'Reading First' article

I thought it would be nice to get some commentary going about the 'Reading First' evaluation article Uri emailed out. A quick summary for those who haven't read it: Reading First is a program focused on enhancing students decoding skills but, of course, also hoping to improve reading comprehension. Turns out it succeeded in the former but not in the latter. The article makes the point that perhaps rather than cut funding for this program it should instead now enhance funding so the program can be improved and continued. Basically, now, some are claiming the $40 million evaluation process was flawed. (The program only received $6 billion in funding.)

Evaluations and funding always get to me. I understand the need for empirical evidence, but someone is always going to claim that the study was inaccurate and doesn't portray the true results. It's more frustrating that when programs don't perform as they're expected to (or do in this case by improving decoding skills...but not enough improvement in reading comprehension) that at this point people often choose to stop funding altogether rather than to reform the effort. So, we have to start all over again. I think it makes sense to say...Reading First worked in this aspect, i.e. decoding, and not in this one, i.e. reading comprehension. How can we build onto the current program to improve students reading comprehension? 

How California Universities Will Deal With Budget Cuts

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/19/education/19college.html?ref=us

Rhee vs. AFT

For those of you who follow the D.C. school system's reform efforts by Rhee and Mayor Fenty, this is an article foreshadowing what will shape up to be a fabulous battle. Personally, I have to say that I admire Rhee and the efforts she is making to bring to light tenure and the unintended consequence of rewarding bad teaching.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/17/AR2008111701581.html?sub=AR

Reasons why students take remedial classes

Doing some research for our client I came across this research piece that describes a few reasons why students take remedial courses. While usually we focus on administrative weaknesses, oftentimes we neglect student attitudes that are developed across time.

They did not take high school seriously.
•They purposely did not take challenging classes.
•Their major reason for going to school was to socialize.
•They were not motivated in high school.
•They did not think that college was in their future.
•They took an “I don’t care” attitude beginning in about tenth grade.
•They would like to help other students avoid their mistakes.

So another challenge to college readiness is who is responsible for addressing these issues and to what extent?

If you are interested in reading more check this out:
http://ezproxy.lib.utexas.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a2h&AN=9175148&site=ehost-live

Positive suggestions for increasing degree completion

I think we can all agree we know a lot of the problems associated with American higher education, but rarely do I read truly creative solutions other than "we need more money from the government!" or "higher education institutions need to be more accountable for their outcomes!"  This comment from a recent Inside Higher Ed article is inspiring!

Community College and Budget Cuts

"How do you deal with a declining revenue base and more and more students wanting to come?"

There is an interesting in the NY Times yesterday about the rising demand for community college in New York.  Large increases in demand are likely the result of a flagging economy, given the counter-cyclical nature of higher ed.  But NY, like most states, is having to undergo severe budget cuts.  Seem like a poor time to raise tuition or turn vulnerable populations away from higher ed.  Might be a good time for the feds to shore up funding.

www.nytimes.com/2008/11/11/nyregion/11cuny.html?ref=education

Looks like we may have to wait

I was sort of expecting it, but this article makes a good case as to why Obama's Administration is not going to tackle major Ed reform anytime soon.

Obama Is Expected to Put Education Overhaul on Back Burner (WSJ)

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122636225053515663.html

I certainly hope that isn't the case, though I logically know it likely will be. Thoughts? Hope? :)

Graduation at Sixteen

This article from Yahoo! News and Time talks all about it: http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20081107/us_time/shouldkidsbeabletograduateafter10thgrade 

Let's talk about Obama

First of all, yeahhhh! I'm super excited and had to keep reminding myself last night of the amazing history we all just witnessed and will continue to witness in the years to come.

More related to class, I'm interested in who Obama is going to pick as his Secretary of Education. This article in the Chronicle of Higher Education throws around a lot of names. Something I thought was interesting is that most former Secretary's of Education have had experience mostly at the elementary and secondary levels with only one with higher ed experience. 

I must say I don't know much about any of these people. Who would you pick and why?

Interesting news article on International Comparisons

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2008/10/26/grade_change/

Read it!

Electoral Victory on my Mind

Education hasn't exactly been central to this Presidential campaign. While that is disappointing for us Ed Policy wonks, it's not exactly surprising given the massive challenges the country faces right now. That said, among all the amazing changes that I am hoping for when (in all likelihood) Obama is elected, I am the least sure about where he will take NCLB and the Education Reform movement generally. I ran across the following post on Flypaper that got me thinking a couple weeks ago.

Will Obama have a mandate on education?

http://www.edexcellence.net/flypaper/index.php/2008/10/will-obama-have-a-mandate-on-education/

A couple things that give me some hope that he will at least be willing to break new ground and be open to more bold reforms: His full throated support of charter schools and performance pay (actually pretty astonishing for a Democrat). While I like him and trust his judgment, it makes me a little nervous that he has not laid out a few more specifics on how how he will seek to reauthorize NCLB. Have you all heard anything? What do the advisors he is surrounding himself with mean?

New test for 8th graders from the College Board

There's a really interesting article in the NY Times today about a test released Wednesday by the College Board for 8th grade students that's meant to determine their preparedness for high school (and college). It will be available for students next fall, and consists of multiple choice questions in critical reading, writing skills and math. The test is "intended only for assessment and instructional purposes." You can go here for more deatils.

