Posts Tagged ‘low performing’

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“The time has come…

Wednesday, September 14th, 2011

To talk of many things”-Lewis Carroll. But talk about the lack of revision to ESEA (NCLB in its last iteration) is dominating the education world in September 2011.

rural school and district on Lopez Island, Washington

rural school and district on Lopez Island, Washington

The No Child Left Behind Act- President George W. Bush’s title for the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)– was first authorized in 1965 under President Lyndon Johnson and revised every 5 years until the last alteration in 2001. Since then, all calls for adjustments have hit the high Congressional wall of inaction.

Who’s talking? National teachers’ unions NEA and AFT advocate change. The Council of Chief State School Officers exhorts Congress. Members of the National Governor’s Association have been in the forefront.

All across the country non-union teacher’s groups are the biggest voices: Educators4Excellence in New York; Teacher Plus in Boston, Indianapolis, and Chicago; Center for Teaching Quality in North Carolina, Denver, and Seattle to name a few.

What did the 2001 act provide? The legislation is lengthy and detailed. The sections on which most talk centers are “Improve the Academic Achievement of the Disadvantaged” and “Improving Basic Programs…” which delineate the main provisions of the act. Next, qualifications for teachers and paraprofessionals led to time-consuming paperwork to assure each teacher was “highly qualified.” Also, Innovative Programs morphed into advocacy for charter schools. The section “Improving Basic Programs” outlined the actions to show “adequate yearly progress” in reading and mathematics: in brief, each state must teach to its curriculum standards and provide outcomes on benchmark exams which would lead to 100% school proficiency in reading and math by 2014.

Why is NCLB so despised? All of these mandated programs are underfunded. As has been declared in this blog many times, it was clear to most teachers and administrators from the beginning that to have every student in a state reach grade level proficiency in two subjects by 2014 was a preposterous goal. The cost of upgrading curriculum standards and providing tests that give a single score by which to judge students is a contentious argument.

The ESEA legislation should have been revised by Congress in 2005-2006. It wasn’t. President Obama laid out revisions for Congress to take up in 2009 and March 2011. No go. In August 2011, the U.S. Department of Education used a provision in the legislation to offer waivers to the 2014 proficiency benchmark. States that could show consistent improvement in the four big administration priorities for ESEA revision would be authorized to alter their programs. The administration’s priorities are 1) working state data systems; 2) turn-around plans for low-performing schools; 3) improve experienced vs. new teacher distribution in low-performing schools; 4) boost curriculum standards in the state.

To create jobs in a stricken economy and to provide a further push to Congress, President Obama in his speech on September 8, 2011, recommended $60 billion to be divided among states to save teachers’ jobs and fix the infrastructure of school property. The inference was also to finish ESEA revisions.

Representative John Kline, Education Committee, commented on the high cost and more regulation, calling the program a teacher’s union bailout. Representative George Miller and Senator Tom Harkin of their respective Education Committees were more enthusiastic. So far Congressional revisions have been offered to bolster charter schools, eliminate forty programs under the supervision of the U.S. Department of Education (like the Star Schools Distance Learning Program), and flexible shift of federal funds (like Title 1) from poverty budget lines to special education.

What to our surprise! John Kline’s House Education committee has passed a vote on the charter schools revisions yesterday, September 13, 2011. On to a full house vote.

On the other hand, teacher’s organizations look for revision in school and teacher accountability rules and evaluation; stability in curriculum standards; and testing that leads to better learning rather than a score by which to berate teachers and students when the hurdle is not vaulted even though students may have leaped higher.

The time has come….

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Posted in Adequate Yearly Progress, Council of Chief State School Officers, ESEA, Elementary and Secondary Education Act, NCLB, National Governor's Association, No Child Left Behind Act, highly qualified teachers, low-performing schools, public schools |
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School Buses Go to the District Yard

Wednesday, June 1st, 2011

A favorite San Francisco Chronicle article for the end of the school year celebrates “Forty years of magic on school bus” by Jill Tucker, May 30, 2011. Barbara Donovan drove her first bus route in 1971, time of the initial California desegregation efforts to provide equity to children from low-income neighborhoods by busing them to higher-income schools–a complicated effort in most large California cities. A long time reliable driver, she’s the kind who provides safety and comfort to all kinds of kids.

Routes have changed and languages spoken by little ones have changed as demographics transform in San Francisco. Until 2002, official end of state desegregation efforts, she drove large school buses, symbols of public school transportation the country over. Since then she’s serviced special education students in small buses. Next year, as fears for further California budget reductions hover over every dollar the district itemizes, bus routes are being consolidated.

In well-to-do suburbs, big buses have been long gone and parents in SUV’s roam the streets to drop children off and pick them up. Slashing transportation budget lines is easy enough in those districts, but what about low-income communities?

