Education News: July 10, 2009

Following are some of the top headlines from the world of education for the week ending July 10, 2009.

Education Secretary Duncan Challenges Unions by Advocating Merit Pay
(Los Angeles Times, July 3, 2009)  In a speech to the NEA at its annual meeting, Education Secretary Arne Duncan challenged the teachers’ union to embrace historically controversial ways of promoting teacher effectiveness.  These methods include offering merit pay and evaluating instructors based on student test scores.  He also advocated changing tenure rules, as protecting poor teachers hurts the students and is a detriment to effective instructors.  The meeting was held in San Diego, which caused heightened tensions as such suggestions are typically met with fierce union resistance in California.  There is even a state law which prevents districts from using California student performance data to evaluate or compensate teachers.  Duncan added, however, that test scores should not be the sole measurement of teacher quality and that rewarding only individual teachers was wrong.  The speech was not received as negatively as would be expected, however.  NEA President Dennis Van Roekel agreed that reform was needed, and many union members politely nodded during the speech.  By comparison Barack Obama, while still a Presidential candidate, received boos when he brought up merit pay at the same convention a year ago.  This is not to say that the crowd was overly enthused by the remarks, as one teacher’s comment that “merit pay is union-busting” received loud applause during the question-and-answer session.  Duncan was made peace by saying that he and the rest of the Obama administration do not intend “to impose reform but rather work with teachers, principals and unions to find what works.”

In Boston, Changes Urged for Special Education Students
(Boston Globe, July 9, 2009)  According to a report released July 8th at a School Committee meeting, Boston public schools are keeping too many students with disabilities out of regular classrooms.  Additionally, they may be wrongfully identifying some students for special services due to shortcomings in teaching literacy or dealing with behavior problems.  Nearly 41% of the district’s 11,000 special education students receive instruction substantially separate from other students.  This is nearly three times the state-recommended rate.  The problem seems to worsen as students get older because 25% of special education kindergarteners are taught in separate locations, compared to over 40% in high school.  The segregation can lead to diminished learning amongst the special education students due to lowered expectations.  Also, the separation can prevent the students from feeling part of the school, which can cause apathy and depression.  Boston has consistently struggled teaching special education students, as their scores on the MCAS exam in English and math fall below state standards and only 37% graduated for the 2007-08 school year.  Budget concerns have led many districts to try to reduce spending on special education, as out-of-district placements for one student can costs tens of thousands of dollars annually.  The report recommended that the district find ways to improve reading instruction because some schools might be enrolling students in special education due to a lack of appropriate reading instruction.  Other recommendations included working more closely with parents and revamping the district’s leadership structure for special education.  The report did say that the city was already headed in the right direction after adopting a new district wide literacy program.

Students Show Gains on California’s HS Exit Exam
(San Francisco Chronicle, July 9, 2009)  Preliminary results through March from California’s high-stakes exit exam show that the pass rate has inched up in 2009.  Special education students and English learners showed the biggest gains.  As of March, an estimated 47,000 students in the class of 2009 still hadn't passed both the math and English sections of the exam compared with 430,000 who had.  The results come after a key committee of state legislators voted to eliminate the exam as a graduation requirement last month, claiming that it was unfair to students given the massive budget cuts proposed for education.  Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell used the results in a presentation to the state Board of Education to demonstrate that the exam is working and that it should be left alone.  The Board of Education then voted unanimously to side with the governor and superintendent in urging the state to retain the requirement.  While the results show gains, they also show that efforts must be made to help Latino, African American, English learner, economically disadvantaged, and special education students master critical skills.  The exam includes math up to Algebra I and English/language arts at about a 10th-grade level.  Students, who first take the exam as sophomores, have eight chances to pass before graduation, and an unlimited number of tries after 12th grade.  As of March, 55.2% of special education students and 72% of English learners passed the exam, up from 52.7% and 70.9% last year, respectively.

NYC Mayor Loses Control of School System, Board Convenes
(New York Times, July 1, 2009)  On July 1st, the New York City Board of Education met for the first time in seven years after Mayor Michael Bloomberg technically lost control of the school system.  An expiration date of June 30, 2009 was set seven years ago, when Bloomberg first took control of the city’s schools.  When a political stalemate prevented the State Senate from voting on a bill that would have extended the mayor’s control, power over the schools went to a Board of Education that no longer existed.   To remedy this, the mayor met with the five borough presidents on Wednesday morning to select the new Board.  The seven-member Board consists of two mayoral appointees and the rest are selected by the borough leaders.  Four of the presidents agreed to appoint members who would not alter the current leadership or overturn any of its policies, while the Bronx president desired some independence for his appointee.  Packed mainly with Bloomberg’s supporters, the new Board voted unanimously to retain Joel I. Klein as the city’s schools chancellor within eight minutes of convening.  They voted to delegate all decision-making power to him, including the right to approve contracts.  The Board elected a president, Queens appointee Deputy Mayor Dennis M. Walcott and passed a resolution calling on Albany to renew mayoral control. It will not meet again until September 10, 2009.  While the State Assembly passed a bill in June that would preserve mayoral control over the school system, it has yet to be debated in the Senate.

Budget Standoff Hurts Schools and Students Across Ohio
(Cleveland Plain Dealer, July 8, 2009)  With budget talks stalled and no end in sight, state officials, families and businesses across Ohio are scrambling to figure out how to proceed towards next school year.  With the school year creeping closer everyday, child-care providers are in danger of closing and school districts are having problems drawing up budgets.  For the second straight week, the state has been operating on a temporary, week-long budget.  The interim budget gives most state agencies 70% of their funding from fiscal 2009, divided by fifty-two to get a weekly allotment.  Governor Ted Strickland has threatened not to sign another budget extension, which could mean a state government shutdown.  The budget uncertainty and tough economy make it very hard for school districts to plan ahead or determine how much of a tax increase to seek.  Additionally, many teachers’ contracts expire over the summer, and districts don’t know yet whether they have the funds to retain them.

Cognitive Scientist Strives to Learn Why Kids Hate to Think in School
(USA Today, July 5, 2009)  In an interview, University of Virginia cognitive scientist Daniel Willingham explains the theories behind his new book Why Don’t Students Like School?  Part of the answer is that human beings naturally try to void thinking unless the conditions are right.  It becomes the teacher’s job to challenge minds just enough that they get a rush from successfully solving a problem, but not so much that the young minds tire out.  Story telling can be an incredible tool to maximize memory, as it draws students in, and constantly poses small, solvable mental problems.  He then goes on to discuss how a teacher can help students remember the important parts of a lesson, the nonexistence of different learning styles, and explains how it is possible to “get smarter.”

Denver Mayor Aims to Create Database to Monitor Trends in City’s Children
(Denver Post, July 5, 2009) Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper aims to create a database to track Denver children’s trends so that teachers, social workers and mentors have a fuller picture of what the city's children are going through.  Examples might include family life, school progress or criminal activity.  Hickenlooper hopes to have a computer system donated that could, for example, link data files from Denver Public Schools, the city Department of Human Services and nonprofits like Big Brothers Big Sisters of America.  Shyam Sankar, director of business development for Palantir Technologies, which would develop the system for Denver, says that the system should be easy enough to use that an untrained person could utilize the millions of bits of information.  The system would hopefully help identify patterns and warning signs, which could then be used to help students.  Privacy, however, is a major concern.  A spokesperson for Denver Public Schools says that the district looks forward to working with the city on the project, but that they will “need to make sure that any information about our kids is shared responsibly.”  Additionally, there is some fear that the computer will replace personal interaction with students, which can often tell a lot more about a problem.