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Jay P. Greene: The Disconnect Between Changing Test Scores and Changing Life Outcomes

By dianeravitch
March 15, 2018 //
10

 

Since the passage of No Child Left Behind, test scores have been defined by federal law as the goal of education. Schools and teachers that “produce”higher scores are good, schools and teachers that don’t are “bad,” and likely to suffer termination. The assumption is that higher test scores produce better life outcomes, and that is that.

In late 2016, Jay P. Greene produced a short and brilliant paper that challenged that assumption. I have fallen into the habit of asking myself whether the young people who are super-stars in many non-academic fields had high scores and guessing they did not. Fortunately, it is only in schools where students get branded with numbers like Jean Val Jean of “Les Miserables.” Outside school, they can dazzle the world as athletes, musicians, inventors, or mechanics, without a brand.

Greene writes:

“If increasing test scores is a good indicator of improving later life outcomes, we should see roughly the same direction and magnitude in changes of scores and later outcomes in most rigorously identified studies. We do not. I’m not saying we never see a connection between changing test scores and changing later life outcomes (e.g. Chetty, et al); I’m just saying that we do not regularly see that relationship. For an indicator to be reliable, it should yield accurate predictions nearly all, or at least most, of the time.

“To illustrate the un-reliability of test score changes, I’m going to focus on rigorously identified research on school choice programs where we have later life outcomes. We could find plenty of examples of disconnect from other policy interventions, such as pre-school programs, but I am focusing on school choice because I know this literature best. The fact that we can find a disconnect between test score changes and later life outcomes in any literature, let alone in several, should undermine our confidence in test scores as a reliable indicator.

“I should also emphasize that by looking at rigorous research I am rigging things in favor of test scores. If we explored the most common use of test scores — examining the level of proficiency — there are no credible researchers who believe that is a reliable indicator of school or program quality. Even measures of growth in test scores or VAM are not rigorously identified indicators of school or program quality as they do not reveal what the growth would have been in the absence of that school or program. So, I think almost every credible researcher would agree that the vast majority of ways in which test scores are used by policymakers, regulators, portfolio managers, foundation officials, and other policy elites cannot be reliable indicators of the ability of schools or programs to improve later life outcomes.”

I would add that Chetty et al did not establish a causal relationship between teacher VAM and later life outcomes, only a correlation. The claim that my fourth grade teacher “caused” me not to become pregnant a decade later strains credulity. At least mine.

Greene’s essay includes an excellent reading list of studies showing high test scores but no change in high school graduation rate or college attendance.

The Milwaukee and D.C. voucher studies that show a gain in high school graduation rate should note the high attrition rate from these programs, which inflates the graduation rate.

Imagine saying to a governor, I have a policy intervention that will raise test scores but will have little or no effect on life outcomes. Would they jump at the offer? Based on the political activity of the past 15 years, the answer is yes.

Overall, however, a seminal essay from a prominent pro-choice scholar.

Categories Charter Schools, Research, School Choice, Vouchers

Oklahoma: Will Teachers Strike? John Thompson Explains.

By dianeravitch
March 14, 2018 //
3

 

John Thompson, teacher and historian in Oklahoma, writes here about the run-up to a possible teachers’ strike. Teachers’ salaries in Oklahoma are near the lowest in the nation. Coincidentally or not, supporters of school choice are massing this morning Choice advocates are rallying this morning at the State Capitol to demand more funding for charters and vouchers. The choice advocates don’t care about teachers’ salaries, teacher shortage, or the experience of those who teach their children.

 

John Thompson writes:

“Oklahoma gives $500 million a year in tax breaks to energy companies, but it is #1 in the nation in cutting state funding for education, reducing formula funding by 28%. We are either third from last or last in the nation in teacher pay. Teachers have not received a state pay increase for a decade; the starting salary is $31,600 for a first-year teacher. State employees have not received an across the board pay raise in 12 years.

“As the rest of the nation watches the grassroots rebellion of teachers that is likely to lead to an April 2 walkout of both teachers and state employees, outsiders should be aware that before the legislature could address our fiscal crisis, it has had to deal with more pressing priorities.

