Three strikes for vouchers in the Sunshine State?

November 18, 2004

For the third time since the law was enacted in 1999, Florida's Court of Appeals ruled that the state's Opportunity Scholarship Program, which allows students in failing schools to use vouchers to attend a public or private school of their choice, violates the state constitution's controversial Blaine Amendment. (For more click here.) In the 8-5-1 ruling (one judge disagreed with both the majority and the dissent because he felt that the program's constitutionality should be decided on a school-by-school basis), Judge William Van Nortwick declared that "courts do not have the authority to ignore the clear language of the Constitution, even for a popular program with a worthy purpose." To add additional fuel to the anti-voucher fire, five of the majority judges signed a separate opinion that suggested the law could also be unconstitutional under a different provision outlining the state's duty to provide a "uniform, safe, secure, and high quality system of free public education." Dissenting from the decision was a forceful minority of five judges who argued that "the Florida Constitution should not be construed in a manner that tips the scales of neutrality in favor of more restrictions and less free exercise of religion." The case now moves to the state Supreme Court, which must weigh the impact of extending this narrow interpretation of Florida's Blaine Amendment to other programs where state funds reach a religiously affiliated institution. According to the Institute for Justice, the ruling

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Three strikes for vouchers in the Sunshine State?

Coming soon: Value-added assessment?

November 18, 2004

Has the time come for value-added assessment? That's what some are suggesting in this Ed Week article by Lynn Olson. She reports that 16 states have written to the Education Department requesting permission to explore value-added assessments as a way of meeting NCLB requirements, with Ohio and Pennsylvania moving ahead to install such systems for state testing purposes. Unfortunately, while everyone seems to like value-added assessment as a tool for refining teaching strategies or informing curriculum decisions, state bureaucrats and teacher unions get jittery if anyone suggests that such assessments be used in "high-stakes situations." Meaning: use them so long as they don't count. Our view is that value-added assessments are critical to solving a central problem with NCLB: the wide disparity in "proficiency" targets state-by-state. When the administration goes to Congress to extend NCLB to high school, we hope they include this common sense fix.

"'Value-added' models gain in popularity," by Lynn Olson, Education Week, November 17, 2004

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Coming soon: Value-added assessment?

Defining failure down

November 18, 2004

According to the National Education Association, of the 41 states that have reported their NCLB test results from spring 2004, 32 showed improvement in the number of schools meeting their adequate yearly progress (AYP) goals. Cause for celebration? Perhaps. But before anyone makes grand claims, take a careful look at what those numbers mask. Specifically, while 32 states have reduced the number of schools that "need improvement," according to the Center on Education Policy, at least 35 states have amended the rules that determine which schools pass and which schools fail. As the Wall Street Journal reports, in North Carolina, for example, only 660 schools failed to meet AYP in 2004 - just half the number that didn't meet the state's AYP goal in 2003. But, since last year's AYP results were released, the Department of Education has allowed the Tar Heel State "to make 11 changes to the rules that the state uses to determine what its schools must do to meet the yearly target. One of those changes alone resulted in 10 percent more schools passing this year than last." The Education Department also allowed Delaware, among other states, to label a school district as failing "only if children at all three school levels - elementary, middle, and high school - miss their learning goals." (Previously, a district was deemed "in need of improvement" if children in one grade in any level failed to meet AYP - a

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Defining failure down

Ed Next, hot off the presses

November 18, 2004

The latest issue of Education Next came our way this week, and it's a good one. The cover story - Jim Traub's fascinating profile of the Hyde schools, where the focus is on rigorous character education - is a must-read. There's also a trio of articles about options for reworking the antiquated teacher pay schedule. A pair of essays discusses Chicago's program of ending social promotion in its public schools. The rest is good, too: Brad Bumsted gives us the scoop on Reading, Pennsylvania's failed NCLB lawsuit; David Steiner makes us worry (again) about ed school curricula; and there's a nice research piece on Tennessee's merit pay program. A fun bonus at the end: a much-needed summary of the Old Grey Lady's inability to deliver anything even remotely resembling rigorous education writing.

