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November 18, 2011 |
Click here to read printable version |
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| What Mathematica left unasked |
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In a post on his School Finance 101 blog, Bruce Baker writes that he finds it "depressing" that the new Mathematica report on Charter Management Organizations (CMOs) sidesteps the question of resource allocation. A fundamental question, Baker writes, is what percent above or below traditional public schools and/or private schools is a given charter spending among schools in the same labor market? Without this, analyses of effectiveness are incomplete. Does it cost more to carry out the practices of successful charter schools, such as running marginally smaller schools with smaller class sizes? What kinds of wages are being paid to recruit and retain teachers who are working the extra hours and delivering the supposedly more successful models? And how does the aggregate of these spending practices stack up against other types of schools in given local/regional economic contexts? "There's a lot of mythology out there about education policy solutions -- like no excuses charter schools -- that can do more with less," Baker writes. "Most reports that pitch this angle simply never add up the money." They also fail to analyze what it might cost to implement similar strategies at greater scale or in different contexts. Some CMO strategies may actually be the most cost-effective in the long run. Yet we'll never know if we don't take the time to look at the numbers. Mathematica doesn't look.
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| i3 winners, round two |
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The U.S. Department of Education has identified 23 finalists expected to get Investing in Innovation (i3) grants in the competition's second round, reports Erik Robelen in Education Week. These include New Visions For Public Schools, Inc. of New York and KnowledgeWorks of Ohio, two local education funds and members of PEN. The largest single grant is slated for Old Dominion University Research Foundation based in Norfolk, Virginia, which requested nearly $25 million for a "scale-up" grant aimed at providing high-need middle school students with increased access to challenging math courses. In all, 587 applicants competed for part of $150 million this time round. All new awards are contingent upon applicants securing a private match ranging from 5 to 15 percent of their grant total, depending on grant type. STEM education and rural schooling were added to a short list of categories given special emphasis this time by the department, with one-third of the nearly $150 million in i3 funding to go to proposals that identified STEM as an "absolute priority." In addition to STEM and rural education, priorities were innovations that support effective teachers and principals; complement the implementation of high standards and high-quality assessments; and/or turn around persistently low-performing schools.
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| Philanthropy's status quo |
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In Winter 2012 issue of Voices in Urban Education, Rob Reich writes that across the country, public education funds (PEFs) in wealthy suburban districts generate vastly more charitable dollars per pupil than do PEFs in poorer urban districts. Fundraising efforts of affluent parents may widen the gap between their own children and children in disadvantaged districts, but this is considered an unintended though unfortunate side effect of affluent parents' generosity. This needn't be the dynamic, Reich says. Public policies governing philanthropy encourage this gap-widening, and the 501(c)(3) status of PEFs allow donors to deduct contributions from their income tax. This equates to a federal subsidy for charitable giving, greater for wealthier people than for poorer. Public policy can do better. To equalize the tax benefits of giving for Americans, Congress could allow all donors a tax credit linked to the amount donated rather than a deduction linked to the donor's tax bracket. To channel charitable giving toward equality-enhancing organizations, Congress could give additional tax advantages for donating to programs that redress poverty. Policy changes are limited only by our creativity, Reich writes. When we think about philanthropy, we must not limit ourselves to the current arrangement.
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| Extreme poverty reaches the suburbs |
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A new report from the Brookings Institution analyzes metropolitan trends on concentrated poverty in urban areas since 2000, finding that "after substantial progress against concentrated poverty during the booming economy of the late 1990s, the economically turbulent 2000s saw much of those gains erased." In general, the report found that the population in extreme-poverty neighborhoods -- where at least 40 percent of individuals live below the poverty line -- rose by one-third from 2000 to 2005-09. Concentrated poverty nearly doubled in Midwestern metro areas from 2000 to 2005-09, and rose by one-third in Southern metro areas. The population in extreme-poverty neighborhoods rose more than twice as fast in suburbs as in cities from 2000 to 2005-09. Compared to 2000, residents of extreme-poverty neighborhoods in 2005-09 were more likely to be white, native-born, high school or college graduates, homeowners, and not receiving public assistance. However, black residents continued to comprise the largest share of the population in these neighborhoods (45 percent), and over two-thirds of residents had a high school diploma or less. The authors observe that the strong economy of the late 1990s did not permanently resolve the challenge of concentrated poverty, and therefore recommend policies that foster balanced and sustainable economic growth at the regional level and that forge connections between growing clusters of low-income neighborhoods and regional economic opportunity.