Another year goes by, and Oklahoma still leads the nation for cuts to education


http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2018/mar/07/good-jobs-first/are-oklahoma-teachers-lowest-paid-nearly/
http://newsok.com/oklahoma-teachers-continue-wait-for-pay-raise-a-decade-after-last-increase/article/5580331
http://newsok.com/article/5586584?slideout=1

“The first priority which had to be resolved before Oklahoma could address the budget was brought up by my legislator, Rep. Jason Dunnington (D-OKC). He wanted Imad Enchassi, senior imam of the Islamic Society of Greater Oklahoma City, to serve as the House Chaplain for a Day. Enchassi is one of the state’s most thoughtful, articulate, and witty leaders. However, the Republican leadership continued to block the iman’s application They changed their rules requiring clergy participating in the House Chaplain Program “be from the representative’s own place of worship.”

“After 250 Christians, Jews, and Muslims showed up in the Capitol rotunda to hear Enchassi lead an Islamic prayer, the Republican leadership had to change the guidelines once again. After all, they needed the rules necessary for keeping political issues out of their daily prayers …

“Sure enough, a second priority emerged when the Senate leadership had to defend a Baptist minister’s 15 minute prayer/serman to that legislative body. He blamed school shootings on gay marriage.

“The pastor said:

‘Feb. 14 (a young man) went into a school and killed 17 of our people, our kids. What is going on? What is going on? … Do we really believe that we can create immorality in our laws? Do we really believe that we can redefine marriage from the word of God to something in our own mind and there not be a response? Do we really believe we can tell God to get lost from our schools and our halls of legislation and there be no response? Do we really believe that?’

http://newsok.com/interfaith-leaders-say-legislatures-chaplain-program-excludes-non-christians/article/5583810
https://www.thelostogle.com/2018/03/02/angry-baptist-minister-makes-triumphant-return-to-oklahoma-capitol/

“The legislative load in the wake of recent school shootings was somewhat easier because Oklahoma had already authorized teachers to carry guns at schools, but the law required 74 hours of training. So surely teachers who care about their students should agree to put their pay on the back burner until the required training was reduced …

“Then the right to carry concealed guns into churches had to be reinforced, once again. Non-Oklahomans should understand why Sen. John Bennett (R-Sallisaw) felt compelled to protect churchgoers’ right to arm themselves against “knuckleheads” and “evil people.” His new priority was legislative action for implementing Matthew 26:52, which says “those who take up the sword die by the sword.”

”But Bennett, who has called Islam a “cancer” and who said that state employees seeking a pay raise are engaging in “terrorism,” didn’t include mosques. Consequently, another Republican had to file a bill protecting guns in all houses of worship.

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/oklahoma/articles/2018-02-28/oklahoma-panel-oks-plan-to-ease-training-for-armed-teachers
http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/capitol_report/guns-in-churches-bill-passes-oklahoma-house-would-extend-stand/article_0209a184-5573-56b7-8adb-3395049f68f8.html
http://newsok.com/article/5570937

“Oklahoma’s refusal to accept Obamacare contributed to the enormous hole in the budget that created the education crisis. So, another priority was passing legislation and preparing Gov. Mary Fallin’s order that work requirements must be attached to Medicaid.

“As the April 2 strike deadline approaches, legislative leaders have suggested legislation allowing ad valorem taxes dedicated to capital expenditures be redirected towards salaries. That would free some rich communities to offer a raise. And the word is that equally eccentric funding ideas will be floated.

“It is tougher to raise revenue in Oklahoma than in West Virginia because a constitutional amendment requires a 75% majority to increase taxes. We should not forget, however, why that provision became law.

“In 1992, after a decade of economic collapse due to deindustrialization spurred by Reaganomics, the oil downturn, the banking and savings and loan collapse, AIDS, and the crack and gangs epidemic, HB1017 was passed. After a four-day strike, the tax was passed, saving our schools, but the backlash killed all but one tax increase since then.

“So, Oklahoma’s April tornado season is likely to be upstaged by a bottom-up teachers’ revolt. It is likely to produce a political battle royal which will be worthy of the attention of readers across the nation. Stay tuned.”

