[Ohiogift] Public Education NewsBlast — Jan. 14, 2014

Tue Jan 14 13:02:43 EST 2014

                                        January 14, 2014- In This Issue:
                The shifting structure of school governance
      The status of school choice, nationally
      Charters in funding only
      A new direction in NYC
      The better way to prepare teachers
      Target: The Common Core and beyond
      Advocates for voc ed
      Central Falls, four years on
      BRIEFLY NOTED CALIFORNIA
      BRIEFLY NOTED
      GRANTS AND FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

    The shifting structure of school governance

    In her overview for  Education Week's Quality Counts 2014, Jaclyn Zubrzycki writes that most  of the nation's 13,000 districts retain a familiar structure even as  they evolve in response to economic, demographic, and educational  pressures. Schools are clustered into administrative groups based on  geographic boundaries; hiring, curriculum, and infrastructure are  overseen by a central office; and entities are run by a superintendent  and governed by an elected or appointed school board. But structures are  shifting. Budget crises, state and federal demands for academic  improvement, and the rise of market-based approaches to running schools  are spurring new models of governance and internal administration.  Radical changes have occurred in big districts with deep and  long-standing challenges: Chicago, Memphis, New Orleans, and New York  City. Yet administrators in long-stable districts, whether suburban,  small-town, or rural, are not immune from the push for common academic  standards, teacher evaluations and school accountability tied to test  scores, and state and federal budget cuts. Even in stable districts  where the traditional structure remains intact, momentum continues  toward reducing the role of the central office -- shifting  responsibility toward principals to hire teachers, for instance. At the  same time, districts are struggling to cope with a burgeoning charter  school sector, which siphons off students and per-pupil dollars in ways  that profoundly effect district coffers and educational programs. More

           The status of school choice, nationally

     The Brookings  Institution has released its annual Education Choice and Competition  Index (ECCI), a guide to conditions of K-12 school choice in the  nation's largest districts. The ECCI examines district-level choice  using objective scoring of thirteen categories of policy and  practice. Based on these, the Recovery School District in New Orleans  and New York City Public Schools occupy the highest rankings, the same  as in 2012, which illustrates a larger trend: little year-to-year change  in district commitment to or design of school choice. Despite high  rankings, both districts, along with all other top-scoring districts,  need improvements. And, as demonstrated by the 34 districts receiving an  "F," zip-code assignment and other policies antithetical to choice are  still standard operating procedure nationally. The authors write that  districts, states, and the nation must invest in approaches that lift  all boats. These include identifying effective instructional materials;  developing and implementing professional development programs that work;  and deploying accountability systems that motivate and inform. Ideally,  systems should encourage schools to compete to be the very best while  assuring a minimal standard of service so all students can advance. This  requires attention to the parameters of choice and competition, as well  as to the knowledge base for learning and instruction that is the  foundation of improving schools under any governance arrangement. More

        Charters in funding only

   In  California (and other states), schools are increasingly converting to  charters for financial reasons, writes Sarah Butrymowicz in The  Hechinger Report. California has suffered drastic budget cuts, with  per-pupil spending among the lowest in the nation. Dozens of its schools  converted to charters in the 1990s and 2000s for a funding boost.  Charters can access hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal startup  grants, and in California until this year, charters received the state's  average per-pupil allotment, so schools in districts with below-average  funding got additional money by chartering. Two years ago, LAUSD  increased the percentage of low-income students a school must have to  qualify for Title I, prompting further conversions, since charters keep  access to Title I funds even with lower low-income percentages. Experts  say many of these charters have not changed day-to-day operations,  prompting some to question whether schools should be allowed to charter  solely for financial gain. Many "dependent" charters retain close ties  to their districts. In some cases, parents don't realize kids attend a  charter, since the schools don't have "charter" in their name, and  students don't enter a lottery to attend. These schools still have a  traditional central office and school board overseeing them. That said,  over time, some conversion schools have found that even if they  chartered for mundane -- and financial -- reasons, they are more willing  try new things. More

        A new direction in NYC

   New  York City Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña, a 40-year veteran of the  city's public schools, is likely to steer an agenda that could sharply  pivot the nation's largest district from policies that have dominated it  for over a decade, writes Lesli Maxwell in Education Week. Her  appointment is the clearest signal yet that Mayor Bill de Blasio will  shift from rapid expansion of charter schools, the closing of  underperforming schools, and an increased use of student test scores for  high-stakes decisions. Ms. Fariña also brings a firsthand understanding  of learning English as a second language: She was an English-learner  herself in her early years of education in a parochial school in  Brooklyn. The city's charter sector -- with more than 180 schools and  70,000 students -- could face a very different climate, since de Blasio  wants a moratorium on proposals to "co-locate" charter schools with  regular district schools, and feels those in co-location should pay  rent. Other challenges Fariña must tackle her first year include  negotiating a new contract with the United Federation of Teachers. The  mayor has also unequivocally pledged to scrap the grading system that  uses various metrics -- including standardized-test scores -- to assign  letter grades to schools. More. Related

