For progressive school reform, look South

Michael J. Petrilli / August 13, 2009

If you ask education experts to name cutting-edge spots for reform, they are likely to list Washington; New York; New Orleans; and maybe Denver. These are certainly the cities whose systems and superintendents have gotten the lion's share of press attention recently.

But let me suggest an alternative group: Montgomery County, MD; Fairfax County, VA; and Wake County, NC. There are good reasons to believe that these county-wide systems and their peers south of the Mason-Dixon Line are going to be the first to show the break-through progress that has eluded the big urban districts to date.

That hopeful forecast comes from reading Leading for Equity: The Pursuit of Excellence in Montgomery County Schools, by Stacey M. Childress, Denis P. Doyle, and David A. Thomas. The book admits to being a "celebration" of the progress made in this 140,000-pupil system in the DC suburbs under the decade-long leadership of superintendent Jerry Weast, including rising test scores and dramatic increases in the number of students (particularly poor and minority students) taking and passing Advanced Placement courses.

Much of the story comes down to smart implementation of reform ideas that have been around forever, such as boosting teachers' "instructional capacity," and rethinking the use of time; it helps that this mostly-wealthy district is reasonably well managed and staffed. But what's most provocative is its approach to equity: It unabashedly embraced a Robin Hood strategy of taking resources from the richest parts of the county

» Continued

For progressive school reform, look South

A first-rate education for all

Chester E. Finn, Jr. / August 13, 2009

If America's elementary and high schools laid a sounder educational foundation for more of their students, America's colleges would be far more successful at constructing a solid and artful edifice atop it. For millions of today's young people, however, the first task of postsecondary education is to impart the skills, knowledge and habits of mind that our secondary schools neglected because they were consumed by the challenge of backfilling for grades K-8.

Some colleges and universities do a decent job of this. And some--by and large the most selective and prestigious among them--don't need to because they're blessed with students who, thanks to some fortunate combination of good schools, attentive parents and personal drive, emerged from the K-12 gauntlet with a good-to-excellent education.

Yes, despite all the shortcomings, criticisms and nation-at-risk grumbling, tens of thousands of young Americans do well in school, and hundreds of schools do a praiseworthy job, at least for a substantial fraction of their pupils. For these students, college should--and can--be an intellectual feast of substantial entrees, exotic side dishes, novel condiments, and scrumptious desserts.

The educational risks they face, meanwhile, are three: premature vocationalism (too many accounting or teaching-methods courses; not enough art, literature, history and philosophy); being swept up in trendy academic ephemera (gender studies, oppression studies, etc.); and the temptations of personal freedom (partying rather than studying). Their universities could do far more to advise them and structure their campus experience--expecting students to work through all

» Continued

A first-rate education for all

No more shortcuts

August 13, 2009

Echoing last week's Texan attempt to keep dropouts in school, currently-enrolled Florida students might think twice before taking that state's GED early exit. Heretofore, current students who wanted a year-round summer break could take the GED, and in return for a passing score, get a regular diploma--the same diploma as students who had completed four or more years, finished all twenty-four required credits, and had a passing score on the tenth grade FCAT state test. The practice, it seems, had flown under the radar for a number of years in many Florida districts. Effective immediately in the Sunshine State, however, students who try this will instead receive a "high-school-equivalency," the same kind of diploma given to teens who had dropped out and later returned to a GED program. Is it fair to count the early-finishers with the dropouts? Florida Education Commissioner Eric Smith says aye. "We have an obligation to make sure that a child who earns a standard diploma has met certain standards. It is an indication of what a child has accomplished." Smith cites the absence of state law authorizing the former practice as the impetus for changing the rules, but we have to note that the shift also mirrors federal NCLB graduation regulations from late 2008, which do not allow modified diplomas to be counted in graduation rates. That means Florida's overall stats may go down as a result of this move; huzzah for Smith

» Continued

No more shortcuts

Power check

August 13, 2009

After much squabbling and power grabbing, the New York state legislature has given mayoral control of New York City's schools back to Mayor Michael Bloomberg, thirty-eight days after the six-year old measure expired. Ironically, the United Federation of Teachers helped Bloomberg score this victory, though some insist that the new law doesn't do nearly enough to rein in Bloomberg's sometimes heavy-handed tactics. Gadfly tends to see the legislative tweaks, which focus on increased transparency, oversight, and community input, as a decent compromise. Bloomberg (and schools chancellor Joel Klein) retains much of his former power, but district superintendents will get more operational authority; schools will have to communicate with parents more often; and the city must hold community hearings before shutting a school, amongst other things. But what's still unknown--and left unresolved by the state law--is what happens come November 2013. The Senate's extension is for six years, which will at least leave 2 years for another mayor. (We're assuming Bloomberg's impending reelection in November 2009, which looks promising; he is currently ahead of his primary challenger, city comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr., by 10 points in the polls.) As history has taught us, mayoral control is only as good as the mayor to whom the power is bestowed, and those he appoints.

