March 4, 2011
"CITY OF COLLABORATION: Civic, business and philanthropic leaders see advantage in working together," Boston Business Journal.

February 4, 2011
"Boston Opportunity Agenda appoints new executive director," Boston Business Journal.

July 25, 2010
"Alternative Education: Crispus Attucks, Boston Opportunity Agenda, Mass Bay Community College," WCVB-TV Boston.

July 1, 2010
"Better schools by the numbers,"The Boston Globe.

June 24, 2010
"Education partnership aimed at creating 'opportunity pipeline,'” Dorchester Reporter.

June 22, 2010
"$27m lift for city’s schools: Charities create partnership with goals for students,"The Boston Globe, page 1.

June 22, 2010
"Leading funders join Mayor Menino, Boston Public Schools to build a historic educational partnership."

Visit the Education Report Card website

Education Research and Reports from
The Boston Indicators Project

The Boston Opportunity Agenda has released its first annual “report card” on Boston’s education pipeline. The report card reflects encouraging news about progress in early literacy after one year of Kindergarten, an increase in students enrolling in Algebra 1, dramatic growth in 10th grade MCAS scores, and a decrease in the Boston Public Schools dropout rate. Download a PDF of the Report Card.

Click the covers
to download
PDF versions of
the reports.

A library of additional reports is below.

How Students Are Making It: Perspectives on Getting Through College from Recent Graduates of the Boston Public Schools
Education: Despite our region's higher than average demand for workers with postsecondary degrees, college completion rates for Boston Public Schools graduates are low. Only 28% of non-exam school graduates from the class of 2003 who enrolled in college had obtained a degree six years later. Join us for the discussion of a new report that reflects the experiences of Boston Public Schools graduates in college – in their own words – and explores the similarities and differences among those who are struggling and those who are making it.

The Real Cost of the Contract: An Analysis of Salary & Benefits of Boston Public School Teachers
Education: At a time when average wages in the Boston metropolitan area have been stagnant because of the economic downturn, Boston teachers have received double-digit increases in annual compensation over the past four years. This is the result of a salary system that drives teacher pay upward with steady increases—including steps and lanes—that are automatic year after year, in addition to the more visible annual increases negotiated by the Boston Teacher Union.

School Funding Reality: A Bargain Not Kept
Education: Soaring costs for school employee health care coverage have drained school budgets and undermined the historic bargain that was central to education reform in Massachusetts in 1993. Every school district in the Commonwealth, rich or poor, has been adversely affected, as resources intended to strengthen learning in the classroom—money for textbooks, professional training and additional teachers, in particular—has been absorbed in recent years by health care costs.

Out of the Debate and Into the Schools
Education: In January 2009, the Boston Foundation, in partnership with the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, published Informing the Debate, which suggested middle and high school students attending charter schools significantly outperform their counterparts attending traditional schools. This new study uses the findings from Informing the Debate as a launching point to delve deeper into the issues that may explain differences in student outcomes – thus moving us out of the debate and into the schools.

Who’s Making It: The Academic Achievement of Recent Boston Public School Graduates in the Early College Years
Education: This report takes an in-depth look at the academic experiences of recent Boston Public School graduates during their first two years of college. It finds that students with more rigorous high school preparation had much higher rates of persistence, progress and performance. It also reveals that, not surprisingly, those who attended college continuously, without taking a break do best—and that the efforts colleges make to help students do count. Recommendations for colleges, high school and local leaders are included.

The Arts Advantage: Expanding Arts Education in the Boston Public Schools
Education: This report contains new research about the state of arts education in Boston. It provides a detailed picture of current offerings in the schools as well as a set of recommendations advanced by School Superintendent Carol R. Johnson.

Informing the Debate: Comparing Boston’s Charter, Pilot and Traditional Schools
Education: On January 6, 2009, the Boston Foundation and the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education released a groundbreaking report by a team of Harvard and MIT researchers at an Understanding Boston forum that, for the first time, effectively compares student performance at charter and pilot schools against a similar group of students attending traditional public schools in Boston. The report uses an innovative research design based on school lotteries that made possible a direct comparison of charter and pilot school students with their peers, for the first time.

Boston’s Education Pipeline: A Report Card
Education: This report for the first time examines in data-rich detail the entire arc of the educational experience in the city from early childhood through college or post-secondary training and on to the regional workforce. In addition to an unprecedented array of information provided for every school in the district system, the report presents a wealth of contextual information about factors that can inform the ability of Boston school children to make full and best use of what has been described as the best large urban school system in the country.

Getting to the Finish Line: College Enrollment and Graduation
Education:This report provides a detailed outline of the story of the Boston Public Schools (BPS) Class of 2000 as seen through the lens of college enrollment, graduation and continuing enrollment. This is a study of student experiences and tells us how many students from the BPS Class of 2000 enrolled in two and four year colleges over the seven years following high school graduation.

Preparing Our Kids for Education, Work and Life: Youth Aging Out of DSS Care
Health and Human Services: Children and teens in the Massachusetts foster care system are among the most vulnerable residents in our communities, but if they are given the supports they need while in foster care — and while ‘aging out’ of care — they can lead positive, fulfilling lives and become tremendous community assets.

A Four-Year Study of Boston’s Pilot High Schools
Education: New research from the Center for Collaborative Education finds that students in Boston’s Pilot high schools outperform students from other non-exam Boston Public Schools on every standard measure of engagement and performance. This level of achievement holds for every racial, economic, and academic subgroup examined.

Massachusetts Community Colleges
Education: This report highlights the important role strong community colleges can contribute to an effective workforce development strategy and to a higher education system that reflects the needs and realities of the new global economy. It also details areas in which community colleges in Massachusetts—with a particular focus on Greater Boston—lag behind national standards in terms of student performance and state support, and identifies best practices that could be used to strengthen these institutions.

Opening Doors for Boston’s Children: Lessons Learned in Expanding School-Based After-School Programs Executive Summary
Education: This mid-term report examines what the Boston After-School for All Partnership has accomplished to date and what they have learned about the opportunities and challenges of expansion at school-based after-school programs. The early findings have critical implications for the after-school field that funders, community-based organizations, the city and Boston Public Schools will want to consider as they continue their efforts to extend after-school programming to more youth throughout Boston.

Coming of Age in Boston: Out-of-School Time Opportunities for Teens
Community Safety: Boston's teen population has grown significantly over the last deacde, and with it has grown the need to address the challenge of high quality out-of-school time experiences for teens. While many Boston area youth grow up participating in a variety of after-school programs, many 'age out' of traditional programs, lose interest or are under increased pressure to improve academically or find employment. Providers are also faced with serious challenges as they work to keep youth engaged in programs, from training qualified staff to developing innovative new models in a climate of funding cuts. Through the leadership of Mayor Thomas M. Menino, which led to the formation o Boston's After-School for All Partnership, Boston has made substantial progress in increasing opportunities for elementary and middle-school students to particiapte in out-of-school time activities. The time has come to focus the same attention on the needs of Boston's teens. Coming of Age in Boston: Out-of-School Time Opportunities for Teens makes a compelling case for turning our attention to providing teens not only with something to do with their free time, but with the support they need to graduate from high school and launch themselves into constructive adult lives.