Data Stories

To dig deeper into indicators featured on our Data Dashboard, we will be releasing a series of Data Stories. Each will analyze data trends that have a significant impact on students, educators, and the Massachusetts public education system as a whole.

Educator Diversity

Our first Data Story looks at educator diversity in the Commonwealth. State and nationwide studies overwhelmingly affirm the association between educator diversity and metrics like test scores, dropout rates, gifted program representation, and student-teacher communication for students of color. Yet at schools here in Massachusetts, there are four times as many students of color as staff of color.

This analysis digs into the nuances of these numbers, looks at the effects on students, examines how educator diversity was impacted by the pandemic, and outlines proposed initiatives to increase educator diversity. Read More >

DATA STORY DATA DASHBOARD

Blog

Rethinking Grading

March 28, 2024

Schools have assessed student learning and growth with essentially the same grading system for more than a century. Since this system was created, the field has learned so much more about the way students learn, the systemic inequities embedded in the design of traditional grading and assessment, and what type of learning leads to success in life. Grading should be aligned with what we know about the learning process, child and adolescent development, and the demands of career, college, and community life. But traditional grading is so deeply ingrained in our culture, that making changes to this system can seem like an insurmountable task. That’s why we partnered with DESE and reDesign to support five unique high schools as they interrogate their traditional grading practices and make shifts toward new systems that better measure student learning and growth.