[Ohiogift] Public Education NewsBlast — March 23, 2015

[Art Snyder]

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 ?March 25, 2015 - In This Issue:
Prepping for the prep-free Common Core test
More Common Core blowback 
The Common Core: great if you're affluent
Can we fix elitist public high school admissions?
That thorny issue of girls and math, and what it ignores
Stark funding disparities
The comparability loophole
The benefits legacy
BRIEFLY NOTED CALIFORNIA
BRIEFLY NOTED
GRANTS AND FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
 Prepping for the prep-free Common Core test
This year, Louisiana students are taking Common Core-aligned tests that education specialists predicted would be less susceptible to intensive test-prep techniques, reports Peggy Barmore for The Times-Picayune. Yet Louisiana schools are still prepping, perhaps to boost student confidence with the new format. Also, "there's nothing else that people know to do. That's why I'm sure principals are telling teachers [to prep]," says Lisa Delpit of Southern University in Baton Rouge. In years past, schools prepared with "LEAP blitzes," where students worked on problems similar to those on Louisiana Educational Assessment Program (LEAP) tests. However, Common Core tests use complex, open-ended questions and performance tasks that gauge student understanding, with less multiple-choice. The new test is also timed, which LEAP exams were not in the past few years. The state retreated midyear from administering exams online, reverting to paper-and-pencil, based on responses from a majority of Louisiana teachers who felt schools lacked technological capacity and students lacked computer skills. In anticipation of the new test, teachers have revamped the curriculum or, in some cases, rewritten it from scratch, costing valuable instruction time. Despite preparation, teachers and administrators expect student scores will drop as they did in Illinois, Kentucky, and New York when the new tests were introduced. More
 More Common Core blowback
As states administer Common Core-aligned tests, they're working to minimize the backlash when student scores -- which will likely be much lower -- are released this year, reports Andrew Ujifusa for Education Week. From fliers in student backpacks to webinars for administrators and teachers, states are hoping to communicate that the tests will more accurately reflect what students know and can do, and will better inform classroom instruction. Several states, including California, Hawaii, and South Dakota, have posted answers to frequently asked questions, videos, and other documents on websites. Still, outreach is a patchwork, inconsistent nationally. Many state education departments aren't used to the volume and nature of questions and criticisms they'll face. Schools themselves lack time and resources to prioritize outreach. To allay concerns, the Smarter Balanced consortium is releasing sample student reports intended for both parents and teachers that states can use as a template, and that will demonstrate how reports will indicate scores and expectations met for various skills. Supporters of the new assessments frequently point to Kentucky's relatively smooth rollout of aligned tests in 2012, yet this flowed from years of cooperation between state officials, business leaders, and local PTAs. And if Kentucky is the model, New York, which has had protests and resistance, is the cautionary tale. More
 The Common Core: great if you're affluent
Carol Burris, a principal in New York state, writes in a letter in The Hechinger Report to Jayne Ellspermann,?a principal in Florida, that the problems she sees with the Common Core go beyond mechanical issues of implementation to the standards themselves. If every child in America grew up in a financially secure home with access to enriching activities and an excellent pre-school, the standards would be great. Since this is not the case, early childhood researchers are likely correct, that the long-term, negative effects of the Common Core for many children will be enormous. To help all children succeed, we need reasonable standards in the primary grades, differentiated instruction for all learners, and instructional support to narrow learning gaps over time. Sorting students as "on the path" to college-readiness -- or not -- with unreasonable tests causes irreparable harm. In New York state, students of color, economically disadvantaged students, and special education students disproportionately "failed" Common Core tests in 2013 and in 2014. If New York retained all third graders who scored a "1" on Common Core tests (1 signifies below basic, 3 is proficient), it would hold back 45 percent of black or Latino students, 75 percent of students with disabilities, and 75 percent of English language learners. More
 Can we fix elitist public high school admissions?
Only 5,000 kids are offered admission to the nine prestigious college-prep high schools in New York City, and they are predominantly male, and white or Asian, reports Alia Wong in The Atlantic. In 2013, just four percent of incoming freshman were black, and five percent Latino, to the three most prominent schools: Stuyvesant, Bronx School of Science, and Brooklyn Tech. Admission to a specialized school hinges solely on a 150-minute multiple-choice test, the SHSAT; many feel this solitary requirement encourages a lack of student diversity. Critics include plaintiffs in a federal suit with the U.S. Department of Education in 2012, and Mayor Bill de Blasio and state legislators, who tried to change the rule. But NYU's Research Alliance for New York City has found the issue to be larger than testing. Some proposed solutions, such as broader admissions criteria like grades or attendance records, would not enhance minority representation, and certain alternatives would decrease it. What research found, unsurprisingly, is that ethnic and gender disparities trace back to deeper systemic problems and emerge much earlier than eighth-grade admissions. "Sorting" of supposedly high- and low-achieving kids causes uneven distributions early on, by testing and segregating children from the get-go. The only policy that would substantially change selective-school demographics would be one that guaranteed admission to all eighth-graders in the top 10 percent of their middle school. More
 That thorny issue of girls and math, and what it ignores
