Bronx Principal Juked The Stats For Bonus

by Mike Smith

Published October 28, 2009 @ 06:41PM PT

A high-school principal in the Bronx who was given a $25,000 bonus to turn around a failing school changed students' grades and turned the school in a "diploma mill". Teachers have accused the principal of passing students who failed, and giving student two credits for a class that only deserved one. Changing grades wouldn't usually cause such outrage, when it's done for the right reason, but many students passed through the school without doing the extra work or getting high enough grades in other subjects to justify a passing grade.

Teachers initially passed the information through the official channels but when the Office of Special Investigations failed to get back to the teachers after a number of months, they approached independent news source Gotham Schools with the story. Out of four of the teaches who made the accusations, three have now moved to charters.

One teacher explained to Gotham Schools that this wasn't a case of a principal being helpful: "I would bend over backwards to help a kid or a teacher. But why would a person think it’s acceptable to take a 45 and make it a 65?" This of course raises similar problem involved in performance related pay — should earnings ever be geared towards students' academic sucess? Some would say in a way they two are already linked, but linking them even closer may be asking for trouble.

Photo credit: Eva Wisten

Teachers Demand Better Evaluation System Built With Their Input

by Mike Smith

Published October 27, 2009 @ 12:09PM PT

A team of teachers across the U.S. teamed up this summer, collobarating to develop recommendations for a smarter evaluation system. The teachers suggest more 'objective' measures of student achievement, asking also for more support in "Policy 2.0: Using Open Innovation to Reform Teacher Evaluation Systems." They want a system that helps attract and retain teachers, and put America's schools back on top internationally. But how much should teachers be involved in the testing of themselves?

The report was put together by non-profit Hope Street Groups, and they explains that in K-12 education any teacher evaluation system should have the input of teachers and administrators and not solely come from researchers and policymakers. Their specific recommendations include the suggestion that evaluation systems should be frequently revised, that teaching advocates need to be involved in this process, and that any in-class observations for assessment must be done by teachers with sufficient experience.

Hope Street is hoping to pilot their recommendations across ten educations systems in the coming years, whilst building a network of reform-minded teachers who can be engaged in continuing policy development.

Photo credit: woodleywonderworks

Scholastic Book Fairs Ban Books Feature Same-Sex Parents

by Mike Smith

Published October 26, 2009 @ 10:20AM PT

Scholastic have banned "Luv Ya Bunches," a book that features a character who has two lesbian moms from its book fairs. Worse than Scholastic deciding to support discrimination, it suggested that the book would be allowed, but only if the author edited it to change the story to give the character heterosexual parents. Michael Jones on the Gay Rights blog explains, "Same-sex families shouldn't be edited out of books simply to pacify a minority of anti-gay voices." By banning the book Scholastic side with profits and discrimination rather than allow schools and parents to make the decisions themselves.

This comes only a few week after Banned Books Week which provides a yearly reminder of what books have been banned over the past year — often for ridiculous reasons: Harry Potter, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and Catcher in the Rye have experienced censorship in the past. (Check out a map of the latest banned books.) We must remember all the wonderful books banned in the past, now revered as great, and always preserve freedom to read — it must not be up to anyone but parents to decide what should be considered objectionable.

Take Action and tell Scholastic to stop censoring books.

Photo credit: Mind on Fire

In Education Reform We See The Real Change That Was Promised

by Mike Smith

Published October 24, 2009 @ 08:37AM PT

We’re not close to reaching the educational Promised Land, but we may be at the start of what Rahm Emanuel calls The Quiet Revolution.

These the words of NYT op columnist David Brooks. No, he's not joining birther-teabaggers, but agreeing that one place where President Obama's administration is showing the real change that it promised is in education. Brooks explains that despite fears that education reform would be watered down and wouldn't be able to stand up the power of the teachers-unions, real progress is being made. Across the political spectrum reformers, Bill Clinton, and Jeb Bush have all been impressed by how the Obama administration has held the line to incite reform.

Caps are being raised on charter schools nationwide, and now "reformers know more about how to build charters and the research is showing solid results." Duncan is making progress with the unions too, with Brooks explaining "The American Federation of Teachers recently announced innovation grants for performance pay ideas."

