Students choose small liberal arts colleges for the learning that unfolds when they are deeply immersed in intellectual collaboration with faculty and with one another. The photos that festoon promotional materials are not mere marketing--students spend a lot of time with one another in close quarters. Faculty and staff are truly invested in…

Commonly regulated structural quality features, like educator education levels and group size, are thought to be foundational to the quality of children's everyday experiences in early education and care settings. Yet little is known about how these features relate to the day-to-day interactions and activities that occur in these settings--or…

NuVu is an off-the-grid, independent "micro-school" in Massachusetts, whose 60 students are stretching the boundaries of what constitutes education in America. Instead of switching between subject-driven classes that teach a common curriculum, they follow a fluid schedule in two-week blocks, and apply math, reading, problem-solving, and…

The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions of master of music education degree program directors and alumni from selected schools regarding the ways in which their music education master's programs balance the varied needs of program participants. Findings are presented in the two broad categories of improvement in P-12 teacher…

Considering how COVID-19 may impact the upcoming school year, members of the Region 7 Comprehensive Center (R7CC) Advisory Board requested information about best practices on distance and blended learning. To help slow the spread of the disease, social distancing strategies may include limited to zero access to school buildings, allowing for…

The purpose of this case study was to examine the play based teaching and learning methods at one particular elementary school in southeastern Massachusetts with the aim of identifying methods and practices that are seen as essential in developing the academic and social skills in kindergarten students. This school of study has been utilizing…

With Massachusetts' school closure extending until the end of the 2019-20 academic year, Pioneer Institute urges that Massachusetts schools offer meaningful online and virtual learning programs, doing everything possible to eliminate problematic inconsistencies across Bay State school districts. Pioneer further urges Massachusetts to develop and…

While teachers continue to learn and grow as they gain experience, the foundation for their skills is provided by their initial teacher education program. And of all the parts of teacher education, none is more important than clinical practice. In general, the field of education has long recognized and championed the importance of practice. A 2010…

This report documents the disappearance of child-directed activities and teachers' autonomy from Massachussetts' kindergartens. While child-directed activities have been reduced across the board, the study found that high socioeconomic status schools (SES) schedule 30 minutes more daily, two and a half more hours weekly, than low SES schools.…

The squeeze for time to plan lessons and complete other administrative tasks shapes a school's professional environment and, ultimately, affects the quality of instruction. As teachers are largely separate from other educators during instruction, lack of time for collaboration can be very isolating. More than half of lower secondary school…

Individual teachers, administrators, and parents made tremendous efforts to continue educating the Commonwealth's children between March and June of this year. But no amount of dedicated individual effort could have overcome fundamental challenges: weak guidance to districts from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) against…

While there are many causes at the root of the academic achievement gap between high- and low-income students, one that is seldom acknowledged is summer learning loss, which disproportionally affects low-income and minority students. With a wide achievement gap across all regions of Massachusetts, private schools in the commonwealth should…

For more than 30 years, Education Commission of the States has tracked instructional time and frequently receives requests for information about policies and trends. In this Education Trends report, Education Commission of the States addresses some of the more frequent questions, including the impact of instructional time on achievement, variation…

With the number of students who are English language learners (ELLs) likely to double in coming years, it is more important than ever for schools across the U.S. to design and implement educational practices and strategies that best meet ELLs' learning needs, says the report, "Giving English Language Learners the Time They Need to…

A significant body of research shows that achievement gaps evident in persistently low-performing schools, in many instances, manifest prior to children entering kindergarten. High-quality early learning programs have proven to demonstrate positive effects on closing academic gaps both for individual children and in the aggregate for the school.…