There are, of course, two sides to this. Some people are complaining because it's pushing down testing to even younger students. On the other hand, I praise it for being a test that teachers can actually use to assess students. To me, that's one of the most frustrating aspects of all of the NCLB testing requirements; the results are not usable at the classroom level to actually improve instruction and student learning. I'd be curious to see a sample test and to know how it will actually be used. Supposedly, the results are only intended to be used at the local level and have no bearing on college admissions.

Does anyone know more?

Texas GPAs

After our class discussion regarding standardizing Texas GPAs, I think we all realized the main reason this issue was important was to ensure that schools and districts didn't inappropriately weigh courses, like choir, to give certain students within the district unfair advantages. After coming to that realization, I felt disappointed with the article we read. They really didn't make this point, or at least not explicitly. One of the arguments in the article for not allowing extra points for honors courses is the difference in rigor from district to district. This argument seems quite different when you realize the district to district comparison has nothing to do with class rank and the top ten percent rule. District to district comparison may still be important to students applying to UT or A&M who are not in the top ten percent or out of state. But I feel as though that distinction should be made.

Reminder

Just a reminder to register for the online debate between Obama and McCain's education advisers. I am not sure how important it is to register but I did, just in case. You can do so through edweek.org. I honestly don't know much about Linda Darling-Hammond but hear great things and am excited to see her in the debate.
Happy watching!

NCLB Leaving Solid Schools Behind

This article looks at the 2008 testing statistics and shows that the vast majority of states are beginning to come up short in increasing the proficiency of students as they march towards the goal of all students being on grade level by 2014 under NCLB. On top of that, NCLB is beginning to punish states whose standards and assessments are more rigorous compared to other states.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/13/education/13child.html?pagewanted=2&_r=2&ei=5024&partner=BLACKBOARD

As a former teacher, I can definitely attest to the challenge and emotional strain that comes from trying to achieve a certain rating based on test scores.

Continuing the Conversation - Policy Levers

I thought it would be nice to continue our conversation from class yesterday about the major policy levers outlined by Kirst. As a reminder:

1) standards alignment between HS and college

2) financial support and incentives

3) data systems

4) accountability systems

We all more or less agreed that these are the important levers. I'm interested in continuing the conversation to think about what impact each of these levers might have on actual school/district-level changes. I'll start with my thoughts.

1) If we could actually get standards aligned (which, as we talked about in class, would be challenging considering all the stateholders), I first have a few questions. Would these be set at the national level? What role would individual colleges play? Would only public colleges be included like only public primary/secondary schools are included in the current standards requirements? With those thoughts in mind, I think this would be an effective strategy that would force colleges to show more accountability. A degree would have more meaning and would be based less on historical reputation of the college attended. Of course, colleges could set standards above those required, but it would set a baseline for all students so there is some level of knowledge/skill expected of a person with a degree.

2) If students know about it (and if the money's there), this could be a great way to show low-income students that college is attainable. I think a lot of students discount college on the basis of cost and a lack of long-term knowledge of how college will benefit them. Addressing this concern first might encourage low-income students to pursue college. I also think this ties in with the policy brief topic our group had that students should complete national service between high school and college because of the incentives we mentioned providing. Part of the program would provide participants with an educational award (modeled after AmeriCorps) that students can redeem after their time of service to pay for higher education.

3) With data systems comes the chicken-and-the-egg senario. Should we first create data systems to know how to fix our problems, or should we first identify our problems so we know what to include in the data systems? My reaction is that we need the data systems first. I say this based on the fact that Uri mentioned yesterday that a lot of the recent education policy decisions have been based on people's best guesses. Yes, the data system will need to be refined as the years go on, but without some empirical research it will be hard to know what people percieve as problems and what the problems actually are. 

Side note: This reminds me of a study Uri was telling me about that he completed with MSEC. They conducted a survey of military families, and two of the questions were "what do you perceive to be the biggest problems military families face" and "what problems has your family actually faced." Turns out, the families gave the same answers the majority if the time for both questions, but the answers were different for both questions. For example, most families said that they perceived the biggest problem to be changing high school graduation requirements as students moved through different schools, but families actual experiences said that the biggest problem they faced was transferring student records between schools.

Back to the point. The biggest concern would be that people would solve problems that aren't the biggest problems because the data system can only capture so much information (and might not be programmed to capture the most important issues). I say this is where common sense comes into play.

4) Accountabilty systems. Getting over my instinct to shame all accountability systems because I think they've gone over the top (and it pains me that they're not useful to a teacher in the classroom to better her instruction), I do see their importance. This lever would hopefully force colleges to be more accountable for students' actually learning, but I don't think counting graduates is a great way to do this. One, it could encourage colleges to lower their graduation requirements (unless nation-wide end-of-course exams are required like we talked about in class). Second, this could impact colleges admissions decisions because more risky students would be even less active. Finally, this reduces college graduating to a head count. It's important that measures really get at the outcome desired. If you want to improve student quality and educational attainment, counting them is not the best way. I would actually argue that end-of-course exams would get to the point more than counting graduates, but I think it would be nearly impossible to implement this.

These thoughts are, of course, not completely developed. I'm interested to hear what others think.

Chinese students to dominate world market.....

