This is not a joke.
Tom Friedman of the New York Times thinks Arne Duncan should be the Secretary of State because he can do to the world what he has done to education.
Wonder what a Race to the Top would look like internationally?
Archives for category: Duncan, Arne
John Kuhn is superintendent of a small school district in Texas. But his voice is mighty and powerful. Those who have heard him wish he were Commissioner of Education for the state of Texas or in another position where everyone would learn from his wisdom.
Kuhn was the first person to be named to the honor roll for his eloquence and courage in support of public education.
November 02, 2012 07:21 PM CDT November 02, 2012 09:04 PM
Point Person: Our Q&A with John Kuhn on school’s over-reliance on testing
The Dallas Morning News
Published: 02 November 2012 07:21 PM
John Kuhn, superintendent of the Perrin-Whitt school district in Jack County, northwest of Fort Worth, is active speaking out and writing critically about public-education reformers. He’s gained some fame for his oft-quoted “Alamo letter” from 2011, in which he vowed never to surrender the fight for his students. Now that more than 850 Texas school boards have signed on to a resolution against over-reliance on high-stakes testing, we asked Kuhn what that movement is all about. (This is a longer version of the Q&A that appears in print.)
You’ve said some very pointed things about education reformers, including Education Secretary Arne Duncan, and their impact on schools. What worries you the most?
What worries me most as both a dad and an educator is the outsized influence of test-makers, statisticians, and economists on modern educational decision-making. Unfortunately, our wizards of data are not wizards of humanity, and they have foolishly elevated impersonal forces as the drivers of education.
The education of children is above all a human endeavor. We aren’t programming answers into computers; we are inspiring and encouraging and challenging and coaxing and pushing and pulling and hoping and praying and hugging and wiping tears and watching ballgames and telling them how nice they look in their prom dresses. The value of the factory model touted by today’s educational Taylorists is quickly disproved by its absence of the holistic and humane methods employed in the best private schools. Middle class kids need and deserve more art in their lives than the arrays of bubbles they pencil in. Elite reformers want what’s best for their kids, but they often only want what’s most efficient for yours and mine.
Ultimately, I want for my kids what caring parents, like our president, want for theirs: a thorough, non-standardized education of the whole child. Today we are so busy raising test scores that we are forgetting to raise children. The little red schoolhouse is fast becoming a little red widget factory, and that’s wrong for kids and detrimental for our future well-being as a people.
To what extent are your concerns shared by other local educators?
We are nearing critical mass. I only speak for myself, but there are hundreds of Texas schools suing the state in a lawsuit that has been called “the granddaddy of school finance lawsuits.” They aren’t suing for more money but rather for sensible policies and an honest accounting by the state of the costs of its mandates. Reduced education funding sometimes happens during hard times, but reduced regulation? Our recent $5.4 billion school funding reduction came with a brand new $500 million dollar contract with the London test-shop Pearson.
There are also hundreds of school boards in Texas that have signed a resolution that says standardized tests are strangling education and draining it of its vibrancy and excitement for learners. The resolution—started in Texas—has spread to several other states. Then there are Texas parents forming groups like Texans Advocating for Meaningful Student Assessment, Texas Parents Opt Out of State Tests, and Kids Can’t Wait. School board members have organized initiatives like last session’s “Make Education a Priority” movement. Over 20 school districts are participating in the Texas High Performance Schools consortium; they will pilot a new way of holding teachers and students accountable for learning that embraces modern technology instead of tools inspired by 19{+t}{+h} century scientific management theory. They will hopefully develop a new, less punitive and misleading accountability methodology that reduces the onslaught of bubble tests that our kids face today.
Are my concerns widely shared by local educators? I would guess yes, but I can’t prove it. Many educators prefer to keep quiet and keep their jobs (which aren’t as secure as they used to be) so you won’t hear too many speak out publicly about the burdensome and sometimes near-impossible demands they face. In fact, an educator who speaks up is usually condemned fairly quickly as an apologist for the status quo. Meanwhile, the real status quo is the expensive and ineffective testing-and-labeling we’ve been doing for 30 years in Texas.
Put it in human terms. What’s not happening in the classroom today because of focus on standardized testing?
High schoolers must pass five EOC tests per year; they’re often placed in remedial classes if they don’t pass. Sophomores may be losing one or two periods for a remedial class. That’s one or two electives gone. As time passes, some will stack up tests they failed two years ago, last year, and tests they face this year. A struggler who might flourish because of a trade won’t get his hands dirty. This is one size fits all; all kids are going to college whether they want to or not.
