Archives for category: U.S. Department of Education
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The Future of Teaching?

By dianeravitch
November 1, 2012 //
33

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?

Categories Corporate Reformers, Duncan, Arne, Education Reform, Gates Foundation, Bill Gates, Teacher Evaluations, Teacher Tenure, Teachers and Teaching, Testing, U.S. Department of Education

This Union Is a Hero of Public Education

By dianeravitch
October 30, 2012 //
17

The United Teachers of Los Angeles has steadfastly refused to allow its members to be evaluated by the test scores of their students. Unlike the district leadership, UTLA understands that scholars have found that value-added assessment is inaccurate, invalid and unstable. By this method, excellent teachers may be labeled “ineffective,” and poor teachers who teach to the test may be labeled “effective.”

Despite intense pressure by the Los Angeles Unified School District leadership and the federal government, UTLA has insisted that its members should be evaluated by evidence-based methods, not by “value-added assessment” that has not been proven to work anywhere.

UTLA refused to sign off on the district’s request for $40 million in Race to the Top funding, which would have subjected its members to value-added assessment.

UTLA recognizes that accepting $40 million for RTTT would eventually cost the district hundreds of millions of dollars to comply with the federal government’s mandates. This has been the experience of other districts, where teachers have been laid off and class sizes have increased solely because of compliance with RTTT requirements.

Because it has remained true to principle, because it insists on evidence-based evaluation, because it insists on honest accounting for the public’s dollars, UTLA is a hero of public education and joins the honor roll.

Categories California, Education Reform, Honor Roll, Los Angeles, Privatization, Race to the Top, Teacher Evaluations, U.S. Department of Education, Unions

Audit Blasts Lack of Oversight of Charter Spending

By dianeravitch
October 25, 2012 //
17

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of the Inspector General issued a stinging audit, showing a near absence of oversight of charter school spending in the three states studied: Florida, Arizona, and California. On the same day, the California charter schools association celebrated another big expansion of the charter sector in that state. There are now more than 1,000 charter schools with nearly half a million students in them, and the state department of education lacks the staff to monitor them. Some of the schools never open; some open and close within a year or two. Some pay outrageous executive salaries.

The main focus of the audit was the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Innovation, which awarded over $1 billion to spur the growth of charter schools. It is headed by James Shelton, formerly of Edison Schools, McKinsey, the NewSchools Venture Fund and the Gates Foundation. He is an avid proponent of charter schools.

Expecting Shelton to monitor the growth and oversight of charter schools is like calling out the fox who is guarding the hen house and expecting him to be more vigilant. His job is to increase their number, not to monitor their quality.

Please pay attention, folks. The U.S. Department of Education is doing whatever it can to spur competition in the education sector by funding entrepreneurs, Gulen schools, no-excuses schools, and anyone who wants some federal money to go into business with no regard to quality, longevity or soundness.

 

 

Categories Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Privatization, U.S. Department of Education

What Should the Federal Government Do to Improve Education?

By dianeravitch
October 20, 2012 //
11

I am often asked my views about what the federal government should do to improve education.

The one thing it should not do is to foist unproven ideas on the schools across the nation.

Whatever policies it supports should be amply supported by evidence and experience, such as class size reduction and early childhood education.

The more I travel, the more I recognize the enormous diversity of this great nation.

It is the height of arrogance to believe that there is one set of reforms that will work in every school in every community, be it urban, suburban, rural, or something in-between.

No one person in this nation is wise enough to tell everyone else how to teach and how to evaluate teachers and how to run schools.

No district has all the answers.

There are specific roles that the federal government should play. In this interview, I describe what I think is most important.

Categories U.S. Department of Education

Why Does the U.S. Department of Education Support Privatization?

By dianeravitch
October 14, 2012 //
19

A reader points out that the U.S. Department of Education has the following program information on its website:

“The U.S. Department of Education’s Charter Schools Program (CSP) has invested more than $255 million in charter schools this year. The purpose of the program is to increase financial support for the startup and expansion of these public schools, build a better national understanding of the public charter school model, and increase the number of high-quality public charter schools across the nation. More information about the Charter Schools Program is available from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Innovation and Improvement here.”

Why is the DOE spending $255 million on privately managed charters that are free to exclude low-performing students or students with high needs? Why does it support a sector that is more racially segregated than community schools in the same district?

Charter schools are not public schools. Charter schools are run by private management. Most charter schools do not have a parent association. Charter schools do not get better test scores than public schools, on average.

Categories Charter Schools, Education Reform, Privatization, Race to the Top, Segregation , Racial Isolation and Integration, U.S. Department of Education

US Dept of Ed: More Millions for Teacher Evaluation

By dianeravitch
October 2, 2012 //
12

The Gates Foundation has poured hundreds of millions of dollars into teacher evaluation programs.

The US Department of Education has used its billions in Race to the Top funding to push for teacher evaluation programs.

The spigot is still open!

The big winner of the latest grants is the District of Columbia, which presumably already has Michelle Rhee’s IMPACT program. But nonetheless, it just won another $23 million of our taxpayer dollars.

