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DESE research office outlines studies showing rising homelessness, mixed results from instructional-material grants
Summary
DESE's Office of Planning and Research presented a portfolio of more than 80 projects, highlighted a study showing rising student homelessness and an evaluation of high‑quality instructional materials that found improved teacher attitudes but gaps supporting multilingual learners.
DESE staff gave the board a detailed overview of the agency's research and evaluation work and explained how the department uses studies to inform policy and practice.
Associate Commissioner Matt Deninger, Deputy Commissioner Rob Curtin and Research and Evaluation Coordinator Kendra Winner described an open research portal, FERPA-compliant data-sharing processes, and a portfolio of more than 80 ongoing or recent studies. They emphasized mixed-methods approaches and collaboration with external researchers to make findings actionable.
DESE highlighted two recent examples. A University of Massachusetts Donahue Institute study for the Educational Stability team found K-12 student homelessness has risen sharply — noting that by 2025 Massachusetts received roughly $1.7 million in McKinney-Vento funds to support about 34,000 homeless students (about $53 per student) — and showed homeless and foster-care students have lower attendance and academic outcomes than their peers.
An evaluation by the Educational Development Center of DESE’s High-Quality Instructional Materials (HQIM) implementation grant found teacher attitudes toward HQIM improved during implementation, with higher expectations for students and stronger beliefs in student capabilities; however, supports for multilingual learners and struggling students remained a weakness, and leadership commitment was a key predictor of implementation success.
Board members pressed staff on how research findings are translated into technical assistance for districts, cross-agency data sharing, and how research will inform graduation policy and targeted investments. DESE staff said they are expanding dissemination, technical assistance workshops, and cross-agency data council coordination to speed use of findings.
