[Ohiogift] Public Education NewsBlast - July 9, 2013

[Art Snyder]

                                        July 9, 2013 - In This Issue:
                The priciest education in the OECD
      The CCSS and the same old narrative
      We need the CCSS (Duncan says)
      The state of reform, nationally
      When you don't have affirmative action
      A crucial opportunity for college enrollment
      Synergy: community schools and place-based initiatives
      For NGAs to work
      BRIEFLY NOTED CALIFORNIA
      BRIEFLY NOTED
      GRANTS AND FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
                                                                                                              
    The priciest education in the OECD
  
    A new survey from the  Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) finds that  the United States spends more than most developed nations on its  students' education each year, with parents and private foundations  picking up more of the costs, the Associated Press reports. The survey  found the U.S. spent more than $11,000 per elementary student and more  than $12,000 per high school student in 2010. When researchers factored  in cost for postsecondary programs such as college or vocational  training, the U.S. spent $15,171 per youth -- more than any other nation  in the report (the average OECD nation spent $9,313). As a share of its  economy, the U.S. spent 7.3 percent of its gross domestic product on  education, compared with the 6.3 percent average. The average American  high school teacher earns $53,000, well above the OECD average of  $45,500. "Teachers' salaries represent the largest single cost in formal  education and have a direct impact on the attractiveness of the  teaching profession" in our country, the report states. Even so, other  nations have increased teacher salaries more quickly than ours. More
  
 
       
    The CCSS and the same old narrative
  
    In an essay against the  Common Core State Standards (CCSS), the editors of Rethinking Public  Schools write they'd like to believe the claims on behalf of this latest  reform -- but they don't. Rather than state standards, the CCSS are in  fact national, created by Gates Foundation-funded consultants for the  National Governors Association. Written mostly by academics and  assessment experts -- many with ties to testing companies -- the CCSS  have never been fully implemented or tested in real schools. Of the 135  members on the Common Core review panels, few were classroom teachers or  administrators, and none were parents. CCSS assessments are still in  development, to be administered on computers that many schools lack. By  all accounts, the assessments will be harder than current state  assessments, leading to sharp drops in scores and proficiency rates. The  country has just finished a decade-long experiment in standards-based,  test-driven school reform called No Child Left Behind, a dismal failure  by any measure, the editors write. Its tests showed millions of students  were not meeting existing standards. Yet instead of targeting the  inequalities of race, class, and educational opportunity reflected in  those test scores, the CCSS project similarly threatens to reproduce a  narrative of public school failure that has led to a decade of bad  policy.??More
  
 
    
    We need the CCSS (Duncan says)
  
    In a speech before the  American Society of Newspaper Editors, Secretary of Education Arne  Duncan called criticisms of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS)  "imaginary," and accused opponents of spreading misinformation. Duncan  said the standards will "change education in the best ways -- setting  loose the creativity and innovation of educators, raising the bar for  students, strengthening our economy, and building a clearer path to the  middle class." Young Americans, he said, need an education that prepares  them for "a world where you invent your own job, change careers, and  constantly acquire new skills." Yet many American children haven't  gotten a world-class education. Rather than acknowledge this, Duncan  said, our school systems have used low standards to suggest kids were  learning. Duncan assured his audience that the federal government did  not write the CCSS, didn't approve them, and doesn't mandate them. They  were in development when the president came into office, and his  administration has simply worked to support states and districts in  their adoption. The states choose their standards, and can opt for  different ones. Duncan said, however, that "misguided, misinformed  opposition" was provoking anti-Common Core legislation. Since much of  this is based on false information, he entreated members of the press to  correct this, and urged members of Congress to talk with governors and  state chiefs on both sides of the aisle about the kind of support they  want from Washington, then develop a bipartisan fix for NCLB.?More
  
 
    
    The state of reform, nationally
  
  The  National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) has released new data  on state policy changes in accountability, testing, finance, school  choice, and other education issues, reports Sarah Sparks in Education  Week. As of 2011, 48 percent of all schools didn't make adequate yearly  progress (AYP) under NCLB, particularly so in a few states. In  Massachusetts, 82 percent of schools missed AYP; in New Mexico, 86  percent; and in Florida, 91 percent. In terms of early childhood, a  dozen states now require districts to offer full-day kindergarten, and  16 states require students to attend kindergarten. NCES found 27 states  now allow virtual charter schools, and 29 states permit charters to  operate extended school days, weeks, or years; this indicates the  emerging popularity of hybrid and flexible-time schools, which some say  benefit at-risk students. Sixteen states now require all new teachers to  participate in a mentoring program, but just three -- Maryland, North  Carolina, and South Carolina -- give first-year teachers a reduced  workload to help them get their feet under them. Finally, the Obama  administration made college readiness a priority in the Race to the Top  and other federal grant programs, but it's far from universal.  Thirty-eight states have defined "college-ready," but only eight have  aligned high school course credits to postsecondary requirements.?More
 