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| Zeroing in on drop-out risk |
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A new report from Civic Enterprises and the Everyone Graduates Center looks at Early Warning Indicator and Intervention Systems (EWS), a collaborative approach by educators, administrators, parents, and communities that uses data to keep students on the path to graduation. The best EWS are characterized by features that enable rapid identification of students who are in trouble; rapid interventions that target students' immediate and longer-term need for support, redirection, and success; frequent monitoring of interventions; rapid modification of interventions that are not working; and shared learning from outcomes. The report gives an overview of the current research, informed by conversations with teachers on the front lines, district and state officials in the process of building EWS, nonprofits working with school systems to implement EWS, and researchers working to refine and extend early-warning indicators. The report also outlines emerging best practices and policy recommendations, so that advocates can apply the best in data innovation to their work with the hope of accelerating high school graduation rates and improving college and work readiness. The report notes that EWS are rapidly evolving toward even broader usage, with efforts underway to integrate school readiness indicators at the start of student's schooling, and college and career readiness indicators throughout K-12 schooling.
See the report | Back to top
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| Voices from the classroom |
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A new publication from the College Board and Youth Communication gives student perspectives on what makes a good teacher. The booklet features five student essays, and summarizes the top 10 pieces of advice to teachers from students that emerged when teens sat down to share their best learning experiences. The student writers recommend that teachers be pushy when students aren't willing to push themselves the extra mile; make lessons relevant to students' lives (for instance, using high school cliques to illustrate the concept of social hierarchies in feudal Europe); be relatable, but don't act your students' age or use their slang; teach with words, sights, and sounds; be consistent and firm -- being a pushover does students a disservice in the long run; don't give up on students -- undertake the extra work that goes with believing everyone can learn what you're teaching; be patient, and explain things in many different ways, so that everyone gets it; use student time well, and don't allow yourself to be sidelined by distractions; write out objectives and grading policy to ensure students have a clear idea of what they will be learning and what's expected of them; and be a good example in terms of lifestyle habits.
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| We can all help |
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America's Promise Alliance has launched Grad Nation Communities, part of the Grad Nation Campaign, a 10-year initiative to mobilize Americans to help end the high school dropout crisis and better prepare young people for college and the 21st-century workforce. America's Promise is inviting communities to become part of a national network of cities and towns that will focus on local schools in need of improvement. Grad Nation Communities will adopt and work toward increasing the national high school graduation rate to 90 percent, with no school graduating less than 80 percent, helping the United States regain its standing as first in the world in college completion. America's Promise will offer Grad Nation Communities a variety of support and services, including opportunities to network with other communities; connections to partners, experts, and other resources; access to research-based tools and knowledge; guidance for driving awareness, building public will, and increasing youth voice; access to communication, messaging, and community engagement tools; guidance on how to sustain and fund community efforts; and professional development opportunities. Grad Nation Communities that are home to two or more of the nation's lowest-performing schools can be eligible for direct technical assistance and funding.
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| From the bottom up |
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A new film "Parent Power" opens with parental efforts to improve a single Bronx school in the mid-1990s and follows the movement to the creation of the citywide Coalition for Educational Justice. Filmmakers Norm Fruchter, an Annenberg Institute policy analyst, and Jose Gonzalez, a parent activist from the South Bronx, gathered 15 years of footage and photography to construct their narrative. They also interviewed AFT President Randi Weingarten, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, parent activist Zakiyah Ansari, and others. In an interview with GothamSchools.org, Fruchter describes the film as essentially three stories: the Parent Action Committee trying to impact a local school; CC9 trying to improve education in District 9 and developing the Lead Teacher Project; and the Coalition for Educational Justice trying to improve middle schools across the system. The film spans three chancellors: Harold Levy, Rudy Crew, and Joel Klein. Fruchter describes Crew as somewhat receptive to parent organizing, Levy as basically unresponsive, and the Bloomberg administration -- having reorganized the system under mayoral control, which made parent organizing much harder -- as not responding well to criticism. Fruchter says they were motivated to make the film because we're now in a period of market-based school reform dominated by foundations and top-down efforts. They wanted to show the importance of community-based, bottom-up change.
