Appraising state standards, tests & accountability systems

Chester E. Finn, Jr. / November 8, 2001

On November 2, the American Federation of Teachers released a hefty (235-page) report entitled Making Standards Matter 2001. It's an ambitious effort to appraise academic standards, curriculum, assessments and accountability arrangements in each of the fifty states and for the country as a whole. With House Education Committee chairman John Boehner predicting that congressional conferees will complete work within a couple of weeks on the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) reauthorization, thus triggering further changes in state standards, tests and accountability systems, this review of where states are today is timely. (If you'd like to see it for yourself, surf to http://www.aft.org/edissues/standards/msm2001. Most of it is available in PDF format only.)

The AFT has previously evaluated state standards in the four subjects they regard as "core" (English, math, science, social studies). This is the first time they've also looked at state curricula, tests and accountability strategies. Having done so, the reviewers find many holes, gaps and inadequacies. "The bad news," says AFT president Sandra Feldman, "is that no state is coordinating standards, curriculum, tests and accountability measures. Very few states have developed at least basic curriculum, and most state tests are based on weak standards or don't match what is taught. The system needs a mid-course correction."

This is in many respects a needed and useful study that contains some sobering lessons. Perhaps the two most important are these:

• Twenty-one states don't yet have academic standards in place that meet even

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  Appraising state standards, tests & accountability systems

Creative reform efforts stymied by unions in Los Angeles

November 8, 2001

The Los Angeles Unified School District's ambitious plan to reform secondary education and boost literacy in the upper grades has been derailed at least temporarily by the objections of teacher and administrator unions. LA Superintendent (and former Colorado governor) Roy Romer had hoped to launch a study to determine whether classroom assignments were rigorous and consistent across the school district. Teachers were to be asked to submit sample writing assignments along with examples of student work and explanations of their grading criteria.  Last week, however, United Teachers-Los Angeles told its members not to participate in the study, saying that it created too much paperwork for teachers. The administrators union told principals not to order teachers to participate, arguing that the study was a sneaky way of evaluating teachers and principals.

United Teachers-Los Angeles has also refused to cooperate with the implementation of California's reward program for teachers in low-performing schools that make big gains. The state has identified schools at which staff members are eligible to receive rewards, but the state program leaves to local districts and teachers unions all decisions about how the money should be divided within the schools. In most school districts, administrators and union officials have agreed to split the money evenly among teachers in the winning schools. The LA teachers union refused to negotiate a plan for distributing the bonus, citing a policy of not bargaining on any pay tied to test scores. As a result,

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Creative reform efforts stymied by unions in Los Angeles

A radical experiment: tuition-free private schools

November 8, 2001

Thanks to a black minister and a retired marine, roughly 450 students in St. Louis are attending private schools financed by public dollars this fall - without vouchers.  Determined to do something about the number of kids they encountered who couldn't read or write, Bishop Laurence Wooten and Marine Lt. Col. Tim Daniels set out to create charter schools that would give kids a tuition-free alternative to their dismal public schools.  Unable to secure charters from a sponsoring organization, the two hit upon the idea of financing their schools by cobbling together money from before- and after-school programs, federal day-care money, Medicaid and school lunch programs. Today, two of the four planned St. Louis Academies - which feature values-based, but not religious, instruction in a back-to-basics curriculum - are up and running.  A relentless determination to succeed - epitomized by the school motto "There is no excuse for failure" - supplements the schools' shoestring budget.  For more about these schools, see "Tuition-free, back-to-basics, inner-city private schools," by King Kaufman, Salon.com, October 29, 2001.

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A radical experiment: tuition-free private schools

Houston gives principals budgetary autonomy

November 8, 2001

While there are increasing calls for principals to be held accountable for producing results, in few places are principals given much power over staffing their schools or spending school budgets. In Houston, under a new funding system, dollars are allocated to schools on a per-pupil basis (with adjustments made for children with special needs) and principals are given substantial autonomy over budgeting and staffing.  The district provides ongoing training to principals, who have been released from central office rules that used to dictate staffing ratios and spell out how nearly every dollar must be spent. Schools with declining enrollments face shrinking budgets, but some schools are finding creative ways to boost enrollment, such as opening a career academy for kids interested in business, health science, and technology. For more see "HISD moves closer to funding equity," by Melanie Markley, Houston Chronicle, October 30, 2001.

