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Massachusetts voters voiced their frustration with the MCAS when they showed up to the polls on November 5th, eliminating its role as a graduation requirement after more than two decades. But a larger conversation looms ahead. Advocates on both sides of the Question 2 debate have said the test itself isn’t perfect. It is time for a serious conversation about a better approach. We believe a comprehensive approach to student assessment is a critical element of a strong public education system. But we also need to take the pushback by educators, families, and a substantial majority of voters seriously. The structure of the MCAS has become a barrier rather than a benefit to Massachusetts students. It doesn’t have to be this way. As technological advances far outpace the speed of change in public education, myriad opportunities exist to reimagine the MCAS in a way that addresses its core challenges.

Providing the best education in Western Massachusetts means ensuring children begin kindergarten prepared, are given the skills so they read proficiently by age 9 and have high schools that prepare them for future careers. These were some of the points discussed by educators at a summit organized last week by the Rennie Center for Education Research and Policy to discuss the condition of education in Western Massachusetts.

As Gov. Maura Healey's administration rolled out $402 million this week for new early education and care program contracts, a Boston-based education research group is urging the state to rethink its funding model in a new era where early childhood education is more flush with cash. . . . Rep. Alice Peisch spoke at an event Tuesday held by The Boston Foundation to discuss a recent report by the Rennie Center for Education Research & Policy about investments in early education and child care and how to capitalize on the momentum to build a coordinated funding model. 

State education officials are praising Gov. Maura Healey's new proposal to invest in early education literacy, as students here and across the country continue to struggle behind reading expectations. On last year's state testing, just 41 percent of third through eighth graders scored in the "meeting or exceeding expectations" range for English Language Arts. The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education said that grades three through five showed sharper declines than grades six through eight, "indicating challenges in early literacy."

The world and the workplace are changing, and education reformers say the state’s education model needs to change with it. A new action plan released by the Rennie Center for Education Research and Policy on Tuesday pushes adopting more flexible teaching models and enthusiastically incorporating new technologies to expand school systems and resources virtually.

A new report from the Rennie Center for Education Research & Policy describes the condition of education in Massachusetts and highlights the need for innovations to address chronic absenteeism, lagging academic growth, and other troubling effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, which have hit historically marginalized groups especially hard. The report underscores what many students and families already know: Even in a state with top-ranked public schools, school districts can do better. Schooling must be redesigned from the ground up.

Following a presentation on reforming education to embrace artificial intelligence, build more flexibility into the school day, and fundamentally rethink how and where students learn, the state’s K-12 education commissioner agreed that Massachusetts “needs to be willing to embrace change.” The Rennie Center for Education Research and Policy released an action plan for education reform on Tuesday, calling for the state to modernize schools and take advantage of new opportunities presented by technology.

Dozens of education officials and business leaders from across the state were in Holyoke Thursday morning for the 2023 Condition of Education symposium. Right now many students are still recovering from pandemic learning loss, and educators are trying their best re- engage students. They are looking for alternative ways to make students excited to learn again and to make sure that students are on a path to success. 22News spoke with Chad d’Entremont, the executive Director of the Rennie Center for Education Research & Policy to find out how they plan to tackle this issue head on in schools.

Kids are still floundering postpandemic, the state’s latest test scores show. Is it time for a nuclear option in Massachusetts to help them recover? Yes, parents, experts, and educators told — well, shouted, at — the Globe. It’s time, they said, for the state to dream big and organize a massive push to catch kids up... 

As school districts nationwide face a federal funding cliff, government researchers from independent think tanks around the country met in Worcester, Massachusetts to discuss how municipalities and states are preparing.