Working Papers, Policy Briefs & Reports
Assessing the Potential Impact of Seniority-Based Reduction in Force Policies on the Changing Teacher Workforce in Connecticut Schools
Project Summary Over the last decade, policymakers and education leaders in Connecticut have prioritized efforts to improve the quality and diversity of the teacher workforce. Persistent focus and targeted investments in strong teacher pipelines have helped increase teacher diversity from 8% in 2014 to 12% of the workforce identifying as teachers of color in 2024. Through a research partnership with the Wheelock Educational Policy Center (WEPC) at Boston University, the Connecticut State...
Declining Community College Enrollment & Labor Market Strength
Authors: Joshua Goodman and Joseph Winkleman Project Summary Declining U.S. college enrollments have triggered questions about the health of the postsecondary sector. This project examines national data collected through the Department of Education's Institute for Education Sciences to better understand shifts in the sector and help situate trends within the context of broader economic and labor market context. These findings have important implications for policy discussions about higher...
School Enrollment Shifts Five Years After the Pandemic
Authors: Abigail Francis, Joshua Goodman Project Summary When school doors closed in March 2020, many anticipated this disruption would have long-term effects on students. Nonetheless, a common assumption throughout this period was that students would eventually return to school. Five years post-pandemic, we are witnessing a more dramatic shift in the composition and enrollment of public schools than expected. This research documents the changes in public school enrollment in one state and...
Service Delivery Models: Impacts for Students With and Without Disabilities
Authors: Nathan Jones, Lindsey Kaler, Jessica Markham, Josefina Senese, Marcus A. Winters Project Summary When a student is identified with a disability, their school faces many decisions about how best to support their academic and developmental progress. One key decision point is how and where the student will receive needed services. Will they remain in a general education classroom all the time, be "pulled out" to a different environment for part of the day, or be placed in a separate...
English Learners’ Access to Massachusetts Early College Programs
Authors: Yasuko Kanno, Andrew Bacher-Hicks, Pierre Lucien Project Summary Early college programs (ECPs) are an increasingly common approach for promoting college enrollment and degree/credential completion, particularly for historically marginalized students. In Massachusetts, ECPs launched in 2017 and have since scaled rapidly. To better understand whether English learners (ELs) are taking advantage of these promising programs, the authors of this study examined the extent to which ELs are...
Reclassifying English Learners
Authors: Mingyan Ma & Marcus A. Winters Project Summary English learners (ELs) represent a large and rapidly growing proportion of U.S. public school students. Once ELs demonstrate sufficient English language proficiency, they are reclassified and begin receiving general education instruction without supplemental language supports in place. The reclassification process has major implications for policymakers, educators, and the families of ELs. To better understand how this process...
Early Education Workforce Supports at Scale
How state-level data and research could improve innovations and investments in Massachusetts Recognizing the critical role and economic necessity of high-quality early childhood educator (ECE) workforce, Massachusetts has made substantial investments in the development and retention of the ECE workforce in recent years. And while the state is working to monitor these efforts through additional data collection, the state continues to lack foundational insights and a comprehensive...
Understanding Special Education Services at Scale Using IEP Data
Authors: Christopher Cleveland, Lindsey Kaler, Jessica Markham Project Summary Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) contain detailed information about students’ experiences receiving special education services in schools. Because IEPs have traditionally been recorded on paper, most states have limited insight into the multitude of data available in IEPs, which has restricted our collective understanding of how special education services are administered broadly. Indiana is one state that...
Forecasting the Supply and Demand of Diverse Educators
Authors: Andrew Bacher-Hicks, Olivia Chi Project Summary The increasing diversity of students in Massachusetts makes growing a diverse educator workforce a critical policy goal for the Commonwealth. In recent years, state and local leaders have responded to this challenge with a variety of programs and policy changes. This report details these efforts and their considerable impact to date. However, the findings show the racial and ethnic differences between the state’s students and teachers...
Who Benefits from Remote Schooling?
Authors: Jesse Bruhn, Christopher Campos, Eric Chyn Project Summary At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, school districts around the country quickly transitioned to providing full- or part-time remote learning options for students who had otherwise been attending school completely in person. These unusual and unprecedented circumstances meant that families suddenly had an opportunity to assess the suitability of remote learning for their children over an extended time. Although there is...