Choice in Cleveland-and Beyond

Chester E. Finn, Jr. / June 28, 2002

The Supreme Court's Zelman ruling is plainly good for poor children in Cleveland. It also proves beyond dispute that policymakers can, if they want to, craft a school-voucher program that will pass (federal) constitutional muster. Somewhere in America, there are bound to be a few legislators who had been wavering on the voucher issue who will now lend it their support. But because the constitutional fig leaf has been ripped away, the ensuing politics will likely be more naked than ever before.

I'm struck, too, by how the constitutionality of vouchers has now been entangled with other education policies and other kinds of choices. The Supreme Court's ruling hinged on whether the voucher program provides Cleveland families with a "true choice" among various kinds of schools, including but not limited to church-affiliated parochial schools.

Here is how one of the early news accounts summed it up: "Key to the court's reasoning...was that children in the Cleveland program have a theoretical choice of attending religious schools, secular private academies, suburban public schools, or charter schools run by parents or others outside the education establishment. The fact that only a handful of secular schools and no suburban public schools have signed up to accept voucher students is not the fault of the program itself, Ohio authorities say. The court majority agreed."

The four dissenters disagreed, asserting that the program's constitutionality was undone by the fact that, in Justice Souter's words, "There is...no way to

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Choice in Cleveland-and Beyond

The Zelman Decision and Beyond

Michael Heise / June 28, 2002

After decades of often animated conjecture and debate, the Supreme Court concluded in Zelman that Cleveland's publicly-funded voucher program is constitutional. The Court's long-awaited decision is good news for choice advocates in general and thousands of low-income Cleveland school children in particular. In its 5-4 decision the Court reversed the Sixth Circuit court's conclusion that the Cleveland voucher program violates the First Amendment's prohibition on the establishment of religion. Writing for the Court, Chief Justice Rehnquist concludes that the Cleveland voucher program does not put the government in the unconstitutional position of sponsoring religious indoctrination. Justices O'Connor, Scalia, Kennedy and Thomas joined on the Court's opinion.

A full picture of Zelman's impact on school choice will not emerge for some time. Although five Justices signed the majority opinion, the numerous concurring and dissenting opinions evidence a divided Court. Despite the complicated nature of this decision, however, four points are already clear.

First, Zelman will prove important for the way other voucher programs are structured. In stark contrast to the Supreme Court's 1954 Brown decision, the Zelman opinion is closely divided and comparatively narrow, evidencing the justices' collective caution. By confining itself to the technical constitutional question presented, the Court steered clear of endorsing voucher programs as a matter of education policy. However, the opinion makes clear that carefully crafted voucher programs can successfully navigate through the often murky First Amendment waters. The decision will likely stimulate prompt legislative activity.

Second, the Court

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The Zelman Decision and Beyond

A liberal case for parental control in education

June 28, 2002

Many in the academic world don't like private schools because they believe that society has a duty to develop citizens who are fully autonomous, and they embrace the idea of our nation's public schools preparing students to reflect critically on the traditions they are taught by their parents. In a new book, political theorist and Democratic party activist William Galston argues that this position is based on a mistaken view of liberalism, and that making it a matter of education policy to force children to be free of their parents' beliefs conflicts with the liberal doctrine of protecting diverse ways of life. Galston agrees that it is reasonable for the state to require a certain level of education to further democracy, and approves of laws that would protect children from their parents in cases of abuse or neglect. But within these constraints, he makes the case for maximizing the control that parents have over their children's education, recognizing that parents play the most important role in teaching virtue to children, hence they must be partners in educational process. For a lengthier treatment of some of the ideas in Galston's book, see Peter Berkowitz's review in the June 17th issue of The Weekly Standard. The book, Liberal Pluralism, is published by Cambridge University Press and can be ordered at http://books.cambridge.org/052101249X.htm.

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A liberal case for parental control in education

Education philanthropy with a view to the bottom line

June 28, 2002

After selling Netscape for $700 million, former president and CEO Jim Barksdale and his wife Sally pledged $100 million to help children in Mississippi learn to read. In a series of reforms designed largely by the state department of education and funded with the Barksdale largesse, eleven professors were hired to reform the training of reading teachers at Mississippi's eight state universities, and grants were also made to 73 of the state's lowest-performing schools to improve reading instruction. Jim and Sally Barksdale viewed the contribution as an investment, not a gift, and told the state superintendent that they'd take their money elsewhere if the venture was not successful. Two years later, while it is too soon for definitive results, the Barksdales are celebrating small victories while reflecting on the challenges of creating change in the public school system. "I was surprised at the difficulty of implementation," said James' younger brother Claiborne, who now runs the Barksdale Reading Institute. "Jim, Sally and I have come to realize what complicated organisms schools are and how difficult they are to change." One principal of a school where the reform eventually took hold explained, "Before, the idea was anything goes. ... You could say that reading teachers were self-employed." The principal said she had to spend much of the first year persuading teachers, particularly veterans, of the program's value. In other schools, reform never gained traction; two schools have been dropped from the program

