Wheelock Educational Policy Center

Day 1 (In-Person) 2022 BU Wheelock Spring Forum: Examining how teacher workforce policies shape an equity-centered education
2022-03-31 16:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York)
Teachers are undeniably key to student success, but their daily, individual decisions and actions are inextricably shaped by a much larger system of decisions at the national, state and district level. Whether deciding to become a teacher in the first place, choosing which school to teach at, how to spend time once in the classroom, or whether to stay at all – each of these questions is influenced by a broader context of policies governing the educator workforce. But now more than ever, particularly with the pandemic-era strain being felt in our classrooms, it is critical that we ask: are our teacher workforce policies disrupting or perpetuating the persistent, systemic inequities plaguing the U.S. education system?
This Spring (March 31st and April 1st) join Boston University’s Wheelock College of Education and Human Development and the Wheelock Educational Policy Center for the 2022 Wheelock Spring Forum where we will discuss the ways that policy-relevant, partner-driven research can enhance our understanding of how various policies impact the diversity and quality of the teacher workforce. During the two-day event, we will engage with current students, BU Wheelock alumni, faculty researchers as well as national and state education leaders to examine the research and policy implications in two key areas:

Shortages, shifts, and stability in the Massachusetts educator workforce amidst the COVID-19 pandemic

Workforce policies & the understudied impact on teachers serving English learners and students with disabilities

The program will balance research highlights from the BU Wheelock community, in-depth conversations with teachers and policymakers about possible implications and commentary from a network of national leaders.
Some featured speakers throughout the event include:

Roberto Rodriguez, Assistant Secretary for Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development at the U.S. Department of Education
Kate Walsh, President, National Council on Teacher Quality
Juliana Urtubey, 2021 National Teacher of the Year and Special Education teacher from Las Vegas, Nevada
Jeff Riley, Massachusetts Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education
Jessica Tang, President, Boston Teachers Union

…with more announced soon!

Full details at: https://wheelockpolicycenter.org/spring-forum-event/

Charting a Course: Navigating towards influential pandemic-era data and research insights
2021-11-04 10:00 - 14:00 (America/New_York)
Event Summary

In the 18-months since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers affiliated with Boston University’s Wheelock Educational Policy Center have been working to provide perspective on the implications and opportunities caused by this unprecedented disruption to our educational systems. Now, as we enter the 2021-22 academic year, we’re looking ahead and want to engage in a proactive discussion about how data and research can keep pace with the efforts to build back better. Join the Wheelock Educational Policy Center and our collaborators and education leaders from across the country for a discussion about the insights we’ve collected thus far, and more importantly, the ones we’ll need moving forward to disrupt persistent inequities experienced by our kids.

Full Bios for Panelists and Presenters

Event Recordings

Miss a portion of the event? Catch up on all of the conversations by visiting our YouTube page or use any of the links below to watch one specifically.
Opening Session & Keynote: Featured presentation by Heather Krause, Data Scientist & Founder of We All Count, sharing essential advice on ways to ensure that equity is truly centered throughout every aspect of the research endeavor.
Teacher-Focused Breakout: Research highlighting changes in the teacher workforce and the ways teacher used their time in the early days of the pandemic. Discussion with The Teacher Collaborative’s CEO, Salem Public Schools’ Superintendent, Colorado’s Commissioner of Education and the Director of the Project on the Next Generation of Teachers.
Student-Centered Breakout: Research highlighting patterns in student enrollment and bullying in the context of COVID-19 closures. Discussion with Vice President of EdVestors, Kentucky’s Commissioner of Education, the President of the National Parents Union and Boston’s Chief Equity Officer.
Closing Session: Big picture discussion with Massachusetts Secretary of Education, Founder & CEO of Latinos for Education, the 2020 MA Teacher of the Year and a leader with the state superintendents’ association, moderated by BU Wheelock’s dean.

Watch Here

Research Shared During the Event

Featured research included:

COVID-19 and the Composition of the Massachusetts Teacher Workforce presented by Dr. Olivia Chi
Teacher Time Use and Affect during the pandemic, presented by Dr. Nathan Jones
How the pandemic affected choices about school enrollment, presented by Dr. Tareena Musaddiq & Dr. Andrew Bacher Hicks
Changes in bullying during the pandemic, presented by Dr. Jennifer Grief-Green & Dr. Joshua Goodman

Feedback on this event? Email us at wheelockpolicy@bu.edu. Not already on our mailing list and want to be the first to hear about our upcoming events or research releases? Sign up .

The Wheelock Educational Policy Center (WEPC) conducts and disseminates rigorous, policy-relevant research in partnership with local, state, and federal policymakers and stakeholders to improve educational opportunities and holistic outcomes for traditionally marginalized students.

Teacher Diversity is Teacher Quality: An Evidence and Action Event Series
2021-06-22 15:00 - 16:00 UTC
Event Summary
On June 22nd-24th Boston University’s Wheelock Educational Policy Center, Latinos for Education and The Education Trust hosted a virtual event series exploring the research and policy recommendations that could improve the quality of our teaching workforce for all kids in the state. The series featured three events. Summaries of each, along with links to the webinar recording and additional resources are shared below.

