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Another successful Summer Institute is in the books!

MIE was proud to host nearly 500 pre-AP and Advanced Placement (AP) teachers from Massachusetts and 12 other states – as well as Japan, Trinidad and Kuwait – recently at its annual Summer Institute. The Summer Institute runs for two one-week sessions at Bridgewater State University, and teachers take part in intensive, interactive training, and share best practices to prepare for this year’s AP courses. This…

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Girls in Bridge to Calculus class

A Bridge to Calculus—And to College and Career

In a brightly lit classroom in Northeastern University’s Snell Library, high school students from all across Boston race to solve an exponential equation written on the white board. A teacher and two mentors circulate the room, answering questions and providing help. Next door, another group of kids take meticulous notes as their teacher projects equations…

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Worcester South

How Worcester South Increased Latino Participation in AP Classes and Built a College Success Culture

Changing the culture of a high school requires both strong academic leadership and broader community support dedicated to college success. Getting the steps right about implementing changes to school culture matters a lot, especially when a significant segment of the school’s student population needs extra support to be college ready. The experience of Worcester South…

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2016 PIE winners

The 2016 Partners in Excellence (PIE) Award Celebration was a Success!

More than 300 teachers, school leaders, legislators, members of the business community, and other supporters joined us for the 4th annual Partners in Excellence Award Celebration on April 5 at the Seaport Hotel in Boston. The goal of the event was to honor Fitchburg Schools Superintendent Andre Ravenelle and 54 AP teachers from across Massachusetts for their exceptional dedication to…

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The importance of leadership

How important is high-quality school leadership to achieving improvements in student performance? A little? Very? In a recent op-ed in the New York Times, Will Miller, president of the Wallace Foundation, argues that it’s critical. In support of the position, Miller pointed to a study on school leadership commissioned by the Wallace Foundation that found…

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News You Should Know

As I’m writing this, it’s Opening Day at Fenway Park and everyone’s allergies seem to be acting up, which must mean it’s finally spring in Boston! Lucky for you, that means fewer complaints from us about the snow and more stories for you to read while enjoying the outdoors! Education news round-up from the past…

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SIG (In)sanity

We interrupt our normal “Three things to read this weekend” schedule to bring you this guest post by Larry Stanton, senior field consultant for Mass Insight Education, on how the new SIG guidance makes it possible for state education agencies to correct past mistakes. Here’s a little teaser – for the full piece, click over…

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College, but at what cost?

Any long-time reader of this blog knows that we think preparing students for the academic rigors of post-secondary education is a critical ingredient in the college success equation. However, the financial barriers to college enrollment and completion can’t be underestimated by anyone (or any organization) serious about trying to increase the college completion rates in…

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Balancing Support and Compliance

Over the past two-and-a-half years, I’ve spent a lot of time through Mass Insight Education’s State Development Network learning from state education agencies (SEAs) across the country as they work to transform low-performing districts and schools. This work looks different in almost every state. Some focus more on setting district-level conditions that better support school…

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Employers paying student loans? Maybe in Colorado.

You don’t need me to tell you that college is expensive (and getting more so). To cover the cost, students are taking out staggering amounts of student loans that leave them, in some cases, with a college degree in one hand and a pseudo-mortgage payment in the other. Needless to say, it’s hard for students…

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Are colleges ready for “college ready”?

Over the past several years, we’ve thought a lot about clusters, vertical alignment, and upward trajectories for students. And it seems as though we are identifying strategies, programs, and systems that work – for example, our AP/STEM Program both offers professional development to AP and pre-AP teachers and creates the foundation for increased collaboration between…

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Updated SIG Rules: Doing it your way

This week, we released an essay written by our Senior Field Consultant, Larry Stanton. The essay, titled “Doing It Your Way: Building a Strong SEA SIG Application,” focuses on the recently released updated School Improvement Grant (SIG) rules. State education agencies (SEAs) have until April 15, 2015, to submit their updated applications to the federal…

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Our blog features commentary and insights from our staff and, from time-to-time, special guest bloggers about school improvement practices and policies that are changing student lives and changing schools. Contact jschneider@massinsight.org for more information.