Working Papers, Policy Briefs & Reports
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...
Massachusetts School Leader Workforce: 2023 Snapshot
Led by Dr. Olivia Chi, WEPC is partnering with the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to study the characteristics, career trajectories, and outcomes of principals and assistant principals in public schools. This snapshot illustrates key facts and figures about the Massachusetts school leader workforce in 2023, providing policy-relevant insights for the state and setting a foundation for future research and inquiry. 2023 Snapshot
Understanding Special Education Services at Scale Using IEP Data
Authors: Christopher Cleveland, 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 requires schools to...
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...
Comparing Turnover Intentions and Actual Turnover in the Public Sector Workforce
Authors: Tuan D. Nguyen, Elizabeth Bettini, Christopher Redding, Allison F. Gilmour Project Summary When teachers choose to leave their jobs, it can be disruptive and costly for their school and district, affecting everything from student learning to the experiences of other teachers and staff. For this reason, policymakers have been worried by indications that many teachers are thinking about leaving the profession. But just how reliable are these warning signs that teachers are thinking of...
Examining the Supply of New Special Educators
Authors: Tuan D. Nguyen, Elizabeth Bettini, Allison F. Gilmour, Christopher Redding Project Summary Special education teacher shortages have been a consistent problem around the U.S. for decades and have only grown since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this context, reports of declining interest in special education among prospective teachers are especially concerning. The authors of this study examined the supply of new special education teachers into the workforce and the institutions...