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Houston gives principals budgetary autonomy

Training program for nontraditional superintendents

November 8, 2001

A program aiming to place talented leaders from government, business, non-profits, higher ed, and the military as superintendents in urban school districts has been launched by the Broad Center for Superintendents, an organization established by the Broad Foundation and Michigan Governor John Engler. The Broad Urban Superintendents Academy is currently recruiting fellows for its first class, which will be launched in 2002. For details, see www.broadcenter.org.

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Training program for nontraditional superintendents

Will Edison be able to turn around Philadelphia's schools?

November 8, 2001

With Pennsylvania Governor Mark Schweiker on the verge of transferring control of the Philadelphia's school system from local officials to his own appointees, who would then put its management in the hands of Edison Schools, a pair of articles in The Philadelphia Inquirer examines two questions: Do state takeovers of school systems work? And can Edison fix failing schools?  Governors and legislatures in 18 states have taken full or partial control of 40 districts, reports Dale Mezzacappa, and while such takeovers have been effective in rooting out mismanagement, balancing budgets, and filling supply-room shelves, rarely has a takeover yielded much success in boosting student achievement. That's been the story in New Jersey, where the state took over three urban districts, including Newark. In Maryland, where the state took control of three failing schools and entrusted them to Edison in 2000, results have been mixed. To be sure, very little time has passed yet. So far, however, in one school, scores have soared, in another, there was modest improvement, and in a third, they fell. Parents and teachers in the three schools are now among Edison's strongest supporters, but district officials complain that Edison's contract allows it to play by rules that give it unfair advantages. (Among other things, the company has lured veteran teachers away from other Baltimore schools by offering better work conditions, higher pay (in return for longer work hours), and performance bonuses.) See "Lessons from School

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Will Edison be able to turn around Philadelphia's schools?

Every Child Learning: Safe and Supportive Schools

Kelly Scott / November 8, 2001

Learning First Alliance, November 2001

The Learning First Alliance - which consists of a dozen establishment education groups - has identified "essential" elements of safe and supportive schools. Most will not surprise you: more money, smaller classes, greater parent and community involvement, and efforts to foster "positive behavior" through anger management and conflict resolution. You will also find encouragement of challenging curricula for all students and standards to "monitor their progress and support continuous improvement."  The report offers more specific recommendations for school and districts, some (e.g. disaggregate and report student achievement data) more sensible than others (e.g. regulate teacher certification even more tightly).  If you care to learn more, surf to http://www.learningfirst.org/pdfs/safe-schools-report.pdf or purchase a copy of the report (Stock No. 300303) for $3 plus shipping from Alliance member ASCD by calling 800-933-2273, ext. 2.

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Every Child Learning: Safe and Supportive Schools

Federal Bilingual Education Programs in Massachusetts: "But Do They Help the Children?"

Kelly Scott / November 8, 2001

Don Soifer, Lexington Institute, September 2001

Federal law stipulates that three-quarters of all funding under the Bilingual Education Act must be reserved for programs that teach students in their native language.  No more than one fourth may be spent on "alternative" programs such as English immersion despite the fact that these are nearly always more effective at imparting English-language competency to youngsters.  Don Soifer takes on the "75/25" rule - targeted for demise in President Bush's "No Child Left Behind" plan - in a recent Lexington Institute report.  Profiling 14 federally funded bilingual education programs in Massachusetts (which fall under the "75" category), Soifer shows that none achieved significant gains in student academic achievement or transition rates to mainstream classrooms, which are the two best gauges of a successful bilingual ed program.  With as few as 9% of students in some programs mainstreamed after several years of bilingual education, the data paint a bleak picture of kids languishing in bilingual ed, falling ever farther behind their English-speaking peers. Rife with examples of mismanaged class time, dubious budget priorities, and wrongheaded thinking, this 15-page report is available online at http://www.lexingtoninstitute.org/education/fedbilingual.htm.  If you'd prefer a hard copy, contact the Lexington Institute, 1655 North Fort Myer Drive, Suite 325, Arlington, VA 22209; 703-522-5828; fax 703-522-5837; mail@lexingtoninstitute.org.

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Federal Bilingual Education Programs in Massachusetts: "But Do They Help the Children?"

