The COVID-19 pandemic is necessitating a reinvention of teaching and learning that could serve as a defining moment in education that can minimize student learning loss now, and bring about long-term, sustainable improvements that lead to better opportunities and outcomes for all students.

The Massachusetts Competitive Partnership and MBAE have come together to support an effort to enhance and improve education in a way that takes advantage of this moment to effect change that is long-lasting, embraces innovation and technology, and changes the trajectory for students in ways that the status quo never will.

Our new report, Choosing A Return to Better: Moving Beyond Normal in the Commonwealth’s Return to School and Learning, recommends a focus on closing the digital equity gap, prioritizing college and career readiness, and promoting innovation and flexibility in our schools to minimize the impact of school disruptions, move student learning forward, and promote continuous innovations that serve students well-beyond the pandemic.

Join Us on December 9 for a Virtual Event 

Over 60% of parents in a recent survey said they want long lasting, systemic change to come from COVID-19 school disruptions.  How can and should education change in a post-pandemic world? What is standing in the way of adoption of these innovations?  How can teachers, parents, community and business leaders, and elected officials enable and support change?

Please join us on December 9 at 2:00 as we seek to answer those questions with national and state education leaders.

Featured Speaker

Tom Vander Ark, an advocate for innovations in learning, is the CEO of Getting Smart where he advises schools, districts, networks, foundations and learning organizations on the path forward. Tom is the author of several books including Getting Smart: How Digital Learning is Changing the World, and Making the Grade: Reinventing America’s Schools.  Tom previously served as the first Executive Director of Education for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. He also served as a public school superintendent in Washington State and has extensive private sector experience.

Panelists Include

• Jim Peyser, Massachusetts Secretary of Education
• Jane Swift, President and Executive Director of LearnLaunch, former Governor of Massachusetts

Welcome & Opening Remarks

• Jay Ash, President & CEO of the Massachusetts Competitive Partnership and former Massachusetts Secretary of Housing and Economic Development
• Ed Lambert, Executive Director, MBAE

Register for the event here.

Learn More About Our Report Recommendations:

The MBAE and Massachusetts Competitive Partnership report, Choosing A Return to Better, calls on state and district leaders to ensure the following key principles guide decision making this fall:  equity is essential, students’ individual needs must be the focus for action, and data and transparency must characterize the approach to all communication and decision making.

Our report recommends a focus on immediate, short-term, and long-term actions and initiatives that state and school district leaders, with support from businesses, parents, and others, should consider to achieve three main goals that we have identified:

Close the Digital Equity Gap: This includes equipping every student with a device and connectivity, improving remote learning with strong state oversight of district strategies and establishment of minimum thresholds elements of district plans, leveraging the moment to promote digital literacy, and assessing student progress and sharing results with parents and communities.  We agree with the Commissioner that we must continue to administer MCAS assessments, which provide objective and consistent data that can be acted on to address gaps in achievement.

Prioritize College and Career Readiness: Preparing students for and supporting their transitions to college and the workforce is an essential mission of our K–12 education system, a task made more difficult and more critical in light of COVID-19. These disruptions also create opportunities to accelerate innovative changes that were already starting to take hold.  That is why we recommend expanding access and ensuring fidelity to a rigorous course of study, expanding Early College programs that are show great promise in improving college completion particularly among Black and Latinx students, providing greater access to opportunities to earn industry-recognized credentials that are of value in the workforce, and connecting more students to work-based learning opportunities.

 Promote Innovation and Flexibility: Just as our lives, homes, businesses, and entertainment have been transformed by technology and innovation, so too must our schools. We need a new education model that is as flexible, collaborative, and innovative as the students/citizens it must educate and graduate.  We must remove barriers to flexibility in scheduling, staffing patterns, and collective bargaining agreements; invest in technology; and, adopt new strategies for teaching and learning that will lead to lasting change.

Click here to read the full report.