Texas Workforce Commissioner Tom Pauken notes that Texas has a shortage of welders and plumbers, but our system is built so that students most likely to benefit from technical training won’t get it. We’re channeling would-be highly-paid technicians not into available industry-recognized certification programs but rather into schedules that feature a paucity of hands-on experiences, so they can focus on their tests.
In elementary school, strugglers lose art, recess, music, or PE. We tell at-risk students to stay in school; then we take away classes they most enjoy. When we reduced education to a competition, we condemned exploration and discovery and settled for rote proficiency.
How does this affect how a teacher teaches?
Teachers face a perverse incentive to drill and kill in the classroom and focus intensely on the narrow curriculum that is tested. Principals face the temptation to enforce scripted approaches that overemphasize test prep. Marketers are pitching materials keyed to STAAR with great zeal; districts face an onslaught of big promises: “Raise STAAR Scores Now!” Some teachers and schools resist a test-centered approach in favor of a child-centered approach; but with livelihoods on the line if scores don’t rise, it’s as if teachers are being asked to teach under hanging anvils.
Teachers and administrators agree with the need for accountability and want to be held accountable for our results. What we ask for are honest measures that take into account all factors that contribute to our success or failure. Educational outcomes do not solely hinge on teacher quality. There are home and community and funding factors in play, but accountability gurus are happy to leave those variables out of their formulas. No one but the teachers are up for criticism in their world of selective accountability.
The U.S. Department of Education has chosen to set a 100 percent standardized testing pass rate as the goal, with constant classroom duress as the main motivator for teachers and students and absolutely no pressure on legislators to provide equitable resources from school district to school district. We shouldn’t be surprised to see unintended consequences as schools struggle to attain the impossible: getting 100 percent of their kids to pass the almighty bubble test by 2014. What’s good for test scores isn’t always what’s good for kids, but our punitive accountability fetish has established test scores as the measurably more important of the two.
But aren’t there poor teachers who fail to prepare their students, and don’t test scores help establish that?
Yes, poor teachers exist. No, a poor test score doesn’t establish poor teaching. It’s not that simple. A terrible teacher in an $8,000-per-pupil school may obtain higher scores than a wonderful teacher in a $4,000-per-pupil school. Those extra funds impact outcomes by providing smaller classes, fewer leaks in the roof, more and newer instructional materials, and various supports that aren’t available at the other school.
Our current system dissuades the best teachers from teaching in our toughest schools because they will be facilely scapegoated for things outside their control. Pinning everything on the classroom teacher lets policymakers and budget writers off the hook pretty easily. Accountability only falls on teachers, and politicians laugh all the way to re-election.
What does your “child-centered approach” look like, and how does the state make sure that all students learn the fundamentals?
Tom Pauken’s approach is child-centered, with multiple paths to graduation: a math/science path, humanities/fine arts path, and a technical/vocational path. Students get ownership of their education and focus on their strengths instead of adhering to one-size-fits-all mandates from outsiders. Elementaries need a well-rounded curriculum including core classes, arts, physical education, and recess for unstructured play.
Test advocates pretend a $500 million plan to test every student every year is the only way to monitor learning and that everyone who opposes this bamboozle opposes accountability. But many of us who wish to reform reform support smart testing using sampling techniques at certain grades to save limited instructional time and education dollars.
There are many additional ways to monitor outcomes if Texans will think outside the testing contract straightjacket. Online portfolios, NAEP scores, ACT-PLAN and PSAT scores, grades and passing rates, graduation rates, college-acceptance rates, dropout rates, and student surveys are just a few that come to mind. We can also require all graduates to show they are college-ready by means of college acceptance and/or ACT/SAT scores, or show they’re career-ready by obtaining an industry-recognized vocational certification prior to graduation. This isn’t hard; it just isn’t what lobbyists want to hear.
I admit that I am not sold on STAAR. I do not agree with the allegation that I therefore oppose accountability. In fact, I want accountability even for the accountability merchants.
More than 850 Texas school boards have passed resolutions objecting to the over-reliance on standardized testing. What impact do you expect that to have in next year’s lawmaking session?
I don’t know. I suspect that voting parents calling their representatives will have more impact than school board resolutions. It was telling months ago how quickly and publicly some Texas moms rebuked a prominent testing advocate when he accused superintendents of “scaring mom” over the testing issue. Rep. Jimmie Don Aycock said in a hearing last session that officials were getting lots of phone calls from parents about overtesting. At the same time, I understand that lobbyists representing the testing firms won’t go down without a fight.
