Baltimore Education Research Consortium
The Baltimore Education Research Consortium (BERC) is a partnership of the Baltimore City Public Schools (City Schools), with any college or university in Maryland interested in partnering with Baltimore City Schools, and other civic and community partners.
What we Do
Education Research for the Benefit of Baltimore’s Children and Families
BERC was launched in 2006 as a partnership between Johns Hopkins University (JHU), Morgan State University (MSU), and the Baltimore City Public Schools (City Schools).
BERC now works with any university in Maryland interested in partnering with Baltimore City Schools. The BERC partnership was co-conceptualized and launched with support from several Baltimore-based non-profit agencies. It is designed to be a constructive part of the efforts and public conversation surrounding the education of children in Baltimore.
Modeled loosely on the Consortium on Chicago School Research, BERC pursues both long- and short-term data analysis and research, and then directs time and resources to sharing and interpreting the findings with school system leaders and other community partners and stakeholders.
Recent Publications
Baltimore College Fact Book
Baltimore College Fact Book: Data Digest of College Access Outcomes, by Rachel E. Durham, Zyrashae Smith and Curt Cronister, provides a detailed update through the class of 2018 as part of a series of reports about Baltimore City Schools graduates’ transition to… read more
Thinking About School Quality
Previous work around school quality has typically identified schools that are “beating the odds.” Such an approach finds “outlier schools” by analyzing student outcomes, and studies these schools to determine what they appear to be doing well… read more
Thinking about Useful School Metrics: Comparing ‘Like’ Schools
In this new school quality brief, Baltimore City Schools researchers, Christopher Wohn, M.D. and Liepa Boberiene, Ph.D. share a new method to compare schools that are similar by student characteristics (i.e., the percent economically disadvantaged, and students receiving services for disabilities and learning English). There are many other risk factors that can be associated with outcomes such as… read more
OrchKids and Student Outcomes
Baltimore OrchKids: An Examination of Student Outcomes describes an analysis exploring the relationship between participation in OrchKids’ out-of-school-time programming and several student measures. Using a quasi-experimental design, the research examined participants’… read more