Categories Charter Schools, Oklahoma, School Choice, Teacher Pay, Teacher Shortage, Teachers, Vouchers

Texas: Defeat Dan Patrick, the Loudest Opponent of Public Schools, in the Republican Primary

By dianeravitch
February 21, 2018 //
6

Read the rest of this entry »

Categories Education Reform, Texas, Vouchers

Connecticut: Say NO! to Governor Malloy’s Tax Break for the Rich

By dianeravitch
February 18, 2018 //
5

Ann Cronin, a retired educator in Connecticut, is outraged that Governor Dannell Malloy, who pretends to be a Democrat and was even chair of the Democratic Governors Association, has presented a tax plan to benefit his rich campaign contributors. He is a big charter supporter, because his supporters–like opiod king Jonathan Sackler–love charters. (Wouldn’t it be nice if the Sackler family were held personally responsible for the thousands of deaths caused by their deadly but profitable opioids?)

Malloy’s tax plan sounds surprisingly like Donald Trump’s. Maybe he would consider changing parties?

Cronin writes:

 

SAYING NO TO A TAX BREAK FOR THE RICH IN CONNECTICUT

Governor Malloy’s proposed budget gives a tax break to the rich.

Here’s what it is:

He advocates extending the 529 college savings plans, called CHET (Connecticut Higher Education Trust), to savings plans that can be used for K-12 education as well as college. As reported in the well-researched and comprehensive article in The CT Mirror by Jacqueline Rabe Thomas on January 16, 2018, the state currently allows parents to avoid paying state income taxes each year on up to $10,000 that they put into a college savings account. In addition, they don’t have to pay taxes on the earned income when the money is withdrawn to pay for college

 

Using 529 accounts to fund K-12 education in addition to college is part of the new Republican/Trump tax plan. States can go along with that tax plan or become decoupled from it. Governor Malloy has chosen to keep the state and federal tax plans coupled and go along with Donald Trump. The Connecticut General assembly will decide whether or not to go along with Dan Malloy.

Here’s how it will work:

According to figures compiled for The CT Mirror by the financial services company Vanguard, this is the picture for Connecticut families:

 

  1. Family A has a baby and, as soon as the baby is born, puts $200,000 into a 529 savings account for the future education of that baby. The family then withdraws $10,000 a year to pay for the child’s K-12 private school education. The family avoids paying $49,800 in federal taxes over the 13 years. At the end of the high school years, the family will have $382,000 in the account to pay for the child’s college education.

 

  1. Family B has a baby and, as soon as the baby is born, puts $66,000 into a 529 savings account for the future education of the baby. The family withdraws $10,000 a year to pay for the child’s private school K-12 education. The family avoids paying $18,200 in federal taxes over the 13 years. But the family will have no money left in the account to pay for college.

 

  1. Family C has a baby and does not have any money to deposit in a chunk to a 529 savings account at the baby’s birth but saves what it can over the following 18 years for college expenses. All savings are needed for college; there is no money available for private K-12 education. There, probably, is not enough to fully fund college education.

 

  1. Family D has a baby and has no ability to save in any way for college.

 

 

So the only people who will profit from the plan that Governor Malloy is proposing are the very wealthy, only those who qualify as Family A. Donald Trump’s tax plan and Dan Malloy’s budget proposal have no benefit for Family B, Family C, and Family D.

The gap between the haves and the have-nots widens. The rich get richer and the poor stay poor – and the middle class struggles.

And here’s the real kicker: The rest of us will pay for that tax break for the rich. The Governor’s Office of Policy and Management estimates that 529 plans for K-12 education will cost the state $39 million per year.

Here’s why the Governor’s proposal is wrong:

  1. We barely have enough money to keep the lights on in the state, yet the Governor is asking all of the citizens in Connecticut to fund this substantial tax break for its wealthiest citizens.

 

  1. There will be less money available to fund public schools, especially those in high poverty areas that depend on state funding because of the added strain on the state budget caused by the state supporting the extension of the 529 savings plans for K-12 education.