I would like to note that these resolutions were adopted by elected local trustees. In Texas schools, school board members are often parents and involved community members; they are regular folks. This is representative democracy in action—local citizens are using the resolution to let their voices be heard alongside the lobbyists in Austin. If our leaders truly want to represent their constituents, the resolution will indeed influence their actions.
Why fight? Don’t you have a lot of common ground with advocates of standardized testing — high school graduates who are prepared to go into the workforce, onto more training or onto college?
I don’t think I have much common ground with folks who set impossible targets (100 percent of students must pass their standardized tests in 2014, under No Child Left Behind) and ignore the effects of funding injustices (Academically Unacceptable districts get funded an average of $1,000 less per student than Exemplary districts). These policies don’t help kids; they help to torpedo public schools.
Texas leaders have worshipped test-and-punish technocrats for over 20 years, and yet a testing advocate recently wrote “Wake Up – Schools Are Failing.” He says the solution is to “stay the course,” i.e., more of the same. But why are schools failing after two decades with accountability hawks in charge? When will their prescriptions work? It’s telling that Texas private schools are allowed to utilize the state’s testing system but politely say, “No thanks.”
Meanwhile, the universal failure of Texas public schools is preordained for 2014 — guaranteed by those who came up with the federal accountability targets — and news of their failure will be music to the ears of some. But to many of us, the school is still the heart of the community.
Our sons and daughters still grow up in the glow of Friday night lights, just as they have for generations. We still put their pictures in the paper when they do well at the spelling bee or win an essay contest; we still burn a bonfire and crown our small-town royalty. My son and I recently looked at my dad’s yearbook photo from 1951. Dad was a Pirate, and now, 60 years later, my sons and my daughter are all Pirates, too.
Some people may want a charter school or a virtual online school for their kids, and that’s fine — but many of us simply want Texas to stop undermining our humble community schools by carpet-bombing them with tests, paperwork, and inane targets … and maybe pat our hard-working teachers on the back once in awhile, too. To me, these things are worth fighting for.
These are the same public schools that educated the greatest generation and taught the Americans who won the space race. News of their demise is greatly exaggerated.
This Q&A was conducted via email and condensed by Dallas Morning News editorial writer Rodger Jones. His email address is rmjones@dallasnews.com. John Kuhn can be reached at johnkuhntx@gmail.com.
In case you have time on November 28, you might want to listen in to the summit convened by Jeb Bush’s Foundation for Excellence in Education. It will be live streamed at http://www.ExcelinEd.org/Everywhere.
Jeb Bush is now a key figure in the reform movement. He is a strong supporter of charters and vouchers. He wants all teachers and all schools to get a grade based on the test scores of students. His foundation is supported by many foundations; see the list below (including Gates), and by technology companies and charter chains. Bush is a cheerleader for the digitization of classrooms. He foresees the day when there are fewer teachers and more online learning.
What a cool summit this will be!
So many superstars of reform in one place!
You will get to hear David Coleman, president of the College Board and architect of the Common Core standards.
You will notice that one of the keynote speakers at this conservative event is Arne Duncan. Another is John Podesta of the Center for American Progress, who headed Obama’s transition team in 2008. You might wonder why Duncan and Podesta are there, especially there are rumors that Bush will pursue the presidency in 2016. Just think of it as a testament to bipartisan comity around a shared agenda.
Recently defeated Indiana Superintendent Tony Bennett will appear, as will Kevin Huffman of Tennessee, now serving one of the nation’s most conservative governors and legislatures.
You will get to hear Condoleeza Rice and Joel Klein explain why our public schools are “a very grave threat to national security,” and why we need charters and vouchers.
Another really cool thing is that they are showing “Won’t Back Down.” It was released on September 28 and a month later it had almost disappeared from the nation’s theaters. Last weekend it was showing in only 24 theaters in the entire USA. This will be one of the few places in America where you can still see it.
Here is the press release; the agenda follows.
WASHINGTON – The Foundation for Excellence in Education today announced its final general and strategy sessions for the fifth annual Excellence in Action National Summit on Education Reform at the JW Marriott in Washington, DC, Nov. 27-28.
During the general session “Won’t Back Down Movie and Parent Trigger,” attendees will hear the story behind the film that premiered in September. Reporter and education reform supporter Campbell Brown will discuss with Shirley Ford of Parent Revolution and Dr. Gloria Romero, California director of Democrats for Education Reform and former California State Senator, how this powerful, parent-driven movement is inspiring change across the nation.
Don’t miss “Common Core State Standards,” as Governor Jeb Bush joins David Coleman, President and CEO of the College Board; Bob Corcoran, President and Chairman of the GE Foundation; and Dr. William Schmidt, University Distinguished Professor and Co-Director of the Education Policy Center at Michigan State University, to discuss implementing these new standards and ensuring today’s students are equipped with a world-class education.