The article, China: Chinese students to dominate world market, was written in November of 2007 and identifies the top five nations with student mobility for seeking degrees at overseas university. By far, China leads the group with more than 350,000 students studying enrolled in post secondary education outside of China. India is next in number of mobile students, followed by South Korea, Morocco, and Turkey. The University World News notes that the global number of mobile students is growing, the market trend is growing at a higher rate outside of the European Union.
What implications does this have for students in the USA? The five countries listed have high unemployment rates. The numbers of students they have getting college degrees may exceed the total number of college age students in this country. We can speculate what impact this competitive global market might present when it comes to finding jobs. Thomas Friedman recently addressed clean power in Hot, Flat, and Crowded, maybe he will attend to this trend in post secondary education and the college readiness of students in the US as an issue in a future book. I wonder what the title might be?

The link is http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20071101150549773

The role of income in higher ed access/achievement

A new report from the Center for Studies in Higher Education at Berkeley uses student level data to look at the experiences of low-income and "rich" students in higher education. Generally speaking, they found that the income disparities at elite, private institutions is growing. Even significant financial aid efforts made by some wealthy institutions is not enough to improve accessibility for low-income students. Most low-income students favor in-state universities that also have a robust community college feeder system where courses are even more affordable than at most four-year institutions.

Perhaps even more interesting though, is the report's data about the differences in achievement and experiences of these two groups of students once they are enrolled in higher ed. For instance:
* Pell Grant recipients at UC had only slightly lower GPAs than their wealthy counterparts and this was true in mathematics, science and engineering, and in humanities and social science fields.

* Poor students at UC generally had the same levels of satisfaction with various aspects of their undergraduate experience (such as quality of advice received) and in their sense of belonging within a campus community as rich students.

The report also found that the correlation between students being low-income AND first-generation was not as significant as once thought. 1 out of 3 Pell grant recipients had at least one parent with a college degree. Although outreach and college-knowledge orientation would be important for these students as well, traditional strategies of outreach may be less important for these students than increasing federal aid and information about affordability, applying for aid, etc.

SO, if we know that low-income and upper-income students have very similar achievement levels once they get to college, what does this say about college readiness assessments?  I think namely, any assessments that ultimately measure income differences such as the normative model of testing that the Raise Your Hand group in Texas is advocating for, are pretty useless in impacting success in college.

Here is the link: http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20081002151932940

Got Milk?

There's an interesting article in the NY Times today called "Today's Lesson: Selling Teenagers on Benefits of Milk" that is about how high school students are working in their classes to create ad campaign ideas for milk. (I would post the link but the NY Times web site is being crazy right now.) 

It's an interesting idea and essentially what we do in our PRPs--learn and produce work explicitly for a client. Why can't high schoolers do this as well? In fact, it might help them see the real world application and benefits of learning and critical thinking. A high school class probably wouldn't be the only clients working with Lego, for example, on how to build the biggest and best Lego set, but why can't they make up one of the clients? Why can't their ideas be considered? I think it would be a great way to get students motivated.

An Eye Opener

Lowell and Salzman reveal eye opening data in their paper on science and engineering education, quality and the demands of the work force. I have held most of the assumptions that they refute in their paper. The prima fascia evidence that fuels workforce development and education policy apparently lacks a thorough analysis of the data interpretation.

Their convincing arguments of inadequate test interpretations are not widely distributed in the media or readily accessed by the general public. Perceptions of the work force needs, the health of our democracy, and the condition of math and science education in our country have been simply based on inaccurate information. The data presented in the paper does not support the popular claim that one of the greatest threat to our economy is the labor market shortage of engineers and scientists as well as the notion that high schools are producing fewer able students in math and science.

The whispering issue in the paper that resonated with me was the fact that as long as the US is not first in the world for addressing the needs of children living in poverty, it will be difficult to reach a number one position in educational attainment in all subjects. Math and science deficits are apparent in children from poverty when other social issues often interfere with learning. If the myths associated with US test scores continue, resulting in more attention directed to the science and math gaps that exist among student groups, then maybe this misguided path may result in policies that provide resources to support closing gaps in science and math. Success in these two areas are often the keys that provide access to post secondary education. Without adequate skills in math and science, student academic success beyond high school is threatened.

Albert Shanker and the Future of Teacher Unions

In doing research for my boss here at IPSI, I ran across a bio of a man I had never heard of that has had an out sized effect on the teacher union and education reform movements, interesting read and an interesting guy.

http://www.pdkintl.org/kappan/k_v89/k0806kah.htm

By Richard D. Kahlenberg

The author of the recent biography of Albert Shanker discusses the union leader's life and work and its implications for the future of American education.

Military Education and Migrant Education

Last week's class concerning students with high rates of mobility reminded me of a similar situation: that of migrant students. Growing up my grandmother was a migrant worker and would take her six kids up north to pick crops and bring a little extra money home. They would leave in the spring and return home to Eagle Pass, Tx until early-late fall.

This would disrupt their studies in the same way as children of military parents. Yet, in addition add to that, the fact that many parents are born outside of the U.S. and are not familiar with college readiness and sometimes the English language altogether. Cultural differences, language barriers, and sometimes a need to work to provide for the family leads to low high school graduation achievement among this group and much less college completion.

