Despite the relative increase in early care and education (ECE) investment over recent decades, access to infant and toddler care continues to be a hurdle for countless families across the nation. While access is a multifaceted issue, main contributors include a lack of available slots and the high cost of providing care to infants and toddlers.…

The purpose of this report is to provide readers with a comparative analysis of the Massachusetts workforce "system" structures and performance reporting processes compared to other states. Though the federal workforce development system is often examined in its entirety and individual state systems are at times examined independently,…

Many students have concerns about the affordability of college, which may interfere with their potential success. However, foster care alumni have unique needs when making the transition into postsecondary enrollment. Compared to completion rates for the general population, postsecondary education outcomes for youth with foster care experience lag…

In an effort to support college affordability in the region, the New England Board of Higher Education initiated the "Redesigning Student Aid in New England" project ("Redesigning Aid") in 2014. Funded by Lumina Foundation, "Redesigning Aid" combined custom state financial aid research with expertise of national…

In order to inform the Indiana State Board of Education's decision-making on Indiana's On My Way Pre-K Pilot program, researchers at the Center for Evaluation and Education Policy (CEEP) at Indiana University compiled existing data on ten states that have implemented pilot pre-Kindergarten (pre-K) programs and subsequently expanded these programs…

The "Assistive Technology Act of 1998," as amended by Public Law 108-364 ("AT Act of 1998," as amended) requires that the secretary of education submit to Congress a report on the activities funded under that act. Specifically, the secretary of education is required to annually provide to Congress: (1) a compilation and summary…

In 2004, Kuss Middle School became the first school declared "Chronically Underperforming" by the state of Massachusetts. But by 2010, Kuss had transformed itself into a model for schools around the country seeking a comprehensive turnaround strategy. Kuss is using increased learning time as the primary catalyst to accelerate learning,…

Just a few years ago, Boston's Clarence Edwards Middle School was on the verge of being shut down. By 2009, a renaissance at the Edwards made it one of the highest performing and most desired middle schools in Boston, dramatically narrowing and even eliminating academic achievement gaps while delivering a far more well-rounded education to its…

2010 was a pioneering year for Massachusetts public schools. State leaders recognized that while the Commonwealth leads the nation in student achievement on national measures such as NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress), more needed to be done to close the persistent achievement gaps between our wealthy and poor students. Combining a…

In 2009, families nationwide were surveyed to see how many children are in afterschool programs, how many are unsupervised after school and how these numbers compare to five years ago. "America After 3 PM" provides the most comprehensive and accurate picture to date of what this nation's youth are doing each day after school. Overall,…

The Massachusetts Department of Education's Accountability and Targeted Assistance (ATA) Center maintains and manages the state's School and District Accountability System. Results from the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) are used to identify public schools and districts that are likely to require state intervention in order…

This report on higher education finance in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is divided into six sections. Section one deals with state support for higher education, and whether the state should give greater attention to the private sector than it has in the past. The question of whether the state could support substantial additional costs of…

Massachusetts is heralded nationally for being the first in the nation to enact a state policy to redesign and expand the learning day for all students to advance academic achievement, broaden enrichment opportunities, and improve instruction. The Expanded Learning Time (ELT) Initiative has gained momentum over the past several years due to the…

From 1989 until 1998 the U.S. Department of Education administered the National Workplace Literacy Demonstration Program. During that period, over $130 million supported some 300 projects where adult education programs partnered with thousands of businesses, agencies, and organizations to provide work-based skills to employees. While only seven…

This paper provides an overview of how Massachusetts has successfully integrated use of the federal Medicaid program into a plan for financing Part H of Public Law 99-457, the 1986 Amendments to the Education of the Handicapped Act, on a statewide basis. Noted is the lack of a single strategy for accessing Medicaid funds for early intervention…