Strategy sessions will include “Charter Schools: Accountability and Funding,” “The Florida Formula for Student Achievement,” “Implementing Bold Teacher-Effectiveness Reform,” “Recruiting and Retaining Great Principals” and many more. Click here to view all strategy sessions and the complete event agenda.
Unfortunately, we have reached maximum capacity for the Summit, and registration is closed. However, you can enjoy this exciting event from the comfort of your own computer. All keynote speeches and general sessions will be streamed live at http://www.ExcelinEd.org/Everywhere, and all strategy sessions will be filmed and available after the event. Click here to view this year’s agenda.
Members of the press are welcome to cover the conference, including keynote and strategy sessions; however, participation in Q & A times is reserved for attendees. For more details and to apply for credentials for this event, please click here.
The Excellence in Action National Summit on Education Reform annually immerses lawmakers and policymakers in two days of in-depth discussions on proven policies and innovative strategies to improve student achievement. For all things related to the Summit, check out the #EIA12 app at http://bit.ly/W6wubM. This mobile app puts the event agenda and information about speakers, strategy sessions and our partners at your fingertips.
*****
For media inquiries, contact Jaryn Emhof, Communications Director, at 850-391-4090 or Jaryn@ExcelinEd.org.
###
The Foundation for Excellence in Education thanks the following donors for their generous support of the 2012 National Summit on Education Reform: Visionary: GE Foundation, Walton Family Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, The Broad Foundation, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation, Robertson Foundation, The Kovner Foundation, Achiever: Amplify, Doris & Donald Fisher Fund, GlobalScholar, The Kern Family Foundation, Microsoft, The Paul E. Singer Foundation, Susan & Bill Oberndorf, Pearson, Target, Reformer: Challenge Foundation, The Charles & Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation, The Dick & Betsy DeVos Family Foundation, George Kaiser Family Foundation, K12, Intel, The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, McGraw-Hill Education, Scholastic, Scholar: Academica, Alvarez & Marsal, Apex Learning, Charter Schools USA, e2020, ETS, Morgridge Family Foundation, SAS, SMART Technologies, State Farm Insurance, VSCHOOLZ, William E. Simon Foundation.
The Foundation for Excellence in Education is igniting a movement of reform, state by state, to transform education for the 21st century economy. Excellence in Action, the organization’s flagship initiative, is working with lawmakers and policymakers to advance education reform across America. Learn more at http://www.ExcelinEd.org.
AGENDA:
Home
JW Marriott – Washington, DC
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
8:00-8:45 am Breakfast Buffet
8:45-9:30 am Opening Keynote:
Jeb Bush, Chairman of the Foundation for Excellence in Education
9:45-11:00 am Strategy Sessions:
Strategy Session 1: Reaching More Students with Vouchers and Tax-Credit Scholarships
Whether you are an advocate of education vouchers for all or believe special scholarships should be reserved for students in failing schools, the debate on school choice is one that matters. States across the country are enacting new reforms and expanding those that already exist to ensure vouchers and tax-credit scholarships reach the kids who need them the most. Join these state lawmakers as they discuss strategies to keep up with the growing demand from families for quality school choice options.
Moderator: John Kirtley, Chairman of Step Up for Students and vice chairman of the Alliance for School Choice and the American Federation for Children
Panelists:
Conrad Appel, Louisiana State Senator
Algie Howell, Virginia State Delegate
Jason Nelson, Oklahoma State Representative
Bill O’Brien, New Hampshire State Representative
Strategy Session 2: Implementing Bold Teacher-Effectiveness Reform
Over the past few years, states across the country have passed reforms linking student-learning data to teacher evaluations. Now, leaders have entered the critical phase of putting the reforms into practice at the local level. Learn how these education chiefs are developing assessments and evaluation systems in their respective states to measure hard-to-test areas and elevate educators’ professional development.
Moderator: Hanna Skandera, New Mexico Secretary-Designate of Public Education and Vice-Chair of Chiefs for Change
Panelists:
Kevin Huffman, Tennessee Commissioner of Education
Jill Hawley, Colorado Associate Commissioner for Achievement and Strategy
Dr. Diane Ullman, Chief Talent Officer for the Connecticut State Department of Education
Strategy Session 3: Accountability-Based Flexibility for School Districts
Across the nation, crisis situations are giving birth to new, student-centered learning models. In the midst of challenging economic times and a national focus on improving the quality of education, a new kind of school district is emerging – one with both autonomy and performance-based accountability. Learn how some of our nation’s most troubled school districts are challenging a conventional structure to change the futures of their students, schools and cities.