Although migrant students account for a small subset of students in the U.S., can the initiatives taken by the military be applied for this group? If not, what else should be taken into consideration and who should be involved?

http://www.ericdigests.org/1999-2/migrant.htm

Dallas Changing Its Grading System

I came across an interesting article regarding the Dallas ISD grading system: http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/09/18/dallas.schools/index.html

This initiative stems from Dallas's high drop-out rate and is intended to offer a second chance to students who struggle within the traditional grading structure. These grading policy changes allow the student to have only those grades recorded that they want recorded and the ability to turn in homework late without penalty, among others. Obviously, this has been a contentious issue for a variety of reasons and clearly deviates from the traditional, one-size-fits-all grade structure. I found one quote particularly relevant in relation to our talk with John Tanner last week. "This is not about giving anybody any sort of free ride. What this is about is giving students a second chance to be successful," John Dahlander, a spokesman for the school district, told CNN-affiliate WFAA. John described Singapore's (I believe it was this country) system of allowing differently paced high school programs based on the individual student's abilities, interests, and aptitudes. He stressed a belief that the primary goal of education should be to seek successes for students and pointed to the Singapore system as a model to better encourage success. Will the new Dallas policy allow for increased success among those students who fall behind in the traditional system? Or will this result in a lowering of the educational bar to students for whom expectations have likely always been low? I, for one, will be very curious to hear of the results of such a radical change, and am also curious to know if any of you are familiar with this sort of policy in other districts.

Relevance of ACT/SAT questioned in measuring college readiness

A new report is coming out from NACAC questioning the importance of using tests such as SAT/ACT in college admissions. NACAC sends a pretty resounding NO. The association calls for ending the testing requirements for admissions, but not without advocating institution-specific validity studies on the topic (which I think is great because it permits an opportunity to look at institutional mission/goals/outcomes that are unique). Many of the institutions, such as the University of California, which have engaged in this type of study, have found that tests do not help in admissions, and confirm that high school grades are far more important in determining college success. The report outlines the often-sited ills of SAT/ACT, including racial bias, ability to be coached for the test, and the influence of media or business enterprise on the development and continued use of the test. It also takes a look at institutions that have gone test-optional or eliminated tests in their admissions processes, including Hamilton University and Wake Forest U.

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2008/09/22/testing

If they aren't helping college readiness in ways that promote alignment of college-level expectations or identifies high school learning outcomes, it's just one more reason to do away with SAT/ACT. Bring on PISA and/or subject tests!

Inside and Outside School

It was kind of shocking to read "College readiness is a multi-faceted concept comprising numerous variables that include factors both internal and external to the school environment." It seems rare for someone to come out and say it, with such apparent ease, as did Conley. Then again, he was talking about college readiness. How many would make the same statement if we replaced "college readiness" with "K-12 Success"?

Human Capital and School Performance

I came across a new study by the American Institutes for Research indicating that two-thirds of state education departments believe they lack the requisite capacity to help low-performing schools meet NCLB standards. The study is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and uses "anecdotal evidence from chief state school officers."

For me, the study raises the question of whether the lack of resources and human capital states are facing in meeting NCLB standards leaves them even less prepared to address the challenges of college and workforce readiness in an international context.

According to the study:

Only one-third of state education officials say their departments have adequate capacity to help improve low-performing schools as required by the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB)

Respondents were state officials, from all 50 states, with primary responsibility for their state’s system of support for schools and districts identified for improvement. The findings include:

• State officials were more likely to report limitations to their capacity than strengths. Only 16 states gave overall positive responses to questions about their capacity to support low-performing schools.
• State officials generally perceive the expertise within their education agencies to be a strength, but report lower levels of expertise regarding English language learners. More than half of states (31) reported that staff expertise was a strength, however, 19 states reported expertise related to English language learners as a specific constraint to their abilities, and 11 reported similar weaknesses with expertise related to special education.
• Three-quarters of respondents (36 states) indicated that a lack of state funding for school improvement was a constraint, and 27 states reported that a lack of federal funding constrained their capacity as well.
• States with the most capacity limitations have more schools identified for improvement. An average of 19 percent of schools were identified for improvement last year in states with limited capacity, compared with 15 percent in all other states. One state official responded simply, “The problems are many and we are few.”

Though states may use a percentage of their Title I dollars to fund their school improvement efforts, state officials report these funds are minimal and spread too thinly.

An Ed Week article on the study is viewable at:

http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2008/09/17/05air.h28.html?tmp=640814292

international benchmarking

It's on EdWeek!
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2008/09/17/04brief-b1.h28.html

This is crazy!

FRESH STARTS

Navigators for the College Bound

By JULIE BICK

Published: September 14, 2008

As thousands of students look to get into the schools of their choice, private educational consultants take up where overburdened high school guidance counselors leave off.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/14/jobs/14starts.html?ex=1379131200&en=e79ba9fc219f4f7d&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

No wonder rich kids have an advantage when it comes to going to college...

The same but different

I stumbled across this in the NY Times this morning. It just so happens to fit in perfectly to our college readiness ideas.

EDUCATION

A Prep School That’s Public, Hoping to Level the Field

By JULI S. CHARKES

Published: September 14, 2008

Palisade Preparatory School provides top-notch instruction to disadvantaged students of troubled Yonkers.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/14/nyregion/nyregionspecial2/14yonkerswe.html?ex=1378958400&en=475a58f56bff5088&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

The Political Brain

Fun reading for a hopefully dry weekend.

Uri

http://dana.org/news/cerebrum/detail.aspx?id=13242

College credit for service learning (aka volunteering)

This story is talking about how Columbia University is giving college credit for volunteering. I thought this fit well with two topics for our policy briefs: that on integrating public service during HS (along with lifeskills, etc.) and that on requiring 2 years of public service after HS and before college. Perhaps this is an alternative to the latter topic or even a way for students to earn college credit during HS--volunteer and complete a "college-level" report/presentation (of course, that's the hard part) for credit.