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Education philanthropy with a view to the bottom line

Looking for leaders to run schools and districts

June 28, 2002

Last weekend, two dozen accomplished men and women-mid-career professionals from outside the education establishment-spent a weekend in boot camp training to become superintendents of urban school districts in a program aimed at funneling highly talented people into those key roles. Funded by Los Angeles philanthropist Eli Broad, the program is built on the belief that leadership skills translate from one field to another, and also that outsiders have not bought into "the dense web of understandings and accommodations that make it so difficult to change any large organization," writes reporter Ron Brownstein of the Los Angeles Times. ("Ailing School Systems Prescribed an Injection of Leadership," by Ronald Brownstein, Los Angeles Times, June 24, 2002) In Chicago, the school district is actively seeking former soldiers for teaching positions, with the goal of quickly moving them into jobs as principals. The district is advertising in military magazines and visiting bases to recruit members of the military for special programs that place applicants into full-time teaching positions while they earn certification as teachers and administrators. ("Chicago Seeks Soldiers for Schools," by Nicole Ziegler Dizon, Washingtonpost.com, June 21, 2002)

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Looking for leaders to run schools and districts

SAT to dump analogies, add essay

June 28, 2002

The College Board yesterday approved a bunch of changes to the SAT that were spurred by a threat that the University of California system would drop the SAT as an admissions requirement. Last year, UC President Richard Atkinson criticized the SAT for not reflecting high school curricula and offering an advantage to students who can afford expensive test prep courses. The most discussed change to the test is the introduction of a writing section; students will have 25 minutes to write an essay that will be graded by the College Board and also made available to university admissions committees online. The infamous analogies section of the SAT will be dropped, the "critical reading passages" section will be expanded, and Algebra II will be added to the math section. While the addition of an essay seems popular and sensible-too many admissions essays are of the pre-packaged, expertly edited, maybe storebought kind-ending the analogies has drawn criticism. In a commentary in The Chronicle of Higher Education, retired professor Paul Marx argues convincingly that students who lack the vocabulary and "core knowledge" to perform well on tasks like analogies will likely struggle to understand a newspaper article or challenging reading assignment in college. For more see "A New Look for SATs," by Mark Clayton, The Christian Science Monitor, June 25, 2002 and "Why We Need the SAT," by Paul Marx, The Chronicle of Higher Education, June 7, 2002 (available to subscribers

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SAT to dump analogies, add essay

A Consumer's Guide to Teacher Quality: Opportunity and Challenge in the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001

Kelly Scott / June 28, 2002

National Council on Teacher Quality
May 31, 2002

This report is a collection of thoughtful, pithy "briefing memos" commissioned by the National Council on Teacher Quality. Penned by a wide range of experts-including Teach for America's Wendy Kopp and alternative certification guru Emily Feistritzer-the memos address such topics as tenure reform, improving professional development, leveraging Title II dollars to promote leadership and reform, aligning teacher preparation with student standards, and more. Some of the essays paint a broad picture of reform while others examine specific states' experiences. You won't find anything earth-shattering here-indeed, much of the material has appeared elsewhere-but you will find some well-written, persuasive essays on topics that states and localities urgently need to address. All but one of the memos are available at http://www.nctq.org/press/2002_consumers_guide/index.html. To order a hard copy of the full report, email NCTQ at TQBulletin@nctq.org.

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A Consumer's Guide to Teacher Quality: Opportunity and Challenge in the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001

All Over The Map: State Policies to Improve the High School

Janet Heffner / June 28, 2002

Monica Martinez and Judy Bray, National Alliance on the American High School
May 2002

This 40-page report by the National Alliance on the American High School analyzes states' numerous and varied policies to improve secondary schools. These policies are grouped into three main categories: (1) those that address high-school-specific issues like credits, graduation requirements and the GED exam; (2) those that "detail opportunities to learn," including basic funding, remedial help, teacher certification, charter schools, and other options beyond the traditional comprehensive high school; and (3) "new" policies such as standards, assessments and accountability. Each policy area is described with a view toward the latest trends, longstanding assumptions, and resulting tensions. Given the wide range of state policies, the report concludes that there is little agreement on what Americans expect from their high schools, and that state and local officials are struggling for control of the issue, which helps account for the lack of significant academic gains in grades 9-12. Martinez and Bray challenge states to create a set of coherent, well-defined policies regarding the role of the high school-one that defines progress in terms of high academic standards and achievement, not seat time. A PDF version of this report can be found at http://www.hsalliance.org/Allfinal.pdf. You can request a free hard copy via email (hsalliance@iel.org), fax (202-822-8405), or snail mail (Publications, IEL, 1001 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 310, Washington, DC 20036).

