Our Research

This 2009 report highlights gaps in knowledge and areas for improvement in practice-based teacher preparation, and lays the groundwork necessary for a deeper look at issues associated with drawing exceptional candidates into the teaching profession; filling vacant positions; measuring teacher quality; and holding teacher preparation programs accountable.

This 2009 policy brief contributes to the policy dialogue about how to increase the level of collaboration among state departments and agencies that serve Massachusetts children, youth, and families by putting forth examples of structures and strategies being used by other states' children's cabinets to carry out their work.

This 2009 policy perspective examines the arguments for and against raising the compulsory age of school attendance to 18; it concludes that there is no credible empirical evidence to support this policy alone as an effective strategy to combat the dropout crisis. The report argues that prior to considering a raise in the compulsory age of attendance, the Commonwealth should focus its energy and resources on developing policies and programs that research has shown to be successful in helping at-risk students stay in school and persist to earning a diploma.

The 2009 policy brief proposes a plan designed to significantly reduce, and ultimately, eliminate the number of students who require college remediation in mathematics. Rather than the traditional progression of math courses, this brief proposes three new math courses at the middle and high school levels - including a new fourth year math course providng an alternative for students pursuing non-math related majors.

This 2009 report analyzes practices and policies within these schools and districts to help inform the work of educators and policymakers in addressing dropout recovery strategies. This research is based on interviews with district leaders and principals from 11 high schools in 9 Massachusetts districts that have reduced their student dropout rates over the past four years.

This 2009 report highlights schools making progress in educating students with special needs. It examines the status of special education in the Commonwealth including legislation surrounding special education, the incidence of students receiving special education services, and the distribution of students by disability type in different types of districts.

Much of the policy discussion in education revolves around the relationship between teacher quality and student achievement: questions such as how to identify effective teachers, how to retain and develop these teachers, and how to ensure that effective teachers teach in the schools where they are most needed. This 2009 policy proposal provides an analysis of the research on teacher quality and school turnaround, case examples from our own teaching experiences, our theory of change, and the key features of our proposed staffing model.

This 2008 report is second part of a study on Massachusetts students' opportunity to learn science. Results of national assessments show that while Massachusetts students score better in science than their peers in other states, there are disturbing gaps in the performance of certain sub-groups of students -- black and Hispanic students, students from low-income homes, English language learners -- who fail to meet proficiency standards at satisfactory rates.

This 2008 report analyzes whether students in high- and low-performing schools receive equitable opportunities to learn in science and, importantly, profiles the promising practices of schools that are beating the odds and succeeding at educating students to high levels in science. This report is the first in a two-part study that the Rennie Center is producing on Massachusetts students' opportunity to learn science.

In 2007, the Massachusetts legislature phased out the Office of Educational Quality and Accountability (EQA). This 2008 policy brief informs policy discussions focused on exploring options for establishing the creation of a new accountability function in Massachusetts, including the examination of case examples of accountability models from four other states -- New Jersey, Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky, and three countries -- England, New Zealand and Singapore.