NEW YORK REGION

At Columbia, Students Mix Studies With Volunteer Work, for Credits

By MARC SANTORA

Published: September 11, 2008

For the past six years, engineering students at the university have been required to participate in community service projects, and other departments may adopt the practice.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/11/nyregion/11service.html?ex=1378872000&en=2f0b2c9c9374d882&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

Also, read this and help me interpret it: "Gov. David A. Paterson, who is introducing the candidates for the evening forum at Lerner Hall, plans to use the occasion to announce the creation of a cabinet-level position focused on community service." Does this mean they're going to have a community service position at the Federal level? Has anyone heard anything about this?

http://achieve.org/node/1033

Many of you may have received this as an email from Achieve.org, but if not, here it is. Yesterday Achieve and several other organizations announced a partnership to help states establish assessment and accountability systems that will help ensure that high school students graduate ready for college or the workplace. A few more details about how the "Institute" will help the eight states chosen to participate can be found here:

http://www.nga.org/portal/site/nga/menuitem.9123e83a1f6786440ddcbeeb501010a0/?vgnextoid=778301090619a110VgnVCM1000001a01010aRCRD

Some poems for September 11

In NYC shortly after 9/11, I walked to where the Towers had been. The grit and muck were everywhere. I looked up and someone had hung a giant banner that said, "It's not what we stand in, but what we stand for."

Here are a few poems for rememberance, the first of which I sent to my PRP students shortly after the planes hit.

Uri


GOD HAS PITY ON KINDERGARTEN CHILDREN

God has pity on kindergarten children.
He has less pity on school children
And on grownups he has no pity at all,
he leaves them alone,
and sometimes they must crawl on all fours
in the burning sand
to reach the first–aid station
covered with blood.

But perhaps he will watch over true lovers
and have mercy on them and shelter them
like a tree over the old man
sleeping on a public bench.

Perhaps we too will give them
the last rare coins of charity
that Mother handed down to us
so that their happiness may protect us
now and on other days.

Yehuda Amichai

TO A TERRORIST

For the historical ache, the ache passed down
which finds its circumstance and becomes
the present ache, I offer this poem

without hope, knowing there's nothing,
not even revenge, which alleviates
a life like yours. I offer it as one

might offer his father's ashes
to the wind, a gesture
when there's nothing else to do.

Still, I must say to you:
I hate your good reasons.
I hate the hatefullness that makes you fall

in love with death, your own included.
Perhaps you're hating me now,
I who own my own house

and live in a country so muscular,
so smug, it thinks its terror is meant
only to mean well, and to protect.

Christ turned his singular cheek,
one man's holiness another's absurdity.
Like you, the rest of us obey the sting,

the surge. I'm just speaking out loud
to cancel my silence. Consider it an old impulse,
doomed to become mere words.

The first poet probably spoke to thunder
and, for a while, believed
thunder had an ear and a choice.

Stephen Dunn


the window, at the moment of flame

and all this while I have been playing with toys
a toy superhighway a toy automobile a house of blocks

and all this while far off in other lands
thousands and thousands, millions and millions

you know — you see the pictures
women carrying bony infants

men sobbing over graves
buildings sculpted by explosion —

earth wasted bare and rotten
and all this while I have been shopping, I have

been let us say free
and do they hate me for it

do they hate me

alicia ostriker


The God Abandons Antony

When suddenly, at midnight, you hear
an invisible procession going by
with exquisite music, voices,
don't mourn your luck that's failing now,
work gone wrong, your plans
all proving deceptive — don't mourn them uselessly.
As one long prepared, and graced with courage,
say goodbye to her, the Alexandria that is leaving.
Above all, don't fool yourself, don't say
it was a dream, your ears deceived you:
don't degrade yourself with empty hopes like these.
As one long prepared, and graced with courage,
as is right for you who were given this kind of city,
go firmly to the window
And listen with deep emotion, but not
with whining, the pleas of a coward;
listen — your final delectation — to the voices,
to the exquisite music of that strange procession,
and say goodbye to her, to the Alexandria you are losing.

C. P. Cavafy

California to Require 8th Grade Algebra Testing

http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2008/09/04/156390clgebradispute_ap.html
According to this article in EdWeek, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed that all 8th graders were to be given algebra tests. Apparently Arnold requested this the night before it was to be voted on by a board appointed by him. It was adopted by a vote of 8-1. Other interesting information from the article includes that currently only half of the state's 8th graders are enrolled in algebra. The Association of California School Administrators filed suit.

As many of you know I just came from teaching high school math (so I found this article very interesting). One of my classes was TAKS Math. I worked with the seniors who did not pass the state mandated test on their first two attempts. I had a disproportionate amount of Californians in this class. They were often bitter, stating, "I already passed the California exit exam". This, combined with some of the information provided in our first meeting, leads me to believe that California does indeed need reform.

But I am concerned about the approach Arnold is trying to take. According to Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell, currently only "23 percent of those students [the half of 8th graders in algebra] score as proficient or above on standardized tests". Questions I have include: Does this mean all students will suddenly be required to take algebra? Is Arnold just trying to get a feel for student ability or does he have goals (pass rates) in mind? When will this new system go into effect? How will the kids who are not ready be supported?

I am all for high expectations, but they need to also be realistic. Appropriate goals may be more like: lets improve the success of students already in these classes; lets increase the number of students in these classes (with a goal of 80% enrollment in three years or something to that effect). If we push these kids into things they are not ready for, especially without adequate support, we risk alot. What if they feel overwhelmed, give up, and vow to hate math forever? What if they fall behind and stay behind through high school?

