MIT Blueprint Labs

In the last challenge session for the 2025-26 SAQ cohort, Celina Haile led a discussion on NYCPS’ efforts to address over-enrollment in Special Education programs and how to ensure access and inclusion for all students. Thanks to Celina and all the Fellows who participated!

How can decisions made by Organ Procurement Organizations—nonprofits that coordinate organ recovery from potential donors—lead to more organ donations? New work by Blueprint Co-Director @agarwaln_econ and co-authors examines OPOs’ decision-making. blueprintlabs.mit.edu/research/impro…

At the event, Blueprint Directors @prof_parag and @metrics52 and Affiliate Clemence Idoux presented research on school quality and family preferences. Many thanks to @QualityCharters and all the speakers, facilitators, and authorizers who made this an engaging event.

Blueprint Labs hosted the NACSA Leaders Program during a 3-day event at MIT this week, where charter school authorizers joined presentations and discussions to advance their understanding of research and how to use evidence in their work.

In May’s School Access and Quality Fellowship webinar, Blueprint Affiliate @jmb112485 presented recent research on how item-level standardized test score data may provide useful information beyond what aggregate test scores tell us. Read the research: blueprintlabs.mit.edu/research/do-te…

Which policies can improve educational attainment the most? In a new working paper, Blueprint Director @prof_parag and co-authors examine two approaches: changing who attends existing schools and changing which schools exist. Read the research: blueprintlabs.mit.edu/research/who-g…

📢 We're on Substack! Subscribe to our newsletter, The Work Ahead. The first post explores recent research from @davidautor & co-authors on what makes new work different from more work — and why new work is a key force offsetting the effects of automation. mitstonecenter.substack.com

What makes new work different from more work? In a recent working paper, Blueprint Co-Director @davidautor and co-authors examine how jobs in new work differ systematically from more jobs in existing occupations. Read the research: blueprintlabs.mit.edu/research/what-…

In April’s challenge session, Blueprint Labs School Access and Quality Fellows discussed school performance visualization and how to make data more transparent at every school. Many thanks to @Brenton_Stewart for leading this engaging discussion.

Many thanks to the participants and speakers who joined the 2026 Charter Collaborative Conference, a two-day event that convened charter researchers, policymakers, and practitioners to discuss emerging findings and how to translate those findings into policy and practice.

In the final panel of the Charter Conference, Blueprint Director @prof_parag, Kimberly Steadman of Brooke Charter Schools, Rich Berlin of @wearedream, and Alison Bagg of Massachusetts DESE discussed how to translate charter school research into policy and practice.

Harvard Professor of Economics Raj Chetty gave the keynote address at Blueprint’s Charter Conference, sharing lessons learned from his experience translating research on economic opportunity into policy impact.

This morning at the Charter Conference, leaders in the charter school space Shavar Jeffries, Brent Bushey, and Nella García Urban shared their perspectives on the Charter School Research Collaborative’s emerging findings.

At Blueprint’s Charter Conference, Charter Collaborative grantees Matteo Magnaricotte, Chris Torres, and John Singleton shared early findings from their research on tutoring, long-term charter effects, and charters’ impacts on traditional public schools.

In a panel discussion at Blueprint’s Charter Conference, Blueprint Director @prof_parag facilitated a conversation between Karega Rausch, Pablo Villavicencio, and Noor Iqbal on how today’s political context shapes research priorities and opportunities.

At the Charter Collaborative Conference, Blueprint Director @metrics52 presented early insights from MIT’s ongoing charter school research. Brenda Cora and Orin Gutlerner shared perspectives from two standout schools from Blueprint’s data, Noble Schools and Bridge Boston.

Today marked the first day of Blueprint’s 2026 Charter School Research Collaborative Conference, a two-day event for key stakeholders to reflect on the Collaborative’s first two years, explore emerging findings, and develop strategies for translating research into policy change.

This March, Blueprint held the 2026 School Quality Measures Conference, an opportunity for researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and funders to discuss clear, equitable, and accurate measures of school performance. Read more in our latest blog: blueprintlabs.mit.edu/blogs/blueprin…

Regular webinars give Blueprint’s School Access and Quality Fellows a chance to learn from research. In this month’s webinar, Blueprint RA @Econ_Geoff presented recent research on Boston’s charter school sector common application. Read the research: blueprintlabs.mit.edu/research/the-a…

At the AEFP Conference, Blueprint led a policy dialogue on how well different school quality measures represent long-term student success and how practitioners can effectively implement and communicate those measures. Read our school quality research: blueprintlabs.mit.edu/research/putti…