As U.S. Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan has taken on one of the nation’s most-pressing challenges: Improving the quality of public education — especially for the poorest students. And so far, through the Race to the Top effort and the proposed revamp of the No Child Left Behind Act, he has (imperfectly) forced many Americans to finally pay attention to the reasons why the overhauls are needed.

In this video excerpt from his speech earlier this year, the former Chicago Public Schools chief executive offers another reason why reform is so important: Fulfilling the dream of the Civil Rights Movement to assure that all children have equal opportunity to a high-quality education. Listen, think, consider, then take action.

Also, read my report in The American Spectator on how Duncan’s efforts are also complicating the political choices (and career) of Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, who must now decide whether to support or veto a teacher quality reform (and tenure elimination) measure.

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On this week’s Dropout Nation Podcast, I offer six steps for school reformers and grassroots activists to expand the role of parents in education decisionmaking. The expansion of charter schools and other forms of school choice, along with initiatives borne out of the No Child Left Behind Act and Race to the Top such as Parent Trigger, offer great opportunities to truly put children and families at the center of education (and improve the lives of even the poorest children). But only if an infrastructure is built to help parents make the best decisions.

You can listen to the Podcast at RiShawn Biddle’s radio page or download directly to your iPod or MP3 player. Also, subscribe to the podcast series. It is also available on iTunes, Blubrry, Podcast Alley, the Education Podcast Network and Zune Marketplace.

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Photo courtesy of AP

Seven delayed thoughts on Race to the Top so far:

1. At the very least, Race to the Top’s competition model is clever and has potential to work. I’ll explain more later this month in my report in the May edition of The American Spectator‘s print edition. Let’s just say if George W. Bush embraced this approach, the No Child Left Behind Act– which successfully shed light on gamesmanship by states and school districts, exposed the reality that even suburban districts are mediocre in academic quality, and revealed the nation’s dropout crisis in stark terms — would have been even more effective.
2. The two states selected out of Round 1 — Delaware and Tennessee — aren’t the worst of possible choices. Tennessee actually took some huge steps such as eliminating most of its restrictions on the growth of charter schools and allow for the use of standardized tests in evaluating newly-hired teachers for tenure.
3. But this means that strong school reform states may not gain funding because they won’t gain support from NEA and AFT affiliates. The good news is that the Obama administration (led by U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan) didn’t select undeserving states that happened to be politically vulnerable from the Democratic National Committee perspective (Illinois for one). But in rejecting Florida (the leading school reform and teacher quality reform state in the nation) in the final leg and dismissing Indiana out of hand, the administration signals it prefers systemic consensus over strong reform.
4. For school reform to actually work, it means aggressively taking on the status quo. Race to the Top, in selecting Tennessee and Delaware, for the moment, seems to lean towards muddle and half-measures. Not a good thing. If school reform is to work, it will only come after reformers admit that sometimes consensus won’t happen. It means digging in, taking on systems of compensation and instruction that are failures, and upsetting a few constituencies (who may deserve being afflicted) along the way.
5. The hope lies in the possible Round III. If Obama gets his wish, reform-minded school districts will be able to submit applications. It will be hard for the administration to reject D.C. (home to the biggest experiment in teacher quality reform and evaluation) or a New York City (the most reform-minded district in the nation), then argue that it supports school reform. The administration must walk the walk on this.
6. Meanwhile Race to the Top could be so much more. But in order for this to happen, the administration must make parental engagement a much-bigger part of the game; this means encouraging Parent Trigger measures and even engaging parent-centered grassroots organizations into the competition. Allowing for winning school districts to become educational enterprise zones — an approach similar to the Reagan-era reform measures for local cities to spur economic growth — would also help. This means exempting them from the state laws governing teacher-district labor activity — including collective bargaining, tenure and dismissal — that often hinder their reform efforts.
7. And make school choice an even higher priority in Race. This would likely mean embracing voucher programs, and requiring districts and states to allow students from all schools — not just the worst districts — to attend any school within a district or state. The Obama administration certainly won’t consider this. But they should. And then go into action.

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On this week’s Dropout Nation Podcast, I look at the efforts by the Obama administration to bring districts into Race to the Top and offer some steps that could make the reform work even more effective. This includes turning school districts pioneering school reform efforts into enterprise zones of sorts, freeing them from restrictive state laws and collective bargaining rules.

You can listen to the Podcast at RiShawn Biddle’s radio page or download directly to your iPod or MP3 player. Also, subscribe to the podcast series. It is also available on iTunes, Blubrry, Podcast Alley, the Education Podcast Network and Zune Marketplace.

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This week’s Dropout Nation Podcast focuses on California’s parent trigger school reform law (along with Connecticut’s efforts to pass a similar measure) and why the arguments against it from such skeptics such as Washington Post columnist Jay Mathews and Diane Ravitch don’t stand up to scrutiny.

