America’s addiction to grade inflation

Terry Ryan / April 20, 2012

Grade inflation is a way of life in American education, and campaigns to combat it face political pushback and a long, uphill battle to succeed.

Back in 2007, the Fordham Institute published “The Proficiency Illusion" that showed states were calibrating their tests to create “a false impression of success, especially in reading and especially in the early grades.” Further, public polling routinely shows that people think highly of their local schools (and their own children’s academic preparedness), but the data don’t back up such optimism.

There is considerable evidence that our schools aren’t performing as well as we’ve been led to believe: While two-thirds of Ohio’s school districts received a top rating last year of “Excellent” or “Excellent with Distinction” more than 40 percent of the state’s entering college freshmen had to take remedial courses in college. Still, efforts to raise expectations and confront the problem of grade inflation face stiff resistance. There has been tremendous blowback in the Buckeye State against proposed changes to the state’s accountability system that would see the percentage of top rated school districts in the state drop from 63 percent to just four percent. Under the new system, 74 percent of the state’s charter schools would get a D or F grade while 9 percent would get an A or B.

Higher ed appears equally plagued by an achievement illusion. The New York Times Education Life reported this past weekend that “about 75 percent of

» Continued

America’s addiction to grade inflation

Stretching the school-district dollar

Michael J. Petrilli / April 25, 2012

Despite some signs of economic recovery, school districts nationwide continue to struggle mightily. The combination of a depressed property tax base and built-in cost escalators produces recurring gaps that demand budget cuts every year just to keep doing the same old thing… and the long-term outlook isn’t much brighter.

Make no mistake: The “new normal” of tougher budget times—as Secretary of Education Arne Duncan calls it—is here to stay for American K-12 education. While that presents plenty of hardships, it also offers local officials a golden opportunity to rethink the way we run schools and to boost productivity and efficiency, a point I make in my new policy brief, “How School Districts Can Stretch the School Dollar.”

How? Let’s start with a few key principles to keep in mind when weighing cuts:

Solving our budget crisis shouldn’t come at the expense of children. We should do everything we can to protect students’ learning opportunities and boost their achievement.

Nor can it come from teachers’ sacrifice alone. Suppressing teacher salaries forever isn’t a recipe for recruiting bright young people into education—or retaining the excellent teachers we have now.

Quick fixes aren’t a good answer; we need fundamental changes that enhance productivity. The reforms—and investments—with the greatest payoff are those that will maximize student outcomes at lower cost.

And since education is overwhelmingly a people business—and most of the system’s costs are in personnel—the most promising reforms are those

» Continued

Stretching the school-district dollar

Education Reform for the Digital Era

April 25, 2012

Will the digital-learning movement repeat the mistakes of the charter-school movement? Can we be smarter about taking high-quality online and blended schools to scale—and to educational success? Yes, says this volume, as it addresses such thorny policy issues as quality control, staffing, funding, and governance for the digital sector. In these pages, the authors show how current arrangements need to change—often radically—if instructional technology is to realize its potential. Download the volume to learn more.

» Continued

Education Reform for the Digital Era

State Auditor clamps down, but not quite far enough, on the misuse of public dollars

April 24, 2012

Troubled charter schools around the state have been in the news of late for misspending and misallocating taxpayer money. Take for instance a recent special audit of the Dayton-based Richard Allen charter schools that revealed over $900,000 in findings for recovery from school management and governing authority members. In northern Ohio three charter school treasurers are responsible for over $1 million in questionable spending of public dollars. Charter schools are not the only ones spending public dollars in questionable ways: The purchase of boxer shorts and golf course memberships recently showed up in audits of local governments.

In response to these financial improprieties State Auditor Dave Yost, along with Rep. Hagan (R-Alliance) and Sen. Schaffer (R-Lancaster), crafted the Fiscal Integrity Act. The proposed bill (yet to be formally introduced) would bolster accountability measures and education requirements for treasurers working in the public sector. The bill would impact district schools, community (aka charter) schools, and local governments.

Highlights of the proposed Fiscal Integrity Act
Education

• All charter school treasurers would be required to be licensed in the same way that public school treasurers currently are. Community schools treasurers will now have to have a bachelor’s degree in a related business field and complete a 300 hour internship with a treasurer’s office in order to be licensed. Currently, charter school treasurers are only required to have 16 hours of accounting classes, 24 hours of classes in the first year

  » Continued

  Ohio Policy / School Finance

  ---

  State Auditor clamps down, but not quite far enough, on the misuse of public dollars

Truth in numbers: Student proficiency in Ohio now and under the Common Core

Emmy L. Partin / April 13, 2012

Among the suite of education proposals included in Governor Kasich’s “mid-biennium review” legislation is a transition from Ohio’s current, confusing, and complicated school-rating system to a more straightforward A to F one. Not only would the new system be easier for parents, educators, and the public to understand, it would also provide a more accurate assessment of how well schools and districts in the Buckeye State are educating students (which isn’t quite as well as many of them have been led to believe – see Bianca and Terry’s analysis, here). The proposed changes are a necessary step towards a more honest appraisal of how well prepared Buckeye State students are for the work and college. It also provides insights for what is necessary to increase preparedness for students moving forward.

But another change in the works, one not included in the governor’s bill (because it doesn’t require a change in law), is equally important when it comes to helping all players in the K-12 arena prepare for the higher expectations and rigor of the Common Core standards and the 21st-century global economy in which our students, as adults, will compete.

