The purpose of this brief is to provide school-level examples of how early college practitioners are collecting and using data to improve their practices. Examples three and four are school-level data from two early college partnerships: the MetroWest CPC (Framingham, Milford, Waltham), and Lawrence. The brief begins, however, with the national…

A rise in data availability gives educators the opportunity to tailor instructional practices and interventions to student needs and invest resources in areas where students require the most support. Massachusetts developed the Early Warning Indicator System (EWIS), which synthesizes the wealth of student data available in the state, including…

This brief examines strategies for leveraging State longitudinal data systems (SLDS) to promote college and career readiness (CCR) goals. The examples provided are based on current state efforts to use their state longitudinal data systems to achieve their CCR vision and goals. The following information outlines the basic purpose and elements of…

The movement toward proficiency-based learning is gaining momentum at secondary schools across New England and beyond. Proficiency-based learning is the system of instruction, assessment and grading based on demonstration of skills that meet performance standards or "proficiencies." The goal of proficiency-based learning is to better…

The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education first released the Early Warning Indicator System (EWIS) data for grades 1-12 in the 2012-13 school year. The Department created the EWIS in direct response to educators' requests for early indicator data across multiple grade levels. The EWIS is a "tool to systematically…

Thanks to intelligent solutions, schools, colleges, and universities no longer need to manage user account life cycles by using scripts or tedious manual procedures. The solutions house the scripts and manual procedures. Accounts can be automatically created, modified, or deleted in all applications within the school. This article describes how an…

The Massachusetts Occupational Competence Access Project (OCAP) was designed to provide secondary school students with marketable skills and to increase their ability to make decisions about careers. The first year's efforts were primarily concerned with setting up the project and with inservice training for teachers, counselors, and…

This report outlines the Commonwealth of Massachusetts' plan to address the educational needs of homeless children and youth, as required by the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act. The major purpose of the plan is to guide local education agencies and supply them with resources as they attempt to meet the educational needs of homeless…

Experiences in developing a Career Passport project are described for three pilot communities. (A Career Passport is a listing similar to an adult resume that describes a young person's experiences, skills, abilities, knowledge, and work-related attitudes.) An introduction describes the concept and its three essential ingredients as they were…