 

  1. The access to private school will not be extended to middle income families. In Connecticut, private high schools cost day students between $43,600 and $48,080 for tuition alone. Catholic high school tuition is between $14,300 and $19,800 per year. Private elementary schools cost over $40,000 per year, and Catholic elementary schools charge about $8,000 for tuition.    

      

Middle-income families cannot fund a private K-12 education; it is clearly an option for only the wealthy. The total cost of a private K-12 education in Connecticut is between $260,000 and $570.000. Even an education at a local K-8 parochial school and a regional Catholic high school costs between $130,000 and $150,000. Paying for any of these schools is out of reach for middle-income families who are saving for college. So those who claims that Donald Trump’s tax plan and Governor Malloy’s proposal is extending school choice to anyone other than the incredibly affluent are not realistic. In fact, they are wrong.

 

  1. Lastly, there are questions about exclusion of students based on sexual orientation and learning disabilities in non-public schools. Some religious schools have been found to be discriminatory concerning the sexual orientation and life style of their employees.  A case about that kind of discrimination in a Connecticut school is currently in the courts. State funds should not support schools that do not meet state standards for anti-discrimination.

  

  1. Connecticut has excellent public schools. Connecticut also has a problem with poverty. State funds are best directed to address the underlying causes of poverty which inhibit the learning potential of children mired in poverty.

 

Here’s what you can do:

Call or email your state legislator (https://www.cga.ct.gov/asp/menu/cgafindleg.asp) and tell him or her to reject the Trump and Malloy proposal. Tell your state legislator to reject the extension of the 529 college savings accounts to 529 savings accounts for K-12 education. Tell your legislator that having 529 savings accounts for K-12 education is unfair, undemocratic, and fiscally irresponsible. Resist!

 

Categories Accountability, Connecticut, Funding, Vouchers

Carol Burris on Education Savings Accounts: A Recipe for Dumbing Down America

By dianeravitch
February 13, 2018 //
12

If you were a billionaire and you wanted to make the  American people totally gullible, you would dream up ways to keep them far removed from schools and teachers that teach them how to think critically.

You would embrace “education savings accounts,” which are vouchers by another name, which remove from the state any responsibility to educate any child. Just give every student a debit card, to be used at will.

Carol Burris explains the hoax here.

Parents pledge not to enroll their son or daughter in a public school or a charter school. In exchange, they get nearly all of what the school would have spent (usually 90 percent) placed on a debit card or in an account. The remaining 10 percent is used to fund program administration.

Parents can use the money for private or religious school tuition, online learning, books, hippotherapy (horseback riding for therapeutic purposes) and home schooling — or they can choose to spend minimal dollars on K-12 education and save for college.

There is no obligation that the curriculum that is used to teach students who use ESAs to attend private schools be developmentally appropriate, challenging or even accurate. Although a few states require parents to promise that their children receive instruction in reading, grammar, mathematics, science and social studies, what content is taught and what is learned is immaterial.

If at this point you are thinking that most taxpayers would view such an unaccountable and unregulated system as one in which families could easily be victimized by misinformation, false claims, profiteering and fraud, you would be right. This is not lost on the proponents of ESAs. That is why they have developed all kinds of language to make ESAs seem hip and cutting edge, when they are really advocating a return to a time before the 1830s when schooling was a haphazard event for all but the wealthy.

See how cool it is? Parents pledge not to enroll their children in a public school or a charter school. The family gets a debit card and goes shopping. Destroy public education. Just like Uber or Amazon, except this is education. This is our future. These are our children.

The people behind this are the super-rich. What do you think they have in mind? They send their own children to elite private schools. The ESA won’t cover that. Are they mad? Are they stupid? Are they vicious? What gives?

Categories Betsy DeVos, Bush, Jeb, Fraud, Funding, Vouchers

Trump Budget: More for War, Less for People

By dianeravitch
February 13, 2018 //
8

Here is an outline of Trump’s budget proposal, which is actually Mick Mulvany’s budget.

Deficits forever.

More spending for the military.

Deep cuts to domestic programs.

Deep cuts for education but $1 Billion for School Choice.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/daily-202/2018/02/13/daily-202-trump-budget-highlights-disconnect-between-populist-rhetoric-and-plutocrat-reality/5a8261a530fb041c3c7d7838/

Call your Congressman or woman.