Early drafts of this year’s district- and building-level report cards were shared this week with the State Board of Education. The cover includes an “early warning system” alerting parents that higher standards and more rigorous assessments are just two school years away. Next to

» Continued

Truth in numbers: Student proficiency in Ohio now and under the Common Core

Off The Clock: What More Time Can (And Can’t) Do For School Turnarounds

Hanif Abdurraqib / April 25, 2012

Billions of dollars are being spent to increase learning time in struggling schools through Extended Learning Time (ELT). “ELT,” which the  U.S. Department of Education defines as the use of a longer school day, week, or year, is a key component of the School Improvement Grant program aimed at turning around failing public schools. But is the way to improve low-performing schools simply to add more time in school A recent report by Education Sector, Off The Clock: What More Time Can (And Can’t) Do For School Turnarounds, attempts to answer that question by looking at how schools are actually using their extra learning time. The report states that roughly 1,000 public schools around the nation are now operating with extended learning schedules, and at least 60 percent of those are charter schools.

ELT takes three major forms:

• Adding time to the school day: Schools anywhere from 180 additional minutes per week to 90 new minutes per day.
• Expanding time outside of school: This model relies on a community partner or external provider to offer additional learning hours outside of the school on Saturdays or during the summer.
• Changing the way schools use time: The goal here is simple: use time more effectively, and more efficiently, within the current school day. As opposed to extending the time, schools are encouraged to decrease non-instructional time and reallocate those minutes elsewhere.

In Ohio, of the 42 schools awarded SIG funds, 27 of them chose to take

» Continued

Off The Clock: What More Time Can (And Can’t) Do For School Turnarounds

Arts Education In Public Elementary and Secondary Schools: 1999-2000 and 2009-10

April 25, 2012

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) recently released Arts Education In Public Elementary and Secondary Schools1999-2000 and 2009-10, a report detailing the status of arts education in K-12 schools, the third study of its kind. This report builds on topics covered in the two prior reports: extent to which students received instruction in the arts, facilities and resources available for arts education, and preparation and instruction practices of art specialists and non-classroom teachers. The study also added new categories that were not discussed in the prior reports: the availability of curriculum-based art education activities outside of regular school hours and the presence of school-community partnerships in the arts. A total of 3,400 school participated in the current survey, including both district and charter schools.

The report compares the 1999-2000 school year data to the current data, in other words, pre-recession data versus post-recession data. In secondary schools, the only arts subject to increase in availability was music, with 91 percent of public schools offering courses in 2008-2009 (only 90 percent did so in 1999-2000.) Availability of courses in visual arts, dance, and drama/theatre all decreased from the 1999-2000 school year. In elementary schools, the numbers are worse. Schools offering music courses remained steady at 94 percent, the same as 1999-2000 school year. However, schools offering visual arts, dance, and drama/theatre courses all decreased, with dance availability dropping 17 percentage points and drama/theatre dropping 16 percentage points from the 1999-2000

» Continued

Arts Education In Public Elementary and Secondary Schools: 1999-2000 and 2009-10

Education Reform is entering new arenas: comedy television and sports

April 25, 2012

• You know that education reform has reached new levels of awareness when Saturday Night Live has a parody of Geoffrey Canada, the founder and CEO of the Harlem Children’s Zone. DeAndre Cole, played by Kenan Thompson, dancing and chanting “raising our expectations, he’s raising our expectations” shows that ed reform can be hilarious while promoting an important message. This video may also serve as your “learn something new every day” fact– Bill O’Reilly says he used to be a school teacher in Miami.
• For the 3^rd consecutive year, the Chicago all-boy charter school Urban Prep Academies has 100% of its graduating class admitted to a four-year college or university. The school not only has an impressive acceptance rate, but also an impressive retention rate with 83% of the 2010 graduates enrolling for their second year of college. It is a “signing” day.
• That old excuse “my dog ate my homework” still won’t get you out of work, but “my cat ate my homework” can be a very legitimate reason as to why your assignment is in pieces.
• Dayton Public and Beavercreek schools can proudly say they don’t serve “pink slime” in their school lunches. Springboro and Centerville schools are investigating further to see if this beef filler is served.

» Continued

Education Reform is entering new arenas: comedy television and sports

Join us May 17 for “Digital Learning: The future of schooling?”

April 25, 2012

Don’t miss this important, nonpartisan event about digital learning and where it will take education in Ohio -- and the nation -- in the years to come. National and state-based education experts and policymakers will debate and discuss digital learning in the context of the Common Core academic standards initiatives, teacher evaluations and school accountability, governance challenges and opportunities, and school funding and spending.

WHEN: Thursday, May 17; 1-4:30pm; a brief reception will follow
WHERE: Governors Ballroom, Sheraton at Capitol Square, 75 E. State Street, Columbus, Ohio
RSVP: Online at http://www.edexcellence.net/events/digital-learning-the-future-of-schooling.html
 
The event is being presented at no cost by KnowledgeWorks, the Nord Family Foundation, and the Thomas B. Fordham Institute.

» Continued

Join us May 17 for “Digital Learning: The future of schooling?”

A glimpse into Florida’s ed reform success

April 25, 2012

The third-grade reading guarantee and A to F school-rating system that are hallmarks of Governor Kasich’s mid-biennium budget aren’t new ideas in education. Florida enacted the changes years ago and has seen student achievement rise as a result. Attend tonight’s House education committee meeting or tomorrow’s Senate education committee to learn more about the “Florida experience.” Testifying will be Patricia Levesque and Mary Laura Bragg, of the Foundation for Excellence in Education, and Marcus Winters, of the Manhattan Institute.

» Continued

A glimpse into Florida’s ed reform success