    
    When you don't have affirmative action
  
    In the nearly two  decades since California voters banned affirmative action in college  admissions, the two most competitive University of California schools  ?-- UCLA and Berkeley -- saw enrollment of black and Latino students  plummet, reports Larry Gordon in The Los Angeles Times. At UCLA, for  example, African-American freshmen dropped from 7.1 percent of the class  in 1995 to 3.6 percent last fall. At UC Berkeley, African Americans  were 6.3 percent of freshmen in 1995 and 3.4 percent last fall. The  system has tried to cultivate diversity without affirmative action, but  to limited success, say top UC officials, who filed a brief supporting  Texas' use of racial preferences in the recent Supreme Court case.  Applications to the UC system are no longer reviewed with grades and  test scores as sole criteria; these are placed in context of student  talents, life challenges, language barriers, and family income. A  student is now guaranteed a spot in the UC system -- though not  necessarily at UCLA or Berkeley -- by being in the top 9 percent of his  or her class, not just the top tier of students statewide. UC also  dropped the requirement for two SAT subject tests, which low-income and  minority students were more likely to skip or neglect. Financial aid was  expanded, and recruiting and tutoring bolstered at high schools with  large numbers of low-income and minority students, but with mixed  results.?More
  
 
                   
    A crucial opportunity for college enrollment
  
    Using sophisticated  combinations of test scores, census data, and university admissions  histories, new initiatives are zeroing in on students who are low-income  but high-achieving, steering them to institutions where they're most  likely to succeed, writes Jon Marcus in The Hechinger Report. Without  these efforts, many students of this profile end up at poorly chosen  colleges and universities with abysmal graduation rates -- or forgo  higher education altogether. Nine out of 10 children whose parents are  among the nation's richest 25 percent go to college, compared to only  six out of 10 whose families are among the poorest, according to the  Century Foundation. In carefully chosen language, eye-catching mailings  to high school juniors aim to persuade students they can get in, and  afford to go, to college. The contents of these thick envelopes include a  specific list of fairly selective colleges -- customized especially for  the recipient -- with vouchers to apply to some schools for free. In  one initiative, researchers found that for a cost of six dollars per  student, packages to 40,000 students netted 48 percent more applications  from students who received the packets than from classmates who didn't,  and these students were 40 percent more likely to apply to colleges  that matched their academic qualifications. Other, similar work is  underway through comparable programs.?More
  
 
    
    Synergy: community schools and place-based initiatives
  
    A new report from the  Institute for Education Leadership looks at the role of community  schools in place-based, cradle-to-college-and-career efforts such as the  federally funded Promise Neighborhoods. Firmly anchored in their  neighborhoods, community schools marshal resources and participation of  multiple partners to work toward shared outcomes in defined and  measurable ways. Place-based initiatives build a pipeline of coordinated  educational, health, and social supports for children and families in a  specific neighborhood or catchment area, and maintain a results-driven  focus on improving the educational and life outcomes of its children.  Since the place-based model depends on strong schools, collaboration  with community schools is an obvious way to strengthen community  partnerships and accelerate results. A strength of place-based  initiatives is their mobilization of the community's highest level of  leaders; to ensure success, however, they need vehicles for  on-the-ground interaction with young people, families, and  neighborhoods, which community schools provide. The report profiles  three communities with exemplary initiatives: Multnomah County, Oregon;  South King County, Washington; and Los Angeles, California. These case  studies show how community schools' leaders worked hand-in-hand with  next-generation, place-based, and community-wide initiatives to find  synergy and achieve better results. When multiple efforts are linked in a  mutually supportive framework, each effort is working from its  strengths, and the whole community benefits.?More
  
 
    
    For NGAs to work
  
    A new report from MDRC  and Johns Hopkins University analyzes the Ninth Grade Academies (NGAs)  initiative in Florida's Broward County Public Schools. An NGA is a  self-contained learning community for ninth-graders with its own  administrative leadership, space, faculty, and teacher teams. A school  within a school, it aims to be a personalized, engaging, and responsive  learning environment. Researchers found strong district leadership at  the initiative's outset and widespread uptake of core components across  the 18 high schools in the sample. However, they also found substantial  variation in overall quality and duration of NGA implementation.  District leadership for the initiative was strong at the outset, but  district priorities changed. While schools received support through a  cross-school professional learning community for NGA administrators,  they lacked other technical or financial support. The district focused  on structural components in each school -- ninth-grade administrative  leadership, dedicated space, dedicated faculty, and interdisciplinary  teacher teams. Improving curriculum, instruction, and student supports  were not a direct focus of the initiative, and other reforms in these  areas in fact competed with implementation. Only three high schools  achieved strong implementation. Ten attained a threshold level of  implementation, and five fell below threshold. These experiences suggest  that current and future NGAs will need more specific guidelines,  on-site support, training for teachers, secure resources, and tools to  guide practice and facilitate scheduling to be fully fledged,  continuously improving, and self-sustaining.?More
  