Again, I believe in high standards. But I think we need to be thoughtful of those standards and how we plan to reach them.

Uri's favorite line of the week from an Inspector General's report

Two female employees “engaged in brief sexual relationships with industry contacts,” the reports’ cover memo said, adding that “sexual relationships with prohibited sources cannot, by definition, be arms’ length.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/11/washington/11royalty.html?hp

TCTT Linearity

I was thinking about Jenna's and others reactions to the TCTT report and about the feasibility of such massive reform.  I came across an interesting site.  Georgia's Republican governor (Perdue) has established a TCTT task force chaired by Dr. Charles Knapp (chair of the New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce, which produced TCTT) - www.gaosa.org/toughtimes.aspy.  

One issue I take with the TCTT report and some of the reading from last week is the streamlining of the high school to college pathway and the linearity that seems inherent in the construct.  If we are trying to develop a more creative workforce, as is advocated in TCTT, then the push to stream students from high school directly into college may be counter-productive.  It is fairly common in other countries for students to take time off between high school and college either to travel and work in other countries (NZ, Australia, EU) or for some sort of compulsory public service (Germany, Israel).  Unfortunately Americans have few options of this sort mainly due to the fact that we refuse to offer reciprocal work-holiday schemes with other nations.  Such schemes can potentially allow lower income groups to access travel by allowing them to work in foreign countries.  

I wonder if streamlining students into career paths and universities may work against developing a creative workforce.  Perhaps post-secondary degree completion could be increased by allowing and encouraging students to delay their college experience and gain intermediate experiences that may help to motivate and focus their post-secondary education.

Eliminating Politics to Create More Flagship Schools

This week, the Austin American-Statesman addressed the issue of improving the national reputation of Texas universities. Texas ranks far behind similar sized states in nationally renowned research institutions. Most Texans do not find this acceptable and have began to search for other universities that are capable of gaining prestige on the national academic scene. 

In Monday's newspaper, it was reported that UT-Dallas would like to include itself in the caliber of UT-Austin and Texas A&M. This would mean require an increase in funding from the state. The UT-Dallas president has suggested that the legislature allocate $210 million per year that the universities could access to implement ideas geared toward tier-one status. He then proposed that the schools raising the most funds from private and community fundraisers would get larger shares of the apportioned money. Besides UT Dallas, there are six other universities competing for top-tier status: Texas Tech, University of Houston, University of North Texas, UT Arlington, UT El Paso, and UT San Antonio. 

In today's op-ed section, the Statesman insists that while the state does need additional top-tier universities, this goal will not be attainable in the next 10-15 years. Additionally, it is unlikely that the state would be able to fund the necessary measures to take these universities to the next level. Once the politics comes into play, there is even more at steak. Universities foster economic growth, meaning all legislators will fight for this piece of the pie when the time comes to distribute additional funding. In the near future, the state will have to inspect which universities will receive additional funding towards achieving these goals.

While ultimately, it would be ideal for Texas to top the nation in world-class institutions of higher learning, the legislature will have to inspect how these efforts will impact the state's overall higher education goals. Will focusing on the creation of top-tier universities take away funding from college prep programs or community colleges? 

Each of the universities mentioned as top-tier contenders serve populations much different from that of UT and A&M. While world fame is important, it might be illogical to assume that every high school graduate seeking college entry cold compete at a top-tier university. Should that be the goal that we focus on first? 

The rhetoric of reform..........

Tinto’ article on rethinking the first year of college brings forward the thought that post secondary institutions are reflecting on factors within their control to create a successful academic first year for students. He reports that currently 56% of students drop out before their 2nd year. They leave for a variety of reasons; he notes that reasons related to academics are increasing. His comments reminded me of an article I read a couple of months ago from the Chronicle of Higher Education (4-23-07). The author (Rona Wilensky) contends that maybe college for everyone is not the answer. She explained that the way we currently approach teaching and learning in college is not conducive for students who are ill prepared for the academic work.

Both Tinto and Wilensky realize that rather than trying to change the student who comes to the institution, maybe we should think about changing what happens to the learner when they arrive. Tinto’s discussion about creating learning communities as a hopeful intervention for change is a start. Wilensky suggest that we reconsider how we think about college preparation. Instead of the deeply rooted assumptions that academic skills defined by “academic prodigies, reflect some Platonic ideal of public education.” She recommends an emphasis on the knowledge and skills that reflect the needs of 21st century citizens with assurance that all students attain foundational skills. Tinto and Wilensky are tinkering with needed changes, but to bring about change of substance and sustainability, deeper issues must be uncovered.

Paul Tough’s article on the reform ideas of the political parties---explores some deeper issues and hopeful ideas. The embedded roots of poverty and the social behavior of the poor will need to be addressed. A continued attempt at reform through the school house door is a narrow approach and does not reach the core of the problem. Heckman, Neuman, and Canada propose ideas that weave a tighter cloth for supporting the interventions needed for families stuck in poverty. It appears to cost more, but the cost of not facing the comprehensive problem will be disastrous. Hmmm…It may not be about the direct cost—as Tough noted “there is no natural constituency for the initiative: no union or interest group that stands to land new jobs or new contracts, no deep-pocketed philanthropy devoted to spreading the message.” OUCH!
Posted by Mary Alice at 5:46 PM 0 comments

New Orleans

One of the most fascinating things, for me anyways, is reading about New Orleans and how after the 2005 tragedy, the city has become a potential beacon for educational reform. Recently, the New York Times published an article highlighting some of the reforms that have taken place thus far and where Vallas and Pastorek (two main school district leaders) plan to go from here.

