Analysis of Massachusetts Department of Elementary and

Secondary EducationShannon Downey, Marissa

Elizardo, Eliza Hodge, and Savanah Miles

What is the MADoESE?● Run by the Massachusetts Board of Education● Responsibilities Include:

○ Granting and renewing charter school applications○ Developing and implementing the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment

System (MCAS)○ Submitting yearly budget proposals for public education to the Massachusetts

General Court○ Setting the standards for and certifying teachers, principals, and

superintendents○ Intervening to better the achievement of underperforming districts in the

Commonwealth.

Data Set Background● Approximately 1800 schools

○ Pre-Kindergarten to 12th grade○ All public and charter schools in MA

●Data distributed into 7 tabs○ SATs ○ Graduation Rate○ Educator Performance○ Student Teacher Ratio○ Attendance & Retention○ Discipline○ High School Graduation Plans

●Asked to analyze high schools

Agenda●Objective

○ Analyze the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to determine the drivers of student performance and their consequences

●Studied the following hypotheses:○ Public schools perform better than Charter schools○ Absenteeism and resources influence reading scores○ Reading scores influence graduation rate and dropout rate○ Educational Theory:

■ Resources influence academic performance■ Academics influence student behavior

Hypothesis: Public Schools perform better than Charter Schools

Average SAT Scores

Not much change as time passes

Charter vs Public: Bottom 10%

Charters are not elite schools

Charter vs Public: Top 10%

Charter Performs best in Reading overall

Charter vs Public: Average SAT Scores

Charter Schools are not as consistent

The gap is getting

narrower

Hypothesis: Resources influence Academic Performance

Impact of School Resources on SAT Scores

More Classes = higher SAT Scores

Better quality teachers = higher SAT Scores

Impact of Real Estate Wealth on Academic Performance

As home prices increase, SAT scores increase.

Hypothesis: Academic Performance influences Student

Behaviors

Impact of SAT Scores on Graduation Rates

Positive CorrelationReading Scores Highest

Impact of SAT Scores on Graduation PlansPositive Correlation

Writing Scores Highest

Impact of SAT Scores on Absenteeism

Negative CorrelationMath Scores Highest

Impact of SAT Scores on Dropout RatesNegative Correlation

Reading Scores Highest

Conclusion of Findings & Recommendations

Overall Findings: Charter vs Public Schools -- Hypothesis is supported

Evidence supports hypothesis that resources influence academic performance, which influences student behavior

Poor quality of resources… Number of Core Classes Offered Core Classes by Highly Qualified Teachers Relative income of the town/city

Negatively impacts quality of academics… SAT Scores Graduation Rates Graduation Plans

Which results in poor behavioral outcomes… Absences Dropout Rates

Recommendation ● Do not increase the cap for Charter Schools● MADoESE could set higher standards for certifying teachers● Increase Funding to Schools

○ Hire more-qualified teachers○ Provide additional training to teachers

● Offer more core classes● Give incentives and additional consequences for school

attendance

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