Baltimore Education Research Consortium
The Baltimore Education Research Consortium (BERC) is a research practice-partnership between institutions of higher education in Maryland, Baltimore City Public Schools, organizations that serve families and children in Baltimore City, and and other civic and community partners.
What we Do
Education Research for the Benefit of Baltimore’s Children and Families
BERC’s mission is to develop and support long- and short-term research-practice partnership projects that address questions of critical importance through the conduct and dissemination of rigorous strategic data analysis and research for the benefit of the children and families of Baltimore City.
Findings from our projects help educational leaders, partners, and other stakeholders be well positioned to move conversations forward, design strategic and practical responses to challenges, advocate for resources, capitalize upon promising practices, and identify levers for positive change.
BERC works collaboratively with partners while maintaining an independent voice and is a highly valued connector of education stakeholders and leaders across Maryland, source of in-depth research expertise, and contributor to the efforts and public conversation surrounding the education of children in our public schools.
Recent Publications
Kindergarten Success Fact Book
This report provides an overview of kindergarten readiness of six City Schools kindergarten cohorts from the 2014-15 to the 2019-20 school year and is accompanied by the Digest of City Schools Kindergarten Statistics… read more
Baltimore City’s Young Children: Prenatal to Five Experiences
Baltimore Education Research Consortium researchers partnered with the Mayor’s Office of Children and Family Success (MOCFS) Children’s Cabinet and the Baltimore City Early Childhood Advisory Council to publish a new report… read more
Student Mobility and Violent Crime Exposure at Baltimore City Public Elementary Schools
High levels of school mobility are a problem in many urban districts. Many of these same districts are also dealing with high rates of violent crime. In this study… read more
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 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