"N.Y. Senate Renews Mayor's Power to Run Schools," by Jennifer Medina, New York Times, August 7, 2009

» Continued

Power check

Skipping class or class skipping

August 13, 2009

Here's one way school districts can cut costs and increase student learning: embrace "grade skipping" for their most advanced pupils. So argue Laura Vanderkam and Richard Whitmire in a recent Ed Week commentary. Compared with traditional "talented and gifted" programs, this is a real bargain; it costs schools very little to put a first grader in third grade math or a fifth grader in sixth grade reading whereas enrichment teachers are another addition to the faculty. And "if a student moves through K-12 in 11 or 12 years, rather than 13, taxpayers save money," conclude the authors. Still, the practice remains unpopular with educators. A 2008 Fordham report found that a whopping 63 percent of teachers opposed accelerating students. For a plan that economical, taking another look seems eminently sensible.

"What Ever Happened to Grade Skipping?," by Laura Vanderkam and Richard Whitmire, Education Week, August 11, 2009 (registration required)

» Continued

Skipping class or class skipping

Rhode Island gets the Gist

August 13, 2009

We predicted that Deborah Gist would bring her hard-knock reformer skills to Rhode Island, possibly manifesting in an overhaul of that state's timeworn, ineffectual teacher evaluation system. This seems to be exactly what she plans to do. In a move somewhat reminiscent of Gist and D.C. Chancellor Michelle Rhee's Plan B, the Ocean State's board of regents recently approved a new slate of teacher evaluation requirements. Most school systems will be starting from scratch, as today they not only have no consequences for ineffective educators (or rewards for effective ones), but also review their instructors so infrequently as to make evaluations near-meaningless. Under the new Rhode Island standards, districts are required to revamp evaluation systems to include classroom observation, student performance, and outside input (like parent and student surveys), and to conduct evaluations at least annually. The changes will go into effect mostly in fall 2010, though some districts are waiting until collective bargaining agreements expire in two to three years to implement the changes. Which brings up a point in need of clarification. Though districts are also required to use the new evaluations to help struggling teachers and reward effective classroom practitioners, it's not clear how they will circumvent the union contracts that for the most part champion job protectionism and tenure. Will they take a lesson from the District, which tied these evaluations to teacher recertification, the key in Gist's earlier strategy to circumvent union rules?

» Continued

Rhode Island gets the Gist

Greener pastures

August 13, 2009

Refuting the widely-held notion that charter schools cater almost exclusively to urban communities and minority students, the Columbus Dispatch reports that suburban and rural students are making up an increasing percentage of charter school rolls in the Buckeye State. Non-district sponsored charters, which are limited by Ohio state law to urban and/or low performing districts, are trying to respond to the demand, moving away from the inner city and relocating on district boundaries to improve access for this new student population. But the Dispatch's presentation of the figures makes it sound like this is an exodus we ought to lament, since the suburban and rural districts that are losing pupils are also losing the dollars that go with them. But what's not mentioned is that the districts losing the most students are also some of the lowest performing and that many of the receiving charters are actually district-sponsored, meaning dollars stay in traditional public-school district coffers (just not the coffers of the suburban and rural districts). Groveport Madison school district, for example, whose charter-exiting student population has increased to 1,100 from 400 a few years ago, failed to meet minimum proficiency standards last year in fifteen of the state's twenty-three state assessments administered in grades 3 through 10. Instead of the hand-wringing over lost students and lost dollars, smart districts will try to figure out why they're leaving in the first place.

"Charters reach farther out," by Jennifer Smith Richards,

» Continued

Greener pastures

The Tradeoff Between Teacher Wages and Layoffs to Meet Budget Cuts

August 13, 2009

Marguerite Roza
Center on Reinventing Public Education, University of Washington
July 2009

If you want to avoid sharp increases in class size, you have to pick your poison when it comes to budget slashing, according to a hypothetical analysis done by Marguerite Roza. On average, the teacher pay schedule increases three percent per year of work; that's in addition to a three percent average annual cost of living increase. Together, this means the typical public-school teacher will make six percent more each year. But with district budgets squeezed by the economy, most districts cannot afford those increases without laying off teachers, too. So she runs the numbers through five scenarios, from maintaining the pay increases and the cost of living adjustments to rolling back salaries 5 percent and abandoning the 3 percent salary step increase. Keeping the salary scale as is will result in 17 percent class size increase and laying off 14 percent of the teacher work force. Freezing salaries completely (no step increase; no cost of living increase) still means 7 percent of the teacher work force must be laid off and class sizes will increase by a corresponding 8 percent. But abandoning the step scale all together and slashing salaries by 5 percent will keep both layoffs and class size increases at bay. All options are presented in a handy and easy-to-understand table. This analysis brings to the fore the debate over "last-hired, first-fired" policies and dishes

» Continued

The Tradeoff Between Teacher Wages and Layoffs to Meet Budget Cuts