Moderator: Dr. Paul Hill, Founder of the Center on Reinventing Public Education
Panelists:
David Harris, Founder and CEO of The Mind Trust
John White, Louisiana Superintendent of Education
Tyrone Winfrey, Chief of Staff of the Michigan Education Achievement Authority
11:30 am-12:45 pm Lunch Keynote:
John Podesta, Chair and Counselor of the Center for American Progress, with Dr. Chester E. Finn, Jr., President of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute
1:00-2:15 pm Strategy Sessions:
Strategy Session 4: How to Prepare for Common Core Assessments
The state-led transition to Common Core State Standards will change the expectation of what students need to be learning and is aligned with what they’ll need for success after high school in our changing world. The pressure is on for the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness of College and Careers (PARCC) and Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium to deliver new online assessments and for schools to build the technology infrastructure they’ll need to use those assessments. The Common Core transition brings individual opportunities for states but also challenges. Meanwhile, many state leaders are preparing parents, teachers and communities for the initial results which will likely follow new standards and assessments. Join this panel to discuss specific strategies states and districts can take to ensure everyone and everything is prepared to transition to these new assessments.
Moderator: Governor Bob Wise, President of Alliance for Excellent Education
Panelists:
Dr. Tony Bennett, Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction and Chairman of Chiefs for Change
Steve Bowen, Maine Commissioner of Education
Laura McGiffert Slover, Senior Vice President of Achieve
Dr. Joe Willhoft, Executive Director of the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium
Strategy Session 5: Transforming Colleges of Education
Nine out of every ten teachers graduate from traditional teacher prep programs at colleges of education. Should these colleges be held accountable for the caliber of students they admit into their programs and the teachers they send into the classroom? Don’t miss this discussion on what can be done to ensure new teachers entering the profession are fully equipped to help each of their students succeed.
Moderator: Kate Walsh, President of the National Council on Teacher Quality
Panelists:
Dr. John Chubb, CEO of Education Sector and member of the Koret Task Force on K-12 Education
Paul Pastorek, former Louisiana Superintendent of Education
Strategy Session 6: Charter Schools: Accountability and Funding
With over 40 states now authorizing charter schools, the potential for innovation continues to grow. Each state serves as a testing site for diverse approaches to approving, funding and maintaining the accountability of these unique public schools. Learn the best policies states are using to shape high-quality charter schools across the nation.
Moderator: Jeanne Allen, President of the Center for Education Reform
Panelists:
Todd Huston, Indiana State Representative
Peggy Lehner, Ohio State Senator
Nina Rees, President and CEO of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools
James H. Shelton III, Assistant Deputy Secretary for Innovation and Improvement at the U.S. Department of Education
2:45-4:00 pm General Session: Won’t Back Down Movie and Parent Trigger
Shirley Ford, Parent Revolution, and Dr. Gloria Romero, California Director of Democrats for Education Reform and former California State Senator, with Campbell Brown, author and journalist
4:15-5:30 pm Strategy Sessions:
Strategy Session 7: Thinking Outside the School-Zone Box
From coast to coast, states are proving there is more than one way to provide families with school choice options. Many are developing new strategies to empower parents with the ability to choose the public school that is best for their child. Listen to these battle-proven leaders share lessons learned and strategies to expand public school choice programs and remove barriers limiting students’ education options.
Moderator: Mike Petrilli, Executive Vice President of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute
Panelists:
Matthew Barnes, Executive Director of Families Empowered
John Huppenthal, Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction
Luther Olsen, Wisconsin State Senator
Strategy Session 8: College & Career Readiness
State leaders are facing a desperate call to action: just one-third of America’s high school students graduate with the knowledge and skills they’ll need to succeed in college. This tragic reality calls for rigorous standards and innovative policies, ones that incentivize acceleration and launch students into college or gainful employment. It’s time to give students the opportunity to advance to college or careers as soon as they are ready, even if that’s earlier that the traditional K-12 calendar allows. Get the details on what methods states are using to prepare our youngest generation to thrive in today’s competitive global economy.
Moderator: Laysha Ward, President of Community Relations and the Target Foundation
Panelists:
David Abbott, Deputy Commissioner and General Counsel at the Rhode Island Department of Education
Russell Armstrong, Education and Workforce Policy Advisor to Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal
Joe Pickens, President of St. Johns River State College
Kelli Stargel, Florida State Senator
Strategy Session 9: Developing and Retaining Teachers We Can’t Afford to Lose
A teacher’s influence – good or bad – can have life-long effects on the students in his or her classroom. Hear new research on the teacher-retention crisis, and join the ensuing discussion on what can be done to develop and retain the high-quality educators our states need to reverse student decline and elevate the status of the teaching profession.
