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| New England Secondary School Consortium | |
|---|---|
| Name | New England Secondary School Consortium |
| Formation | 1993 |
| Type | Nonprofit organization |
| Headquarters | Boston, Massachusetts |
| Region served | Connecticut; Maine; Massachusetts; New Hampshire; Rhode Island; Vermont |
| Leader title | Executive Director |
New England Secondary School Consortium is a nonprofit educational organization focused on secondary school reform in the six-state New England region. It works with secondary schools, school districts, state departments such as the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and the Rhode Island Department of Education, local school boards, and national foundations to promote standards-based graduation requirements, assessment practices, and college- and career-ready policies. The Consortium has influenced policy dialogues involving actors like the U.S. Department of Education, the Ford Foundation, and regional networks such as the New England Board of Higher Education.
The Consortium was founded in the early 1990s amid a wave of state-level secondary school reform that included initiatives by the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Annenberg Foundation, and legislative efforts in states like Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Early efforts connected to the Consortium paralleled national movements exemplified by the Goals 2000 framework and conversations involving the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers. Its agenda intersected with landmark projects such as the Thomas B. Fordham Institute policy analyses and discussions around the No Child Left Behind Act. Over subsequent decades, the Consortium engaged with state-led graduation requirement reforms, teacher credentialing dialogues involving the American Federation of Teachers, and cross-sector summits that included representatives from universities like Harvard University, Yale University, and the University of Connecticut.
The Consortium’s governance structure has included a board of directors drawn from state education officials, superintendents from districts such as Boston Public Schools and Hartford Public Schools, higher education leaders from institutions like Boston College and University of Massachusetts Amherst, and representatives from philanthropic organizations including the Carnegie Corporation and the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation. Leadership roles have been held by executive directors with prior affiliations to state agencies such as the Maine Department of Education or nonprofit groups like the Education Trust. Advisory councils have convened stakeholders from teacher unions like the National Education Association, employer groups such as the New England Council, and assessment organizations including the Educational Testing Service.
Programmatic work has addressed graduation requirements, secondary assessment, and school redesign. Initiatives have included collaborative pilots with districts like Providence Public School District and Burlington School District (Vermont), professional development projects with teacher preparation programs at Brown University and Boston University, and competency-based assessment pilots inspired by practices at schools in the Big Picture Learning network. The Consortium promoted frameworks resonant with work by the Common Core State Standards Initiative and convened institutes modeled on national gatherings such as the Learning Forward conferences. It produced toolkits drawing on research from organizations like the American Institutes for Research and case studies referencing districts featured in reports by the Alliance for Excellent Education.
The Consortium partnered with state agencies including the Connecticut State Department of Education and civic intermediaries like the New England Board of Higher Education to align secondary schooling with postsecondary expectations. Collaborations extended to philanthropic partners such as the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, research partners including the Brookings Institution and the RAND Corporation, and practitioner networks like the Council of Great City Schools. Cross-sector events convened stakeholders from community colleges like Quinsigamond Community College and four-year institutions such as Northeastern University.
Evaluations of the Consortium’s influence often cite shifts in state graduation policies, adoption of more rigorous diplomas in states such as Massachusetts and Rhode Island, and diffusion of competency-based practices to districts including Manchester School District (NH). External assessments referenced methodologies used by the National Research Council and impact analyses similar to those conducted by the Urban Institute. Measured outcomes included changes in diploma endorsements, adjustments to secondary assessment regimes, and increased collaboration between K–12 systems and higher education institutions like University of Vermont and Connecticut State Colleges & Universities.
Funding streams for the Consortium combined grants from national foundations—Carnegie Corporation of New York, Ford Foundation, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation—contracts with state education agencies, and contributions from regional partners including the New England Council. Budget allocations supported staff, policy research, regional convenings, and pilot grants to districts such as Worcester Public Schools. Fiscal reporting practices mirrored nonprofit standards recommended by organizations like Charity Navigator and the National Council of Nonprofits, and major funders sometimes required program evaluation by third-party researchers from institutions like Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Critiques of the Consortium have come from advocates associated with groups such as the Center for American Progress and local education activists in districts including Springfield, Massachusetts, arguing that statewide policy prescriptions risked marginalizing community-specific needs. Some researchers affiliated with the Economic Policy Institute questioned the Consortium’s alignment with standardized frameworks similar to the Common Core State Standards Initiative, while teacher-union representatives from the American Federation of Teachers and National Education Association raised concerns about implementation burdens on educators. Debates also involved higher education faculty at regional universities over the extent to which secondary reforms prepared students for institutions like Boston University and University of Connecticut versus vocational pathways.
Category:Educational organizations based in the United States