You can look at the article here (It is fairly extensive):

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/17/magazine/17NewOrleans-t.html?pagewanted=4&_r=1&hp

This article highlights some of the successes and challenges that the city currently faces in reforming the school district. One of the main things that stands out for me is the constant struggle between the centralization or decentralization of power among school districts. As a former teacher in both a public and charter school, I can definitely attest to the power structure of public schools (centralized) hindering our ability to maximize our instructional time. I am definitely in favor of their approach to "graduating" successful schools into decentralized players who can manage their budgets, hire and fire employees, set salaries, and do all the other things normal businesses can do while still being held accountable to the highest performance standards. Once you equip schools with professional leadership and an excellent staff, it can become a self sustaining force that does not require district intervention. What do you think?

Paul Tough's Sept 5 NYT piece on Ed Reform

Hi PA682A/M396Cniks,

Jessica K mentioned Paul Tough in her blogpost.

Paul Tough's latest NYT piece is a great overview of the fault lines among Democrats--especially progressive Democrats--in their core beliefs about, and approaches to, education improvement. It's a must read: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/07/magazine/07wwln-lede-t.html?ref=education

I'll probably use this article as a launching point for some jazz riffs on ed policy.

Uri

Levers of change

The main blog on eduwonk today (what Uri was talking about in class yesterday) actually ties together our PRP from last year focusing on teacher incentive pay and our PRP this year. It's a guest blogger and not too insightful, but he's commenting on Obama's speech and focus. Obama talked about needing to bring to scale the concept of great teachers and administrators--one of the 'levers of change', I think, for improving college readiness.

Here's the link:
http://www.eduwonk.com/2008/09/the-most-compelling-challenge.html

Most of what we studied last year taught us that teacher quality is the most important factor to students' success. Granted, that's a broad statement, but I think it's important as we look at the overall idea of high school reform. It's definitely been a focus at the elementary and middle school levels and shouldn't be neglected at the HS level. I don't know the exact number, but a lot of teachers actually end up teaching outside their education areas (i.e. a science teacher will be teaching math or English). While some of these overlap, we're doing students a disservice to be placing teachers in classrooms where they're not qualified. (This stems from other problems of teachers not wanting to go into math, for example.)

Thoughts?

Slate's new blog

I recently stumbled upon Slate.com's new educational blog, "Schoolhouse Rock", which is being written by the New York Times Magazine editor, Paul Tough.  He's recently been writing about educational reform in New Orleans, which I had read earlier in the summer.  Most of his posts thus far are about teachers, recruitment and merit pay--specifically talking a lot about the Obama campaign.  It made me think about TCTT's step 3 suggestion nearly ten years ago about recruiting the next generation of teachers, and how that still seems to be an issue.  As someone in education, seeing people quitting their office jobs and getting their alternative teaching certification here in Texas, mainly because they like the summers off, I definitely feel the frustrations.  There are a few interesting ideas/thoughts in the blog...

Speaking of drastic measures ...

After responding to Jenna's post on the TCTT piece, I came upon this article on D.C.'s Chancellor on EdWeek.  I thought it was a great example of a drastic, yet incremental strategy to achieving long-term education reform.  Though some of her approaches are quite drastic and controversial, Michelle Rhee's focus on "people before pedagogy" and holding teachers and students accountable for their investment in the classroom is just the place to start.  Thought the article was an interesting follow-up to this week's readings http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2008/08/25/02rhee.h28.html

What's "better" in higher ed?

After reading Kevin Carey's blog post about CLA scores and the trepidation with which the higher education community accepts recent efforts to publicize the achievements of the University of Nebraska at Omaha, I thought we should talk a little bit about rankings and the politics of postsecondary institutional evaluation.

My impression from peers in general is that the U.S. News and World Report rankings of top colleges and universities are widely accepted and considered a very important factor in applying to schools. But inside the higher ed community, I've found rankings are highly criticized for a variety of well-founded reasons, including continual changes in methodology, self-reported qualitative information from institutions, and weighted emphasis placed on reputation, selectivity of the student body, and physical characteristics such as square footage and number of books in the library. Rather than looking at these "inputs", a more productive conversation for many students and families would to be look at graduation rates, if students drop out after their first year, how much tuition costs and whether there is ample financial aid to support students, what sort of jobs graduates hold, the income level of new graduates, etc. True, U.S. News does factor some of these elements in, but in relatively small proportions compared to the inputs.

Assessments such as the Community College Survey of Student Engagement and the College Learning Assessment are the manifestation of this need for outcome measurement. As Carey mentions, these are not the whole picture and there is no perfect measurement tool out there, but they do bring new and valuable information to the table about how we can evaluate what is "better" in higher ed. And as the publication of these institutional results becomes more commonplace, we will begin to see the ice burg below the surface (if you will...). Traditional 18-22 year olds, attending top-tier institutions full time is hardly the norm. Some would argue the students attending these top-tief institutions are often very well prepared from high school, financially equipped, and receive ample family/network support...meaning they will likely succeed whether they go to Stanford or the University of Michigan. The majority of students though, are not "traditional" in age, dependency status, enrollment status between full and part-time and in terms of continual enrollment in one institution. And there are many more community colleges, state colleges, minority-serving institutions, etc. out there who are educating the vast majority of students, in particular students of color, low-income, and first-generation students. As Carey points out, most of these institutions never show up on the U.S. News rankings but do stand to gain much from new outcome assessments that show a more accurate picture of the quality of the education they are providing and the large quantity of service they are providing to the college-going population.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

What do you think about rankings? What role did they play in your application to UT? I'm not very familiar with the CLA, what it's orgins are and how exactly it's measuring "outcomes." Who administers it? Could anyone fill me in?