Education Next, Winter 2004

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Ed Next, hot off the presses

Educating Citizens: International Perspectives on Civic Values and School Choice

Chester E. Finn, Jr. / November 18, 2004

Patrick J. Wolf and Stephen Macedo, editors, The Brookings Institution
2004

Much of the value of this terrific and timely but bulky (400 page) Brookings volume can be gotten from its fine introductory chapter by co-editors Macedo (Princeton) and Wolf (Georgetown). Ten more chapters offer case studies of the interplay of school choice and civic values in Europe and Canada, while the final five essays by U.S. experts seek to adduce lessons for the American policy context. The basic dilemma explored in these pages is familiar to everyone who has been awake during our school choice debates: will more choice lead to worrisome civic fragmentation and balkanization as diverse schools erase the hope of shared values and "common schooling?" The conceptualizers of this project sensibly went off to see what might be learned from the experience of countries where publicly funded school choice is normal rather than something viewed as a risky policy innovation. The findings are fascinating and illuminating. Though it's never easy to generalize about the education systems of other countries or to apply their experience in the American context, the basic finding of this book is that other countries accommodate pluralism, diversity, and choice in the supply of primary-secondary education by extending to all schools, public and private, a high degree of government regulation. It takes many forms, to be sure, sometimes focusing on inputs (e.g. curriculum, teacher qualifications), sometimes on school "inspections," sometimes on academic results. But as

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Educating Citizens: International Perspectives on Civic Values and School Choice

Creating the Capacity for Change: How and Why Governors and Legislatures are Opening a New-Schools Sector in Public Education

Terry Ryan / November 18, 2004

Ted Kolderie, Education/Evolving
September 2004

The basic premise of this book is that states need finally to move beyond trying to fix their broken systems of education - the "old public-utility model" - by focusing their reform efforts squarely on creating "new schools." In short, the author argues, it's easier to create new schools - charter schools, contracted schools, site-managed schools - than to fix a broken Industrial Age system laden with layers of entrenched special interests. According to Kolderie, one of America's foremost charter school pioneers, it's time for policy makers and educators to "acknowledge the ineffectiveness of the effort simply to transform existing schools." Why? All children don't learn the same way so they need different schools that actually meet their needs and align with their individual learning styles. How to create the capacity for change? First, state leaders need to accept the premise that the system is broken. Second, they need to create policy space for the emergence of "new schools." Third, they need to provide real incentives for districts to change. Fourth, district leaders need to stop thinking of themselves as the owners and operators of schools, and start thinking of themselves as the "education board" overseeing and managing a portfolio of individually operated schools. Kolderie is describing the future of education, where schools are largely free of bureaucratic red-tape, micro-managing outsiders, and indiscriminate demands. In return, they are responsible for truly educating all their children and managing

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Creating the Capacity for Change: How and Why Governors and Legislatures are Opening a New-Schools Sector in Public Education

The Donor's Guide to School Choice

November 18, 2004

Brian C. Anderson, The Philanthropy Roundtable
2004

Herewith an excellent introduction to the world of school choice. Anderson is writing mainly for donors and does a fine job of explaining how various strategies provide more (or less) bang for your funding buck. He begins by outlining the pros and cons of various choice options, including private scholarships, vouchers, tax credits, and charter schools. His analysis of each option is brief but insightful. After a short interlude on the urgency of simply increasing the supply of good choice options, Anderson proceeds to the heart of the report: seven "imperatives" for reform-minded philanthropists. This candid section emphasizes strategies for practicing "tactical philanthropy" and, like the rest of the report, features honest, helpful advice from people on the front lines of the education wars.. Qualified donors can get free copies, and others can receive copies for $1.50, by emailing main@philanthropyroudtable.org.

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The Donor's Guide to School Choice