FYI from BSF, 9.20.24
We will be releasing a closing report next month.
The goal is not to just reflect on the work BSF did for the last decade. The intention is more so to synthesize how dramatically schools in Boston have changed (or not) and to project where they could go. There is a lot of good stuff in it - and it is a bit long - so I am going to preview some of the more interesting content over the coming weeks.
Increasing high school graduation rates has been at the center of federal and state policy for a generation. It began with No Child Left Behind and its accountability measures, and the Obama Administration doubled down, even calling out and intervening in “dropout factories.” The 2015 renewal of the federal PK-12 education statute, Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), maintained accountability measures for states for high school graduation rates.
It worked. Across the country, and in Boston and Massachusetts, high school graduation rates rose dramatically.
This all seemed like pretty obvious public policy and a satisfying win. Increased high school graduation rates were a means to obvious end: college and career readiness and success. It stood to reason that more kids graduating from high school would naturally result in more good things.
Except, the data revealed something surprising.
In Boston, as graduation rates rose, college enrollment declined.
Even framing the rate as an "increase" is not wholly accurate. Although the graduation rate grew by percents during this time period, that did not result in many more graduates. With enrollment decline, the 15% increase above only translated to about 46 more Boston high school seniors walking across stages.
There are likely many contributing factors, with unclear matters of degree. Uneven high schools. The spiraling cost and competitiveness of four-year colleges, and a decline of enrollment in Massachusetts community colleges. The pandemic. It would take a lot more analysis to reach a set of conclusions.
But we probably don’t need that to agree that both lines should be going up.
Notes in the Margin
A press conference, a bus ride, a Substack from the Mayor, and questions about state follow-up made buses the story every day this week in Boston schools. What will fix it? In the app, we trust. This problem is not unique to Boston,
Question 2 - the ballot initiative that would eliminate the MCAS high school graduation requirement - continues to draw interest. The “yes” side earned the endorsement of the state senate’s education chair, while many mayors appear to be avoiding taking a position. School leaders stated their opposition to the measure. Voters did, too: for the first time in a publicly released poll, a UNH survey showed a plurality opposing the ballot question.
This week, I wrote in the Boston Globe about restricting cell phones in schools. Not everyone agrees.
30 years ago, the Clinton Administration celebrated a computer in every classroom; now, many people want them out.
A school crisis has become a political crisis in Brockton.
Waltham and other Massachusetts communities continue to be disrupted by false, often online threats.
The Healey Administration secured ~$40M in federal funds to support student literacy and assessments.
Massachusetts is being pulled into the national education culture wars.
A new analysis identifies school districts where literacy gains defy typical correlations.
A Bellwether report outlines the inescapable costs of declining enrollment in schools across the country.
Comprehensive data in the CRPE annual State of American Schools report.
No presidential candidate has talked that much about PK-12 education, but one did manage to get some schools closed in Ohio this week.
Some good news in preK. Cambridge is the most recent community to provide truly free universal preK. A podcast from Boston’s own Neighborhood Villages on early childhood education has become one of the top listens on Apple.
How much has diversity been affected by new college admissions policies? There is a tracker for that.
Coming soon to a college near you: AI TA.