Larry N. Gersten from San Jose State University laments the problem he sees in the possible legislative failure to fund school budgets. The latest figures show that California spends $7000 per student, 48th of 50 states, $3000 below the national average, not including the foreseeable cuts if the state doesn’t come up with a balanced budget. His concern is that people have stopped caring-the wealthy who can raise their voices send their kids to private schools and lower-income families are left to walk to a public school, if it hasn’t been closed. See “Public is bailing on schools,” San Francisco Chronicle, Thursday, May 26, 2011.

Tell us, how will the achievement gap be closed with that prognosis?

In three recent Edweek articles, the authors throw up their hands about the fuss over testing, evaluation, and thrashing teachers and teachers unions. Justin Bauder’s position is that teachers use all that’s available to help weak students, but are squeezed harder each year with the latest plan to hold them accountable, while not listening to what a teacher knows. “Breaking the Orthodoxy About the Achievement Gap,” May 30, 2011

One of Anthony Cody’s main points is that it takes time to become a good teacher. He wonders at the constant interest in Teach for America, and example of coaxing graduates from revered colleges to teach for two years as if two years is going to make all the difference in the achievement gap. “Education Policy Should Honor the Obvious,” May 30, 2011

And Walt Gardner’s issue is that the constant uproar over tests and evaluation is driven by advocacy groups, not evidence of success or failure in improving student achievement which is the purpose of data analysis. He is not kind to “venture philanthropists” who look at the problem as needing corporate reform. Privatize, deregulate, and provide competition-those actions will make schools work? “The Octopuses in School Reform,” May 23, 2011

Bauder wants legislatures to ensure that “fighting poverty must move to the center of our agenda.”

Don’t rely on Teach Plus, a Gates Foundation project to reform public education. Cody advocates that teacher activists register to attend the Save Our Schools conference, July 28-29 and rally in Washington, D. C. July 30, 2011.

For the detailed perspectives of these teachers, see articles online in Edweek, May 31, 2011. For successful ways that the school adults can discuss these issues see takecareschools.com.

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Same school issues, fierce opinions

Wednesday, March 23rd, 2011

In the media this past week, education news, opinion, and letters to the editor ranged from pieces on kids, parents, and teachers to budgets and unions. Same issues, fierce opinions.

Kids and parents…

On Monday, March 21, KQED, the local San Francisco NPR station, commented on the revised school assignment system from the district’s assignment center. After years of complaints, it now appears that parents are not requesting the neighborhood school as first choice, but the school with the preferred program–especially language immersion; schools with high-achieving scores on state tests; and new K-8 schools. Variety in school programs is wonderful for a diverse population. One hopes money doesn’t disappear as schools open next year.

Close schools or convert…

The Detroit school board, facing governance, academic, and above all, financial problems, is preparing to vote to convert 41 of the 141 public schools to charter schools. The financial manager brought in to straighten out the financial woes for the district feels the numerous low-performing schools must have a strong overhaul to begin to address the academic needs of students. The 73,000 students in the large urban district will attend new charters in September 2011 or find their neighborhood schools closed. District finances are that dire. The pros and cons can be read in 3/21/11 Edweek on-line.

How students do better…

Good health is an effect of good education. One year after the Affordable Care Act of 2010, economist William H. Dow, U.C. Berkeley, asserted the relationship between well-educated Americans and health.  The idea is that adults without a college degree, much less a high school diploma, have poor health habits and can’t get jobs to pay for health insurance. The circle of distress goes round and round.  The conclusion is that the California legislature and U.S. Congress should not be niggling over the cost of education because in the long term health costs will be saved. Sound plausible? See the March 20, 2011, San Francisco Chronicle “Insight” article.

Women on the children’s side…

Friday, March 18, 2011, Gloria Taylor, co-president of the California American Association of University Women, wrote a letter to the editor for the state’s 1,000 women members. The association, on behalf of women and children, supports the tax revenue extension proposition on the June 2011 ballot to bring the California budget into balance. Who will a balanced budget help? Students for sure.

Unions and the judge…

On Friday, March 18, 2011, efforts in Wisconsin to wipe out public sector collective bargaining rights were stalled when Judge Maryann Sumi of the Dane County Circuit Court in Madison, Wisconsin, ordered a temporary restraining order to block the law from taking effect. After a month of raucous marching and devious legislative maneuvering, both sides of the conflict are waiting for legal moves. Public sector employees hope for the best. Teachers know that collective bargaining is one tool for revising fraught evaluation procedures, the huge and necessary need for teacher stability.

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Posted in California budget crisis, health care reform, low-performing schools, school finance reform, school reform |
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Eliminate tenure-Ensure teacher quality

Wednesday, February 2nd, 2011

In the State of the Union speech earlier this month, President Obama spoke of moving education for the nation’s children up front. The time to exert ourselves is now. We can make improvements that will help the country grow long term.

Great! But the road to student success brings to mind a plethora of factors: tests, budgets, vouchers, evaluation, curriculum, core standards, classroom management, teacher preparation. The list goes on and on.

