Blog

Rennie Testifies on Literacy Bill at MA State House

August 01, 2023

On June 6, Rennie's Director of Policy, Alexis Lian, testified to the Massachusetts Legislature's Joint Committee on Education during a hearing on a number of bills including H.579 and S.263, An act to promote high-quality comprehensive literacy instruction in all Massachusetts schools.

Rethinking the Teaching Profession

June 22, 2023

Massachusetts lost nearly 8,000 teachers in the last school year. Teachers report high levels of job stress, insufficient support, and a lack of schedule flexibility. Recently, a national poll found that only 37% of parents would like their children to become public school teachers, the smallest percentage since the poll started in 1969. The teaching role is at a critical juncture. Something must be done to make this essential profession more flexible, sustainable, and attractive. But what?

Shrinking the Change: Advancing Comprehensive Mental Health Systems in Schools

May 30, 2023

In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month, we're sharing steps schools can take to advance mental health support. Schools, educators, and student support teams are undertaking the overwhelming balancing act of both responding to the present needs of students and building comprehensive systems of support for the future. This is no easy task. And while we don't have all the answers, our work with practitioners through our Thriving Minds initiative has given us some perspective on steps schools can take to get started.

Rethinking Education

April 13, 2023

Our education system is at a crossroads. After years of disruption from the pandemic, there’s an instinct by some to return to “normal." But we can’t go back. The old way wasn’t working. As a state, we have never fulfilled our promise to educate all students. And, for students facing systemic racism or economic hardship, or who are neurodiverse learners, putting back the old system often simply means rebuilding the same barriers that have denied them opportunities. It’s time we acknowledge the shortcomings of our education system and begin to build approaches to learning that match the ways our children and youth understand and navigate their daily lives. It’s time to truly rethink education. And we see this as the new focus of our Condition of Education project. Over the coming year and beyond we will be asking bigger questions about how we rethink when, where, and how students learn.

Educator Diversity Act: What You Need to Know

March 30, 2023

Young people of color make up nearly 50 percent of the student body in Massachusetts. Yet, less than 8 percent of Massachusetts teachers identify as non-white. Efforts to increase students’ access to diverse educators have run up against a host of barriers. A bill currently being considered in the state legislature takes aim at this issue. What would this legislation mean for Massachusetts? Our team takes a closer look at H.549: An Act Relative to Educator Diversity in our latest bill summary.

Simone Ngongi-Lukula: What is Needed to Support Young People of Color to Achieve a Career in Education

March 30, 2023

Three research fellows from Rennie’s Future Education Leaders Network reflect on ways to support young people of color interested in working in the education space. Their blog posts focus on the push and pull young people of color face in their pathways to education, highlighting research on financial, social, and emotional barriers to educators entering and remaining in the field. The fellows also shed light on their own personal experiences and share their reflections from having gone through the education workforce pipeline themselves.

Andrew Pablo: What is Needed to Support Young People of Color to Achieve a Career in Education

March 30, 2023

Emily Su Ni Thoman: What is Needed to Support Young People of Color to Achieve a Career in Education

March 30, 2023

What is Needed to Support Young People of Color to Achieve a Career in Education

March 30, 2023

Promoting Teacher Retention & Addressing Teacher Burnout

March 29, 2023

Since the start of the pandemic, challenges like staffing shortages, increased workload, and insufficient resources to address students' needs have resulted in heightened K-12 teacher burnout and major staffing shortages, with more than half of public schools being understaffed at the start of this school year. So what can school leaders do to combat teacher demoralization and burnout? Leal Carter of the CERES Institute at Boston University Wheelock shares actionable steps school leaders can take.