MORE ARTICLES

Stay Connected!

Receive the latest updates in your inbox.

LATEST ARTICLES

Day 8: Give Urban Kids Access to a Rich Liberal Arts Curriculum

/0 Comments/in , , , , , /by

Countdown to World-Class Schools summarizes 12 actions the incoming governor can take to make our schools the best in the world. All achievable. All for under $50 million. I wrote this blog entry a couple of days ago, before yesterday’s disastrous vote by the Massachusetts Board of Education to adopt national standards that are (1) in many ways very different from and (2) weaker than our now dead-letter state standards for what is taught in our schools. The punch line is at the bottom. Since 1993, Springfield has received well over $2 billion, Worcester over $1.5 billion and Boston another $2 billion in state aid supplementing local education funding. The percentage of students passing the MCAS test varies greatly by […]

Day 7: Strengthen STEM standards, instruction and assessments

/0 Comments/in , , /by

While our student gains in math and science over the past decade and a half are impressive, we need to address the lower percentage of students who are “advanced” in these critical subjects. Yesterday, I noted what we can do to improve the quality of our math and science teaching corps. Today, I want to focus on a number of steps we can take to strengthen STEM standards, instructional practices and assessments. Strengthen the K-12 Mathematics Standards. Well-structured academic standards logically progress from less difficult or complex topics to more difficult or complex topics, both within a grade and also from grade to grade. We could improve our already best-in-nation math and science standards by paying close attention to transitions […]

Day 6: Attract and Retain High-Quality Math and Science Teachers

/0 Comments/in , , /by

Massachusetts’ students have made impressive gains in math and science over the past decade and a half. Consider that in 1992 Massachusetts stood below national averages on the SAT. Fast forward to this past year, when the state ranked among the highest performing nations on the Trends in International Math and Science Study (TIMSS). In fact, on the TIMSS, Massachusetts 4th graders ranked second and third worldwide in science and mathematics, respectively. Our 8th graders tied for first in science and ranked sixth in math. But the 2007 TIMSS identified areas of particular weakness. Over 40 percent of 4th graders in Singapore were advanced in mathematics, compared to only 22 percent in Massachusetts. A similar pattern holds for 4th grade […]

National Standards Still Don’t Make the Grade

/0 Comments/in , , , , /by

National Standards Still Don’t Make the Grade Academic Standards in Massachusetts and California Remain Significantly Better Than the Proposed Common Core Standards Contact Jamie Gass at 617-723-2277 ext. 210 or jgass@pioneerinst.wpengine.com National Standards Still Don’t Make the Grade BOSTON/SAN FRANCISCO – Adopting the final draft of proposed national education standards in English language arts (ELA) would result in a significant weakening of the intellectual demands placed on Massachusetts and California students in language and literature, according to a review published jointly by the Pacific Research Institute and Pioneer Institute. In Part I of National Standards Still Don’t Make the Grade: Why Massachusetts and California Must Retain Control Over Their Academic Destinies, authors Kathleen Madigan, a senior research scientist for AccountabilityWorks […]

Day 5: Prepare effective teachers

/0 Comments/in , , /by

It may sound like a platitude, but that doesn’t make it any less true: No factor is more important than a student’s relationship with his or her teachers. Nothing can spark an interest or light a fire more deeply inside a student than a teacher. While that relationship is a personal one, a simply friendly rapport has pretty limited educational value. It has much more of a master-apprentice feel—and that means teachers must have subject mastery. Simple mastery of a subject does not a great teacher make, but it sure sets down a great foundation to work from. Here are three steps to ensuring that our teachers are fully prepared for the task: Strengthen new teacher quality through strong course […]