charter_schoo.html Charter school approvals are granted in February. They shouldn’t be. They should have been granted on January 16th this year–Martin Luther King Day–for one simple reason: No education policy change has done more in Massachusetts to alleviate achievement gaps than charters. None. We too often hear about how education is the civil rights issue of the 21st century. The fact is that education was the Civil Rights issue of the 20th century, starting with the landmark Brown v. Board of Education ruling and the battle to ensure that all kids, regardless of race or creed, had equal access to good schools. Today, the face of Civil Rights has many colors, and the principal battleground is in inner cities, places […]
Patrick’s economic development plan is flawed
/0 Comments/in Oped: Better Government, Oped: Economy, Opeds /by Editorial Staffhttp://www.heraldnews.com/newsnow/x66783145/GUEST-OPINION-Patricks-economic-development-plan-is-flawed Gov. Deval Patrick’s new economic development plan is well intended and for the most part worthy. Released last month by the state’s Economic Development Planning Council, “Choosing to Compete in the 21st Century” is welcome evidence that the governor understands that Massachusetts can only address the state’s persistent unemployment and generate revenues for public services by making the Bay State an attractive place to grow businesses. Elements of the plan are realistic and wise steps toward that goal. For example, the plan calls for government to execute on its core functions, such as upgrading infrastructure. It calls for government to remove barriers to hiring by cutting the tangle of regulation, streamline permitting, and make the corporate tax structure predictable […]
9 Keys For Reality TV Chefs
/0 Comments/in Blog, News /by Steve Poftak(What, you think we can only do policy?) There’s been a proliferation of reality cooking shows — Top Chef, Kitchen Nightmares, Iron Chef, Chopped, and so on — as well as spinoffs and brand extensions. For those aspiring chefs seeking to success on these shows, some pointers: 1. Always cook something. Seems obvious, but every competition has some person who makes a crudo or carpacchio. It’s not a slicing-and-marinating competition, folks; you need to cook. 2. Never do a duo. The indecisive or overly ambitious chef will decide to take a main ingredient and go for multiple preparations on a single plate. The problem is that you are competing against yourself — one preparation is going to be better than […]