Call your Senators.

Shoot it down.

Categories Betsy DeVos, Budget Cuts, Charter Schools, School Choice, Trump, Vouchers

Politico: Trump Budget Targets Education for Cuts, Charter Schools, and Vouchers

By dianeravitch
February 12, 2018 //
19

This from Politico this morning:

Open the post for the links. DeVos is having lunch with Trump and Pence today. Apparently that is the only event on Trump’s not-busy calendar. He will spend the rest of the day watching TV.

 

By Kimberly Hefling | 02/12/2018 10:00 AM EDT

With help from Caitlin Emma, Mel Leonor, Michael Stratford and Benjamin Wermund

BUDGET DAY TO SHOWCASE EDUCATION WISH LIST: The release of the administration’s first full-fledged budget proposal later this morning will spotlight President Donald Trump and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ priorities for 2018 and 2019. On the higher education front, we already know the White House will suggest broadening eligibility for Pell grants, tweaking requirements for trade licensing and growing apprenticeships in its $1.5 trillion infrastructure plan in an effort to boost workforce training.

– Last year, the Trump administration called for a $9.2 billion, or 13 percent, cut to department spending – cuts congressional appropriators largely ignored. Administration officials indicate they will propose drastic reductions to nondefense programs in today’s blueprint, meaning education programs are likely to see proposed cuts yet again.

– A big caveat: Congress raised the strict caps on how much the government can spend in the next two years when it passed its fiscal package, H.R. 1892 (115), early Friday amid the overnight government shutdown. As POLITICO’s Sarah Ferris has reported, Congress is even less likely to pay attention to the president’s funding request because it was written before the budget deal was reached. That’s important to keep in mind – especially in light of the inclusion of a $2 billion boost to higher education each of the next two years that congressional leaders agreed last week to spend.

– The White House said it would release an “addendum” to its proposal reflecting the raised spending caps because it was too late to rewrite the document. We’ll be watching closely to see how that affects education spending.

– The budget request will land at 11:30 a.m. and the Education Department has a 2 p.m. conference call to discuss it.

– Here are some things to watch for:

– School choice: Last year, support for school choice in Trump’s proposed budget came at a cost. The president proposed big and unpopular cuts across the K-12 spectrum, on everything from teacher training to after-school programs. But he also proposed about $1 billion to encourage public school choice, $250 million for private school choice and a 50 percent boost for charter schools. Education policy watchers are watching to see whether similar priorities – and cuts – are pitched for K-12 programs. House and Senate GOP appropriators largely rejected the school choice proposals, although they did vote to give a small boost to charter schools – just not at the level the administration wanted.

– STEM: Trump last year issued an executive order directing DeVos to spend at least $200 million in existing grant funds per year on the promotion of high-quality STEM education and, in particular, on computer science education. Education Innovation and Research grants could be one place where the Trump administration signals that priority.

– Career and technical education funding. Trump called for more vocational schools in his State of the Union address, and has repeatedly touted career and technical education since taking office. That didn’t stop his administration from proposing a more than $1 billion cut last year to the programs that support the type of vocational education he says he wants to bolster and expand.

– Education Department workforce reductions: The Trump administration has taken steps to streamline government agencies, including efforts to cut personnel. In recent months, 69 Education Department employees accepted buyout offers. The budget blueprint may spell out proposals for additional workforce cuts.

– School infrastructure funding: There have been no indications that the administration will include funds for crumbling school buildings in its infrastructure push, but many public school advocates have been pushing hard for a share and will be watching to see if any of the funds are targeted for K-12 upgrades.

– Student aid programs. Higher ed watchers are looking to see if the administration will again call for deep cuts , including cutting $3.9 billion from the Pell grant surplus and eliminating entirely the $733 million Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant program, which provides grants to help low-income students attend college. Last year, it also called for cuts the TRIO and Gear Up programs, which help low-income students prepare for college. House and Senate appropriators mostly ignored these recommendations, although appropriations committees in both chambers did agree to cut billions from the Pell grant surplus.

