Deep Dives

Today we talk with Lisa Barrow, an acclaimed economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. Lisa’s recent work explores the impact of work done by Chicago Public Schools to increase diversity in their schools, as well as the results of this work.

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This podcast features a conversation with Kelly Glew, President of The Steppingstone Foundation, and Chris Parris, its Chief Program Officer, who talk about their program, it’s expansion, and the support they offer to students across Boston Public Schools. Steppingstone aims to provide support and tutoring services to diverse students who are working to attend some of the top high schools in Massachusetts.

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Today we get insight into the ISEE with Associate Professor of Economics at Brandeis University, Joshua Goodman. Mr. Goodman recently published a policy brief on BPS exam schools last year titled Increasing Diversity in Boston’s Exam Schools. We talk about four ways in which BPS might increase its pipeline of qualified Black and Latinx candidates for admissions to the exam schools, as well as discuss other, more systemic changes that could benefit all students and driver performance up across the district

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Today we talk with Michael Contompasis: long-time authority in BPS and current overseer of a turn-around of the Devers school in Dorcester. He talks with us today about running a low-performing elementary school, and the efforts underway to transform it into a successful and high-performing one. We also discuss how he feels race and income play into outcomes and readiness for academic success, and what will need to happen in the future for all schools in BPS to provide equal experiences to all students.

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Our guest this week is Tony Benoit, Benjamin Franklin Institute for Technology's President. The Career Pathways Working Group focused specifically on giving students access to CTE experiences through internships and opportunities like the one that BFIT offers, and there is much that the district can leverage from what has already been a successful dual enrollment partnership with BFIT. The question now is how to make such a partnership sustainable and scalable in the future. 

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In our last podcast, we learned about the work that’s being done by Manny Allen and his team to re-engage students by helping them find purpose in their education. This week we are joined by Tommy Welch, the Academic Superintendent who oversees the schools and programs that are set up to operationalize Manny’s message.

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Manny Allen was a Boston Public Schools drop out because of life circumstances that forced him to de-prioritize a school system that didn’t serve him as a youth. Today, with a high school degree, a college degree, and an MBA, Manny runs the BPS Re-engagement Center, which he helped found ten years ago. Manny joins us to talk about being a marginalized youth in Boston, the brilliant and effective work of the REC, and his ideas for continually improving our alternative education options in Boston.

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In the final installment of our series about MassCore, Jill Shah interviews Orin Gutlerner about the challenges of scaling rigorous and engaging curriculum and teaching practices. They dissect a report called “The Opportunity Myth,” which attempts to answer the question of whether K-12 schools are fulfilling the fundamental promise that if students put in the effort and succeed with their work, they will be prepared for higher education. The short answer: It's not even close.

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In part 2 of Understanding MassCore, Jill talks with Paul Reville, a key architect and advocate for MassCore, about topics that are key to understanding the intentions and context for this policy, such as: The role of globalization and the standards movement in the crafting of the MassCore policy; How and why the state viewed it through a lens of educational equity; Why it was a recommended—rather than required—framework for a high school diploma; And, the challenges of its adoption, particularly in BPS

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In the spirit of enrichment and connectivity, we offer this three part series on the topic of MassCore. Part 1 features a blog post: Understanding MassCore, and a podcast that looks at the current context of graduation requirements in BPS High Schools. Stay tuned for parts two and three that will be released over the next two Wednesdays in podcast form, and include a fascinating discussion with Paul Reville. 

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