 
    BRIEFLY NOTED CALIFORNIA
      Poor
   California came in 41st  in a nationwide ranking of children's well being, according to a new  report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation.?More
   ?
   Mixed
   Local control and  parental prerogative, two hallmarks of California's new transitional  kindergarten program, led to large variations in enrollment rates across  the?largest school?districts during the first year the program was  available.?More
   ?
   Sea Change
   Signaling a seismic  shift in focus, the Los Angeles Unified school board has elected  teachers union ally Richard Vladovic as its president, ending the  six-year tenure of reformer Monica Garcia.?More
   ?
   Done
   Gov. Jerry Brown has  ushered in the most sweeping changes to the way California funds its  public schools in 25 years, signing into law a new funding formula that  was the centerpiece of his legislative agenda for the year.?More
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   Just say om
   A San Diego Superior  Court judge has ruled that the Encinitas Union School District can  continue a yoga program for students because it is not religious, as  some parents have contended.?More
   ?
   Now, that's a refund
   An appeals court has  ordered Los Angeles County to refund the Los Angeles Unified School  District millions of dollars in redevelopment area property tax revenues  that it had inaccurately withheld for years, and to avoid shortchanging  the LAUSD in the future.?More
  
    BRIEFLY NOTED?
    But what's the remedy
   Secretary of Education  Arne Duncan issued as statement that there was "no excuse for a public  school system anywhere in the U.S." to be in a situation such as the  $304 million budget shortfall that has beset Philadelphia.?More
   ?
   Partial recovery
   Families in the United  States are making gains in education and health, two key factors in  their overall wellbeing, according to a new report from the Annie E.  Casey Foundation, but many families continue to struggle with poverty  amid a lack of steady, full-time work and affordable housing.?More
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   In clover
   Former D.C. Schools  Chancellor Michelle Rhee's advocacy group tripled its budget to $28.5  million in the second year of existence, spending $3.6 million on  politics across the country.?More
   ?
   Excellent move
   Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley has announced 93 grants totaling $7.3 million that will expand access to pre-K programs.?More
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   Early-enough intervention?
   Washington state  third-graders who fail a state reading test must now meet with their  parents and school officials to decide whether they should be held back a  grade, go to summer school, or receive another type of intervention.?More
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   Newly chartered territory
   The Connecticut Board of  Education has approved increasing?enrollment at the state's 17 existing  charter schools by 9 percent for the upcoming school year, but four new  charters are also expected to open over the next two years.?More
    
  GRANTS AND FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
 
 
     NCTM: Using Mathematics to Teach Music
   The National Council of  Teachers of Mathematics Using Mathematics to Teach Music grant  encourages the incorporation of music into the elementary school  classroom to help young students learn mathematics. Any acquisition of  equipment must support the proposed plan but not be the primary focus of  the grant. Proposals must address the following: the combining of  mathematics and music; the plan for improving students' learning of  mathematics; and the anticipated impact on students' achievement.  Maximum award: $3,000. Eligibility: individual classroom teachers or  small groups of teachers currently teaching mathematics in grades PreK-2  level who are also (as of October 15, 2013) Full Individual or  e-Members of NCTM or teach in a school with a current (as of October 15,  2013) NCTM PreK-8 school membership. Deadline: November 8, 2013.
   ?
   NSTA/Vernier Software & Technology: Vernier Technology Awards
   National Science  Teachers Association Vernier Technology Awards recognize the innovative  use of data collection technology using a computer, graphing calculator,  or handheld in the science classroom. Maximum award: $1,000 towards  expenses to attend the NSTA National Conference, $1,000 in cash for the  teacher, and $1,000 in Vernier products. Eligibility: Teachers of  science grades K-College. Deadline: November 30, 2013.
   ?
   Discover: Pathway to Financial Success Grant
   Discover is investing up  to $10 million in financial education, and any high school can apply  for a grant toward a financial education curriculum. Applying schools  must have implemented or be looking to implement a financial education  curriculum; have a measurement tool planned or in place to assess  participation in and comprehension of the financial education  curriculum; and agree to share overall results of the measurement tool's  pre- and post-curriculum testing with Discover upon the program's  completion to assess what worked and what didn't. Maximum award:  varies.? Eligibility: high schools in the United States. Deadline: none.
   ?
   QUOTE OF THE WEEK:
   "A diverse student body  enables all students to have the transformational experience of  interacting with their peers who have varied perspectives and come from  different backgrounds. These experiences, which are highly valued by  employers because of their importance in the workplace, also prepare  students with the skills they need to live in an interconnected world  and to be more engaged citizens." -- statement published as an  advertisement in The New York Times by 37 college associations, in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling on affirmative action.
  
 
   
 
    
  

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