Tricia Lederer - Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education

April 1, 2014

Despite Lofty Scores, Massachusetts Advised to Set New Ed. Goals

Originally published in Education Week | April 1, 2014. By Sean Cavanagh. Even though Massachusetts is one of the highest-flying states by academic reputation and test-score rankings, it needs to shake up how it operates and push ahead with a series […]

March 27, 2014

MBAE on Boston Network News

BNN interviews Linda Noonan. Aired 03-27-14.

March 27, 2014

WCVB-TV Editorial: State of Massachusetts’ Education System

Originally published on wcvb.com | Bill Fine, WCVB-TV President and General Manager. Gov. Deval Patrick proudly touts the state’s education system, citing high student test scores and graduation rates. And rightly so. Massachusetts has consistently ranked toward the top. That lofty […]

March 25, 2014

Many Mass. companies can’t find skilled workers

Originally published in South Coast Today | March 25, 2014. BOSTON — A Massachusetts business group called for changes in the state’s education system in light of a report released Monday that shows more than two-thirds of the state’s employers […]

March 25, 2014

Mass. schools must be transformed to compete globally

Originally published in the Boston Globe | MARCH 25, 2014. By Michael Barber and Henry C. Dinger. While Massachusetts is widely acknowledged to have the best-performing students in the nation, at least as measured by national and international test scores, there are […]

March 24, 2014

The New Opportunity to Lead

In the Constitution adopted in 1780 and in force today, the people of Massachusetts recognized that the “opportunities and advantages of education” were “necessary for the preservation of their rights had liberties,” and directed the representatives of the people to […]

March 24, 2014

New Report Offers A Vision for Education in the Next 20 Years

Twenty years ago, the Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education and the business community played a leading role in bringing about changes that propelled our state to the top of the nation on most measures of K-12 education performance. But we […]

March 24, 2014

The New Opportunity to Lead: A vision for education in Massachusetts in the next 20 years

March 24, 2014

Report Finds Massachusetts Education System Needs Major Overhaul to Prepare Students to Compete in Global Economy

(Boston) — March 24, 2014 – Massachusetts business leaders today released a comprehensive assessment of the Commonwealth’s education system, sounding the alarm that student achievement has levelled off and the state risks falling behind global competitors who are outpacing the […]

March 23, 2014

Future Ready Massachusetts

The Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education is thrilled to announce the launch of the Future Ready Massachusetts website. The Future Ready campaign was created to help students, their families, teachers and their mentors access the tools and resources that will […]

March 22, 2014

84% of Employers Say Schools Need Change

Last fall, as we embarked on our New Opportunity to Lead Campaign our partners at Associated Industries of Massachusetts and the Massachusetts Business Roundtable and asked MassINC Polling Group to conduct a statewide survey of employers to gauge their concerns […]

March 17, 2014

Voters Support Common Core and Aligned Assessments

National survey results released Friday by Achieve, a nonprofit, nonpartisan education reform organization, show strong voter support for Common Core State Standards (CCSS). Although a majority of those polled (two-thirds) had heard “nothing” or “not too much” about the Common […]

March 3, 2014

Preparing Students for the Jobs of Tomorrow

Many thanks to Achieve for allowing us to share this important information from their February Newsletter! As states continue to implement college- and career-ready standards and prepare for the transition to aligned assessments, it’s more important than ever to remember […]

February 19, 2014

Standards and Assessments In the News Again

Another survey has confirmed teacher enthusiasm for the Common Core State Standards. Yes, it is a project of Scholastic and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which the standards’ detractors characterize as the all-powerful Oz, but the data is indisputable. […]

February 13, 2014

No Child Left Unemployed

The convergence of education and the economy is evident in two separate reports issued this week. The findings make it clear that we need to pay attention to the competencies our children acquire in school if we expect them to […]

February 9, 2014

Facts Are Stubborn Things

“Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.” […]

February 3, 2014

College and Career Ready Standards and New Assessments Move MA Forward

Despite a steady stream of misinformation in recent weeks, the new Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks that include the Common Core State Standards will better prepare students for higher education and the workplace. For the record: When nearly 40% of MA […]

January 29, 2014

State Budget Redux

With Race to the Top and other federal funding initiatives winding down this academic year, state policy makers and school leaders are grappling with the challenge of sustaining this work with declining resources. So, we were interested to see how […]

December 23, 2013

Transition to New College and Career Ready Assessments Has Begun

The 1993 Education Reform Act (that has been credited with raising student achievement in Massachusetts to the top of the nation) had as two of its core principles high standards and an accountability system for measuring whether these standards were […]

December 16, 2013

PISA Results Highlight Math and Science Gaps

A lot of ink has been spilled recently about the PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) results released earlier this month. Massachusetts, Connecticut and Florida took the 2012 test as if these states were countries, so we have comparisons of […]