Blog

When I was growing up, Puerto Rico was always my favorite place on Earth. Born in Boston to Puerto Rican parents, I spent my summers on the beaches of Rincon or hiking with my cousins in El Yunque. In 2004, we moved to the island to be closer to family. We moved into the same neighborhood as my grandparents, and...
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  Teachers understand, often better than anyone, what is and isn’t working well in their schools. Unfortunately, they rarely have the time, resources or support they need to take the lead in driving improvement. This year we took a step toward trying to change that dynamic by offering Teacher Leadership in Action grants. We selected six teams of Massachusetts teachers...
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 Many organizations offer technical assistance (TA) to teacher preparation programs seeking to improve their programming. But until recently, there was no common way to assess the impact of that technical assistance or even define what high-quality technical assistance looks like. How can TA providers better understand the impact their technical assistance actually has on teacher preparation and continuously improve their support?...
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In math and other subjects, students are taught skills and concepts, and have a variety of opportunities to practice prior to being assessed for mastery. Unfortunately, due to external pressures and requirements, the time educators in the classroom take to explicitly teach skills needed to recognize, understand, label, express, and regulate emotions has evaporated. Fortunately, three years ago I was...
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As a long-time educator, teacher and administrator, I have always instinctively understood the importance of social and emotional support. But as my career progresses, I continue to learn more. Early in my career, as an elementary school reading interventionist, I naturally incorporated the expressive arts—music, theatre, painting and sculpting, creative writing—into my literacy lessons. And as a result, I witnessed...
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At Education First we are committed to equity: The belief that every student, regardless of background, deserves the resources and support they need to reach their potential. And we believe that the policies we work on like increasing equitable access to great teachers, creating more rigorous academic standards and assessments and understanding that learning is social and emotional can help us get...
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Since June 2016, with the support of the Joyce Foundation, three Chief Talent Officers of urban school districts—Mindy Schlegel of Indianapolis Public Schools, Maggie Sullivan of Minneapolis Public Schools and Matt Lyons of Chicago Public Schools—have participated in a community of practice to support their work. You can learn more and watch a set of videos about their experience here. ...
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Graduating from high school and getting accepted to college is worth celebrating. But that shouldn’t be the ultimate goal: By 2020 about 65 percent of American jobs will require some form of college, an increase from just 28 percent in 1973. We need to be pushing students to not just matriculate, but earn college degrees. This is particularly urgent for...
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A young poet walks onto the hardwood floor of an illuminated stage. She positions herself within the bright orb of a theatrical flood light. A heavy and deep red velvet curtain provides the backdrop and frames her and a single microphone.  She takes a moment, breathes inaudibly and assesses the audience with an even gaze.  It is a packed house...
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As we’ve previously discussed, the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) presents an important opportunity for states to design education systems that meet the needs of students in their communities. But states can only take advantage of that opportunity by choosing policies and programs that support student success. How can education leaders determine what those are? A new report from...
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