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| In their terms |
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New research from the Campaign for High School Equity finds that African-American and Latino parents and caregivers perceive high dropout rates and low college attendance as problems, particularly in their own communities. These parents show a high level of individual commitment to ensuring the educational success of their children, but are unaware of the larger public school reform movement, and face a reality in stark contrast to what they want for their children. Because these parents overwhelmingly share the goals of a strong education and college degrees for their children, researchers see an opening to engage them in a collective, coordinated effort that would empower them to hold the educational system accountable for more effective and inclusive reforms and innovations. In working to engage and empower this group of parents and caregivers, it is crucial that reform organizations and education leaders work with parents on the parents' terms. With that in mind, organizations can play a large role in developing reforms that better reflect parent and community priorities while also helping parents understand the relevance of any reform that is being promoted as increasing their child's chances to be ready for college and complete a degree.
See the contextual summary | See the research | Back to top
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| Closing in |
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Pittsburgh Public Schools still has a significant achievement gap between black and white students, but the gap is closing, and some schools have little or no gap at all, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. The annual progress report to the community from A+ Schools, a local education fund, states that had the district were maintained at its pace of the years 2006-07 to 2009-10, it would have taken 40 years to close the math gap and 34 years to close the reading gap. Yet enough progress was made last year that the gap could close in 24 years if the pace continued. "They shaved almost 16 years off closing the gap in one year. It's still too long, but it tells us we can do it," said Carey Harris of A+ Schools. District-wide, A+ Schools reported the gap between the percentages of white and black students scoring proficient or advanced on state tests went from 34.9 percentage points in 2008 to 30.6 percentage points this year in reading and from 28.5 percentage points in 2008 to 27.2 percentage points in math. The report includes information on all of the schools operated by Pittsburgh Public Schools, as well as bricks-and-mortar charter schools based in the city.
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| Yawning wide |
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Twenty years of reform efforts and programs targeting low-income families in Chicago Public Schools has only widened the performance gap between white and African-American students, The Chicago Tribune reports. Across the city and spanning three eras of CPS leadership, black students have lost ground to their white, Latino, and Asian classmates, according to a new analysis by the University of Chicago Consortium on School Research. This growing deficit surprised researchers, considering strides African-American students have made nationally over the same period. When Mayor Richard Daley took control of the school system in 1995, it triggered a wave of reforms aimed at improving student proficiency in the worst-performing schools. Then-schools chief Paul Vallas set minimum achievement standards on tests, held back students who failed to perform, and placed schools on probation. Later, then-school CEO Arne Duncan launched reading initiatives in high-poverty neighborhoods, implemented literacy screening tests in early grades, and closed dozens of underperforming schools in predominantly poor black and Latino communities. Yet only one in two African-American students graduates from high school in Chicago. "It has certainly been shocking to us to discover there has been progress in some areas, but without equity progress shared equally among all the students," said Marisa de la Torre, a researcher on the report.
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| In case you needed more convincing on pre-K |
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A new study from the Center for Public Education looks at the effect of combinations of pre-k and kindergarten on third-grade reading skills. The study focused on two combinations -- no pre-k and full-day kindergarten vs. pre-k and half-day kindergarten -- and found that a combination of pre-k and half-day kindergarten was significantly better. Students attending pre-k and half-day kindergarten are more likely to have higher reading skills by the third grade than those attending full-day kindergarten alone. The chances of a third-grader reaching the more advanced "literal inference" reading level increased at a rate of 11 percent when students attended pre-k and half-day kindergarten rather than full-day kindergarten alone. The chances of a third-grader reaching the advanced "extrapolation" reading level increased by a substantial 18 percent if students attended pre-k and half-day kindergarten rather than full-day kindergarten alone. The impact of pre-k and half-day kindergarten was greatest for Hispanic children, black children, English Language Learners (ELL), and children from low-income families. The chances of Hispanic children and those below the poverty line reaching a higher reading level ranged anywhere from seven percent (for the basic third-grade reading level, "comprehension of words in context,") to over 20 percent (for the higher "extrapolation" level). The authors note that the findings do not take program quality into consideration, and that one could reasonably infer the impact of high-quality pre-k would be even greater. Findings also don't take into account how much time students spent in pre-k.
See the report | Back to top
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Childhood poverty, in detail
The National Center for Children in Poverty at Columbia University gives a state-by-state breakdown of risk factors faced by children.
http://www.nccp.org/tools/risk/
The horse trading begins
Eleven states will have the first opportunity to secure waivers under No Child Left Behind after meeting the deadline for the first round.
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/campaign-k-12/2011/11/11_states_meet_early-bird_dead.html
Further down the rabbit hole
Legislation signed by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie will allow private schools in struggling districts to become charter schools.
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/11/gov_christie_approves_measure.html
Four-tier moves forward in CO
Colorado education officials have given final approval to a statewide, four-tier teacher rating system that could make it easier to fire teachers who don't meet testing standards.