Moderator: Dr. Stefanie Sanford, Director of Policy & Advocacy, United States Program, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Panelists:
Tim Daly, President of the New Teacher Project
Christopher Cerf, New Jersey Commissioner of Education
Gary Holder-Winfield, Connecticut State Representative
6:00-7:00 pm General Reception
7:30-9:00 pm Dinner Keynote:
Dr. Condoleezza Rice, former U.S. Secretary of State, and Joel Klein, former chancellor of New York City’s public schools, with Dr. Richard Haass, President of the Council on Foreign Relations
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
7:30-8:15am Breakfast Buffet
8:30-9:00 am Breakfast Keynote:
Arne Duncan, U.S. Secretary of Education
9:30-10:45am General Session: Common Core State Standards
Moderator: Governor Jeb Bush, Governor of Florida from 1999-2007 and Chairman of the Foundation for Excellence in Education
Panelists:
David Coleman, President and CEO of the College Board
Bob Corcoran, President and Chairman of the GE Foundation
Dr. William Schmidt, University Distinguished Professor and Co-Director of the Education Policy Center at Michigan State University, Minnesota State Representative
11:00-12:15pm Strategy Sessions:
Strategy Session 10: The Florida Formula for Student Achievement
More than a dozen years ago, Florida embarked on a path to reverse a generation of decline in its public schools by forcing the system to focus on the student instead of the adult. Since then, Florida’s formula of high expectations for students, accountability for schools, choices for families and rewards for progress has yielded incredible gains in student learning. In the eight-year period prior to the reforms, graduation rates had declined by nearly seven percent, but since the reforms were put in place, graduation rates have increased by 20 percent. Education in the Sunshine State is now a model for the nation, inspiring leaders to strategically and boldly transform public education. Learn how Florida’s formula can transform student achievement for any state.
Moderator: Julia Johnson, President of Net Communications and former member of Florida’s Board of Education
Panelists:
Dr. Christy Hovanetz, Senior Policy Fellow at the Foundation for Excellence in Education
Dr. Matthew Ladner, Senior Advisor on Policy and Research to the Foundation for Excellence in Education
Strategy Session 11: Transforming Education for the Digital Age
Last year, Digital Learning Now! released “The Roadmap for Reform: Digital Learning,” a guide providing governors, lawmakers and policymakers with the nuts-and-bolts policies to transition to student-centered education. Now, states are changing the face of education by introducing blended learning models that combine the best of face-to-face instruction with the best of online learning. Hear state and school leaders share what they are doing – and what is yet to be done – to harness the power of technology and provide students with rigorous, high-quality, customized education.
Moderator: John Bailey, Executive Director of Digital Learning Now!
Panelists:
Dr. Janet Barresi, Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction
Dr. Mark Edwards, Superintendent of Mooresville Graded School District
Pam Myhra, Minnesota State Representative
Governor Bev Perdue, North Carolina
Chip Rogers, Majority Leader of the Georgia State Senate
Strategy Session 12: Recruiting and Retaining Great Principals
How can districts attract the best principals to their schools? Once found, can schools keep their great leaders by offering increased authority over personnel decisions and their school’s budget? Learn new, proven approaches to recruit and retain the committed principals our nation needs to prioritize students and lead our schools.
Moderator: Dr. Frederick M. Hess, Director of Education Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute
Panelists:
Dr. Andrés Alonso, CEO of Baltimore City Public Schools
Christine Campbell, Senior Research Analyst and Policy Director at the Center on Reinventing Public Education
Anitere Flores, Florida State Senator
12:302:00 pm Lunch Keynote:
Mitch Daniels, Indiana Governor
Andy Smarick believes that public schools can’t be fixed or turned around. He thinks that the only way to solve their problems is to close them down and replace them with privately managed charters. Andy served on the board of a KIPP school, so he is confident that KIPP can do what no public school can do.
In a previous post, I called on Andy to join me in “the KIPP Challenge.” This is the challenge for KIPP to take over an entire low-performing district and show what it can do. Prove that it doesn’t skim the best students, show what happens when it takes all the kids, prove the critics wrong. Given Andy’s experience as a member of a KIPP board, I thought he should join me.
Now he says that the School Improvement Grants (SIG) are a vast waste of money. I agree with him again.
Billions have been spent with meager results. The Department of Education has boasted of double digit gains, but Anthony Cody showed the statistical game that the DOE was playing. Anthony warned last March that the DOE was “spinning the numbers,” and that the SIG program was not working.
