Tricia Lederer

On the surface, poll results released this week seem to indicate that public support for the Common Core State Standards is slipping. Yet, a closer look at four recent polls tells another story, and alarmingly, that misinformation about the standards […]

Our friends at Achieve, Inc. have given us permission to reprint their excellent materials when we see information that will be of interest to the Massachusetts business community.  This commentary focuses on the workforce issues that are of concern to […]

A bond bill for government technology worth $1 billion, including $38 million for a public school district broadband access improvement grant program, has been approved by the Massachusetts House and Senate and now goes to Governor Patrick for his signature. […]

Each week, the Department of Higher Education issues a weekly digest of news clips that provides updates on what is going on at various campuses around the state.  This week, the digest (subscribe at the DHE website link above) also […]

Our public higher education institutions provide exemplary learning opportunities at an affordable cost for their students, but they provide so much more. In a newsletter from the UMASS Economic Development Office, the office cites a recent study released by the […]

Laura Slover, CEO of PARCC, Inc., the nonprofit managing the assessment project for the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Career (PARCC) states, began her career as a high school English teacher.  In a recent update, she wrote about […]

This spring, about 81,000 Massachusetts students took the PARCC (Partnership for Assessing College and Career Readiness) exam for a test-drive. Some schools only took PARCC, some the usual MCAS tests, some both. As districts consider whether to administer PARCC or […]

The Boston Public Schools have a plan for driving improvements in the city’s schools that is both exciting and likely to bring about very positive results for children.  Interim Superintendent John McDonough and Assistant Superintendent for Human Capital Ross Wilson […]

For the second year, the National Council on Teacher Quality has reviewed 2400 teacher education programs across the country and found many lacking. Findings released last week reveal mixed results for Massachusetts.  The good news is that the Commonwealth is making […]

The Massachusetts Department of Higher Education and a dozen college and university presidents announced last week that they have “joined more than 200 college and university leaders from 30 states in a new coalition, Higher Ed for Higher Standards, to […]

Today Massachusetts’ education standards received a significant endorsement from the non-partisan, independent Worcester Regional Research Bureau. The bureau’s new report, Toward a Common Understanding of the Common Core, examines the origins and merits of the Common Core standards, and concludes […]

There is a new measure from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) tying 12th grade results to college preparedness.  In 2009, for the first time, NAEP reported state results for 12th Graders from 11 volunteer pilot states including Massachusetts, […]

Budget Moves to Senate; House to Act on Bill to Improve Student Achievement May is always a busy month, but it is especially so this year as legislators work to complete the Massachusetts Budget for fiscal year 2015 and wrap […]

We routinely teach our children the importance of honesty and telling the truth, even when it is difficult or uncomfortable.   But, for years, we have been giving our children the false impression that passing the MCAS exams and earning […]

Is Common Core really taking control away from teachers? According to a new report, the answer is no. Latest research by the Center on Education Policy (CEP) finds that it is local teachers and districts that are leading the charge […]

The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) has issued a call for volunteers to join Working Groups that will develop recommendations for subject matter knowledge required for educator licensure.  This is a critically important endeavor with the potential to […]

In late March, Rick Hess, Director of Education Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute,  wrote a column in Education Week with three questions for the two consortia of states that have developed assessments aligned to the Common Core State […]

The U.S. Department of Education is moving forward with a plan to improve the recruitment and preparation of our nation’s teachers.  This is welcome news since educator preparation programs have been shown to lack the rigor and training needed for […]