A Conversation on The Nation’s Report Card in Boston

Peggy G. Carr, Ph.D., serves as Commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) in the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. Dr. Carr formerly served as Associate Commissioner of the Assessment Division for NCES, a role she held for nearly 20 years. In that role, she was responsible for national and international large-scale assessments, and most notably, managed the administration of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Most recently, she oversaw the transformational transition of NAEP from paper and pencil assessments to digital-based ones. Prior to NCES, Dr. Carr served as the Chief Statistician for the Office for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Education. Dr. Carr is a published researcher in the field of student achievement and equity. She has over a decade of experience teaching graduate-level courses in statistics and research methodology. She holds a B.S. from North Carolina Central University; and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Howard University. Her public service has been widely recognized, which includes receiving the American Educational Research Association’s (AERA) Distinguished Public Service Award in 2022, the Secretary’s Golden Apple Award for exceptional service in 2016, and the Presidential Meritorious Executive Rank Award in 2008.

Julie Lammers is Senior Vice President of Advocacy and Corporate Social Responsibility for the non-profit American Student Assistance (ASA), an organization that helps foster students’ understanding of postsecondary education and career pathways. Julie leads ASA’s government relations, advocacy, and philanthropic giving activities, working to impact change through both policy and philanthropic investment and expand opportunity for students. Julie has been at ASA since 2010.  Prior to ASA, Julie spent more than nine years as Congressional Aide to US Senator Edward M. Kennedy and his successor, Senator Paul Kirk, Jr. The focus of Julie’s work was managing public outreach to constituent groups on national policy related to education, the arts, environment, and welfare issues. Julie is a graduate of Northeastern University, the Government Affairs Institute at Georgetown University, the Corporate Social Responsibility program at Duke University, Suffolk University Law School, and is a member of the Massachusetts Bar.  

Former Massachusetts Governor Jane Swift is an education executive and entrepreneur. She has served in leadership roles in the public, private, political, and non-profit sectors for over three decades fueled by a passionate belief in the power of education to transform lives. 

Swift began her career in public service as a Massachusetts State Senator at the age of 25, the youngest woman to ever serve in that role. As a member of the Education Reform Conference Committee in 1993 she worked to ensure that all students in Massachusetts public schools would have access to excellence in education, regardless of where they lived. As Lieutenant Governor and Governor from 1999-2003 she oversaw many of the most controversial implementation items in the Act and took pride in Massachusetts being named a national model by the United States Department of Education in 2003. For many years, Massachusetts’ approach resulted in its students scoring at the highest level in math and English on the National Assessment of Educational Progress tests, or “Our Nation’s Report Card.” 

Today, Swift is president of Education At Work, a national nonprofit that connects top employers with college students nationwide. She is also an operating partner with the Vistria Group, a senior advisor to Whiteboard Advisors, and serves on several public and private company boards. She has also founded the non-profit Cobble Hill Farm Education & Rescue Center on her family farm where middle school students from her hometown participated in a 21st-century summer learning program this summer in partnership with the North Adams Public Schools. Swift continues to believe that gaps in learning, particularly unaddressed literacy gaps and poor higher education outcomes for traditionally underserved students are among the most pressing issues facing our country. She focuses her professional and personal energy on bringing attention and solutions to these issues. 

Swift is a sought-after speaker on issues of education, working mothers and women’s leadership, and more recently, the topic of gratitude, grief, and loss. 

David Driscoll is the former Commissioner of Education for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. With a career in public education that spans more than 55 years, Dr. Driscoll began as a middle school and high school mathematics teacher. He went on to work as Superintendent of Schools and Deputy Commissioner of Education in Massachusetts. Dr. Driscoll has served as chair of several boards, including the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, National Assessment Governing Board, and CenterPoint. He earned his bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Boston College, master’s degree in educational administration from Salem State University, and a doctorate in educational administration from Boston College. Dr. Driscoll is also a published author with his book, Commitment and Common Sense: Leading Education Reform In Massachusetts.

Jim Peyser is an advisor to America Achieves, Bellwether, and Goldman Sachs, with a focus on education and workforce development.  From 2015-2022, Jim served as the Massachusetts Secretary of Education under Governor Charlie Baker, overseeing the Commonwealth’s education system, from preschool through post-secondary, with a collective annual operating budget of close to $10 billion.  He was also a member of the Governor’s Workforce Skills Cabinet.

During his tenure as Secretary, he led the administration’s efforts to overhaul the state’s school funding formula, strengthen curriculum frameworks, redesign student assessments, and update the school accountability system. Jim also played a central role in strengthening the state’s focus on evidence-based early literacy.  Under his leadership, the administration established MassGrant Plus, a last-dollar need-based college scholarship representing the biggest increase in state-funded financial aid in more than two decades Other accomplishments include the implementation of historic rate increases for early education providers, the launch of statewide early college and early career high school pathways, and the expansion of vocational-technical education for youth and working adults. 