Agreed!
I feel strongly that a decade from now, we will look back and realize that the billions spent on Race to the Top were a waste of money that diverted schools from their true mission of developing and educating citizens, not the best test-takers who can win a race for higher test scores.
Andy, lover of all things new, wants to see the SIG program replaced by a commitment only to new schools.
But Chicago and New York City have been doing that for years without much success. The New York Daily News reported recently that nearly 60% of the new schools opened by Mayor Bloomberg had lower passing rates than the “failing” schools they had replaced. Why do more of the same when it didn’t work? If most of the new schools do worse than the old schools, we will move backwards, not forwards.
So, my suggestion is that federal money go to build and strengthen communities as well as schools; that it be coordinated with social services and health services to make sure that children are fit and healthy; that it be spent to make sure that schools in every community have a full rich curriculum with experienced teachers; that it be used to make sure that every school serving poor communities has strong parental involvement and social workers. And that we honor our nation’s commitment to equality of educational opportunity.
I know Andy won’t agree with my prescriptions. But I don’t agree with privatizing education.
If ever evidence was needed about the bizarre mind meld between the Obama administration and the far-right of the Republican party, here it is.
Secretary Arne Duncan is giving the keynote to Jeb Bush’s Excellence in Education summit in Washington, D.C. on November 28. Another keynote will be delivered to the same gathering of the leaders of the privatization movement by John Podesta of the Center for American Progress, who headed the Obama transition team in 2008. This is sickening.
Jeb Bush’s organization supports vouchers, charters, online virtual charters, and for-profit organizations that run schools. It also supports evaluating teachers by student test scores and eliminating collective bargaining. Jeb Bush believes in grading schools, grading teachers, grading students, closing schools, and letting everyone “escape” from public schools to privately-run establishments. The free market is his ideal of excellence, not public responsibility, not the public school as the anchor of the community, but privatization.
Here is the press release (Podesta’s keynote was announced earlier):
Arne Duncan to Give Keynote at the
2012 National Summit on Education Reform
WASHINGTON – The Foundation for Excellence in Education today announced U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan will deliver a breakfast keynote address for the fifth annual Excellence in Action National Summit on Education Reform. This keynote will take place at the JW Marriott in Washington, DC, Nov. 28.
Prior to becoming the U.S. Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan served as the chief executive officer of Chicago Public Schools (CPS), the longest-serving big-city education superintendent in the country. Among his most significant accomplishments during his tenure as CEO, an all-time high of the district’s elementary school students met or exceeded state reading standards, and their math scores also reached a record high. At high schools, Chicago Public Schools students posted gains on the ACT at three times the rate of national gains and nearly twice that of the state’s. Also, the number of CPS high school students taking Advanced Placement courses tripled, and the number of students passing AP classes more than doubled.
Unfortunately, we have reached maximum capacity for the Summit, and registration is closed. However, you can enjoy this exciting event from the comfort of your own computer. All keynote speeches and general sessions will be streamed live at www.ExcelinEd.org/Everywhere, and all strategy sessions will be filmed and available after the event. Click here to view this year’s agenda.
Members of the press are welcome to cover the conference, including keynote and strategy sessions, however, participation in Q & A times are reserved for attendees. For more details and to apply for credentials for this event, please click here.
The Excellence in Action National Summit on Education Reform annually immerses lawmakers and policymakers in two days of in-depth discussions on proven policies and innovative strategies to improve student achievement. For all things related to the Summit, check out the #EIA12 app at http://bit.ly/W6wubM. This mobile app puts the event agenda and information about speakers, strategy sessions and our partners at your fingertips.
Will anything change in Obama’s second term?
More testing, more charter schools, more school closings?
Joy Resmovits asks around for Huffington Post.
She says that if Duncan should leave–which is unllikely–he might be replaced by Rhee.
That’s enough to make you appreciate Arne.
Maybe the purpose of the rumor is to make you like Arne.
It’s not easy being U.S. Secretary of Education these days.
Back in the old days, before No Child Left Behind, the Secretary was basically a cheerleader with a bully pulpit. He or she ran a Department that oversaw many programs but had relatively little money and no authority to change what Congress authorized.
All that changed with NCLB. Suddenly, Congress declared that it was the judge of “adequate yearly progress.” It legislated the expectations for all schools. Now the federal government was in charge of crucial decisions about issues that used to belong to states and localities.
But as 2014 grew nearer and no state in the nation was on target to get to 100% proficiency–how could the schools have failed to meet their mandated deadline–Secretary Duncan issued waivers to states that agreed to do what he said.
