FYI from BSF, 8.30.24
Sorry, but you have a lot of summer reading to finish before Labor Day - many articles below from the past few weeks. While I was a bit offline, my writing was online and in print:
Why are less kids applying to Boston’s exam schools? And a follow-up story.
For better or worse, readers of the Boston Globe will be receiving more bar graphs and pithiness. Look for a monthly Globe piece from me starting in September.
Back to School
In Boston and everywhere else, everyone is getting ready for school. A lot of districts in MA have already started. For many staff members, preparation started a while ago. Updated COVID guidelines. BPS has new monitors and apps for its buses.
Boston
Boston School Committee met on Wednesday. Full materials here, including Superintendent Skipper’s final evaluation.
Construction is moving ahead at White Stadium, but not as much at the Blackstone Elementary School.
Another Boston charter school is closing due to low enrollment.
Academic Recovery
Research by a progressive education organization indicates that the majority of school grades fail to accurately reflect students’ true academic skills.
The annual report of Curriculum Associates indicates student learning is “stagnant.”
What do students think? Extensive Gen Z survey data on schools here.
How did Rhode Island improve student attendance so quickly? The old adage, if you measure it, it matters.
Staffing
A new study on American teachers strikes finds them to be short, effective at improving wages, and not impactful on student learning.
With vacancies still high, survey data implies the average American teacher is increasingly unhappy with his/her job.
The Boston Teachers Union wins a labor dispute as contract negotiations continue with the city.
Finances and Enrollment
Massachusetts schools and school systems have hired a lot more people.
Did all that hiring - paid in part for by federal stimulus funds - result in student gains? Not so much.
This is all the more curious given the fact that Massachusetts school enrollment is not increasing.
This is not unique to Boston and Massachusetts. National birth rates declined again in 2023 and the decline of 0-4 year olds in other areas around the country is well-documented.
This is creating financial pressure that is at the heart of this long form New Yorker profile of the closure of a Rochester, NY school.
State Policy
Proponents of Question 2 - to eliminate the MCAS high school graduation requirement - released their first advertisement this week and the endorsement of another teachers union. The Healey Adminsitration disagrees. Here was the opponents’ response. Via the Dorchester Reporter, this is where I stand on this issue.
Massachusetts school cell phone policies are getting a lot of coverage.
A policy in Saugus intended to exclude migrant students is under scrutiny.
Holyoke and Providence are making moves to end their respective state receiverships.
Higher Ed
How much has applying to college changed in a generation? This much, as shown at Northeastern.
Declining enrollment in higher education began before the pandemic.
MIT reported a big drop in students of color in its freshman class.