Education News: June 5, 2009

Following are some of the top headlines from the world of education for the week ending June 5, 2009.

Duncan May Find School Reform Much Harder on National Scale
(New York Times, June 1, 2009)  U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan’s method for school turnarounds in Chicago was to close the city’s worst schools, and reopen them with a new staff.  While those responsible felt the efforts were worth it, closing a school was never easy to accomplish as it was almost always met with strong opposition.  As he plans to take his turnaround efforts nationwide, Duncan says he will press local authorities to close the schools where nearly no students are reading at grade level and few graduate, and reopen them with new teachers and administration.  Experts estimate the cost of overhauling a failing school at $3 million to $6 million, and Mr. Duncan has $3 billion in funds from the economic stimulus law that could be applied to school turnarounds.  Duncan feels that closing a school is often necessary to reset the learning environment, and aims to see 250 of the nation’s schools closed and reconstituted next year.  The major hurdle is that the federal government does not have the authority to close schools.  Instead, Duncan will have to convince local districts that a closure is the right thing to do.  Based on evidence from Chicago, doing so would anger teachers, administrators, parents and local politicians.  Another hurdle could be union contracts, which, in many cities, give tenured teachers extensive rights if they lose their jobs.

46 States and D.C. Plan to Work Together to Create Uniform Education Standards
(Washington Post, June 1, 2009)  On Monday, forty-six states and Washington, D.C. announced the commencement of an effort to craft a uniform standard for what students should learn from kindergarten through high school graduation.  Lead by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers, this represents an unprecedented step toward a uniform definition of success in American schools.  In July, experts are expected to unveil their “readiness standards” for graduates in reading and math, as well as skills to master at each grade level.  The drive for common standards comes as a reaction to many people’s feelings that standards have been lowered in many states to increase graduation rates.    The goal is to judge all US students with the same standards, which will reflect those used in other countries around the world.  This will hopefully ensure that every student who graduates high school will be ready for college or a job and be competitive in today’s globally competitive job market.  Once the organizers have laid out a proposal, each state can decide for itself whether or not to adopt it.  The only leaders not to join the effort are from Texas, Alaska, Missouri and South Carolina.  Many republicans oppose the national standard because they feel that schools should not be controlled by Washington. 

Three No-Frills Charter Schools in Oakland Find Success
(Los Angeles Times, May 31, 2009)  Three small, no-frills, independent public charter schools located in Oakland mock liberal orthodoxy to such an extent that it seems like parody.  The recruiting includes language such as: "We are looking for hard working people who believe in free market capitalism. . . . Multicultural specialists, ultra liberal zealots and college-tainted oppression liberators need not apply."  Administrators take pride in their frequent firings of underperforming teachers, and, according to one school’s website, welcome unions with the warmth accorded "self-esteem experts, panhandlers, drug dealers and those snapping turtles who refuse to put forth their best effort."  While the schools’ verbiage may appear a little over-the-top, they continue to gain attention due to their success.  The schools attract motivated students, teach to the test, employ smart, young teachers, assign vast amounts of homework, demand near perfect attendance and maintain strict discipline.  The students are almost all poor, wear uniforms and are subjected to harsh disciplinary procedures.  At American Indian, one of the three schools, the largest ethnic group is Asian, followed by Latinos and African Americans.  What makes American Indian rare is that blacks and Latinos perform roughly as well as, if not better than, Asians on most exams.  American Indian will see its first graduating class this year, and all eighteen members plan to attend college in the fall.

Teachers at New Charter School in NYC Will Earn $125,000
(New York Times, June 4, 2009)  A new charter school called The Equity Project will open in Washington Heights, New York City in September, where teachers will be paid $125,000 in their first year.  This is nearly twice the average New York City public school teacher’s annual salary, and about two and a half times as much as the national average for teachers’ salaries.  The theory behind the school is that excellent teachers, as opposed to technology, class size or principals, are critical to a student’s success.  The school’s founder, Zeke M. Vanderhoek, spent the past fifteen months scouring the country for the nation’s top teachers.  Those he found include an accomplished violist, a self-described “explorer,” and a physical education instructor who worked as Kobe Bryant’s personal trainer.  Common traits are an ability to redirect potential trouble makers and a high “engagement factor,” which is the ability to keep students focused.  The school will open with 120 fifth graders who were chosen by lottery, with preference given to those from the neighborhood and low academic performers.  It will grow to 480 children in Grades 5 to 8, with 28 teachers.  In return for the higher pay, teachers will have additional responsibilities, as their will be no assistant principals, deans, substitute teachers or teacher coaches.  Teachers will work longer hours and more days, and have 30 pupils.  They will not have the same retirement benefits, and can be fired at will.

Study Finds Teacher Effectiveness is Rarely a Factor
(Denver Post, June 2, 2009)  A recent study suggests that how effective a teacher is in the classroom rarely factors into decisions such as how teachers are hired, fired or promoted.  The two-year study was titled "The Widget Effect: Our National Failure to Acknowledge and Act on Differences in Teacher Effectiveness" and examined four states and 12 school districts.  The study recommends that districts adopt fair evaluation systems that are tied to compensation and dismissal, train administrators to conduct the evaluations, and give poorly performing teachers a dignified way out. The study was conducted by The New Teacher Project. 

Military Backed Public Schools Increase in Popularity Despite Opposition
(USA Today, June 4, 2009)  The U.S. Marine Corps is pushing to increase the number of military academies across the country.  Students at these schools wear uniforms, participate in Junior ROTC (Reserve Office Training Corps) and take military classes.  There are already over a dozen such schools across the country.  Many criticize the schools for being a recruiting ploy.  Congress passed a defense policy bill last year that included a call for increasing the number of Junior ROTC units from 3,400 to 3,700 in the next eleven years.  According to a review by the Associated Press, between 5% and 10% of seniors who graduate from the military schools end up enlisting in the armed forces.  Results at the schools have been mixed as more than 70% of 11th graders at Philadelphia Military Academy at Elverson scored at the basic level or better on the state math test in 2008, but only 8% of students passed state tests at Carver Military Academy in Chicago. 

Report Shows Growing Student Body Is Also Becoming More Diverse
(Washington Post, June 1, 2009)  A recent federal report indicates that public school enrollment hit a new high this year at just under fifty million students.  Additionally, it said that classrooms were becoming more diverse due in large part to the influx of Latino students.  The data, from 2007, shows that about 20% of students are Hispanic, up from 11% in the late 1980s, and also that 44% of students are minorities.  The report was done by the Condition of Education, a congressionally mandated look at enrollment and performance trends in schools and colleges.  The report also includes figures on performance and data on private school enrollment and home-schooling.  Some important findings include that causes of the achievement gap begin very early in life, private school enrollment is on decline, and that nearly 90% of school parents reported that they attended a school or PTA meeting.