Ensure Your District Doesn't Miss Out on Race to the Top
District participation is a crucial factor in the state's Race to the Top (RTTT) application; in Round 1 both winning states had 100% of districts participating.
MBAE urges you to make sure your district participates. View this map of districts which participated in Round 1, or take a look at this list of districts that didn't get the necessary signatures.
A winning Race to the Top application will mean $250 million to drive reform in Massachusetts, but only participating districts will get a share.
Contact your local education leaders today so that your community's children don't miss out on tomorrow.
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MBAE Supporters include:
Abt Associates
AT&T
Associated Industries of Massachusetts
Bank of America
Citizens Bank
The Irene E. and George A. Davis Foundation
EMC Corporation
EF Education First
IBM
Intel
MassMutual Financial Noyce Foundation
Pearson Evaluation Systems
Slowey/McManus
SolidWorks
The Barr Foundation
The Boston Foundation
Verizon
and generous individuals! |
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EdNews continues to focus on Race to the Top as the June 1 deadline for Round 2 approaches. Find out where your district stands (in the sidebar) and make sure to contact your Superintendent, School Committee and local Teacher's Union to support their participation and eligibility for education funds. We also present our usual sampling of news and reports that have crossed MBAE's desk. Your suggestions and submissions are always welcome!
Correction: Last month's MA Perspective on "America's Private Public Schools" incorrectly stated that 17% of Boston public schools had less than 5% free or reduced lunch when it should have read Boston metro area schools. Many thanks to a reader for pointing out the error.
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Education Stimulus Update
Beyond Race to the Top
Many Massachusetts districts and non-profits have submitted applications for grants in the Investing in Innovation (i3) competition. The U.S. Department of Education received over 1500 applications on May 12th. Grants will range from $5 to $50 million and will be given to those organizations and programs that have proven their ability to improve outcomes for students.
Massachusetts has also submitted an application for approximately $50 million from the School Improvement Fund. For information on this and other education stimulus programs created by the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act take a look at MBAE's regularly updated stimulus summary.
In Race to the Top news, the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has posted a summary of some of the changes between the Round 1 and Round 2 applications.
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Who Benefits from KIPP?
The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) compares the MCAS scores of students admitted to the KIPP Charter School in Lynn, MA with similar students who participated in the local school placement lottery but did not win a seat at the charter school. NBER's analysis concludes that the KIPP schools have a positive impact on English and math MCAS results.
 MA Perspective: Despite mixed national results, many charter schools in Massachusetts are having a positive impact on student achievement. A recent report by The Boston Foundation suggests that additional learning time and staffing are critical factors in charter school success that are essential for other innovations. Echoing the findings in MBAE's report on Human Capital Policies in the Boston Public Schools, the new report recommends practices that should be extended to all Massachusetts schools.Read the NBER ReportRead the Boston Foundation Report |
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End-of-Course Exams
The most recent Progress of Education Reform report from the Education Commission of the States discusses the trend towards end-of-course exams as a part of the effort to increase the rigor of courses and boost educational attainment. A growing number of states are using end-of-course exams to improve alignment of curriculum and standards, improve accuracy and fairness in school and student accountability, and make expectations of students consistent statewide.
 MA Perspective: In its 2008 Educating a 21st Century Workforce report, MBAE called for "a statewide end-of-course assessment system" to ensure the academic rigor of course offerings. As part of its work with the American Diploma Project Network, Massachusetts has developed and administered an Algebra II end-of course exam. Additionally, as part of the Race to the Top Assessment Program, the Commonwealth is participating in the Partnership
for Assessment of Readiness for College and Career to develop assessments which will include high school end-of-course exams.
Read the Full Report
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Strengthening Early STEM Education
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You can support MBAE every time you search the web or shop online!
Just start at www.goodsearch.com for searches or www.goodshop.com for shopping and designate the Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education as the charity you want to support. A percentage of advertising revenues and purchases will be donated to MBAE!
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