FYI from BSF, 07.21.23
Summer Reading
Don’t think anyone had “Cambridge middle school math” on their school culture war bingo card this week.
Debate around the elimination of advanced math classes in Cambridge created some national waves. It’s complicated. To wit, there is disagreement between those who advocated to end advanced math classes because they did not enroll many Black and Latino students and the Algebra Project, which has dedicated decades to ensure Black and Latino students have equitable access to advanced math.
In addition to a lack of a shared definition of equity, this dust-up reveals another frequent limitation of schools and school systems: the lack of a research/results mindset. Missing from much of the commentary and discussion is defining whether or not curricular changes actually work, and how that is measured. There is research that indicates heterogeneous student groups are beneficial. There is also research that indicates 8th grade math access and proficiency is highly predictive of individual high school and college success. How do we reconcile the two?
Right now, there are a lot of opinions and anecdotes.
But without data - assessments like MCAS, NAEP, SAT, AP exams - we won’t know what is right.
Lost in the shuffle of the announcement of the potential move of the O’Bryant to the West Roxbury Educational Complex (there was a tour this week) was the big news that the city’s only dual language high school, Muniz Academy, will expand to grades 7-12.
What are Boston teacher’s thinking about? Survey data from the Boston Teachers Union provides some insight.
A profile of this year’s Madison Park valedictorian.
Exam school admissions, continued. Councilor Coleta is asking for data and an assessment of the current policy; advocates may be suing for a new one.
With support from Boston After School and Beyond, summer learning enrollment expanded once again this year (and Governor Healey dropped by a site this week).
Paper, the online tutoring service that was central to former Superintendent Cassellius’s recovery plans, often fails its students.
5 of the last 6 Board chairs for MA Elementary and Secondary Education support maintaining standards and assessments; one does not.
Student vaccine exemptions, which increased in popularity even before the pandemic, will be reconsidered this week.
A deep dive into the overlay of historical redlining and school closures.
New York, and many other cities, are likely to see a drop in reported graduation rates due to policies in 2020 and 2021.
Scary data continues to drive learning loss coverage, but “teaching loss” was cited for the first time this week.
The upcoming fiscal cliff, states edition. Massachusetts is in the mix, but not quite in the center of a gloomy Venn Diagram.
Wesleyan has ended legacy admissions.