FYI from BSF, 1.17.20

A January Effect

If you were in a library, a grocery store, or have education-Google alerts, you saw a great description of Boston School Finder (“Easing the Enrollment Nightmare”) in Dorchester, Charlestown, JP, and locals covering Eastie and Downtown.

In a challenging, opaque enrollment process there is one truism all Boston families should know: when you sign up for school matters.  

This is especially true in the case of METCO and charter schools, both with big lottery dates and more applicants than spots. Catholic and private schools follow a typical admission calendar.

BPS assignment involves multiple lottery rounds by grades, but the impact is the same: if a family misses their round, they are far less likely to get one of their top choices.  

There has been analysis around how geography impacts families’ access to quality.  

But the rules of the game could also be a determinant.  If we assume and trust that families pick “good” schools for their kids, higher quality seats get claimed first.

The graph, based on a Northeastern study, shows who signed up for round 1 for kindergarten and who didn’t, by race.

The table below is from a School Committee meeting in 2015 reviewing kindergarten enrollment.  Tier 1 are the highest performing schools in the BPS school quality framework, with Tier 4 as the lowest.

Hard to not to draw painful conclusions here.  The first BPS round closes on January 31.  

Let’s make sure every family has the same chance, and offer equitable choice.

Notes in the Margin

Questions linger around the Mayor’s announcement for an additional $100M in the BPS budget over the next three years.  What impact does it have on the current weighted student funding formula?  Schools with flat or declining enrollment are still facing staffing cuts.  The Globe Editorial Board provided some feedback, too, with some further analysis in Commonwealth.

Light agenda at Wednesday’s School Committee meeting with heavy content.  Dr. Cassellius rolled out the first look at her new strategic plan.  Here is the full document in a nice user-friendly web form.

Media coverage in WBUR, Globe, Herald.  The plan is out for public comment for the next month.

Some ideas in Commonwealth about applying the new Student Opportunity Act to support school districts.

Almost a decade ago, Massachusetts and many other states created new teacher evaluation systems with support and prodding from the Obama Administration.  New research indicates an effect on the teacher labor market - less teachers and more teacher vacancies, and a higher share of teachers from selective institutions. Report, and in twitter form.

Over winter break, a policy brief was released on teacher diversity in Massachusetts.  Read the report, or listen to an interview of the researchers.  In short, we have a pipeline problem.

School Matters

The BSF team is spending a lot of time in East Boston. Six East Boston schools - the Otis, O’Donnell, PJ Kennedy, Bradley, Guild, and Adams will add 6th grades next year.  East Boston High School will be moving to a 7-12 grade in 2021.