Research and Policy

The Center for Collaborative Education has completed extensive research on education policy and practice. You can explore our full catalog of reports below.

Standardized testing remains the predominant proficiency measure for students and schools, placing teacher and student focus on test-prep and lower order skills while maintaining achievement gaps that penalize underserved students. The Massachusetts Consortium for Innovative Assessment seeks to close this gap and change assessment measures on a state level by training teachers to become leaders in implementing student-centered performance assessments and encouraging state legislators to consider alternative, forward-thinking accountability systems.

This report provides evidence and examples that effective implementation of autonomies in schools with clear visions for teaching and learning creates schools in which students have a better chance of succeeding.

This report examines the efficacy of the Boston Pilot Schools through quantitative indicators of student demographics, student engagement, and student performance.

This report documents how member schools of the Boston Pilot Schools Network use authentic assessments to understand what their students know and can do.

This case study highlights one low performing Boston public school that decided to become a Pilot School and transformed itself over a period of two years, becoming one of Boston’s more desirable high schools.

This study provides an overview of the success of Boston Pilot schools in the areas of academic performance and engagement.

This study examines Boston’s closely watched Pilot high schools over a four-year period (2001-2005) to discover who is attending Pilot high schools and how subgroups of the Boston student population are faring in Pilot high schools.

The Pilot Schools Experiential Education Demonstration (PSEED) project was intended to deepen and embed high-quality experiential education within each participating school’s academic programs. This report summarizes the three years of work in the seven Pilot schools, all of whom had diverse goals and implementation plans.

Recent data from Boston Public Schools revealed policies that perpetuate academic gatekeeping along racial lines as well as an absence of culturally responsive curriculum. See how the district is reforming to promote equity in learning opportunities and learn recommendations for any district confronting similar challenges.

Based on in-depth interviews with graduates from three Boston Public Schools with well-established performance-based assessment systems, this paper analyzes graduates’ preparation for future academic, professional, and personal endeavors. Overall, despite a few challenge areas, graduates who were interviewed say the study schools’ performance assessment systems contributed to their success in college and in the world of work.

This literature and field review offers a comprehensive understanding of previous efforts at scaling up the use of performance assessments across districts and states. Through systematic description and comparison of seven large-scale initiatives, the report identifies the strengths and vulnerabilities in each initiative. The review concludes with implications and recommendations that will support the success of using performance assessments in district and state accountability systems.

This report is based on a study of the academic experience of Boston English Learners (ELs) after 2002, when the Transitional Bilingual Education (TBE) was replaced with Sheltered English Immersion (SEI) in response to the passing of Question 2. The research team documented the impact of the policy change on the academic experience of ELs using existing local statistics, public records and staff accounts obtained through interviews, calling for local policy makers to make a solid commitment to teacher training that focuses on evidence-based instructional practices and positive outcomes.

Historically, urban high schools have proven to be the most challenging educational institutions in which to affect lasting reform. Yet policymakers and practitioners in Massachusetts have had insufficient evidence to guide their decision making on the conditions that work to improve student achievement at this level. This report explores this critical issue and generates discussion around possible strategies for leveraging best practices used in Massachusetts urban high schools that are improving.

This report utilizes Boston Public Schools’ student assignment process data combined with CCE’s longitudinal student level database to answer questions about school choice by Boston families. The research whether or not families disproportionately choose one school type (BPS Pilot schools and other BPS schools) and what happens when families do not receive their first choices through the BPS choice system of student assignment.

This study explores the question of how Boston Public Schools can strengthen and support autonomy and accountability across its portfolio to promote innovation and expand access to equity and high performance.

The Springfield Public Schools, MA, requested that CCE conduct an evaluation of their English language learner student enrollment, services, staffing, and programming. CCE collected and analyzed data from multiple sources, including interviews with teachers and administrators, focus groups of parents of ELL students, program documents, and student achievement data.

CCE found that faculty members were under-prepared to effectively instruct ELL students, the identification and placement of ELL students needed strengthening, and ELL programming and services were lacking. CCE provided the district with a comprehensive set of recommendations to improve ELL services as well as a district-wide implementation plan, Springfield Public Schools: English Language Learner Recommended Actions and Implementation Plans.

The first of two companion studies examining the enrollment and performance of English language learners (ELLs) in Boston Public Schools (BPS) over seven school years (SY2003-SY2009). This first report revealed that ELL students often lack access to quality learning opportunities, and that teachers need support to address ELL student needs.

The second in a set of companion studies examining the enrollment and performance of English language learners (ELLs) in Boston Public Schools (BPS) over seven school years (SY2003-SY2009). This study focused on BPS schools with consistently high or steadily improving performance, and highlighted the practices to which educators attributed their success.

The second of a pair of studies commissioned by Boston Public Schools (BPS), examines four Boston public schools in which Black and Latino male students are doing comparably better than their peers. It features case studies that identify promising educational models, policies, and practices associated with increased engagement and improved outcomes for Black and Latino males in BPS.

The first of two reports commissioned by Boston Public Schools (BPS) to examine the outcomes for Black and Latino males in BPS, and identify the extent and implications of achievement and opportunity gaps where they exist.