Politico.com reports on the pending announcement of new federal regulations governing schools of education. Arne Duncan wants to drive the “bad” schools out of business. Did you know that was part of his job as Secretary of Education? The question is how he will determine which schools of education are “bad” schools. Will he grade these colleges by the test scores of students taught by graduates of schools of education? That will certainly make the stakes even higher for high-stakes testing. Oh, and did you hear that Duncan is modifying his fervent support for testing. But does he mean it? Watch for the regulations governing schools of education.

Categories Corporate Reformers, Education Industry, Teachers and Teaching, Testing

18 Comments Post your own or leave a trackback: Trackback URL

Mark Collins says:

October 24, 2014 at 2:48 pm

Not that this was unexpected and I’m so proud that I didn’t curse once while reading this. But – but- since when was this even in his purview? Since when was this any of his business? He’s going to usurp various “real/legit” credentialing agencies and STATES!? And hold out the threat of withdrawing federal funds and loans? Cripes! Down here in DC we had this busybody Congressional Rep. Launch Faircloth. People picked his house locally and in his NC district. Time for us to go ” a visiting” and see what can of noise we can raise.

Reply
Joe Nashville says:

October 24, 2014 at 3:01 pm

Oh, it will probably be based on “multiple false measures” such as graduates’ value-added scores and NCTQ ratings. I wonder if this might lead some colleges of education to advise pre-service teachers not to teach students who struggle and not to teach students with the highest scores (due to ceiling effects)…

Reply
Peter Smyth says:

October 24, 2014 at 3:03 pm

The question is what something like this will do to viable efforts to change/upgrade teacher education – like Michigan’s TeachingWorks?
The other fundamental issue is who enters teaching programs. Didn’t Politico just report that applications have dropped dramatically.

Reply
- Celia Oyler says:
  
  October 24, 2014 at 4:09 pm
  
  TeachingWorks is Deborah Balls organization.It is heavily financed by New Schools Venture Fund; she is on the board of the NSVF. Ted Mitchell — of the New Schools Venture Fund — is now undersecretary of education for the federal government. He is the one in charge of the higher ed initiative. I’m sure TeachingWorks will emerge in a very good position when the announcements are made.
  
  Reply
Sylvia Settles says:

October 24, 2014 at 3:31 pm

Absolutely! ! This has already begun. Pearson & edTPA, tracking student results of teacher-graduates, standardizing our syllabi….Just the beginning…toe in the water!! What has befallen K-12 is quickly affecting K-16!! Very discouraging.

Reply
Sharon in NYS says:

October 24, 2014 at 3:39 pm

What is Arne Duncan’s job description anyway? I assume, perhaps naively and wrongly that it’s to administer whatever it is the USDoED is supposed to be doing, which, according to its own website, is the following:

“When Congress created the Department in 1979, it declared these purposes:
1. to strengthen the Federal commitment to ensuring access to equal educational opportunity for every individual;
2. to supplement and complement the efforts of States, the local school systems and other instrumentalities of the States, the private sector, public and private educational institutions, public and private nonprofit educational research institutions, community-based organizations, parents, and students to improve the quality of education;
3. to encourage the increased involvement of the public, parents, and students in Federal education programs;
4. to promote improvements in the quality and usefulness of education through federally supported research, evaluation, and sharing of information;
5. to improve the coordination of Federal education programs;
6. to improve the management and efficiency of Federal education activities, especially with respect to the process, procedures, and administrative structures for the dispersal of Federal funds, as well as the reduction of unnecessary and duplicative burdens and constraints, including unnecessary paperwork, on the recipients of Federal funds; and
7. to increase the accountability of Federal education programs to the President, the Congress and the public. (Section 102, Public Law 96-88)”

Hmm, nowhere do I see “enact punishing sanctions against institutions that will not abide by the Secretary’s arbitrary and wrongheaded edicts”. Maybe there was an amendment or secret codicil in the legislation.

Would anyone care to do an outcomes assessment of how the USDoED has succeeded in doing its job as per Congress’s instructions?

Reply
- Christine Langhoff says:
  
  October 25, 2014 at 9:08 pm
  
  His role is to break as many things educational into as many small pieces as possible as quickly as he can so they CANNOT be put back together again. You know Humpty Dumpty was pushed, right?
  
  Reply
SomeDAM Poet (Devalue Added Model) says:

October 24, 2014 at 3:47 pm

“The Perfect Reform Storm”

When education reform
Becomes a perfect storm
The stakes align
Like fronts in time
And chaos is the norm

Reply
- dianeravitch says:
  
  October 24, 2014 at 4:08 pm
  
  SomeDAM Poet: Word! What Duncan is doing is creating chaos and calling it “disruption”
  
  Reply
Sad Teacher says:

October 24, 2014 at 3:53 pm

Sharon in NYC, I loved your post…yes, how did the schools survive before 1979 without them? With the horrible deficit of our country, that is the first department that needs totally eliminated. We have people in there who are up to evil and promoting the interests of the rich. They have definitely misused the power given to them.