Debate over why the best-educated girls do worse at math than the best-educated boys exploded 35 years ago when researchers at Johns Hopkins suggested a "superior male mathematical ability," writes Eduardo Porter for The New York Times. Yet amid the din over girls' math achievement, boys are falling behind in everything else. Six out of 10 of those who lack baseline proficiency across OECD tests in math, reading, and science are boys, including 15 percent of American boys. More boys than girls underperform overall in every country tested except Luxembourg and Liechtenstein. At the bottom, the gap is enormous: The worst-performing American girls -- worse in reading than 94 of every 100 peers -- scored 49 points higher than bottom-ranked American boys. And the dismal performance of boys in well-developed countries suggests development alone will not lift their educational prospects. Data indicate it won't reduce girls' math deficits, either. Girls outperform boys in math by the widest margins in relatively poor countries like Malaysia and Thailand, and in nations like the United Arab Emirates and Qatar that have few women's rights. Strategies premised on the belief that gender gaps in education merely reflect discrimination in society have not closed longstanding deficits for the best-educated girls, and have done nothing for boys, Porter writes. More
 Stark funding disparities
In 23 states, state and local governments together spend less per pupil in their poorest districts than in their most affluent, according to federal data from fiscal year 2012, reports Emma Brown in The Washington Post. In Pennsylvania, per-pupil spending in the poorest districts is 33 percent lower than in the wealthiest. Vermont's differential is 18 percent; Missouri's, 17 percent. Nationwide, states and localities spend an average of 15 percent less per pupil in the poorest districts. In general, since wealthier towns and counties can raise more money through taxes to support schools, many states have developed school-finance systems that send extra dollars to poorer areas, yet the aid rarely compensates adequately. Federal spending -- including through Title I -- is somewhat of an equalizer. When federal dollars are included, just five states spend less in their poorest districts than in their wealthiest, and nationally, disparity drops from 15 percent to less than 2 percent. And in 23 other states, students in the poorest districts receive more state and local tax dollars per pupil than in the most affluent. Differences are biggest in Indiana and Minnesota, which respectively spend 17 and 15 percent more in their poorest districts. More
 The comparability loophole
A new report from the Center for American Progress finds that nationally, the "comparability loophole" in the ESEA allows 4.5 million low-income students to attend inequitably funded Title I schools. These schools receive $1,200 less per student, and $668,900 less overall annually, a disparity equal to millions at the state level. The ESEA requires districts provide "comparable" educational services in high-poverty and low-poverty schools as a condition of receiving Title I dollars. Under current law, districts compute comparability using average teacher salaries or teacher-to-student ratios over actual expenditure on teacher salaries. Since teachers with greater experience earn higher salaries and generally teach in lower-poverty schools, lower-poverty schools receive greater resources. If the loophole were closed, high-poverty schools would receive $8.5 billion in new funds each year, 1.5 percent of total state and local revenues, which would have been?approximately $500 billion in 2011-12. To ensure true funding parity, the report recommends Congress require that districts base comparability on actual expenditures, including actual salaries. Districts should demonstrate comparability by showing Title I schools receive funding at least equal to the average of district non-Title I schools. Districts serving only Title I schools should show that higher-poverty schools receive no less than the average of state and local funds. Under the current policy, districts can spend less of state and local dollars on schools with the highest needs. More
 The benefits legacy
California districts once viewed lifetime healthcare coverage for employees as a cheap alternative to pay raises, a decision that haunts them as they scramble to limit benefits promised decades ago, writes Zahira Torres for The Los Angeles Times. Retiree healthcare obligations have reached $20 billion statewide, and the burden threatens to drag down credit ratings and crowd out other budget priorities. The unfunded debt has more than doubled since 2005, leaving the LAUSD in particular on the hook for $11 billion in future costs, or $868 million annually for 30 years to fulfill obligations. Nationally, unfunded non-pension retirement benefits, primarily healthcare coverage, is $530 billion, according to Standard & Poor's. Instead of building savings by pre-funding retiree coverage during an employee's tenure, many districts tap annual budgets to pay benefits as they are claimed. The Los Angeles and Sacramento unified districts maintain some of the most lucrative healthcare benefits across California, providing lifetime health coverage to retirees and dependents without premiums. LAUSD will spend up to $290 million this year on healthcare coverage for 37,517 retirees and their families. The benefits and an additional $78 million that the district will set aside for future costs make up six percent of the district's $6.4 billion budget. More
 BRIEFLY NOTED CALIFORNIA
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Oversight
California's education funding formula provides extra money for all low-income children, students learning English, and foster youth, and contributes more dollars if these are the bulk of students in a district; if the same kids are concentrated in a few schools within wealthier districts, they get less. More
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The human touch
The California Board of Education has endorsed Education Testing Service's three-year, quarter-billion-dollar bid to continue administering the state's standardized testing system -- but only if it agrees to extensively involve teachers in scoring the parts of Common Core-aligned tests that can't be done by machine. More
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Proactive
On the verge of a final settlement of a lawsuit over noncompliance with physical education requirements, three of the largest districts in California are supporting a new bill they believe will curtail litigation in the future. More
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A new Alliance
Teachers at the largest charter school organization in Los Angeles have launched a drive to unionize, a move that could alter the path of school reform in the city. More
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Roadblock
Contract negotiations between the San Diego Unified School District and the teachers union have hit an impasse, with salaries and class sizes the major sources of disagreement. More

