Background Information

Massachusetts Education Reform Act of 1993

In 1993, Massachusetts passed the Education Reform Act. This legislation expanded the Massachusetts school system greatly over a seven-year period. Aspects of the Education Reform Act included an increase of funding for schools, the establishment of a council in every district, an increase in principal authority, and additional requirements for teaching licensure. Due to the act, educators must take two exams to become a licensed teacher: one in their content area as well as a communication/literacy exam. One of the most important additions the act implemented was a curriculum framework for all core subjects. Prior to 1993, the only requirements were physical education and history. At the time of the act, Common Core was developed to “identify the broad educational goals for all students” (Goulet). Curriculum frameworks for Science, Technology, Mathematics, English/Language Arts, Art, Health, and World Languages were created based on the Common Core. Because statewide standards were created, the Department of Education was able to create an exam that measured proficiency. Students take the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) exams three times throughout their education.

Wachusett Regional School District

The Wachusett Regional School District (WRSD) includes five towns and has 13 schools in total. The district contains individuals from Holden, Rutland, Paxton, Princeton, and Sterling. The districts mission statement states their mission is to “ensure meaningful student growth and promote social emotional well-being in a safe and nurturing environment. We will integrate the talent, experience, and knowledge of all members of our community to develop lifelong learners, equipped to think critically in an ever-changing, global society.” The district has around 7,100 students in it, with the majority (87.2%) being white. The next largest population of students is Hispanic (5.4%), followed by Asian (2.9%), African American (2.2%), multi-race non-Hispanic (2.2%) and Native American (0.1%). The teacher to student ratio is 15.4 to 1, higher than the state’s 12.9 to 1. Of the district’s staff, 98.8% are white, the remaining 1.2% are Hispanic, African American, and Asian.

Wachusett Regional High School

Wachusett Regional High School (WRHS) is the only high school in its district and has about 2,100 students enrolled. Racially, the students are 88.5% white, 4.8% Hispanic, 3.1% Asian, 1.8% African American and 1.8% multi-race non-Hispanic. 20.7% of the students are high needs, 13.7% of the students have disabilities, and 9.5% are economically disadvantaged. Linguistically, English is not the first language for 1.1% of the students, and 0.1% of the students are English Language Learners (ELLs). While the students are not racially diverse, there is economic diversity. About 200 students are in one or more of the following programs: the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the Transitional Assistance for Families with Dependent Children, the Department of Children and Families' foster care program, and MassHealth (Medicaid). At WRHS, the teacher to student ratio is 14.7 to 1. The staff is 99.2% white, with the remaining 0.8% being Hispanic and Asian. The staff is less racially diverse than the students. The students that are minorities do not have many authority figures in the school that look like them. As a minority myself, I was excited to enter the classroom as an authority figure of color for those students. Having teachers that look like students has a large impact on education. Teachers of color give minority students a role model and influence their education – 39% of low-income black males are less likely to drop out of school if they have at least one black teacher (Fregni, 2019). There are not many students at WRHS that drop out of school (96.6% of students graduate in four years), but the statistic shows that students are more likely to continue their education if they have a teacher that they can identify with. The majority of students at WRHS attend a college or university after graduating (83.4%); the expectation at the school is that most students continue their education after graduating.