Secretary Duncan, of course, knows how to reform schools. He did it in Chicago, remember, which is now a national exemplar of reform. It has been saved repeatedly, not only by Arne Duncan, but by Paul Vallas. Now it is going to be saved again by Barbara Byrd-Bennett and Rahm Emanuel.
Once Secretary Duncan issued waivers from NCLB, he was in a scary role. He is now dictating the terms of school reform for the entire nation! Don’t think this is easy. Not only is it a tough full-time job, but he is the first Secretary ever to struggle with this mighty burden.
Undaunted, he is now supervising a Race to the Top for districts, so he can run them too. They too will take the bait (re, the money) and fall into line.
Arne Duncan has the job of redesigning America’s education system. It’s one he has willingly assumed. Now he has four more years to make sure that every child in America is frequently tested, preferably beginning at age 3; that a vast federal data warehouse is built with relevant information about the test scores of every child and teacher; that privately managed charters take control of most urban school districts (using New Orleans as their model); and that every teacher knows how to raise test scores every year.
What a vision. What a burden. Arne Duncan can do it.
I won’t go into the baggage associated with Bill Ayers. During the campaign of 2008, his name came up again and again and was hurled as an accusation against candidate Barack Obama.
I recall Sarah Palin saying that Obama was guilty of “palling around with terrorists,” or words to that effect.
I did not approve of or condone what he did in the 1960s.
Bill Ayers is not the same person he was forty years ago. Today, he is a respected education thinker. But then, none of us is the same person we were 40 or 20 or even 10 years ago.
People grow and change. If they are willing, they learn.
Ayers has written a letter to President Obama that expresses the views of many educators today.
He calls on the President to rethink his policies.
He reminds him of the great advantages that the University of Chicago Lab School offered to the Obama children, the Ayers children, the Duncan children, and the Rahm Emanuel children even now.
Isn’t this what we should want for all children?
EduShyster has noticed an ominous trend: as reform advances, as charter schools open, the number of black teachers and veteran teachers shrinks dramatically.
In Chicago, since “reform” started in 1995, the proportion of black teachers has dropped from 45% to 19%.
In Boston, the numbers in the new charters are shocking.
But, as our friend EduShyster notes: The achievement gap is the civil rights issue of our time—which is why it may be necessary for us to destroy a large part of the Black middle class in order to achieve our goal of closing said gap.
TeachPlus is one of those Gates-funded teacher organizations that is supposed to provide a different perspective on teaching than the teachers’ unions. It can be counted on to advocate for the interests of new teachers who allegedly want merit pay, don’t care about job protections, and want to be judged by the test scores of their students. The teachers for whom it seems to speak are part of the New American Economy, where jobs are short-term, not seen as part of a career.
TeachPlus has just conducted a survey of teachers. Its first startling discovery is that “For the first time in almost a half-century, teachers with ten or fewer years experience comprise over 50% of the teaching force. We refer to these teachers as the New Majority.” This “new generation” of teachers–unlike, we may suppose, the older generation of veterans–have “high expectations for their students and a strong desire to build a profession based on high standards.”
The “new generation” wants student growth to be part of teacher evaluations (the veterans do not); the new generation wants students growth to count for at least 20 percent of their evaluation (the veterans do not); the new generation wants to change compensation and tenure so younger teachers (themselves) can get higher salaries (the veterans do not). The veterans want licensure tests to cover the skills needed in the classroom (the new generation does not).
Both generations agree they need more time to collaborate with their peers. Both agree on the importance of clear and measurable standards.
And here is the interesting part:
Both agree that current evaluations are not helpful in improving practice (what are current evaluation? Using test scores to measure teacher quality.)
Both agree that a longer school day would not be helpful “to support students more effectively.”
Both agree that increasing class size to pay some teachers more would be a mistake.
The takeaway: Teachers, young and old, agree and disagree on various “reform” proposals.
On two issues they are united: They do not see the value of a longer school day, and they do not want larger class sizes in exchange for higher pay.
But a matter that should concern us all: Current “reform” policies are driving experienced teachers out of the nation’s classrooms. This cannot be good for anyone. It is certainly not good for the young teachers, who need senior teachers to help them improve.
How can a profession become “great” by demoralizing and ousting those who know the most?
Who would go to a hospital in an emergency and insist on being treated by an intern, not a senior physician?
Who would want their legal affairs to be handled by a lawyer who just graduated law school if they could get a senior partner instead?
When will President Obama, Secretary Duncan, Bill Gates, Eli Broad, and all the other people driving current policy realize that they are inflicting harm on the nation’s education system?