 BRIEFLY NOTED?
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Now hiring
Straining under a record number of civil rights complaints, the U.S. Department of Education will hire 200 more investigators to expand its civil rights division by 30 percent. More
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Following suit
A Loudoun County, Virginia parent has sued state officials to force the release of evaluation data for thousands of teachers across Virginia, making it the latest in a series of states to grapple with whether such information should be made public.?More
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Double duty
A pair of Colorado colleges have announced they will evaluate the use of scores on PARCC language arts and math exams as a way to determine whether students are ready to take college courses.?More
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A+
The U.S Department of Education is giving Hawaii a flawless progress report on reforms that replaced provisions of NCLB.?More
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Due recognition
Nebraska public schools that improved test scores for struggling students will boost their state performance ratings under a new state accountability system.?More
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The long, winding, and expensive road
As rural Iowa districts consolidate to trim expenses and a decades-old school funding formula remains unchanged, many rural districts bear an oversized burden of high transportation costs.?More
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In Maine, they eat the rainbow
Kevin Concannon, U.S. Department of Agriculture under secretary for food, nutrition and consumer services, told C-SPAN that school lunch programs in Maine are some of the best in the nation.?More

 
 GRANTS AND FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

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Discovery Education 3M: Young Scientist Challenge
With the Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge, students have the opportunity to create an engaging one- to two-minute science video that communicates one of the following scientific concepts: preventing the spread of germs/disease; food safety; sun protection; or wind-resistant structures. Maximum award: $50,000 in U.S. Savings Bonds; a trip to 3M's World Headquarters in St. Paul, MN; contest trophy, and the title of "America's Top Young Scientist." Eligibility: all legal U.S. residents who are students enrolled in 5th through 8th grade at a public, private, parochial, or home school located in one of the fifty states or the District of Columbia. Deadline: April 21, 2015. More
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CSX Transportation: Every Kid Healthy Grants
Every Kid Healthy Grants provide physical activity grants with an optional nutrition component to support becoming recognized as a health-promoting school. Maximum award: $2,500. Eligibility: schools in AL, DC, FL, GA, IL, IN, KY, MD, NC, NY, OH, PA, and WV. Deadline: May 1, 2015. More
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Toshiba America Foundation: Grants for Math and Science
The Toshiba America Foundation makes grants for projects in math and science designed by classroom teachers to improve instruction for students in grades K-12. Maximum award: $5,000. Eligibility: Grades 6-12. Deadline: August 1, 2015. More
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Quote of the Week:?
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"This is a conversation that is happening across the country and I think is going to continue to happen as we have richer and better information." -- Aimee Rogstad Guidera of the Data Quality Campaign, regarding public access to teacher performance data. More

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