Prior to being appointed Secretary, Jim was a Managing Partner at NewSchools Venture Fund, where established several City Funds in support of education entrepreneurs and charter management organizations working in high-need urban neighborhoods.  He was Chairman of the Massachusetts Board of Education for more than seven years and served as education advisor to three Massachusetts Governors.  Jim is the former Executive Director of Pioneer Institute for Public Policy Research, where he helped to launch and support Massachusetts’ first charter schools.

Jim holds a Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School (Tufts University) and a Bachelor of Arts from Colgate University.

Paul Reville is the Francis Keppel Professor of Practice of Educational Policy and Administration at the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE). He is the founding director of HGSE's EdRedesign Lab. In 2013, he completed nearly five years of service as the Secretary of Education for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. As Governor Patrick's top education adviser, Reville established a new Executive Office of Education and had oversight of higher education, K-12, and early education in the nation's leading student achievement state. He served in the Governor's Cabinet and played a leading education reform role on matters ranging from the Achievement Gap Act of 2010 and Common Core State Standards to the Commonwealth's highly successful Race to the Top proposal. 

Prior to joining the Patrick Administration, Reville chaired the Massachusetts State Board of Education, founded the Rennie Center for Education Research and Policy, co-founded the Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education (MBAE), chaired the Massachusetts Reform Review Commission, chaired the Massachusetts Commission on Time and Learning, and served as executive director of the Pew Forum on Standards-Based Reform, a national think tank which convened the U.S.'s leading researchers, practitioners, and policymakers to set the national standards agenda. Reville played a central role in MBAE's development of and advocacy for Massachusetts historic Education Reform Act of 1993. Reville has been a member of the HGSE faculty since 1997 and has served as director of the Education Policy and Management Program. 

Reville's career, which combines research, policy, and practice, began with service as a VISTA volunteer/youth worker. He served as a teacher and principal of two urban, alternative high schools. Some years later, he founded a local education foundation which was part of the Public Education Network. He is a board member and adviser to a host of organizations, including BELL, Match Education, Bellwether, City Year Boston, Harvard Medical School's MEDscience and others. He is a frequent writer and speaker on education reform and policy issues. He is also the educator commentator, Boston Public Radio, WGBH. He holds a B.A. from Colorado College, an M.A. from Stanford University and five honorary doctorate degrees.

In June 2022, the Boston School Committee selected Mary Skipper as the Superintendent of Boston Public Schools (BPS). Mary previously served as the Superintendent of Somerville Public Schools (SPS). Before going to Somerville, Superintendent Skipper was a Network Superintendent of High Schools for BPS, where she oversaw 34 high schools serving approximately 19,500 students.

During her time as Network Superintendent, Boston’s high schools’ annual drop-out rate consistently decreased from 7.9% (prior to her tenure) in SY11-12 to 4.5% by SY14-15. At the same time, the graduation rate consistently increased from a rate of 65.9% in 2012 to 70.7% by the end of 2015. Among her most notable accomplishments while at BPS, Superintendent Skipper helped launch TechBoston Academy (TBA) as the founding school leader in 2002.

Under her leadership, TBA grew from a 9-12 high school serving 75 students, to a 6-12 school with a staff of more than 100 serving a diverse student population of more than 1,000, 30% of which were English Language Learners and 25% of which were Special Education students. Stemming from the experiences that she’s gained across BPS and SPS, Superintendent Skipper’s agenda at Boston Public Schools will focus on prioritizing and accelerating academic performance; strengthening access to social-emotional learning; streamlining operations and ensuring student safety; developing authentic family and community engagement practices; improving internal and external communication with families and staff; and, increasing accountability for both the central office and our schools.

Superintendent Skipper holds a Bachelor's degree in English and Latin, along with a Master’s degree in Classics from Tufts University. She earned a Master's in Education Policy from Harvard and a Master's in Education Leadership from Columbia Teachers College. Superintendent Skipper and her husband, Peter, have resided in their family home in Dorchester for 25 years.

As Massachusetts Secretary of Education, Patrick Tutwiler directs the Executive Office of Education, which oversees early education, K-12, and higher education. Secretary Tutwiler sits on each of the boards governing the Commonwealth’s education agencies, as well as the University of Massachusetts system. He is Governor Maura Healey’s top advisor on education and helps shape the Commonwealth’s education agenda.  

Before being sworn in as Secretary, Dr. Tutwiler served as the senior program officer at the Boston-based Barr Foundation, a grantmaking organization focused on arts, climate, and education. Prior to that, Secretary Tutwiler was superintendent of the Lynn Public Schools and headmaster at Boston Public Schools. As superintendent of Lynn Public Schools, he spearheaded a collaborative, equity-centered effort that translated into higher graduation rates and a more racially diverse staff while also overseeing the creation of the Commonwealth’s second largest early college program.