[Ohiogift] Public Education NewsBlast — June 2, 2015

[Art Snyder]

           ?                June 02, 2015 - In This Issue:
       Hoop, and other, dreams
  Where to set the bar?
  The test case of New Mexico
  To increase AP diversity
  Want to retain teachers?
  One of these aligned tests is not like the other
  Who authorizes the authorizers?
  Truly, social investment
  BRIEFLY NOTED CALIFORNIA
  BRIEFLY NOTED
  GRANTS AND FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
                                            Hoop, and other, dreams
Caleb Stewart Rossiter's new book argues that after-school tutoring sessions for disadvantaged athletes are a well-intended gesture that leads them astray, reports Jay Mathews for The Washington Post. Rossiter, an educator and tutor at a D.C. high school, describes how out of 80 student athletes in a given group, ten at most would receive college offers, despite untold hours devoted to their sport with a "vague sense" -- fueled by the legend of a local graduate who attained NFL status -- "of using it to build their adult lives." (College is necessary for a pro-athlete career). Many of these students, Rossiter says, had they gone a purely academic route, could have obtained one of the scholarships that have proliferated for the young, black, and not even gifted but at least perseverant. Rossiter says he tried his best with athletes, but most took his tutoring no more seriously than they did his regular classes. Coaches enabled athletes' poor habits by trying to wheedle last-minute reprieves when terrible grades threatened sports eligibility. If teachers didn't cooperate, some coaches encouraged guardians to explore special education designation. And those athletes who received scholarships often lost them, Rossiter reports, when they found academic expectations in college were beyond their level. Mathew plans a follow-up column on Rossiter's solutions. More
 Where to set the bar?
Last year, 48 percent of seniors in Camden, New Jersey passed neither of two state high school exit exams, but earned their diploma anyway by appealing to the state, reports Sarah Gonzalez for WNYC. Throughout New Jersey, 1,400 seniors graduated through the process, which began in 2010 when the state introduced a more rigorous alternative high school graduation exam?and nearly 2,000 seniors failed. About 11,000 students failed the High School Proficiency Assessment last year, according to the New Jersey Department of Education. These then could take a different test, the Alternative High School Assessment, which consists of just one problem per subject. Students failing this could appeal graduation requirements by submitting samples of classwork, which could include a single algebra problem or a persuasive essay with teacher comments in the margins. Many feel this is a lifeline rather than a cop-out. "I think when you first learn about this process, at the surface level, it feels suspicious," says Camden Schools Superintendent Paymon Rouhanifard. "Once you actually dig in and spend time with students and teachers, you understand why it's there." Students have been affected by low education standards in their districts for too long, Rouhanifard explains. "It's a bit arbitrary to say that if you scored one question below that bar on a standardized test, you shouldn't receive a diploma." More
The test case of New Mexico
Ranked near the bottom for school performance and near the top for for child poverty, New Mexico has vigorously embraced high-profile education reforms, writes Rachel Monahan in The Deseret News. The state has implemented the Common Core and aligned exams, ramping up stakes for teachers and schools, and making it a test case despite significant challenges. Unlike Mississippi or Washington, D.C., also lowest performers, New Mexico has a sizable population of English language learners (16 percent of students), as well as a large proportion of Native Americans (10 percent). In terms of computer skills needed for exams, New Mexico is nearly last for online access from home. Though the federal government will allow states to suspend test-based ratings for a year while transitioning to new standards, New Mexico is plunging ahead, with student scores counting for half of teacher ratings. Next year's evaluations will compare scores on old tests with those from the new, comparing apples to oranges. Hanna Skandera, state education secretary, argues the new measures are working. Last year, New Mexico showed the fastest improvement of any state in high school graduation, and a higher percentage of Latino students who took and passed AP exams than anywhere else. The question is whether ?this pressure will alienate teachers or improve instruction. More
To increase AP diversity
When Eric Witherspoon became superintendent of Evanston Township Schools outside Chicago eight years ago, he noticed its high school's AP classrooms were mostly higher-income and white, reports Brandis Friedman for the PBS NewsHour. ?Its student body is 41 percent minority and/or lower-income. He realized students were tracked into AP through honors classes, enrollment in which was based on eighth-grade standardized-test performance. The high school began enrolling all incoming freshmen in honors-level English and history. Later, all ninth graders except those reading below grade level were also enrolled in honors-level biology, regardless of standardized-test scores; the same will soon be true for ninth-grade honors math. The school then offered 30 AP courses, and instituted a series of supports to ensure students who were enrolled in honors, and eventually AP, classes didn't fail. These include Team Access and Success in Advanced Placement, a support group where AP students can talk about academic issues, learn study strategies, and relieve stress. Between 2011 and 2014, students taking AP exams have risen 30 percent. White students increased by 19 percent, black students by 35 percent, and Latino students by 78 percent. Students scoring a three or higher on exams, which can lead to college credit, are up, too. White students increased attainment by 31 percent, black students by 98 percent, and Latinos by 116 percent. More