Reply
Laura H. Chapman says:

October 24, 2014 at 4:31 pm

Here is part of the detail.
The Council for Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) for “providers” for teacher education is the new accrediting agency created by merging the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) and the Teacher Education Accreditation Council (TEAC).

USDE had the power to ignore CAEP’s standards for accrediting teacher education programs unless the standards were written to fit USDE’s criteria. If they were OK with USDE then students who apply may be eligible for federal loans and grants, otherwise no.

CAPE accreditation can apply to any of the following: “Educator Preparation Provider (EPP): The entity responsible for the preparation of educators including a nonprofit or for-profit institution of higher education, a school district, an organization, a corporation, or a governmental agency.” In effect, a traditional college degree can be bypassed and for-profit operators are invited in.

The CAEP standards are filled with the same accountability demands and jargon inflicted on public education, see especially the reference to the Common Core
1.2 Providers ensure that completers use research and evidence to develop an understanding of the teaching profession and use both to measure their P-12 students’ progress and their own professional practice.
1.3 Providers ensure that completers apply content and pedagogical knowledge as reflected in outcome assessments in response to standards of Specialized Professional Associations (SPA), the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS), states, or other accrediting bodies (e.g., National Association of Schools of Music – NASM).
1.4 Providers ensure that completers demonstrate skills and commitment that afford all P-12 students access to rigorous college- and career-ready standards (e.g., Next Generation Science Standards, National Career Readiness Certificate, Common Core State Standards).
1.5 Providers ensure that completers model and apply technology standards as they design, implement and assess learning experiences to engage students and improve learning; and enrich professional practice.

Here is a sample of the detail.
Example: CAEP Standard 4.1, p. 13) “The provider documents, using multiple measures, that program completers contribute to an expected level of student-learning growth. Multiple measures shall include all available growth measures (including value-added measures, student-growth percentiles, and student learning and development objectives) required by the state for its teachers and available to educator preparation providers, other state-supported P-12 impact measures, and any other measures employed by the provider.”

Add this to the mix, from p. 27: “Measures of completer impact, including available outcome data on P-12 student growth, are summarized, externally benchmarked, analyzed, shared widely, and acted upon in decision-making related to programs, resource allocation, and future direction.

Measures of Program Outcome and Consumer Information:
Here you see some of the reporting requirements. A “consumer of information” is either an employer or a program applicant.

Impact on P-12 learning and development (data provided for component 4.1)
Indicators of teaching effectiveness (data provided for component 4.2)
Results of employer surveys, including retention and employment milestones (data provided for component 4.3)
Results of completer surveys (data provided for component 4.4)
Graduation rates
Ability of completers to meet licensing (certification) and any additional state requirements (e.g., through acceptable scores and pass rates on state licensure exams)
Ability of completers to be hired in education positions for which they were prepared
Student loan default rates and other consumer information

Not mentioned here is that the edTAP assessment from Pearson, cost $300 per student is becoming a requirement for student teachers, and this includes snippets of videos of teaching in a classroom…but that is another story.

Click to access final_board_approved1.pdf

Reply
Chiara says:

October 24, 2014 at 5:01 pm

I hate to admit it, but I’m somewhat relieved if this is the new DC/lobbyist project.

I was afraid it was another punishing sanction for public schools.

The Obama Administration VAM project is a big mess in Ohio. Probably some repulsive, corrupt crony contractor relationship:

“An error by contractor SAS Institute Inc. forced the state to withdraw some key teacher performance measurements that it had posted online for teachers to review.
The state’s decision to take down the value added scores for teachers across the state on Wednesday has some educators questioning the future reliability of the scores and other state data.”

Everybody’s making money, and no one cares what happens to our schools.

http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2014/10/glitch_causes_state_to_pull_ba.html

Reply
- Laura H. Chapman says:
  
  October 24, 2014 at 5:18 pm
  
  And the SLO measures are just as bad.
  
  Reply
Old Teacher says:

October 24, 2014 at 5:29 pm

I can not wait for these people to be out of office! Where is gridlock when we need it most! Higher ed, your other departments are next! You were warned. You wouldn’t stand with K-12 to show your research up front and help us fight, now it is your turn, and we can not help you.

Reply
NY Teacher says:

October 24, 2014 at 7:01 pm

http://www.petition2congress.com/15685/dump-arne-duncan/

Reply
- Donna says:
  
  October 24, 2014 at 7:12 pm
  
  ^^^^^^ this – copy and paste, send to all your contacts
  
  Reply
  - Donna says:
    
    October 24, 2014 at 7:21 pm
    
    ….add it to your Facebook page!
Susan Lee Schwartz says:

October 27, 2014 at 12:43 pm

cross posted at: http://www.opednews.com/Quicklink/Will-Duncan-Raise-the-Stak-in-Best_Web_OpEds-Business_Diane-Ravitch_Duncan-Arne_Education-141027-612.html#comment517368

Reply