Save Thursday, September 19 at 7pm and join us for the first of three virtual sessions exploring multilingual education in Massachusetts.

The goals of this series are to:

• Understand the current Massachusetts political and policy landscape for multilingual learners (MLL) and the resulting challenges facing them
• Learn about effective programming for MLLs that uphold their native languages and cultures, while learning academics and English
• Discuss the challenges of (re)building a robust bilingual educator pipeline and promising practices.

Sessions

• Session 1 on September 19 at 7pm will be “Understanding the political landscape and the multilingual parent and student experience.”
• Session 2 on October 24 at 7pm will be “What makes an effective bilingual program?”
• And Session 3 on November 12 at 7pm will be “Building the Bilingual Educator Pipeline.”

Our speakers will share their deep knowledge and experience about the current Massachusetts policy landscape and challenges for multilingual learners and their families.   → Read More

It’s time to get on board with thousands of other parents, students and educators across Massachusetts and make sure Question 2 passes in November.

Question 2 would eliminate the unfair and harmful MCAS graduation requirement, which has a huge impact on high school schedules and reduces the time that could be spent on teaching and learning. That’s why most other states have abandoned their high school graduation tests, leaving Massachusetts as one of just nine (soon to be eight) states clinging to this antiquated policy.

Question 2 doesn’t eliminate MCAS testing; it just makes the MCAS score one of many things that schools can use to assess a student’s likelihood of success after high school. This will make it possible for educators to focus on providing a whole child education and stop spending so much time and attention preparing for these narrow tests.’

In Massachusetts high schools, high-stakes MCAS testing takes place during five of the nine months of the school year.   → Read More

It’s coming down to the wire, the end of this state legislative session at the end of June. You can raise your voice one more time for the Thrive Act before the session ends by sending a letter to the members of the Joint Committee on Education.

Massachusetts’ state takeover law, and the state’s misuse of the MCAS as a graduation requirement, are failing our students and disrupting their education. The Thrive Act would end the failed system of state takeovers of school districts, and replace it with a comprehensive support and improvement system that focuses on giving students and educators the tools and resources they need to succeed. The legislation would also support students by establishing a modified high school graduation requirement in which coursework would replace the MCAS test as the basis for showing student mastery of state standards. And, the legislation would create a commission to give our communities a voice in building a better assessment and accountability system.   → Read More

CPS invited veteran Cambridge educator Kathy Greeley to read from her memoir and discuss it with participants. In Testing Education, Kathy Greeley recounts the impact of education reform from a teacher’s point of view. Based on a teaching career spanning nearly 40 years, Greeley details how schools went from learning communities infused with excitement, intellectual stimulation, and joy to sterile spaces of stress, intimidation, and fear. In this ultimately hopeful memoir, Greeley asks us to learn from the past to reimagine the future of public education. If you weren’t able to join us, you can view the recording here.   → Read More

From 2022 to 2023, the four-year high school graduation rate for Massachusetts English Learners declined 5.8 percentage points (from 73.1% to 67.3%), according to a Citizens for Public Schools analysis. This was the largest decline ever recorded for English learners with the current method of calculating graduation rates.* In 2023, the MCAS graduation requirement was reinstated after a three-year suspension because of the pandemic. 

The suspension and reinstatement provided a unique opportunity to evaluate the impact of the MCAS graduation tests, especially on vulnerable student subgroups such as English learners. 

During the three-year suspension, impressive gains were made in graduation rates, particularly among students who disproportionately fail the MCAS. For example, graduation rates for Black students rose 6.3%, Latinx students rose 6.8%, low-income students rose 4.7%, students with disabilities rose 4.1%, and English learners rose 8.5%. Contrast this with White students’ graduation rate gain of only 0.5%. In other words, the pause in the MCAS graduation requirement coincided with dramatic increases in the graduation rates of historically underserved students.    → Read More