Here + Now at BBCS

This year, our Bridge Connections Newsletters have spotlighted the incredible people of our past. Last month, we highlighted our strategic plan and what comes next. Today, we’re taking a closer look at right now: our students, staff, + families that work together to maintain this community every single day.

The Nation-Wide Issue

The Boston Globe published an article in May with the headline, “Kids are in a ‘Reading Recession’ as Test Scores Continue to Decline.” Across the country, schools are reporting a decline in student scores that reveal some institutions never fully recovered from COVID-19 learning interruptions.

We know from our history that Bridge is not like other schools. Our mission calls us to serve the whole child, and we know our approach clearly has an impact on student learning outcomes. Every time an educator goes out of their way to support a student, or a family member shows up to cheer on their child, we know our community is making a lasting impact.

But the overall questions are: What do we know about the Bridge effect on student learning? What is the impact of attending Bridge Boston instead of another school? 

What’s the “Bridge Effect”?

Researchers at MIT’s Blueprint Labs have developed a rigorous method to answer questions like this. Led by Nobel Prize-winning economist Dr. Joshua Angrist, the study compares the outcomes of students who won admission to a public school through an open lottery (“lottery winners”) with those who applied but did not receive an offer and instead enrolled elsewhere (“lottery losers”). Because both groups actively chose to apply to the same school, this approach controls for many of the selection biases that often complicate education research.

In their most recent analysis of Boston charter middle schools, MIT examined lottery and enrollment data from 2020–2022 across the 13 schools for which lottery data were available. They then measured MCAS outcomes one and two years after the admissions lotteries, tracking how students performed in both ELA and Math.

The key question: which schools had the largest impact on student achievement, as measured by the difference in MCAS results between lottery winners and lottery losers?

The findings were striking. Among the schools studied, Bridge Boston and Edward Brooke were the only two where attending the school increased student performance in both Math and ELA by more than 0.30 standard deviations per year of enrollment.

Presentation at MIT Blueprint Labs’ Charter School Research Collaborative Conference on April 9 and 10, 2026, at MIT’s Samberg Conference Center.

To put that in plain terms: in education research, an effect size of 0.30 is considered substantial. It represents a meaningful academic gain – roughly equivalent to moving a student from the middle of the pack to well above average relative to their peers. Effects of this magnitude are relatively rare and signal that a school is having a strong, measurable impact on student learning outcomes.

We are incredibly proud of what this research finding reflects about the work happening in our classrooms each day. At the same time, we know there is more work ahead to ensure that every student reaches their full academic potential. This study serves as an important validation that our efforts are making a real difference in the lives and futures of our students. 

Bridge Boston: In The Present

These findings are the result of years of role models, go-getters, friends, activists, neighbors, collaborators, teachers, parents, and students that make up Bridge Boston. Our community here and now are the ones achieving the test scores. They’re the ones staying late for tutoring, driving and picking up from sports, serving hot meals in the cafeteria, scheduling vision Van Visits, harvesting in the garden, walking quietly in the halls, and giving their all every day.

Our past informs us. Our strategic plan gives us a clear focus on what to anticipate. But our Bridge Community is made up of who is here and now. Thank you for being a part of our community.