Events

Events

The Rennie Center is committed to engaging diverse perspectives and statewide voices in constructive discourse to ensure public education reform is research-based and focused on improving educational outcomes. By convening conferences, policy briefings, panel discussions, online forums, and other events, as well as in meetings with legislators, policymakers, and local leaders, we seek to minimize polarized, partisan communication and promote an invigorated, inclusive debate that leads to well-informed decision-making.

“The Rennie Center has been the place with the table to which everybody comes. They’re always a few steps ahead of the issue so we can hear balanced arguments, exchange thoughts, and work out long term solutions in a really rational way. It’s a refreshing alternative to the political food fights around very complex issues that play out in soundbites that don’t serve the public well.”
Glenn Koocher, Executive Director, Massachusetts Association of School Committees

upcoming events

2013

May 20 Future Ready Summit: Preparing All Students for Successful Futures

event archive

2013

April 17 Cage-Busting Leadership

2012

November 13 Recovering Out-of-School Youth: Using Re-Engagement as a Dropout Reduction Strategy
October 3 Smart School Budgeting: How Districts Can Efficiently Use Resources to Provide a Quality Education for All Students
June 28 Building Effective Partnerships in Teacher Preparation
May 22 EdWeek Webinar: Improving Student Engagement through Early Career Mapping
May 9 Springfield Public Schools: Labor-Management-Community Collaboration
February 28 Labor-Management-Community Collaboration

2011

October 26 A Revolving Door: Challenges and Solutions to Educating Mobile Students, Legislative Briefing
September 27 State Hearing on Dropout Legislation
September 20 A Revolving Door: Challenges and Solutions to Educating Mobile Students
June 30 Supporting College and Career Readiness: The Role of Student Learning Plans
June 14 Defining and Assessing College and Career Readiness
May 16 The Road Ahead for State Assessments
May 10 Reimagining Teacher Evaluation: Opportunities and Challenges
April 26 Pathways to Prosperity: Meeting the Challenge of Preparing Young Americans for the 21st Century
April 12 What's Next for Common Core?
March 1 Meeting the Challenge: Fiscal Implications of Dropout Prevention in Massachusetts
February 15 Implementing Common Core State Standards

2010

October 13 Western MA Event: Examining School Discipline Policies in Massachusetts
October 7 What Should Students Know and Be Able to Do? Views on Preparing Students for Success in College, Careers and Life
June 29 Common Core Standards: Challenges and Opportunities
June 3 New Models of Assessing Teachers' Impact on Student Learning: Challenges and Opportunities
May 26 Examining School Discipline Policies in Massachusetts
April 7 Implementation of An Act Relative to the Achievement Gap: Opportunities and Challenges
March 11 Ensuring a Bright Future: Strengthening Science and Mathematics Education in MetroWest

2009

November 19 Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers: The Role of Practice-Based Teacher Preparation Programs in Massachusetts
October 26 Ending the Dropout Crisis: Perspectives from the Graduation and Dropout Prevention and Recovery Commission
June 10 Toward Interagency Collaboration: The Role of Children's Cabinets
May 29 School District Consolidation in Massachusetts: Opportunities and Challenges
May 7 Seeking Effective Policies and Practices for Students with Special Needs
April 16 Western MA Education Forum - Education for the 21st Century: What Skills Do Students Need?
April 13 Measuring 21st Century Skills: New Tools for a New Era
April 9 Raise the Age, Lower the Dropout Rate?: Policy Considerations for Raising the Compulsory Age of Attendance
April 7 The Next Generation of Education Reform: How Would Early-Career Teachers Improve Low-Performing Schools?
April 2 Alternative Math Pathways in Massachusetts: Developing an On-Ramp to Minimize College Remediation in Math
February 12 Ahead of the Curve: Promising Practices for Reducing the Dropout Rate
January 26 Toward 21st Century Skills: A New Era of Assessment
January 15 The Power of Labor-Management Collaboration: Using Data to Address Achievement Gaps

2008

December 12 Opportunity to Learn Audit: Science
October 15 Partnering for Success: School-Community Teams Take On the Dropout Crisis
September 24 School District Consolidation in Massachusetts: Opportunities and Challenges
May 2 It Takes a Village: Exploring Cross-Sector Support for At-Risk Students
April 2 Signs that Matter: Using Early Indicators to Lower the Dropout Rate
January 16 Post-EQA Accountability: A Menu of Policy Options

2007

October 26 School Autonomy: Can It Improve Student Achievement?
May 31 Seeking Effective Policies and Practices for English Language Learners
April 27 Governing Change? Considerations for Massachusetts Education Policymakers
April 5 Reflections of a Non-traditional Superintendent: Mark Roosevelt Talks about His First Two Years in Office
March 29 Pilot Schools: Tools for Intervention?
February 28 Tough Choices or Tough Times
January 26 The Dropout Crisis in Massachusetts: What Can Be Done?

2006

October 12 High Schools of the Future II: Lessons from Reforming Schools
October 3 Are Boys Making the Grade in Massachusetts?
May 19 The Education Gender Gap: Why are boys not making the grade?
May 17 Policy Breakfast on English Language Learners
April 27 The Road Not Taken: Horace Mann Charter Schools in Massachusetts
March 16 Data-Driven Teaching Report Release
January 24 Summit on Educational Equity and Excellence
January 20 High Schools of the Future: Lessons from Reforming Schools

2005

December 13 Policy Breakfast on Differentiated Pay for Teachers
December 7 Intervention from Within: The Role of Teachers and Teachers' Unions in Improving Low-performing Schools
September 22 Merrimack Valley Educational Summit
June 6 Summit on Education Equity and Excellence
May 5 The Next Chapter in Education Reform: Community Campaign for Proficiency
April 22 The Push to Proficiency: State Strategies for Meeting the Needs of Schools & Districts

2004

December 9 Financial Adequacy & the Hancock Case: How Much Is Enough?
November 18 No Child Left Behind: Grappling with "Adequate Yearly Progess"
October 14 State Merit Scholarship Programs and Racial Inequality
June 2 No Child Left Behind State Hearing: A Forum for All Voices
May 12 The New Urban High School: A Report Card
April 15 Pathways to Graduation: Supporting All Students to Mastery A Retrospective Look at the Class of 2003's Experience

2003

December 1 Transforming Labor-Management Relations in Public Education: A Focus on Student-Centered Decision-Making
November 20 Head of the Class: Characteristics of Higher Performing Urban High Schools
November 7 Ten Years of Education Reform in the Pioneer Valley: Today's Challenges, Tomorrow's Strategies
October 8 Early Education and the Future of the Massachusetts Economy
June 3 No Child Left Behind: Challenges and Opportunities for the SouthCoast
May 21 Mapping School Choice
May 1 A Decade of Learning: Education Reform in Massachusetts
March 27 Pathways to Graduation: Supporting All Students to Mastery
January 27 No Child Left Behind: Opportunity or Obstacle for Massachusetts

2002

December 12 MCAS Court Case Challenge: Policy Implications