Millions more went to Los Angeles and to charter schools. The teachers’ union in LA still has not agreed to accept test-based evaluations. Seems someone there has read the research and knows how useless this stuff is.

Arne Duncan is certainly priming the pump where it matters least.

Categories Duncan, Arne, Gates Foundation, Bill Gates, Teacher Evaluations, U.S. Department of Education, Unions

Wall Street Eyes Profit Potential in Public School Budgets

By dianeravitch
October 1, 2012 //
9

The privatization movement has swung into high gear.

Many people find it hard to understand why so many Wall Street hedge fund managers and equity investors have suddenly become interested in public education.

Here is a good explanation.

No one ever went wrong by following the money.

Who wins? Who loses?

And another important issue: where is the evidence that privatization improves education or saves money? Or does it save money while making education worse?

Categories Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Democrats for Education Reform, Education Industry, Education Reform, For-Profit, Privatization, U.S. Department of Education

Obama’s Dreadful Education Agenda

By dianeravitch
September 21, 2012 //
14

The Washington Post has a good article about the aggressive way that the Obama administration has imposed its education agenda in the past three+ years.

The article notes, almost in passing, that there is no evidence for the success of any part of this agenda. No one will know for many years whether the Obama program of testing, accountability, and choice will improve education.

When reading the article, it is easy to forget that the U.S. Department of Education was not created to impose any “reforms” on the nation’s schools. It was created to send federal aid to hard-pressed districts that enrolled many poor children.

When the Department was created in 1980, there were vigorous debates about whether there might one day be federal control of the schools. The proponents of the idea argued that this would never happen. It has not happened until now because Democrats and Republicans agreed that they didn’t want the other party to control the nation’s schools.

But now that the Obama administration has embraced the traditional Republican ideas of competition, choice, testing and accountability, there is no more arguing about federal control. Republicans are quite willing to allow a Democratic administration to push the states to allow more privately managed schools, to impose additional testing, and to crush teachers’ unions.

Republicans would never have gotten away with this agenda at any time in the past three decades. The Democrats who controlled Congress would never have allowed it to happen.

Who would have imagined that it would take a Democratic President to promote privatization, for-profit schools, evaluating teachers by student test scores, and a host of other ideas (like rolling back the hard-won rights of teachers) that used to be only on the GOP wish-list?

Categories Charter Schools, Common Core, Duncan, Arne, Education Industry, Education Reform, Federal Waiver, Merit pay, NCLB (No Child Left Behind), Obama, Privatization, Race to the Top, U.S. Department of Education

The Real Story Behind The CTU Strike

By dianeravitch
September 10, 2012 //
23

Count on Stephanie Simon of Reuters to get the story that eluded every other reporter.

She is the one that got the inside story on Louisiana, TFA, and for-profit investors.

Now she has the scoop on Chicago.

The strike in Chicago is not about money.

It is a national story.

It’s about the survival of public education.

Read her story.

Categories Chicago, Corporate Reformers, Duncan, Arne, Education Industry, Education Reform, Emanuel, Rahm, For-Profit, Obama, Privatization, Race to the Top, Teach for America TFA, Teacher Evaluations, Testing, U.S. Department of Education, Unions, US Education

Talk About Nerve!

By dianeravitch
September 4, 2012 //
25

A group of 30 organizations associated with corporate reform wrote a letter to Secretary Arne Duncan to insist that he hold teacher education programs accountable for the test scores of the students taught by their graduates.

Groups like Teach for America, StudentsFirst, Democrats for Education Reform (the Wall Street hedge fund managers), The New Teacher Project, various charter chains, Jeb Bush’s rightwing Chiefs for Change and his Foundation for Educational Excellence, and various and sundry groups that love teaching to the test stand together as one.

Their views are in direct opposition to those of the leaders of higher education, who oppose this extension of federal control into their institutions.

Read Gary Rubinstein’s blog about it here, where you will see the full cast of corporate reform characters, many of them funded by the Gates Foundation.

They are certain that what minority students need most is more testing. They want the test scores of the students to determine the career and livelihood of their teachers. And they want the federal government to punish the schools of education that prepared the teachers of these children.

If Duncan takes their advice, he will assume the power to penalize schools of education if the students of their graduates can’t raise their test scores every year.

The vise of standardized testing will tighten around public education.

These people and these organizations are wrong. They are driving American education in a destructive direction. They will reduce children to data points, as the organizations thrive. Wasn’t a decade of NCLB enough for them?

They are on the wrong side of history. They may be flying high now, but their ideas hurt children and ruin the quality of education.

Categories Accountability, Bush, Jeb, Charter Schools, Chiefs for Change, ConnCAN, Corporate Reformers, Democrats for Education Reform, Duncan, Arne, Education Industry, Education Reform, Gates Foundation, Bill Gates, Higher Education, StudentsFirst, Teach for America TFA, Teacher Evaluations, Testing, U.S. Department of Education
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