You can listen to the Podcast at RiShawn Biddle’s radio page or download directly to your iPod or MP3 player. Also, subscribe to the podcast series. It is also available on iTunes, Blubrry, Podcast Alley, the Education Podcast Network and Zune Marketplace.

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You seen the bird. Do what he says.

Check out up-to-the-minute news on the Dropout Nation Twitter feed. Here’s the best of today:

• More #charterschool segregation/integration sparring, courtesy of Colo.’s EPIC: http://bit.ly/dxZI3g #
• Sample EPIC quote: “In a highly splintered and divided nation… policies that increase segregation should be remedied, not encouraged.” #
• Based on EPIC/Civil Rights Project reports, expect more battles over the role of #CharterSchools in federal #edpolicy this year. #
• RT @SailorX: “We’ll never fix poverty in America until we fix education.” – #JoelKlein this morning on #MorningJoe #edreform #
• More #teachertenure #teacherquality reform recommendations from @Amprog: http://bit.ly/9ixVwJ Districts dismiss just 1.4 % of tenured staff #
• In #LAUSD preliminary votes on #edreform effort is in: http://bit.ly/aISONj Given chronicled shenanigans, one wonders if revote is likely. #
• @jaketapper: @JimDeMint won’t endorse @SenJohnMcCain in re-election against @JDHayworth (voted for #NoChild http://bit.ly/aWp6Sc #edreform in reply to jaketapper #
• For #edreform activists, Hayworth may be no worse choice than McCain. Both supported #NoChild and may likely support reauth in present form. #
• RT @jerridkruse: #edreform What the teacher does matters: http://ow.ly/15RkF #
• @jerridkruse‘s answer to teachers and #edreform It should be about the students. Not the teachers. #applauseoftheweek #
• RT @jerridkruse: Teachers need to be thinking about students’ thinking about thinking: http://ow.ly/15RmL #edreform #learning #
• RT @samchaltain: Potential implications of Duncan’s latest remarks (“Don’t teach to the test!”): http://bit.ly/dncLco #edreform #RttT #
• Honestly, what is wrong w/teaching to the test? If tests represents the standards we want children to learn, then tests should be the guide. #
• This doesn’t mean literally teach to a test, but to actually use the standards/tests to shape lessons. Then innovate in how it is taught. #
• By the way: “Portfolio assessments” useless largely because their analysis by teachers is largely subjective. Objective data always better. #
• @bigswifty Exactly. Subjective=no standards=no accountability. Of course, Obama is backing off from accountability because of election 2010 in reply to bigswifty #
• @bigswifty Reform is meaningless w/o re-election. But Ds will lose seats anyway because of other issues. #edreform isn’t one of them. in reply to bigswifty #
• @Eduflack Anyone who thinks RIF will lose funding is delusional. And RIF needn’t worry anyway. It’ll be back in the line item in 4, 3, 2… in reply to Eduflack #
• @Eduflack Being against giving children books, especially in light of #edreform efforts, would be perceived as contradictory by the public. in reply to Eduflack #
• @Trace_Urdan I’m not commenting on whether RIF should be funded. I am saying is that every earmark has a constituency… in reply to Trace_Urdan #
• @Trace_Urdan And RIF not only has a powerful group of backers, but also has a powerful message in terms of its role in improving literacy. in reply to Trace_Urdan #
• @Trace_Urdan And in politics (and in the nonprofit realm), constituency+powerful message+institutional support= survival. The usual stuff. #
• RT @MICHIGANDFER @EduExaminer: 26.8% of Detroit students graduate from H.S. http://tinyurl.com/yd3t6ar #edreform #dropoutfactories #edgap #
• Off-ed: RT @jtLOL: Gibbs had something else written on his hand: “Update resume.” #perilsofbeingpoliticalspokesman #dontmesswithpalinarggh #
• Note: Anti-intellectualism resides on all sides of political/social/educational aisles. We would be best off ridding it all from our midst #
• Another thought: It is important to hold first principles. But not to embrace dogma. Because all dogma dies in the bright light of day. #
• You should be willing to open your mind to data and realize sometimes your theories aren’t exactly so. #
• Actually, make that most of the time. #
• Off-ed: RT @jayrosen_nyu: BBC tells its news staff to get on board with social media. Not an option http://bit.ly/9CcT7F Seriously. #
• RT @MEDixon215: In Ala.: Dr. Morton on passage of charter school legislation: “We will keep working. It needs to happen…” #edreform #RttT #
• Rick Perry reverses himself? TX may offer #RttT for second round, according to Chron: http://bit.ly/9KbRBh No shocker. All hat, no cattle. #
• For your snow day: Dropout Nation Podcast: Why #CivilRights Activists Should Embrace #edreform http://bit.ly/9dwkhS #NAACP #GaryOrfield #
• NJLeftBehind notes 7.9 percent increase in Garden State per-pupil spending. http://bit.ly/9zqqrg #edpolicy #edpspending #ARRA #
• RT @bigswifty: In negotiating lang. for teacher evals in NCLB 01 (I was in room) both NEA and AFT opposed word “objective.” #

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