Mass EdForum

This year, Massachusetts will make a decision as monumental as the one made in 1993 when the Commonwealth adopted standards-based education reforms that propelled us to the top of the nation on many measures of student achievement.  Our choice will […]

Massachusetts’ economic vitality and  leadership in innovation depend on the state staying ahead of the national curve in education.  The business community must do all we can to keep our foot on the pedal of progress.  Over the past two decades, […]

Karen Nussle, Executive Director of the Collaborative for Student Success recently shared some information we think is worth repeating.  This blog post draws heavily on that information. With the 2016 presidential campaign already gaining steam, some presidential candidates who originally supportedCommon […]

As a Boston sports fan, I may not be a totally objective observer of “Deflategate”, but I find myself very ticked off at the innuendo, sniping and sore sportsmanship demonstrated in attacks on the Patriots. One of the motivations I see behind the attempts […]

Of all the policy imperatives facing the Baker administration, there is none more relevant to our economic future than public education.  Preparing future generations with the knowledge demands of our 21st century economy is perhaps the most critical component of our […]

Stay the course on standards and assessments. That’s MBAE’s position on the Common Core standards and the transition away from MCAS. And now it’s advice to Governor-elect Baker coming from the Boston Globe. In Friday’s editorial, Noah Guiney of the […]

MBAE congratulates and looks forward to working with Governor-Elect Charlie Baker and the newly elected and returning legislators who are taking on the responsibility to ensure our public schools educate every child for success.  Reaching that goal, we believe, will require major […]

At Harvard Business School the faculty leads the U.S. Competitiveness Project which is “…a research-led effort to understand and improve the competitiveness of the United States – that is, the ability of firms operating in the U.S. to compete successfully […]

MBAE has been a strong supporter of developing assessments that give students and their families an honest measure of whether a child is performing at grade level.  This is essential to ensure a student is on track to graduate ready […]

The results of a national survey released by Scholastic late last week show that 84% of teachers who have been using the Common Core State Standards for more than a year are enthusiastic about their implementation. More teachers feel better […]

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 […]