School Choice 2001: What's Happening in the States

Kelly Scott / November 8, 2001

Heritage Foundation, October 2001

The Heritage Foundation recently released the sixth edition of its comprehensive annual look at school choice policies and trends across the nation.  This year's volume, edited by Robert E. Moffit, Jennifer J. Garrett and Janice A. Smith, features a brief chapter reviewing recent choice research and an interactive map of the U.S. that links to profiles of each state.  Included are all the usual statistics on K-12 enrollment, expenditures, student achievement and teacher salaries; charter schools; and publicly and privately funded scholarship programs.  The editors also include each state's ranking on the Manhattan Institute's Education Freedom Index, which measures the extent of choice in a state.  The report finds that school choice is flourishing: a record 37 states (and the District of Columbia) have charter school laws on the books, 31 states (compared with 18 last year) have "considered tax credits or deductions for educational expenses or contributions to scholarship programs for low-income students," and thousands of kids are attending private schools thanks to publicly and privately funded voucher programs. Check this resource out at http://www.heritage.org/schools.  Hard copies (ISBN 0-89195-100-8) can be had for $12.95 from the Heritage Publications Office, 214 Massachusetts Avenue, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20002-4999, 800-544-4843.  Discounted copies are available if you order online at http://www.heritage.org/bookstore/.

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School Choice 2001: What's Happening in the States

Teacher Salaries, Expenditures and Federal Revenues in School Districts Serving the Nation's Largest Cities, 1990-91 to 2000-01

Chester E. Finn, Jr. / November 8, 2001

American Federation of Teachers, October 2001

The American Federation of Teachers has been a busy place in recent weeks. On October 25, they released an in-house study of the salaries of urban teachers. There's some useful data here - including startling city-by-city differences - but the analysis is heavily spun to favor AFT policy positions. Three problems warrant mention: (1) Only cash salaries (based on posted salary schedules) are reported here; no account is taken of the value of the generous benefits packages that most public-school teachers enjoy, nor of various opportunities to supplement their incomes (either by doing extra work at school or by moonlighting and summer employment). (2) No attempt is made to "annualize" salaries, so we find the salaries of teachers who are attached to a typical 180-day work year compared with salaries in other fields where 240 workdays per year are commonly expected. Thus, for example, a statement meant to alarm readers - that new college graduates received average salary offers of almost $40,000 while the average "BA-minimum" salary for beginning public school teachers was $30,700 in large cities - when re-examined on an "annualized" basis, suggests that new teachers are paid at almost precisely the same rate as other recent college graduates. That's not to say they shouldn't be paid more, only that there's no great discrepancy here. (3) There's also a possible problem in what's otherwise a compelling point: the AFT analysts report that "net

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Teacher Salaries, Expenditures and Federal Revenues in School Districts Serving the Nation's Largest Cities, 1990-91 to 2000-01

The War Against America's Public Schools: Privatizing Schools, Commercializing Education

Chester E. Finn, Jr. / November 8, 2001

Gerald Bracey, 2001

Gerald Bracey is at it again. Wrong as he is about everything, one must give the guy points for productivity. If you don't get enough of him from his website, his op-eds, his proprietary monthly column in the Kappan, and his annual "Bracey Report," here's a book for you. 212 pages long, the ISBN is 0321080734. The publisher is Allyn and Bacon, part of the Pearson empire - which of course owns a nontrivial chunk of the "education industry" that Bracey savages in these pages. But don't look for irony here; hypocrisy, dudgeon and spleen will have to suffice. The publisher's website is www.ablongman.com. Alternatively, you might save your money for a soothing beverage or two.

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The War Against America's Public Schools: Privatizing Schools, Commercializing Education

UC and the SAT: Predictive Validity and Differential Impact of the SAT I and SAT II at the University of California

Chester E. Finn, Jr. / November 8, 2001

Saul Geiser and Roger Studley, University of California, October 29, 2001

Analysts at the University of California have prepared a study showing, they claim, that "The SAT II achievement tests predict freshman academic success at the University of California better than the SAT I reasoning test." They say that the SAT II "can be used to predict 16% of first-year grades" while the SAT I "by itself predicts only 13.3 percent of freshman grades." That difference strikes us as less than stunning. Bear in mind, too, that U.C. President Richard Atkinson - whose office issued this study - has already made waves with his controversial proposal that the university stop using the SAT I for admissions purposes. Bear in mind, too, that these findings only relate to those students who, for various reasons, have managed to wind up as U.C. freshmen, which is affected by sundry other admissions factors as well as California's demographics. (A sizable fraction of U.C. students are of Asian or Hispanic origin and there is reason to believe that they benefit from the SAT II because they can take one of its three component tests in their native language.) If you'd like a look, you can get a PDF version by surfing to http://www.ucop.edu/sas/research/researchandplanning/pdf/sat_study.pdf.

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UC and the SAT: Predictive Validity and Differential Impact of the SAT I and SAT II at the University of California