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Jeffrey Meyers on Edgar Allan Poe, Gothic Horror, & HalloweenOctober 30, 2024 - 11:44 am
Mountain State Modifications: Tiffany Uses ESA Flexibility to Pivot Quickly For Her Son’s EducationOctober 24, 2024 - 12:11 pm
Study Published by Pioneer Institute Shows Massachusetts Learning Loss Among Nation’s WorstOctober 24, 2024 - 10:31 am
U-TX at SA’s Catherine Clinton on Harriet Tubman & the Underground RailroadOctober 23, 2024 - 11:30 am
Award-Winner Tom Segev on Israel’s Founding Father, David Ben-GurionOctober 16, 2024 - 11:59 am
Pioneer Institute Study Finds MCAS, Education Reform Have Significantly Improved Academic AttainmentOctober 16, 2024 - 11:46 am
McAnneny October Monthly Musings – Ballot InitiativesOctober 11, 2024 - 2:17 pm
Homeschooling with Hope: Katie Switzer’s ESA ExperienceOctober 10, 2024 - 11:24 am
Lynch Foundation’s Katie Everett on School Finance Model for Catholic Schools & School ChoiceOctober 9, 2024 - 11:30 am
Pioneer Institute Study Finds Wide Range of Approaches to Compliance with MBTA Communities LawOctober 6, 2024 - 9:12 pm
Nothing to fear but lower student achievement…
/0 Comments/in Blog, News /byDid anyone actually think that during a campaign season the MCAS debate would come back in full force? It’s odd, given the strong public support for the test, but it is happening. And in the tradition of the Good Ol’ American Way, money is driving the debate. The feds are promoting national math and English/reading standards for K-12 schools by offering $320 million, perhaps split among two groups, for the development of the standards and the assessments. A Globe editorial entitled Nothing to Fear in Experiment to Improve Testing opines today that Massachusetts has, academically, nothing to lose if it abandons the MCAS because There is a greater likelihood that the exam that measures student achievement in Massachusetts will go […]
New Pioneer/Pacific Research Institute Report: Weak National Standards Basis for Weak National Tests
/0 Comments/in Common Core, Press Releases, Press Releases: Common Core, Press Releases: Education, Related Education Blogs /byNew Pioneer/Pacific Research Institute Report: Weak National Standards Basis for Weak National Tests Contact Jamie Gass at 617-723-2277 ext. 210 or jgass@pioneerinst.wpengine.com The Emperor’s New Clothes BOSTON/SAN FRANCISCO – A new report demonstrates that fundamental flaws within the Common Core State Standards Initiative’s push for national academic standards, especially the weak definition of college and career readiness, will result in sub-standard national assessments. The Emperor’s New Clothes: National Assessments Based on Weak “College and Career Readiness Standards” is the third in a series of analyses of the proposed standards and assessments by Pioneer Institute and Pacific Research Institute. The CCSSI was formed in 2009 by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) to develop […]
Sidewalk Superintendent Series: The Seaport
/1 Comment/in Blog, News /by(An irregular series on public space. Downtown Crossing covered here.) I’ve heard several of Boston’s ‘great and good’ refer to the Seaport District as a success. I beg to differ. Press the arrow on the slide show below and take a look at the slide show of the district that we took in mid-December 2009 between 12:30 and 1 PM. What’s your reaction? My first one was to ask the photographer (Pioneer’s own, redoubtable Peter Begley) if he deliberately left people out of the shots. He said he only delayed a single shot to let one person clear the frame, everything else is candid. My second reaction was: where is everybody? I know its December, but its lunchtime on a […]
Fun Brownie Recipe
/0 Comments/in Blog, News /byHow many pages does it take the federal government to address the pivotal issue of brownie ingredients, baking, and storage? 26.
Uncomfortable Juxtaposition
/0 Comments/in Blog, News /byFrom Today’s Globe: “Massachusetts education officials are quietly putting together a proposal to scrap the controversial MCAS exams in English and math and replace them with new tests they are developing with about two dozen other states.” From 2006 Globe and State House News accounts (sorry, MA library card req. for access): …Thomas F. Birmingham, a former Senate president and a candidate for governor in 2002, said at a Pioneer Institute breakfast forum Thursday. “In this regard, I’m a bit discomfited that one of the leading candidates for governor is, in my opinion, ambiguous on the issue of even retaining MCAS as a graduation requirement.”… …In an e-mailed statement… Patrick spokeswoman Libby DeVecchi said the campaign has reached out to […]