But Mike Rose writing at TruthDig isn't so convinced, fearing "within many of these reforms are the seeds of their undoing." He fears magic-bullet solutions like charter schools and linking student-scores to test scores, and whilst glad to see school-reform a national priority, he fears that tarring dissenting voices with the "anti-reform" or "special interests" brush isn't helping. Change is happening, but Rose wants everyone to continually assess whether this is the right kind of change at the right speed.

Photo credit: D Sharon Pruitt

Ex-Cop Who Replaced Arne Duncan Turning Around Chicago's Schools

by Mike Smith

Published October 23, 2009 @ 04:37PM PT

The man who has replaced Arne Duncan running Chicago's City Schools is Ron Huberman, a gay, Israeli born, ex-police officer who was plucked out of middle-management obscurity by Mayor Daley. Now, he's controlling Chicago's public school system's $5 Billion dollars, and looking after the interests of 400,000 students. He's only 37, and in a city worried the safety of their school children, he's winning a lot of support.

The Chicago Mag present him as an "uber-technocrat" who likes to analyse data and measure whatever can be measured. He's one of Mayor Daley's loyalists with David Axelrod, Rahm Emanuel, and Michele Obama having cut their teeth working for the mayor. Not afraid to take action, he has closed under-performing schools, and he subjects charters schools to tough standards.

Huberman has tripled the number of year round schools, and those who hear him speak are surprised by his intelligent ability to combine consultant speak with a wow! factor. He's optimistic that the school system can be turned around just like any organization, but with a substantial deficit and student violence in Chicago a problem we've recently discussed, it's clear that he's got a fight on his hands.

Photo credit: Christopher & AmiKate

Hawaii Forced to Cut School Year by 20% to Save Money

by Mike Smith

Published October 22, 2009 @ 04:29PM PT

All of Hawaii's 256 public schools have been forced to move to a four-day week due to the continuing effects of the economic crisis on school budgets. Tomorrow, schools will be closed for all 171,000 students, and the closures will last for at least two years. This will cause the loss of 17 days of teaching. The kids may celebrate two years of long weekends, but it's bad news for parents who will be forced to find alternative arrangements for their children.

This makes the Department of Education's plans to lengthen the school year sound crazy — where will the money come from if states are already struggling? Hawaii is one of the states that would really benefit from reform and investment with the state finding itself 47th in reading and mathematics scores amongst eight-graders. They'll be hoping President Obama steps in to solve the problem, considering that he graduated from one of Hawaii's top private high schools.

Parents have already filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of the 171,000 students, but with teachers agreeing that the move was necessary, does this put the teachers and parents at odds with one another? Jack Jennings, president of the Washington-based Center on Education Policy explained that its the kids who will suffer most from 20 percent fewer school days: "The less time spent on a task, the less likely it is that you're going to achieve."

Photo credit: Torres21

Stimulus Saves Education Jobs, But Should Reform Have Been Prioritized?

by Mike Smith

Published October 21, 2009 @ 06:54AM PT

Following the recent announcement that the stimulus has created or saved 250,000 education jobs, some are skeptical about the benefits of the investment. Andrew Smarick asks whether the investment should have been spent on innovation rather than maintaining the status quo, "This of course may be good for grown-ups, but it’s not so hot for America’s schoolchildren."

But that's not the most important thing he sees, making the point that this particular part of the stimulus is the first time the administration has claimed to be using funds not just to safeguard jobs but to advance reform. Though he doesn't see the data to support this claim that reform is even happening apart from in few anecdotes. Indeed, Michele McNeil at EdWeek argues that most of the money so far is getting schools up to the status quo. And a report from the American Association of School Administrators found "many of the dollars are simply backfilling budget holes, limiting the ability of districts to implement innovative reform."

Detailed data from the Washington Post does agrees that most of the funds went for school aid. "The largest share of the $67 billion ... went straight to states to shore up teetering budgets ... About $30 billion in education aid from the stimulus law remains unspent, including $5 billion earmarked for school reform."

Yes, reform is part of the package, but it isn't intended to be the main priority. The hope it just that schools will move towards reform, and eventually beyond the status quo. But the budget holes have to be plugged before that can happen.

Photo credit: Aaron Jacobs