But wait! A number of state governors are making loud noises about teacher tenure. They are positive that eliminating just this single hundred year old fixture of teacher protection from arbitrary dismissal will solve the problem of low-performing schools.

Every teacher knows the stories of weak colleagues with high salaries and poor classroom management who couldn’t be dismissed without lengthy hearings and attempts to help them improve. And every teacher knows the stories of teachers who were harassed by administrators because they stood up for their rights until they left the profession.

Simply tossing teacher tenure from the state’s education legislation may be the easy thing to do, but would hardly be the solution to teacher quality or achievement for students.

Other measures are being debated.

For instance, Memphis city school system is trying to settle its budget woes by merging the city schools with the suburban schools of Shelby County, Tennessee. Such a merger has set off a conflict of rich and poor, urban vs. suburban needs, shifting costs. Still, those disputes are attempts to improve the achievement of students-the goal of education.

Maybe vouchers are the end all and be all. The Florida legislature has written another bill to make money available for students in failing schools to move to private schools. It could be one way to dismantle low-performing schools, but how to judge whether the particular private school is going to help the new students?

In New York City Schools, Learning Leaders is a volunteer organization that provides tutors and parent education to promote literacy for a school’s low-performing children. The results indicate higher scores on standardized tests, improved attendance, enhanced social skills and behavior. The model is an intense focus on factors to improve achievement for students.

How about three models espoused by organizations to improve teacher quality? William J. Slotnick of Community Assistance and Training Center has helped Denver Public Schools and Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools in North Carolina. They focus on models where teachers and principals set goals and select measures for yearly student achievement. Teacher evaluation is based on success in completing the goals.

A report on establishing teacher quality, written by Education Resource Strategies in Watertown, Massachusetts, suggests guidelines for schools, districts, and states. All suggestions are based on a bottom up strategy which should ensure teacher and union participation.

Here are the five suggestions: create teams to plan for change; empower the teams; build better steps to recruit highly qualified personnel to carry out the plan; help teachers achieve potential; reward personnel contributions to student achievement.

A third model offered by the National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality describes similar steps for improving student achievement and teacher quality. The NCCTQ report specifically takes up the ‘third rail’ of teacher tenure when addressing teacher evaluation issues.

In California all of the problems noted above are hitting the schools: budget woes and merging districts; education experts advocating vouchers; unions offering accountability models for teacher evaluation; models showing ways to improve student achievement in failing schools. It is highly unlikely that the California legislature will cut teacher tenure from the education code. It will, however, be part of a revised teacher evaluation system.

It will be a hard row to hoe. But the ask is to move forward, make change for the good of the country.

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Posted in California budget crisis, low-performing schools, public schools, school reform, teacher tenure |
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New CA Governor, Old School Budget Problems

Wednesday, December 22nd, 2010

Teachers in California are gloomy.  No wonder after the December 14 meeting at UCLA called by the governor-elect with school folks from all over the state.

In the past months, newspapers and magazines have shared district examples from all over the country of those doing well at the transformation from failing schools.  It has also been sharing a few examples of poor choices.  Until last week in California, there was still hope for reform.  The main conundrum was how to scale up successful school models: professional development, new teacher training, mentoring, collaboration, change testing and evaluation, etc.

Now, teachers have little hope.  The governor-elect was adamant that all parts of the state programs will be affected–his office included–to cut the state budget down to size and eliminate the deficit.  Various state school officials, including the California Teachers Association president, Dave Sanchez, asked for leniency, claiming that school districts have taken the brunt of the cuts in the past several years.

Sounds like the federal fiscal commission report.  No one, of course, believes it will happen given the hocus-pocus that has held things together for the last years.

Look, however, at San Diego as Doug Porta of the OB Rag December 15, 2010, has suggested.  Up to 1500 pink slips could be handed out and affect everyone.  You name it, those jobs will disappear.  Sports and special programs will all be fought over and will vanish.  Schools will be closed and, of course, teacher pay and benefits will be slashed.

Think about where you live.  Some variation on these cuts will occur because jobs are the last part of a recession to recover and this state depends on tax revenues which come with jobs.  Most of the federal stimulus money is gone.  You can cross your fingers that the latest federal legislation will provide money, but California has 120 days to come up with a solution for the $6 billion deficit we currently have, not counting the deficit projected for next year if programs are kept as they are.

Who will not be helped?  It was recalled by Michael Gerson of the Washington Post on NPR’s “Talk of the Nation,” December 20, 2010, that to get ahead in this country one needs to finish high school and preferably attend some college, get married before children are born, and work steadily.  This is hard enough for many students, but most difficult for those in California for the next 18 months, the outlook before employment rates change.

Remember what Californians voted for last May in the special election.  The short version was don’t cut any state programs but don’t raise taxes either.  May be your wishes, but it won’t be possible.  Voters, many of whom are California teachers, will have to look at the facts.  Deep cuts in all programs.  Adjust tax revenues.

How will schools turn around?

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Posted in California Teachers Association, public schools, school reform |
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