ISO vigorous research chief and feisty stats head

Chester E. Finn, Jr. / October 16, 2008

Oceans of ink and big chunks of cyberspace and the radio spectrum will be consumed, starting a few weeks hence, by speculation about who will or should or mustn't occupy key roles in the Presidential administration of John McCain or Barack Obama.

But why wait? In the world of education policy wonkdom, two of the keyest slots are already opening, with the recently-announced and soon-to-occur departures of Russ Whitehurst from the directorship of the Institute for Education Sciences and Mark Schneider from the commissioner's office at the National Center for Education Statistics. (Yesterday, in fact, was Schneider's swan song at NCES.) And it's never too early to start thinking about who could and should fill them.

They really do matter. Though neither official dispenses big bucks, the IES director steers the principal vehicle by which Uncle Sam supports education R & D and evaluates education programs. And the statistics commissioner is responsible for pretty much all the data by which we know how we're doing throughout the education sector, how much we're spending, how many teachers there are, you name it. In a time of widespread discontent with the performance (not to mention the efficiency and productivity) of U.S. schools and colleges, and a time when so many of Uncle Sam's efforts to alter that situation aren't working very well, the people in these two offices bear weighty responsibilities.

They need to be decent administrators and deft politicians, of course, but above

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ISO vigorous research chief and feisty stats head

Historical change

October 16, 2008

Everyone knows that this year's is a "change" election, and everyone also knows that our education system could benefit from some real change, too. I vote for reinserting history and related subjects back into the curriculum. 

Every week, it seems, another study highlights how little knowledge our young people possess about history, civics and geography. Earlier this year, Common Core found that half of the 17 year olds polled didn't know whom Senator McCarthy investigated or what the Renaissance was, while the Bradley Foundation told us that most eighth graders couldn't explain the purpose of the Declaration of Independence. The list goes on. In 2006, National Geographic revealed that nearly two-thirds of 18-24 year olds could not identify Iraq on a map of Asia, and fully 88 percent could not find Afghanistan--apparently refuting Ambrose Bierce's suggestion that "War is God's way of teaching Americans geography." 

As an organization that believes in the power of standards and school accountability to boost student achievement, StandardsWork naturally looks first to see if faulty state standards are the culprit. Not surprisingly, we find that social studies standards are both more out-of-date (fully 20 percent are more than 10 years old) and of poorer quality than the standards for any other subject. Generally, older state standards documents haven't benefited from rising expectations for clarity, specificity and rigor. Fordham's most recent reviews of social studies standards gave states an average grade of D, with

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Historical change

Impoliticking

October 16, 2008

It's no military step routine for sure, but the recent federal suit filed by the New York City United Federation of Teachers is certainly out of step. At issue is a city policy that makes political buttons and signs verboten in schools. On September 23, UFT president Randi Weingarten sent an email to union leaders detailing how to distribute campaign materials for AFT- (and UFT-) endorsed Democratic candidate Barack Obama. Chancellor Joel Klein fired back with a strict reminder that while "on duty or in contact with students, all school personnel shall maintain a posture of complete neutrality." No amicable solution, here. The union sued, arguing that this is an infringement of teachers' First Amendment rights to free speech--and, as Weingarten alleged, they'd know, since "teachers, maybe more than others, understand how important democracy is and how important the Constitution is, especially the Bill of Rights." Or not. When in school, teachers are public employees paid with public dollars, not private citizens minding their own business. It's bizarre that the UFT doesn't see the distinction since, according to Weingarten herself, "teachers understand they cannot proselytize their personal beliefs and they also understand the importance of showing students the value of civic participation." Hmm. And lapel-pasted political beliefs are not proselytizing how?

"Teachers Sue Over Right to Politic," By Jennifer Medina, New York Times, October 11, 2008.

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Impoliticking

Tenurita

October 16, 2008

As the Holy Rabbi would say, it could always be worse. While Bob Schieffer told the nation last night that our education system trails "most of the countries of the world," surely he didn't have Mexico in mind. Consider this: Mexican teachers have the right to sell their positions for cold hard cash (going prices have been as high as a teacher's starting annual salary--$6,000) and to bequeath their classroom to a family member. (One teacher explained this outrageous practice thusly: "Throughout history, the sons of carpenters have become carpenters. Even politicians' children become politicians. Why shouldn't our children have the same right?") The government is moving to reform some of this madness, leading to teacher strikes that have been wreaking havoc since August. Meanwhile, fall classes haven't even started in a number of places, leaving nearly 500,000 children in the lurch. Seems like only having the chickens, the rooster, and the goose in the house isn't that bad after all. Mexico has the whole farm.

"For Mexico's Teachers, Jobs are Things to Inherit or Sell, and They're on Strike to Keep it That Way," by Marion Lloyd, Houston Chronicle, October 12, 2008

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Tenurita

Parental discipline redux

October 16, 2008

Extra chores, withheld desserts, and grounding may be going the way of poodle skirts and cherry coke floats if the latest installments in the Nebraska safe-haven law saga are any indication. Two grandparents dropped their 14-year-old granddaughter off at Creighton University Medical Center last week, but later changed their minds, deciding a temporary sojourn as a ward of the state was enough to teach the poor girl "a lesson." Not so lucky for a 13-year-old boy from Michigan. His mother, who drove 12 hours to drop him off, is unlikely to develop seller's remorse, given the amount of time she had--12 hours!--to mull over her decision. (Next thing you know, hospital gift shops will be selling preshrunk cottons reading, "I went to Omaha to get rid of my kid and all I got in return was this lousy tee-shirt.") Fortunately, the state legislature is also changing its mind--about the ill-conceived law itself; too bad that mistake cannot be rectified until lawmakers reconvene in January.