        The better way to prepare teachers

     Although new teachers  receive tens of thousands of dollars worth of training, few learn skills  that help them become better teachers, write William Eger and Michael  Zuckerman in the Atlantic Monthly. Studies show that despite hundreds of  millions of dollars spent training 200,000 new teachers each year, we  suffer a shortage of teachers of sufficient quality or quantity. A  better, less expensive way to train teachers is the apprenticeship  model. It takes many forms, but at its core pairs a beginner teacher  with an experienced "master teacher" who can demonstrate effective  teaching techniques -- a good transition between a lesson and  independent practice, for example -- then help the beginner adopt these  techniques, reflect on them, and forge his or her own unique style.  Interaction is the essence of well-structured teacher apprenticeship:  nuanced feedback aimed at specific situations. And the feedback must be  inscribed within a reflective dialogue -- as Katherine Merseth of the  Harvard Graduate School of Education puts it: "You want the observer to  have the awareness that [the master teacher] chose A instead of B, C, D,  and E, and to understand why. Because next time, when I'm all by myself  and I haven't seen the lesson taught before, and I have A, B, C, D, E  -- how do I know which one to do?" More

                       Target: The Common Core and beyond

   National  advocacy groups powered by the Koch brothers and other conservative  megadonors have found a new cause: bringing down the Common Core, writes  Stephanie Simon for Politco.com. A draft action plan by the advocacy  group FreedomWorks lays out the effort as a series of stepping stones:  First, mobilize to strike down the Common Core. Then push to expand  school choice by offering parents tax credits or vouchers to help pay  tuition at private and religious schools. Next, rally the troops to  abolish the U.S. Department of Education. Finally, eliminate teacher  tenure. Picking up the mantle of parental rights "casts a passionate and  caring light on our activists -- different from the image currently  portrayed by media," the draft states. The campaign also offers a chance  to attract new members -- "especially minority communities."  Conservative organizations have dedicated the most resources to fighting  the standards, but liberals have also been highly active on social  media and at public hearings and are not happy that conservative  strategists are looking to harness the opposition to their own ends. The  politics of the debate are so tangled that policy analyst Frederick  Hess said he doubts groups like FreedomWorks will be able to mold the  opposition into an effective lobbying force for bold goals like  expanding vouchers. More

        Advocates for voc ed

   People  who advocate for vocational tracking and training are usually  well-educated, upper middle-class professionals, Angela Romans writes on  the Quartz website. They are well-intentioned, she thinks, wanting the  best for the US economy and to increase opportunities for other people's  kids, but therein lies the problem -- they're other people's kids. For  their own children, they want the most selective college possible. A  growing body of research indicates pervasive college "under-matching" of  low-income and minority students, who on the basis of grades and test  scores are qualified to attend selective colleges but enroll in less- or  non-selective schools, or don't attend at all, despite the fact that  selective colleges have more financial aid and higher graduation rates.  Unemployment in the US is 10.9 percent for adults with high school  degrees only, 8.7 percent for adults with some college or an associate's  degree, and 4.5 percent for bachelor's-degree holders. Romans  acknowledges that the traditional liberal arts education is not for  everyone, nor will all young people want to attend college immediately  after high school. But we must ensure everyone has the academic, social,  and financial tools to get to college eventually. Otherwise, we risk  sorting students onto a path of limited options based subtly and  not-so-subtly on where they live, where they were born, and how much  money their parents make. More

        Central Falls, four years on

     In the wake of mass  firings that received national media coverage, the high school in  Central Falls, RI has made a number of changes that seem to be helping,  reports Elizabeth Harrison for NPR. The school has overhauled its  curriculum and added special programs to bring dropouts back, and its  graduation rate is up from 52 percent to 70 percent. About half of the  original faculty remains. Long-time English teacher Richard Kinslow sees  the firings as a setback: Teachers have struggled to regain morale, and  Kinslow says problems with discipline persist. School administrators  report they're working on discipline and on giving students a better  education. In math, for example, test scores nearly doubled last year,  though they're still among the lowest in Rhode Island. Maria Ferguson  from the Center for Education Policy says high schools face a special  challenge, since students have personal issues, but the improvement is  encouraging given the complexity of teaching math to kids who probably  didn't have those skills at an early level. The question now is whether  improvement can continue as the district faces cuts in state and federal  funding; Central Falls no longer receives extra federal funding for its  turnaround effort. More