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_19298408
Perverse incentive
Indiana's new private-school voucher law has prompted some parents to pull their children out of private schools and put them in public schools for a year so that they can become eligible for the state-funded program.
http://tinyurl.com/6q2kwbv
The Chicago Way
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel outlined a new system by which top school principals will be eligible for bonuses of up to $20,000 for improving student achievement.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/education/ct-met-cps-bonuses-1110-20111109,0,4986382.story
What Race to the Top hath wrought
The Florida Department of Education and the Charter School Growth Fund are rolling out a $30 million fund to help grow high-performing charter schools that serve low-income students.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/11/15/2502366/state-launches-charter-school.html
Give those exhausted teachers a raise
The Walton Family Foundation will donate $25.5 million to the Knowledge is Power Program, or KIPP, charter network.
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/District_Dossier/2011/11/kipp_charter_network_receives.html |
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| NEW GRANT AND FUNDING INFORMATION |
AIA/NAR: Team America Rocketry Challenge
The Team America Rocketry Challenge is the world's largest rocket contest, sponsored by the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) and the National Association of Rocketry (NAR). Teams of three to ten students design, build, and fly a model rocket that reaches a specific altitude and duration determined by a set of rules developed each year. The contest is designed to encourage students to study math and science and pursue careers in aerospace. The top 100 teams go to Washington, D.C. for the national finals in May. Maximum award: $60,000 in cash and scholarships split between the top 10 finishers. NASA invites top teams to participate in its Student Launch Initiative, an advanced rocketry program. Eligibility: The application for a team must come from a single school or a single U.S. incorporated non-profit youth or educational organization (excluding the National Association of Rocketry, Tripoli Rocketry Association, or any other rocket club or organization). Team members must be students who are currently enrolled in grades 7 through 12 in a U.S. school or homeschool. Teams may have members from other schools or other organizations and may obtain financing from any source, not limited to their sponsoring organization. Teams must be supervised by an adult approved by the principal of the sponsoring school, or by an officially appointed adult leader of their sponsoring organization. Minimum team size is three students and maximum is ten students. Each student member must make a significant contribution to the designing, building, and/or launching of the team's entry. Deadline: November 30, 2011.
http://rocketcontest.org/tarc_background.cfm
NSTA/PASCO: STEM Educator Awards
The National Science Teachers Association PASCO STEM Educator awards recognize excellence and innovation in the field of STEM education at the elementary, middle school, and high school levels. Maximum award: $1,500 to cover travel expenses to attend the NSTA national conference and be part of a STEM share-a-thon workshop; a $1000 monetary gift; a $2000 certificate for PASCO scientific products; and recognition during the Awards Banquet at the NSTA national conference. Eligibility: K-12 STEM educators with a minimum of 3 years teaching experience in the STEM fields, who implement innovative inquiry-based, technology-infused STEM programs. Deadline: December 1, 2011.
http://www.nsta.org/about/awards.aspx?lid=tnavhp#stem
ASCAP/Gibson Foundation: Young Jazz Composer Awards
The ASCAP Foundation Young Jazz Composer Awards are granted annually to encourage talented young jazz composers. Applicants must submit a completed application form; an original score or chart of one composition accompanied by a CD indicating proper track (if applicable); biographical information listing prior music studies, background and experience. Maximum award: recognition. Eligibility: Applicants must be citizens or permanent residents of the United States who have not reached their 30th birthday by December 31st 2011. Deadline: December 1, 2011.
http://www.ascapfoundation.org/awards.html
NSTA: Ron Mardigian Memorial Biotechnology Explorer Award
The National Science Teachers Association Ron Mardigian Memorial Biotechnology Explorer Award recognizes an outstanding high school teacher who has made biotechnology learning accessible to the classroom. Maximum award: $750 towards expenses to attend the NSTA National Conference; $250 in cash for the teacher; $500 in Bio-Rad products; and recognition at the National Conference Awards Banquet. Eligibility: high school teachers. Deadline: December 1, 2011.
http://www.nsta.org/about/awards.aspx?lid=tnavhp#mardigian
For more grants, see http://www.publiceducation.org/newsblast_grants.asp
"What we are attempting to do is fully democratize our own union from within. We are tired of watching our leaders fail to truly listen and lead on reform issues." -- James Encinas, a teacher at Westminster Elementary School in Los Angeles, part of a group of teachers pushing UTLA to advocate for "teacher-led" changes to the teacher-evaluation system.
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/teacherbeat/2011/11/la_union_caucus_seeks_to_put_e.html
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