A new book, “Teacher Diversity and Student Success: Why Racial Representation Matters in the Classroom” makes clear the necessity and opportunity of recruiting and supporting individuals of color in the teaching profession. But will Massachusetts meet the moment and take action to pass the Educator Diversity Act?
During the event, we heard from two of the book’s authors as well as Massachusetts advocates, educators and policymakers. Featured speakers include:
Book Authors:

Seth Gershenson, Associate professor of Public Policy in the School of Public Affairs at American University
Constance Lindsay, Assistant professor of Education Leadership in the School of Education at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Panel (including Book Authors):

Moderator: Chairman Frank Moran, Representative for the 17th Essex District
Amanda Fernandez, CEO and Co-Founder of Latinos for Education
Dr Noemi Custodia Lora, Northern Essex Community College, Vice President

Deep Dive Sessions
As an extension of the main event on June 22nd, we invited participants to dig in with us a little further to explore specific facets of the research and policies shaping the experiences of individuals of color entering and staying in the teaching profession. Each of the sessions below paired research insights alongside voices and perspectives of current educators of color. They were brief (just 30 minutes!) but insightful and action-focused.

Racial Diversity in the Teacher Pipeline: Evidence from Massachusetts

June 23rd 2:30-3:00pm
Researchers Melanie Rucinski and Joshua Goodman shared findings from their analysis examining the racial composition at each step of the Massachusetts educator pipeline and two MA educators part of the InSPIRED Fellowship program (Dr. Sana Shaikh and Ms. Atiera Horne) shared about their own experience entering the profession and recruiting others to it. Moderated by Eleonora Villegas-Reimers, Chair for Teaching and Learning at Boston University.

A Classroom Observer Like Me: Effects of Race & Gender-Matches in Teacher Observations

June 24th 3:30-4:00pm
Researcher Olivia Chi shared findings from a study that examines whether teachers receive higher classroom observation scores as a result of sharing race or gender with their observers. Educators from the Massachusetts Teacher and Principal Advisory Cabinets, Sara Marie Jette and Steven Moguel, who have been discussing a re-envisioned approach to evaluation in the state, shared their reactions and experiences. Moderated by Stefany Tomlinson, Assistant Director for Instructional Support at the MA Dept. of Elementary and Secondary Education

Take Action Resources

MTEL Alternative Pilot
The MA Dept. of Elementary and Secondary Education has launched a three-year pilot to implement and study alternative ways to assess candidate knowledge for purposes of entry into the workforce. You can read more about this effort and sign up to receive more regular updates from DESE here.

Online Platform for Teaching and Informed Calibration (OPTIC)
In an effort to improve evaluators observations of teacher practice, The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has built a tool to provide educators the opportunity to calibrate their understanding of effective instructional practice and high quality feedback. OPTIC is being used by district leadership teams and preparation providers across the state. Recently, the state released a collection of resources explicitly targeting culturally responsive practice in observations.

Use the link above to easily communicate with your State Representative and State Senator and ask them to support the Educator Diversity Act, HD.3641/SD.2208: An Act Relative to Educator Diversity.

ACT NOW

The Urban/Suburban Educational Divide: Racial Inequities and Shifting Landscapes
2021-05-19 16:00 - 17:00 UTC
View Event Recording

Schools in urban and suburban locations can vary immensely in quality, increasing the importance of where we send our kids to school. But why are some schools better than others? How has America’s notion of a good school deepened educational and racial inequities? Join the Boston University Initiative on Cities (IOC) and the BU Wheelock Educational Policy Center (WEPC) for a discussion of efforts to ensure students have access to a great education, and why integration efforts to close the urban-suburban divide leave some students caught in between, while others are stuck on one side.
Featuring:

John Rury, Professor Emeritus, University of Kansas School of Education and Human Sciences; and author of Creating the Suburban School Advantage: Race, Localism, and Inequality in an American Metropolis
Milly Arbaje-Thomas, President & CEO, Metropolitan Council for Educational Opportunity (METCO)
Cliff Chuang, Senior Associate Commissioner for Educational Options at the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

View Event Recording

Interested in some additional context and relevant policymaking happening right now around this topic? Below is an excerpt from an April 2021 Boston Globe Editorial Board call to action.

In Massachusetts, we tend to think of school segregation as something that happened 50 years ago in Boston — if we think of it at all.
But racial segregation is still a serious problem in this state. And by some measures, it’s getting worse. In the last decade alone, the number of “intensely segregated” nonwhite schools — that is, schools with student populations that are at least 90 percent students of color — has grown by more than one-third, according to research from the Beyond Test Scores Project and the Center for Education and Civil Rights.
And while Boston hosts plenty of these racially isolated schools, they’ve also become fixtures in old industrial cities like Lynn, Lawrence, Chelsea, Brockton, and Springfield.
Decades of research show the costs of segregation are enormous. Academic performance suffers. Adult earnings, too. And students of all races miss out on vital opportunities to prepare for life in an increasingly multicultural society.
But responsibility for desegregation does not lie with urban school systems alone……

Read Full Editorial

Inquiry with Influence: Realizing the Potential of Research-Supported Policymaking with the New Wheelock Educational Policy Center
2021-02-23 13:00 - 14:30 UTC | Zoom
BU Wheelock officially launched the new Wheelock Educational Policy Center (WEPC) as part of a commitment to transforming systems that impact learning for a thriving and just future. Watch the webinar to learn about WEPC’s approach to rigorous, policy-relevant research and to meet the WEPC-affiliated faculty driving a research agenda aimed to improve opportunities and holistic outcomes for traditionally marginalized students.

View Event Recording