"Nebraska: After Second Thoughts, Guardians Take Back Abandoned Girl," Associated Press, October 10, 2008

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Parental discipline redux

Improvement is for everyone?

October 16, 2008

Here's a riddle. You're the Secretary of Education. A deeply unpopular law is starting to label even good schools as failures. What do you do? Think positive! "Pretty much every organization needs improvement," Margaret Spellings told the New York Times this week. That's certainly true as far as it goes; even Gadfly tries to muscle-up his wings from time to time. But it's unlikely to placate state and local education officials whose schools are being branded as "failures" by the press. "The law is diagnosing schools that just have the sniffles with having pneumonia," explains South Carolina's superintendent. One such school is Stephen Knolls, a specialized campus in Montgomery County, Maryland serving "medically fragile children with severe physical and cognitive disabilities, such as cerebral palsy, spina bifida and Rett syndrome." Yet it failed to make the grade under NCLB because its attendance rate wasn't high enough. (That's because more than a few of its students were in the hospital.) Maybe our next Secretary of Education will admit that, for an accountability system to work, it's got to do a better job differentiating between and among good and bad schools.

"Under 'No Child' Law, Even Solid Schools Falter," by Sam Dillon, The New York Times, October 13, 2008

"School Attendance Law 'Gone Awry,'" by Daniel de Vise, The Washington Post, October 14, 2008

"Common Sense Left Behind," Editorial, Washington Post, October 16, 2008

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Improvement is for everyone?

Demography Defeated: Florida's K-12 Reforms and Their Lessons for the Nation

Amber M. Winkler, Ph.D. / October 16, 2008

Dan Lips and Matthew Ladner
Goldwater Institute
September 2008

This report from the Goldwater Institute examines the 10-year (1998-2008) impact of various "incentive-and instruction-based" reforms implemented in Florida under former Governor Jeb Bush. It catalogs and reviews existing research on the Sunshine State's reforms, including its A+ Accountability Plan (which grades schools A to F based on student performance), policies to end social promotion, alternative certification pathways, school choice and voucher programs, and universal pre-K program, to name a few. Associated with and perhaps caused by these reforms, argue the authors, was  "remarkable improvement" in Florida's NAEP scores. They note that the pre-Jeb era found nearly half of Florida's 4th graders scoring below basic in reading on the national test; today 70 percent are at or above basic. Florida's 4th grade Hispanic students, on average, are posting enviable reading gains, too, beating the overall average score of all 4th grade students in 15 states. We agree that there's lot to love about Florida and its school reforms, but not all is yet sunny. The state's academic standards (currently under revision) need more specificity and its funding system could be better tied to students, not programs. Still, states would be wise to take a page (or chapter) from the Florida K-12 playbook. You can start by reading the Goldwater study here.

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Demography Defeated: Florida's K-12 Reforms and Their Lessons for the Nation

The New Kindergarten

Chester E. Finn, Jr. / October 16, 2008

Douglas J. Besharov and Douglas M. Call
Wilson Quarterly
Autumn 2008

In the new Wilson Quarterly, the University of Maryland's Douglas Besharov and Douglas Call have published an important challenge to the misguided clamor for "universal pre-school." Their key point--and it's powerful--is that most pre-school youngsters already have access to sundry pre-K programs and funding mechanisms both public and private. There's no sound reason except pure politics to launch a big and costly new universal program that confers a needless windfall on many families, fails to rectify (indeed, will likely replicate) the shortcomings of present-day programs, and delivers too little by way of intensive intervention to do much good for the kids who need it most. Not to mention that most pre-K effects (such as they are) fade during the elementary grades. As they say, "Universal pre-K might be a boon to the middle class...but it would still leave unmet the much more serious needs of low-income children." Read it here. And if this topic interests you, also make sure to have a look at Bruce Fuller's fine book, Standardized Childhood: The Political and Cultural Struggle Over Early Education.

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The New Kindergarten

Minorities in Higher Education 2008, Twenty-Third Status Report

October 16, 2008

Mikyung Ryu
American Council on Education
October 2008

This report tracks the educational achievement of minority groups, specifically inquiring whether younger generations surpass their elders in postsecondary attainment. Unfortunately, recent trends show that the overall percentage of young adults with at least some kind of post-secondary degree in relation to older generations has stalled, and fallen for some minority groups. About 35 percent of all adults from 25 to 29 had earned a college degree in 2006--the same percentage as adults over the age of 30. But 18 percent of older Hispanics had at least an associate degree in 2006, while only 16 percent of younger Hispanics had reached the same education threshold. While African American attainment levels remained flat at 24 percent, only 18 percent of younger American Indian adults had at least an associate's degree, compared with 21 percent of older American Indian adults. But the news isn't all bad. In absolute numbers, minority enrollment at colleges and universities rose by 50 percent between 1995 and 2005--from 3.4 million to 5 million students. While high school graduation rates for African Americans remained flat at 76 percent, African American college enrollment increased by 46 percent to 2 million students during that decade. Still, only whites and Asian Americans continue to surpass their elders in terms of educational attainment levels; in 2006, 41 percent of 25-29 year old white adults had at least as associate's degree compared to 37 percent of white

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Minorities in Higher Education 2008, Twenty-Third Status Report