Barber Leads Reform Meeting at HGSE

On Monday, December 9, leading education strategist Sir Michael Barber led a discussion for nearly 150 policymakers, researchers, educators, and business leaders at the Harvard Graduate School of Education about the education reform agenda in Massachusetts.

The meeting -- part of the Massachusetts Education Innovators breakfast -- focused on the Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education’s (MBAE) New Opportunity to Lead campaign. In November, MBAE launched the three-year campaign in which Barber, along with his team of international education experts known as Brightlines, will report on the performance of Massachusetts schools and recommend actions for improvement.

“It is critical that Massachusetts leaders come together to tackle a significant challenge that we face: Our student achievement levels are plateauing just as the unrelenting demands of competing in a global economy are dramatically raising the academic bar,” said Henry C. Dinger, partner at Goodwin Procter and chair of the board of the MBAE. “With input we gathered at the Massachusetts Education Innovators breakfast at Harvard,  and the extensive research that has been done by Sir Michael Barber and the Brightlines team, we can identify the actions and innovations that will lead to the transformative change that we need."

As part of the campaign, MBAE and Brightlines are working with business, education and policy leaders across the state to finalize a new education agenda designed to overcome lingering challenges that have yet to be addressed by education reform. The meeting provided an opportunity for the state’s foremost education thinkers on an education reform agenda to brainstorm how Massachusetts can serve as a model for the nation and world. Among the participants were HGSE Dean James Ryan, HGSE Professor Paul Reville, education reformer Chris Gabrieli, Massachusetts Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education Mitchell Chester, Massachusetts State Representative Alice Peisch, and former chair of the Massachusetts Board of Education James Peyser.

“As this meeting illustrates, HGSE is a place where important questions about education can and should be addressed. The report by Sir Michael Barber and his team focuses on the future of education in Massachusetts, and we were delighted to convene education leaders from across the state in collaboration with the Massachusetts Education Innovators Breakfast Group, which meets at HGSE regularly, and the Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education, which commissioned the report,” Ryan said. “It was inspiring to hear from some of Massachusetts’ leading voices for our students. I look forward to reading the final report and continuing the conversation about education for the 21st century in our state.”

MBAE will issue a report early next year based on the Brightlines research identifying actions and new innovations that can guide change for the state.