What political fuel will accelerate progress?

I suppose this 50 something will be a credit to her generation and post. "Ticket to Nowhere" was published almost a decade ago and while there has been progress, we still are far from closing the gap. How frustrating for us, and tragic for the students who are being underserved. Maybe the push for K-16 initiatives noted in the Guide for Governors will speed up the high schools that have been resistant to making changes. As time passes, the interest groups battle on.----Looking forward to staying late after class tomorrow---thanks, Mary Alice

Tough Choices or Tough Times is a Tough Sell

This is an incredibly ambitious piece and I was struck by how much it resembled the type of readings we did in a poverty course I recently took with Dr. Osborne. By that I mean, this doesn't really just focus on education, but provides wrap-around recommendations to help get at the root of some inequity issues (specifically steps 8-10). These three steps start to tap into other, almost extraneous topics, although we're all aware how firmly this country's economic success is rooted in education. What's your point Jenna? Ok, I'm not sure I have one but my initial reaction was "These are great ideas - but too radical and not incremental enough to get much traction." Schools give up local control? Yikes!! And how do the state-set standards align with federal mandates (hint, hint: NCLB). And finally, although I assume a comprehensive description is provided in the full text, how exactly does one assess creativity and the "self-discipline" required for project completion (step 4)? I'm sure a bunch of you can enlighten me about this stuff tomorrow! Again, just a few of my (many) gut responses to what are intriguing and ambitious ideas. Going back to my initial comment: maybe what we need to look at more closely is what truly lies at the root of these issues? But a discussion of causation and solutions for poverty is probably best left for a different post.

Yo, twenty somethings--

Hi all,

You are ( for the most part) the blogging generation digital natives, , I;m the 62-year-old eligible for social security digital immigrant. How come most of the blog posts are from me? Be a credit to your generation and post!

Uri

The "Mismatch" theory of affirmative action and some counterevidence.

Hi all,

A few weeks ago I was asked to testify before the Office of Civil Rights on what policy wonks call the mismatch theory of affirmative action--i.e., because of affirmative action, students of color are admitted to institutions for which they are not truly prepared, which leads to their failure. The OCR staff expressd concern that affirmative actin was inadvertently harmful to those it sought to help. This argument was put forth in a recent paper by Richard Sanders, a law prof at UCLA. The article below is a reexamination of that data. Both papers raise issues relevant to our study of readiness and degree competion.
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2008/09/03/affirm

Uri

Now, how's this for a solution to school violence?

Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction. This is not from the Onion


http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/29/us/29texas.html?_r=1&ref=education&oref=login


Uri

An interesting article by Cory Booker, John Doerr and Ted Mitchell

Have a look--http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-mitchell31-2008aug31,0,543893.story
Cory Booker is the mayor of Newark and a search of his name and the NYT will yield interesting articles on raqce in the time of Obama. John Doerr, an influential investor ( Kleiner Perkins Caulfield Byers--the big daddy of venture capital firms in Silicon Valley), was the founder of New Schools Venture Fund (NSVF). NSVF is a venture capital firn that invests in educatonal innovation. Ted Mitchell is the current president of NSVF.

Uri

A great article

Hi Students,

There's a great review of Thomas Frank's "The Wrecking Crew" in the August 11-18th New Yorker. Here's the url: http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/atlarge/2008/08/11/080811crat_atlarge_lemann

Lemann discusses and oldie but goodie--Thomas Bentley's classic, "The Process of Govenment," which describes the role of interests groups in politics and policymaking. For those of you without a political science background, the Lemann review will be especially valuable--and Nick can write!

Most of you will come to class with strong political convictions. My hope is that at the course's end, you will understand the role of the various interest groups in the ed policy world and what animates their passion. I also hope that you will make personal and professional connections to those with views that differ significantly from your own.

Uri

Class Introductions

Welcome to Uri Treisman's PRP! We are looking forward to having everyone in class on Thursday and kicking off the semester.

Throughout the semester we will be using this blog as a means of exchanging ideas about a range of education policy topics. Uri will go into more detail on Thursday about specific assignments related to the blog but we would like you start out by introducing yourself to everyone. Briefly introduce yourself by talking about your past experience, your specific interests in education policy, and your favorite wine and cheese (critical information to the success of the class).

To kick things off:
Prior to working at LBJ I spent 2 and a half years with the Council of Chief State School Officers in Washington, DC. There I worked on a range of projects related to state assessment systems, the National Assessment of Educational Progress, and state data systems. Prior to that I worked for Congressman Cass Ballenger from North Carolina.

I am interested in a number of issues related to education including assessment policy, improving our current accountability systems, and P12-higher education connections. This past summer was my first attempt at digging into the issues surrounding college and work readiness and I have quickly realized the large number of issues it raises for policymakers. It will require us to look at number of areas from teacher recruitment and compensation to benchmarking to school redesign.

Last, you can't go wrong with a good malbec and slice of brie...