Massachusetts
Massuchusetts: The Case to Adopt Common College- and Career-Ready Standards (State Card) Online Learning: Addressing Challenges and Seizing Opportunities in Massachusetts (State Profile) Massachusetts State Card Federal High School Graduation Rate Policies and the Impact on Massachusetts Potential Economic Impacts of Improved Education on Massachusetts Understanding Massachusetts' High School Graduation Rates Promoting Power Massachusetts' Ten Largest School Districts HIGH SCHOOL DROPOUTS COST MASSACHUSETTS BILLIONS IN LOST WAGES: MASSACHUSETTS’ ECONOMY COULD SEE OVER ONE BILLION IN WEALTH ACCUMULATION BY RAISING THE HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION RATE: MASSACHUSETTS COULD SAVE MILLIONS IN HEALTH CARE COSTS BY RAISING HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION RATES MASSACHUSETTS’ ECONOMY WOULD SEE BILLIONS IF THE MINORITY GRADUATION RATE WAS RAISED TO THE LEVEL OF THEIR WHITE CLASSMATES MASSACHUSETTS SPENDS MILLIONS ANNUALLY ON REMEDIAL EDUCATION FOR RECENT HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES FIVE PERCENT INCREASE IN MALE GRADUATION RATE COULD SAVE MASSACHUSETTS MILLIONS IN CRIME-RELATED SPENDING TEACHER TURNOVER COULD COST MASSACHUSETTS MILLIONS ANNUALLY
May 2010 – In the spring of 2009, the Common Core State Standards Initiative was launched with forty-eight states, the District of Columbia, and two territories coming together under the auspices of the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers to craft a common core of state K–12 English language arts and mathematics standards. The Alliance for Excellent Education strongly supports this state-led movement that promises to lay a new foundation for systemwide education reform. The attached profile captures some of the data relevant to the need for improved standards and assessments in the United States and the potential benefits of educating all students to meet the common college- and career-ready core standards.
May 2010 – America’s K–12 education system faces three significant challenges: (1) increased global demands for skilled workers, (2) significant financial shortfalls, and (3) a looming teacher shortage. Online learning offers an opportunity to address these challenges. The "Online Learning: Addressing Challenges and Seizing Opportunities" state profiles present state-specific information about the three challenges and summarizes information about online-learning opportunities and related state and federal policies.
State cards provide a statistical snapshot of high schools for each state in the nation and the District of Columbia. The cards include economic information, data on high school graduation and college completion rates, academic achievement, and states’ progress in building a longitudinal data system. Where applicable, statewide numbers are compared to the national average and include national rankings.
This brief outlines current high school graduation policies in the state and describes how recent regulations from the U.S. Department of Education could impact these policies. It also highlights the state's unique policy concerns and hurdles that must still be addressed.
This economic impact fact sheet helps policymakers and the public understand the extent of the economic costs to society of an educational system that serves so many students poorly. It also provides an overview of the potential economic benefits that a state could enjoy were it to invest in a high school system that prepares all high school students for graduation and success after high school.
Unacceptably low graduation rates, particularly among poor and minority students, have been obscured for far too long by inaccurate data, calculations, and reporting, and inadequate accountability systems at the state and federal levels. Understanding High School Graduation Rates provides the latest graduation rate statistics, demonstrates graduation gaps between demographic groups, illustrates the discrepancies in graduation rates reported by government and independent sources, and examines the economic costs of dropouts to individuals and society.
How does your local high school measure up? View the complete list of high schools in your state or congressional district and their Promoting Power.
The chart provides graduation rate calculations for the state's ten largest school districts by enrollment. The chart provides an overall graduation rate for the school district and also breaks down graduation rates by student subgroup when available.Education News from Massachusetts
If the more than 16,000 high school dropouts from the Class of 2008 had earned their diplomas instead of dropping out, Massachusetts’s economy would have seen an additional $4.2 billion in wages over these students’ lifetimes. A chart with state-by-state breakdown for all fifty states and the District of Columbia is available at http://www.all4ed.org/files/HighCost.pdf.
If the high school dropouts who currently head households in Massachusetts had earned their diplomas, the state’s economy would have benefited from an additional $1.3 billion in wealth accumulated by families. More information, as well as a chart with state-by-state breakdown for all fifty states and the District of Columbia, is available at http://www.all4ed.org/publications/hiddenbenefits.pdf.
If all of the students in Massachusetts who are estimated to drop out of school this year earn diplomas instead, the state could save more than $363 million over the course of those young people’s lifetimes. More information, as well as a chart with state-by-state breakdown for all fifty states and the District of Columbia, is available at http://www.all4ed.org/files/HandW.pdf.
If Massachusetts’ high schools and colleges were to raise the graduation rates of Hispanic, African-American, and Native-American students to the levels of white students by 2020, the potential increase in personal income in the state would add more than $3.5 billion to Massachusetts’ economy. More information, as well as a chart with state-by-state breakdown for all fifty states and the District of Columbia, is available at http://www.all4ed.org/files/demography.pdf.
Massachusetts spends over $57 million each year to provide community college remediation education for recent high school graduates who did not acquire the basic skills necessary to succeed in college or at work. More information, as well as a chart with state-by-state breakdown for all fifty states and the District of Columbia, is available at http://www.all4ed.org/files/remediation.pdf.
Were Massachusetts to increase the graduation rate and college matriculation of its male students by only 5 percent, the state could see combined savings and revenue of almost $115 million each year. More information, as well as a chart with state-by-state breakdown for all fifty states and the District of Columbia, is available at http://www.all4ed.org/files/SavingFutures.pdf.
More than 8,288 teachers in Massachusetts will not be returning to the schools where they taught last year. What’s more, replacing these individuals could cost the state up to $116 million. More information, as well as a chart with state-by-state breakdown for all fifty states and the District of Columbia, is available at http://www.all4ed.org/files/TeacherAttrition.pdf.