                        BRIEFLY NOTED CALIFORNIA
      Advancing school health
   The California School  Health Centers Association invites you to join hundreds of school  officials, educators, community school partners, and children's health  stakeholders in downtown Oakland March 6,7 2014 for Advancing School  Health in a Time of Reform. More

   About that surplus
   California Gov. Jerry  Brown has released a budget proposal calling for a $1.9 billion rainy  day fund, cuts to the prison population, and funds restored to the  state's higher education system. More

   Potential assist
   Having largely steered  clear of education grants in California over the last half-decade, the  Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is weighing whether to invest  substantially in helping California's teachers successfully put the  Common Core standards into practice. More

   (Good) resumes welcome
   After an extended period  of layoffs and hiring freezes, the LAUSD has resumed bringing on new  teachers, while also being more selective about quality than in the  past. More

   Heavy lifting
   The California State  Teachers' Retirement System estimates that the cost to fully fund the  teachers' pension debt will be almost $4.5 billion in the coming year,  $4.6 billion the year after that, and more in each subsequent year. More

   Overhaul
   By fall, traditional  math textbooks mostly will be put aside in California classrooms, with  what's taught in each grade getting shuffled around and, often, merged. More

   Freedom to choose
   A new California law  allows transgender students to choose restrooms and sport teams based on  the gender they with which they identify. More

                        BRIEFLY NOTED 
    Necessary directive
   Leaders of the U.S.  departments of Education and Justice have issued new guidance on how  school leaders can ensure that discipline policies are drafted and  applied in a manner that does not discriminate against racial or ethnic  groups. More

   Opening the floodgates
   The North Carolina Board  of Education has given final approval for 26 new charter schools to  open this fall -- the largest expansion of the program in the state  since the late 1990s. More

   A worthy expense
   South Carolina Gov.  Nikki Haley wants the state to spend about $160 million in mostly new  money to educate students living in poverty, hire reading coaches, and  expand classroom technology. More

   Continuing fallout
   Six Atlanta principals  pleaded guilty in a Fulton County courtroom for their part in what has  been described as the largest cheating scandal in the nation's history,  bringing to 17 the number of educators who have already pleaded guilty,  with a handful more in active negotiations. More

   Weingarten reverses her reversal
   American Federation of  Teachers President Randi Weingarten has announced that she'll call for  the end of using "value-added" measures as a component in  teacher-evaluation systems. More

   Because the House doesn't have any other concerns
   Calling school choice  the best route out of poverty, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in a  speech at the Brookings Institution took aim at New York City's new  mayor for his cooler stance toward public charter schools, warning that  Republicans may hold congressional hearings on the education policies of  Democrat Bill de Blasio's administration. More

   Long suspected
   A new study from the  Independent Budget Office of New York City finds that in general, city  charter students are not more likely to transfer out than their  counterparts in traditional public schools; the exception is special  education students. More

   Minority majority
   New enrollment numbers  show that Illinois's public school system for the first time does not  have a white majority, with Latino, black, Asian, and other racial  groups combined eclipsing white students across the state's classrooms. More

  GRANTS AND FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

  White House K-12 Film Festival
  The  White House is looking for videos that highlight the power of  technology in schools. Films should address how kids currently use  technology in classrooms or schools, and/or the role technology will  play in education in the future. Maximum award: Finalists will have  their short films shown at the White House; finalist videos may also be  featured on the White House website, YouTube channel, and social media  pages. Eligibility: students K-12. Deadline: January 29, 2014. 

  Caring Institute: 2014 Caring Awards
  The  Caring Institute is now accepting nominations for its annual Caring  Awards. Nominees should exemplify caring and serve as worthy role models  for others.
  Award  criteria include length of service, scope and impact of work, challenges  overcome, and imagination and innovation. Maximum award: All winners  are honored at a special ceremony, and young adult winners receive funds  for college. Eligibility: individuals from nine to 99 years old.  Deadline: March 1, 2014.

  Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes
  The  Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes honors outstanding young leaders  who have focused on helping their communities and fellow beings and/or  on protecting the health and sustainability of the environment. Maximum  award: $2,500. Eligibility: youth 8-18. Deadline: April 15, 2014.

  Ezra Jack Keats Foundation: Minigrants
  The  Ezra Jack Keats Foundation offers Minigrants to public and school  libraries for programs that encourage literacy and creativity in  children.  Programs relating to the work of Ezra Jack Keats are welcome,  but not required. Maximum award: $500.
  Eligibility: public and school libraries. Deadline: March 15, 2014.

  QUOTE OF THE WEEK:
  Kids  like my grandchildren who are born and have two college-educated  parents, they're doing better than ever. But out there someplace in  America, each of my grandchildren has a counterpart who's just as smart  and just as eager to go ahead and so on but who made a mistake of being  born to parents who didn't get past high school. And the chances for  kids like that have sharply declined over the last 30 years. -- Robert Putnam of Harvard University.

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