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All Over The Map: State Policies to Improve the High School

Closing the Achievement Gap: No Excuses

Chester E. Finn, Jr. / June 28, 2002

Gerald Anderson and Patricia Davenport
2002

The Brazosport (Texas) Independent School District has done an exemplary job of narrowing the usual demographic achievement gaps and, in this 125-page book, two architects of that reform strategy explain how they did it. The keys seem to be a "total quality management" approach, the astute use of assessment data for feedback and improvement, and intelligent application of proven instructional strategies. The American Productivity & Quality Center is the publisher. (You can learn more about that organization's continuing education initiative-which includes expert consultation for other schools and school systems-by surfing to www.apqc.org/education.) Former Brazosport superintendent Gerald Anderson and Patricia Davenport are the co-authors. The ISBN is 1-928593-62-3. The pricetag is a hefty $20 (for a slender paperback). You can contact the APQC at 123 North Post Oak Lane, 3rd floor, Houston, TX 77024 or call (800) 776-9676. You can also surf to http://www.apqc.org/pubs/dispPub.cfm?ProductID=1340.

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Closing the Achievement Gap: No Excuses

Evidence Matters: Randomized Trials in Education Research

Chester E. Finn, Jr. / June 28, 2002

edited by Frederick Mosteller and Robert Boruch
2002

This solemn new Brookings volume, edited by Frederick Mosteller and Robert Boruch, is no page-turner but it's an important contribution to the evolution of education research by virtue of being perhaps the clearest guide yet to the merits and politics of "randomized field trials" (i.e. true experiments with proper control groups) in this policy domain. Eight mostly excellent chapters provide a solid grounding in what randomized field trials are, how they work, why they're desirable in education, why they're so seldom carried out, and what can be done in situations that don't lend themselves to this approach. 230 pages in toto, the ISBN is 0815702051 and you can learn more by surfing to http://www.brookings.edu/dybdocroot/press/books/evidence_matters.htm. - Chester E. Finn, Jr.

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Evidence Matters: Randomized Trials in Education Research

Schools and Staffing Survey, 1999-2000

Chester E. Finn, Jr. / June 28, 2002

National Center for Education Statistics
2002

One of the more useful data series produced by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) is its periodic "schools and staffing survey" (SASS), of which this 245-pager is the latest. (It is just the first of a shelf of NCES reports to be based on this data set; others are listed on page 245.) Though the data are usually, as now, a couple of years old, they include a ton of information about primary and secondary schools in America: how many of them, how they're staffed, how old their teachers are, how many have various programs and facilities, etc. This year, for the first time, the report comes in four parts. The most familiar has to do with regular public schools. Then there's a 24-page section on private schools, subdivided into about 15 genres of private schooling. (You learn, for example, that while 100% of "Hebrew Day" school principals are former teachers, 58% of Missouri Synod Lutheran School heads have experience as coaches and athletic directors.) Then there's a brand-new section on public charter schools (from which we learn, for example, that about half require full state certification in the field to be taught while 45 percent require an academic major or minor in the field) and can also glimpse some important differences between newly-started charters and those that converted from conventional public-school status. Finally, there's a section-again for the first time-covering the country's 177

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Schools and Staffing Survey, 1999-2000

The Annenberg Challenge: Lessons and Reflections on Public School Reform

Chester E. Finn, Jr. / June 28, 2002

Annenberg Foundation and Annenberg Institute for School Reform
2002

The Annenberg Foundation and Annenberg Institute for School Reform recently issued this self-congratulatory celebration of "lessons learned" from the $500 million "Annenberg Challenge" program launched in 1993. It's a gushy 60-page recap of truisms and earnest inside-the-box notions about education reform ("every child benefits from high expectations," "schools need lots of allies to do this work," "professional development holds the key to better schools," "schools need strong leadership," etc.) from which you're not apt to learn anything you didn't already know except that the Annenberg folks evidently felt a powerful need to assert themselves in the face of criticism (some of it by us) that all this money has left few footprints. It seems they're content with fingerprints or, perhaps, leafprints. Should you want to see our skeptical appraisal of what the Annenberg Challenge produced in three major cities, surf to http://www.edexcellence.net/detail/news.cfm?news_id=41. Should you want to see our ideas about more effective education-reform philanthropy, go to http://www.edexcellence.net/publications/index.cfm?topic=22. Should you want to see this harmless but self-serving exultation by the Annenbourgeoisie, go to http://www.annenbergchallenge.org/.

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The Annenberg Challenge: Lessons and Reflections on Public School Reform