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Mass Insight in the News

Compromise Can Compensate for Misguided Merit-Pay Ruling, Boston Globe, December 15, 2009

Teacher Unions Keep Fighting Education, Brockton Enterprise, November 20, 2009

AP Student: Pay Teachers Their Due, Boston Herald, November 19, 2009

Union Blocks Teacher Bonuses, Boston Herald, November 18, 2009

Education Reform is in for a Big Test, Boston Globe, November 13, 2009



Mass Insight Releases Report on Closing the Achievement Gaps

On Monday, October 5th, Mass Insight Education & Research Institute released "Closing the Achievement Gaps: An Annual Massachusetts Report on Performance-Based High School Interventions and Turnarounds". At an event hosted by State Street Corporation, over 100 education leaders, elected officials, union officials and nonprofit representatives gathered to discuss the road to systemic changes in the education system that would work to shrink the glaring gaps in achievement among minority and low-income students across the Commonwealth.

The report discusses the successes of the Mass Math & Science Initiative's AP Training and Award Program. Also covered are the findings the School Turnaround Strategy Group. Both Mass Insight divisions will have a profound effect on narrowing the achievement gaps and should be considered for federal, state and private funding to keep the momentum moving forward within Massachusetts.

The report can be downloaded here. To request a hard copy of the report, please send your request to insight@massinsight.org.

In the News

Education Reform is in for a Big Test, Boston Globe, November 13, 2009

Reville: Education Agenda Endangered by 'Wars' Among Stakeholders, Arlington Advocate, October 5, 2009

Closing Achievement Gaps Means More Funds, Boston Metro, October 5, 2009



AP Passing Scores Jump 39% at Mass Insight's Mass Math & Science Initiative High Schools

Press Release

AP Passing Scores Jump 39% at Mass Insight's Mass Math & Science Initiative High Schools, August 25, 2009


In the News

Our View: Students Stepping Up, Herald News, September 25, 2009

Durfee Doubles Number of Students in AP Classes, Herald News, September 23, 2009

NHS AP Scores Spur Regional Interest, Daily Hampshire Gazette, September 15, 2009

New Program at 2 Schools Helps Boost Student Participation in AP Courses, Springfield Republican, September 14, 2009

Students Rise to New Challenges, The Sun Chronicle, September 4, 2009

Students in AP Classes Double, The Sun Chronicle, September 2, 2009

AP Passing Scores Jump 39% at Mass Math & Science Initiative Schools, Chelsea Record, August 27, 2009

In AP Effort, Students Soar - and Teachers Unions Flunk, Boston Globe, August 26, 2009

Putting Students First, Boston Herald, August 26, 2009

Higher Math, Worcester Telegram & Gazette, August 26, 2009

Advanced Results, Worcester Telegram & Gazette, August 25, 2009



 New Initiative Aims to Transform Urban School Districts through Turnaround of Their Most Struggling Schools

$1.5M Grant from Carnegie Corporation Launches Three-State Effort 

Mass Insight Education & Research Institute announces the formation of the Achievement Zone Initiative - a set of intensive partnerships in three states to turn clusters of chronically under-performing schools into exemplars of district redesign. Mass Insight was recently awarded a two-year, $1.5 million grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York to launch the project, which is further supported by a partial match from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

The Achievement Zones will apply the framework that Mass Insight and its partners developed for its groundbreaking 2007 report, The Turnaround Challenge. That framework is designed to dramatically transform failing schools through immediate infusions of new capacity and through substantial changes in the schools' operating conditions. The work will be led by a new breed of lead turnaround partner organizations, working as co-managers of the zones in collaboration with district leaders. The participating states and districts will be named following a thorough identification, recruiting, and vetting process to take place this year. More details are provided in the attached press release.

The initiative will draw from other turnaround-related initiatives already underway at Mass Insight, including the following:
  • A multi-year initiative with the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices that will provide four states with technical assistance and grant resources to develop plans and policies that create the conditions necessary for turnaround. The Request for Proposals for the initiative was released in early December and proposals were due January 16th. The selected states will be announced February 20th.
  • Follow-up reports to The Turnaround Challenge and online resources. The reports will provide analysis and recommendations for lead turnaround partnerships and district-based Achievement Zones. They will be followed, in the spring, by tools and resources stemming from our 2008-9 research into nine of the most compelling school turnaround initiatives nationally.
A number of collaborating organizations are assisting in this work, including The Parthenon Group, EducationCounsel, Cambridge Education, and Apollo Philanthropy Partners. We thank the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for its leadership and support, and invite reform leaders who are interested in learning more to contact us at turnaround@massinsight.org.  For more information, visit the Turnaround section.

 


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