Want to retain teachers?
The combination of poor student performance and limited teacher experience makes it especially difficult for majority low-income schools across the country to fulfill strict guidelines under NCLB, writes educator Paul Barnwell in The Atlantic. Barnwell himself was a novice teacher in 2004 in the Teach Kentucky program, which put him in a classroom with minimal training. He quit his assignment by Christmas. Although some educators hit their stride early in their careers, recent studies suggest it takes many a decade or longer to become truly effective in their craft: to efficiently deal with distractions and disruptions, create and implement engaging curricula, and provide meaningful feedback to students. One of the most pressing policy challenges facing today's schools is therefore creating equitable teaching and learning conditions not just for students but educators. Barnwell asked several public-school teaching colleagues from around the country what it would take for them to voluntarily switch to the neediest schools in their regions. Julie Hiltz, an educator in Hillsborough County, Florida with nearly 13 years of teaching experience, told him that she would require the ability to make local decisions, professional development designed and led in-house, more time for collaboration, and smaller class size. In contrast, current guidelines for struggling schools under NCLB generally disenfranchise administrators and staff. More
One of these aligned tests is not like the other
As the scores on new, tougher Common Core tests are revealed this year, it's likely that results of only one Common Core test will align closely with NAEP results, as much as supporters hope otherwise, reports Sarah Butrymowicz for The Hechinger Report. PAARC used the NAEP as a major resource for determining benchmarks for college and career readiness in high school. Smarter Balanced relied primarily on feedback from teachers and college faculty to determine what skills students at each grade level should demonstrate. "We thought it was important during standard-setting that this was about the Smarter Balanced assessment," said Jacqueline King, director of higher education collaboration for the consortium. "You want to look at that external data, but you don't want it to drive decision-making." In fact, one challenge that lies ahead for Smarter Balanced is helping people understand why scores won't mirror 2015 NAEP results, although King didn't say if she expects scores to be higher or lower than the national exam. PARCC will set cut scores for the 11th-grade test this summer using information from NAEP's 12th-grade exams. A score of 4 or 5 on PARCC will mean a student has a 75 percent chance of getting a C or higher in an entry-level, credit-bearing college course. More
Who authorizes the authorizers?
A blog post by Arianna Prothero in Education Week looks at the continuing debate, and differing schools of thought, around charter authorization. Authorizers and how they make decisions have gotten more?attention lately, especially in Ohio and Michigan, where state- and press-led investigations have turned up academic and financial failures at charters. Some have subsequently argued that?weak authorizing practices lead to weak schools, but as is often the case in the charter sector, debate oscillates between autonomy and accountability.?The right-leaning American Enterprise Institute recently issued a report arguing, among other things, that authorizers and lawmakers require charter applicants to jump through too many hoops to get approval, "creating an onerous and lengthy process that risks freezing out potential school operators." Last September, the left-leaning Anneberg Institute for School Reform released a report?that also made recommendations around authorization. The AEI report was followed by a volley of critiques from the National Association of Charter School Authorizers and the Thomas B. Fordham Institute pointing out that no organization calling for less -- or more -- regulation of authorizers has actual experience with authorization. AEI's rebuttal: "Our critics agree with our fundamental point that mission creep is (a) happening and (b) bad. ?It strikes that it would particularly behoove them to articulate clear boundaries for authorizer behavior." More
     Truly, social investment?
Two decades ago, Harris Rosen, who grew up poor on the Lower East Side of Manhattan and became wealthy in the Florida hotel business, decided to shepherd part of his fortune into the troubled Orlando community of Tangelo Park, reports Lizette Alvarez for The New York Times. Twenty-one years later, with an infusion of $11 million of Mr. Rosen's money so far, Tangelo Park is a striking success story. Nearly all its seniors graduate from high school, and most go on to college on full scholarships Mr. Rosen has financed. Can Tangelo Park's progress be replicated? The community is small -- 3,000 people -- and filled with homeowners, making it unusual for an urban area. Tangelo has determined leaders who were fighting the drug trade even before Mr. Rosen's arrival. And it has had Mr. Rosen's focus and financing over 21 years. Alvarez writes that Tangelo Park Program succeeds in large part because of its simplicity. There is no charter school no large bureaucracy, no hunt for money, no staff to speak of. It is run almost entirely by volunteers, mostly community leaders. In all, Mr. Rosen now spends about $500,000 a year, less than when he began the program, he said. "It's not inexpensive," Mr. Rosen said. "You stay until the neighborhood no longer needs you." But, he added, there are a lot of wealthy people with the resources to do the same thing if they choose. More
          BRIEFLY NOTED CALIFORNIA