– Early education: The Trump administration cited insufficient Head Start Funding for its decision last month to waive an Obama-era rule requiring Head Start centers to offer full-day preschool year-round to at least half of their students by next summer. Preschool supporters are watching to see if the administration will again propose no funding increases for Head Start. Last year, the administration also proposed axing the Preschool Development Grants program, which Congress created in the Every Student Succeeds Act to target 4-year-olds from low- and moderate-income families – a recommendation rejected by congressional appropriators.

Categories Betsy DeVos, Budget Cuts, Charter Schools, Education Industry, Privatization, Vouchers

Steven Singer: Disaster Capitalism Clears the Way to Privatize Schools in Puerto Rico

By dianeravitch
February 7, 2018 //
20

 

First it was New Orleans, its public schools crippled by a devastating hurricane, which was used to sweep away public education. Now, it is Puerto Rico, crushed by a powerful hurricane, with most of the island left by the federal government without access to electricity or clean water.

Now Puerto Rico will abandon public education and turn its students over to private operators and religious schools. Let someone else run the schools. The government prefers to abandon them.

Steven Singer writes a cogent analysis of the death of public education in Puerto Rico.

“More than five months since a devastating hurricane hit the island’s shores, some 270 schools are still without power.

“Roughly 25,000 students are leaving with that number expected to swell to 54,000 in four years. And that’s after an 11-year recession already sent 78,000 students seeking refuge elsewhere.

“So what do you do to stop the flow of refugees fleeing the island? What do you do to fix your storm damaged schools? What do you do to ensure all your precious children are safe and have the opportunity to learn?

“If you’re Puerto Rico’s Governor Ricardo Rossello, you sell off your entire system of public education.

“After an economic history of being pillaged and raped by corporate vultures from the mainland, Rossello is suggesting the U.S. Territory offer itself for another round of abuse.

“He wants to close 300 more schools and change the majority of those remaining into charter and voucher schools.

“That means no elected school boards.

“That means no public meetings determining how these schools are run.

“It means no transparency in terms of how the money is spent.

“It means public funding can become private profit.

“And it means fewer choices for children who will have to apply at schools all over the island and hope one accepts them. Unlike public schools, charter and voucher schools pick and choose whom to enroll.

“Make no mistake. This has nothing to do with serving the needs of children. It is about selling off public property because it belongs to poor, brown people.”

 

Categories Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Education Industry, Privatization, Puerto Rico, School Choice, Vouchers

Wall Street Journal: Vouchers Not Effective

By dianeravitch
February 5, 2018 //
8

For many years, the Wall Street Journal has been a champion for vouchers in its editorial columns. Its news columns, however, are written by reporters who (usually) don’t have a rightwing agenda to sell. The WSJ posted an  article about vouchers in Milwaukee, the nation’s longest running voucher program.

The bottom line is that they don’t make a difference. Voucher students do no better than students in public schools.

But there is an exception, as voucher advocate Patrick Wolf of the Walton-funded University of Arkansas Department of Educational Reform explains. When high-end voucher schools limit the number of voucher students they take and are willing to subsidize the large difference between their tuition and the state payment, the students benefit. How many private and religious schools are willing to do that? As the article says, the vast majority of voucher schools have large numbers of voucher students and rely on low tuition to survive, and they fill their poorly resourced schools with voucher students.

Read the article here.

Categories Accountability, Betsy DeVos, Education Industry, Milwaukee, Privatization, Vouchers

Carol Burris: How Mike Pence Expanded Indiana’s Corrupt and Ineffective Voucher Program

By dianeravitch
January 30, 2018 //
10

 

Carol Burris, executive director of the Network for Public Education, explains here how Mike Pence expanded and deregulated Indiana’s voucher program, with substantial cash infusions from Betsy DeVos and Patrick Byrne, CEO of Overstock.com.

Despite state law, failing voucher schools were renewed. Failing charter schools converted to voucher schools to evade accountability. The voucher program has subsidized churches and paid tuition for students who never attended public schools and thus were not “escaping” to better schools. Many of the religious schools teach fraudulent science and history.

School choice is a big step backward for education in Indiana

Categories Charter Schools, Fraud, Funding, Indiana, Mike Pence, School Choice, Vouchers
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