Multilingual Education in MA: Learning from the past and present to empower future learners/Educación Multilingüe en MA: Aprendiendo del pasado y el presente para empoderar a los futuros estudiantes

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

Yes on Question 2 – For All Our Students

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

Testing Education, with Kathy Greeley

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

English Learners’ High School Graduation Rate Drops with the Reinstatement of the MCAS Graduation Requirement

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

CPS open letter to Gov. Healey 

Let’s debate the MCAS ballot question with facts

People hold many opinions about the proposed ballot question that would end the requirement that students pass the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) to get a high school diploma. But some things are not a matter of opinion, they are simple facts.

That’s why we were disappointed when Gov. Maura Healey, answering a question about the ballot question, responded that she’s against it because we need “to be able to assess how our young people are doing.”

It’s a simple fact that the ballot question would not eliminate MCAS. The language is clear.

Students would continue to take the federally mandated MCAS exams. But they would get their diplomas by meeting our state’s highly regarded  educational standards as certified by their school districts rather than by attaining a certain score on the test.

Right now, there is no consequence for a fourth grader who scores low on the MCAS.   → Read More