Falling short
In a new report, advocates for English learners sharply criticized California districts for failing to explicitly commit money and adequately address students' language needs in their initial Local Control and Accountability Plans. More
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What's wrong with this picture?
In San Mateo County, home to?technology heavyweights such as Oracle and Genentech, 43 percent of 3rd-graders are falling behind in reading, according to standardized test scores. More
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Easy act to follow
As new leader of LAUSD's troubled information technology office, Shahryar Khazei succeeds Ron Chandler, the district's last chief information officer who resigned abruptly last year as problems with LAUSD's new student-data system wreaked havoc at schools. More
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Aiming to get it right
A coalition of California policymakers, business, and community leaders have launched the Right Start Commission to "modernize" the state's early childhood services. More
          BRIEFLY NOTED?
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One in five
More than one out of every five school-age children in the U.S. lived below the federal poverty line in 2013, according to federal statistics. More
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Hope it works
Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval has signed one of his key education initiatives into law that aims to stem the tide of school bullying.?More
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Not ready
Just half of Maryland's kindergartners are ready to tackle the state's new Common Core curriculum, state officials are reporting.?More
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Straight outta Brooklyn
Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper has signed a bill that allows a workforce development program to come to Colorado known as P-TECH, which will allow students to graduate in six years with a high school diploma and an associate's degree.?More
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Beats nothing
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott will finally get to sign his pre-kindergarten improvement bill into law, though the legislature capped its funding at $130 million.?More
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About time
Fourteen Oregon public schools that have fought to maintain their Native American-themed mascots in the face of state changes must pick new names by 2017, the Oregon Board of Education has ruled.?More
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Flippedy-flop
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is calling for an end to the Common Core education standards in?New Jersey.?More
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Permission to skirt rules
Dozens more schools will join an initiative by Mayor Bill de Blasio?to encourage?school-based innovations, like staggering teacher work schedules to lengthen the school day, or breaking class-size rules to offer larger seminars in some settings and small-group instruction in others.?More
          
GRANTS AND FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

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AASA: National Superintendent of the Year
The American Association of School Administrators National Superintendent of the Year Program pays tribute to the talent and vision of the men and women who lead the nation's public schools. Maximum award: recognition; a $10,000 scholarship to a student in the high school from which the National Superintendent of the Year graduated. Eligibility: Any superintendent, chancellor, or top leader of a school system in the United States, Canada, or international school who plans to continue in the?profession. Deadline: August 1, 2015. More
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Siemens: Competition in Math, Science, and Technology
The Siemens Competition in Math, Science, and Technology fosters intensive research that improves students' understanding of the value of scientific study and informs their consideration of future careers in these disciplines. Maximum award: $100,000 college scholarship. Eligibility: students must enrolled in high school (grades 9-12) during the 2015-16 school year, individually or as a team. Deadline: September 22, 2015. More
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Quote of the Week:?
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"Using the Internet to access information may cause people to become one with the cloud, to lose sight of where their own minds end and the mind of the internet begins." --?Adrian F. Ward of the University of Colorado, Boulder, who conducted a study of students' Google search habits.?More



 

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