This article reports on a 3-year ethnographic study in a Boston Public school of the performance of Haitian students on the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) and its lasting and likely impact upon them. MCAS is a mandated exam required for students to graduate from high school. Although there are certain provisions for students…

The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education commissioned this paper to explore several questions about students who are English language learners (ELL) in Massachusetts: (1) For how many years is a typical ELL student in Massachusetts classified as limited English proficient (LEP)?; (2) How much variation is there in a the…

This study is part of a collaborative project entitled "Identifying Success in Schools and Programs for English Language Learners in Boston Public Schools". The companion to this report, entitled "Improving Educational Outcomes of English Language Learners in Schools and Programs in Boston Public Schools", provides a…

This report has been provided to the Legislature on an annual basis since 2000 when the legislature amended the language of G.L. c. 71B to align Massachusetts special education terminology with the federal "Individuals with Disabilities Education Act" ("IDEA"). The Department is required to submit an annual report on compliance…

English language learners (ELLs), their teachers, and the schools and programs where they are enrolled face a triple challenge: (1) students must be taught and learn English at a level of proficiency high enough to allow them access to academic content; (2) students must be taught and learn academic content at a level comparable to that of English…

This report has been provided to the Legislature on an annual basis since 2000 when the legislature amended the language of G.L. c. 71B to align Massachusetts special education terminology with the federal "Individuals with Disabilities Education Act" ("IDEA"). The Department is required to submit an annual report on compliance…

This report has been provided to the Legislature on an annual basis since 2000 when the legislature amended the language of G.L. c. 71B to align Massachusetts special education terminology with the federal "Individuals with Disabilities Education Act" ("IDEA"). The Department is required to submit an annual report on compliance…

This report has been provided to the Legislature on an annual basis since 2000 when the legislature amended the language of G.L. c.71B to align Massachusetts special education terminology with the federal "Individuals with Disabilities Education Act" ("IDEA"). The Department is required to submit an annual report on compliance…

This documents provides a comprehensive list (including the name of the dictionary, name and address of the publisher, ISBN, and cost) of dictionaries in numerous languages approved for limited-English-proficient student use when taking MCAS (Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System) tests. Examples are provided for 55 different languages.…

This class action suit by Massachusetts public school students challenges the nature of the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) exam and its use as a graduation requirement. Public school students must pass this high stakes test in order to receive a high school diploma as of 2003. The plaintiffs are public school students in the…

This report is the third retention report published by the Massachusetts Department of Education (MADOE) to provide districts and the public general information on student retention in Massachusetts. Retention is defined as repeating a grade--students are retained when they are required to repeat the grade in which they were enrolled in the…

Retention is defined as when a student is required to repeat the grade in which they were enrolled the previous year. This report provides important information on statewide student grade retention statistics, including retention data by grade level, race/ethnicity, gender, in special education status, limited English proficiency status, and…

Less than one third of American eighth graders score in the two highest performance levels on the grade 8 mathematics test given by the National Assessment of Educational Progress. Only a little over one third of Massachusetts eighth graders score at the two highest performance levels on the state's own grade 8 mathematics test. In 2002, the…