Tag: Texas


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Dropout Nation on Twitter for 2010-02-11


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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: # Sample EPIC quote: “In a highly…

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: #
  • 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: Districts dismiss just 1.4 % of tenured staff #
  • In #LAUSD preliminary votes on #edreform effort is in: Given chronicled shenanigans, one wonders if revote is likely. #
  • @jaketapper: @JimDeMint won’t endorse @SenJohnMcCain in re-election against @JDHayworth (voted for #NoChild #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!”): #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 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: No shocker. All hat, no cattle. #
  • For your snow day: Dropout Nation Podcast: Why #CivilRights Activists Should Embrace #edreform #NAACP #GaryOrfield #
  • NJLeftBehind notes 7.9 percent increase in Garden State per-pupil spending #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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Read: Special Ed Edition


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What’s happening in the dropout nation: There are children such as this child in this photo (a sufferer from Shaken Baby disorder and blind) who need special education. But why…

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What’s happening in the dropout nation:

  1. There are children such as this child in this photo (a sufferer from Shaken Baby disorder and blind) who need special education. But why is it that at least ten percent of black, white and Latino boys are routinely labeled as learning disabled and often landing in special ed? Especially when the nature of their “learning disability” is likely specious at best? I lay out the scope of the special ed crisis today in The American Spectator.
  2. By the way, let’s be real: Special ed, along with alternative schools, is the black hole of public education. It is also the black hole  for the school reform movement; it isn’t as sexy to talk about as charters or vouchers or as dry and yet seemingly meaningful as national standards. The inaction by both traditional public school supporters and many school reformers speaks volumes about what they really think about improving education for every child. Badly.
  3. The most-disappointing state competiting for Race to the Top funding? The dubious distinction goes to Maryland, according to Andy Smarick. But Texas — once a leading pioneer in school reform — may end up ranking a close second.
  4. Kevin Carey analyzes the NAEP urban math results and notes how far down Detroit has gone.
  5. Why the New York City Department of Education remains the gold standard for school reform: A willingness to shut down failing schools such as this one in Harlem, according to the New York Times (via EducationNews).
  6. Like stopped clocks, Heather Mac Donald gets one right every now and then. This time, it’s on the decades-old move by California to make full immersion in English the standard for bilingual education.

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The Read: Better teachers edition


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The dropout nation at a glance. Updated continuously throughout the day (new stories and updates marked with an *): Time for alternatives to teacher licensing? So suggests the San Francisco…

New solutions must be undertaken if we want high-quality teachers in the classroom, especially in order to turn around the nation's dropout factories.

New solutions must be undertaken if we want high-quality teachers in the classroom, especially in order to turn around the nation's dropout factories.

The dropout nation at a glance. Updated continuously throughout the day (new stories and updates marked with an *):

  • Time for alternatives to teacher licensing? So suggests the San Francisco Chronicle, which peers into the licensing and test requirements for becoming a teacher in California and find it a tad onerous. The paper’s solution: Audition each teacher to see if they are qualified, something similar to the method teaching guru Martin Haberman uses to determine whether a teacher should be a candidate for his Star Teacher program.
  • Although I agree with the Chron that the licensing requirements are a little much, the test-taking makes sense; you want teachers who have the subject-level competency needed in order to assure that every child gets a high-quality education. The real issue is that so much of teacher recruiting, training, licensing and recertifying in many states (actually, in all states to one degree or another) has little to do with actual instruction and subject-competency in the first place. Fifty-four percent of America’s teachers are trained in schools of education that are generally of low quality, according to former Teachers College president Arthur Levine in a 2006 report; the SAT score requirements are low as are other admission requirements, so the aspiring teachers (and the schools of education) are basically not ready for prime time. And most states don’t require teachers to actually take a subject-competency test before entering a teaching program; this means that many teaching students are coming in without having a strong knowledge base from which to educate students.
  • Then there are the license renewal requirements: Thirty states require teachers to gain a master’s degree in order to have their licenses renewed; this, despite there being no research showing that earning an advance degree improves academic instruction or student academic performance, according to the most recent report by the National Council on Teacher Quality (disclosure, I am a co-author of the report). Eighteen states require districts to give raises to teachers based on additional graduate work, even though, again, there is no proof that such busywork will improve student learning. So teachers spend less time on improving their instructional skills and knowledge base and more time on gaining paper that will yield them better salaries and keep them employed. And you wonder why the quality of K-12 instruction is not where it should be.
  • Teacher licensing should be focused on assuring that people with strong subject knowledge, polished in instruction and caring about children should be in the classroom. But this means restructuring schools of education, licensing renewal requirements and salary structures in order to make this happen. If you want more math and science teachers — both of which are in short supply — states must structure compensation to include salary differentials that can lure at least some aspiring math and science students into the field. At the same time, alternative teacher training programs that target baby boomer professionals looking for a second career after retirement, must also be part of the teacher supply landscape.
  • *At the same time, the teacher compensation system — which rewards seniority and degree-accumulation over improving instructional method, subject-level competency and willingness to work with the hardest-to-teach students — must also be restructured. Simply raising salaries, as DC schools chieftain Michelle Rhee is attempting to do (in exchange for the elimination of tenure) isn’t enough. The problem isn’t simply a matter of money: There are shortages of teachers in math, science and special education positions; paying more for an indiscriminate number of teachers no matter their subject doesn’t solve the problem. Higher salaries need to be paid in high shortage positions while the entire compensation structure must be aimed towards improving instruction and knowledge base. Until those things are done, students will never get the kind of high-skilled teachers they need.
  • *Speaking of Rhee: Fast Company has a profile of Rhee and her efforts to turn around the nation’s most pervasive academic failure complex. Thanks to Erin O’Connor and Critical Mass for the tip.
  • Adding options for New York children: New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg polishes up an otherwise mediocre legacy as mayor with his pioneering work on education; this time, he is expanding the range of school choices for the city’s students and parents. Eighteen new charter schools will open this year, reports the New York Times, adding to the 50 schools currently open for business; 51 charters have been started since Bloomberg took office seven years ago.
  • Who should prevail in accountability: Since the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act seven years ago, California has insisted on operating two different accountability systems — the federal AYP mandates and the state’s own Academic Performance Index — that don’t fully match up with one another in terms of expectations and performance indicators. The state’s Legislative Analyst’s Office takes a look at both AYP and API and find them wanting. It, instead, wants an accountability system that focuses on how school districts actually get the schools they oversee — especially those that are dropout factories and academic failure mills — up to speed. [Update: Link fixed per Jacqui Guzman. Thanks Jacqui.]
  • Why running a school district ain’t easy, Volume 500: The Monitor in the Mexican border town of McAllen, Tx., takes a look at the tenure of outgoing district superintendent Yolanda Chapa. From accusations of forcing out a predecessor to complaints about her not having a doctorate (as if having a graduate degree results in tip-top school leadership) to the programs she started, one gets the sense that Chapa will be happy to get out of dodge and let someone else handle the mess.

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The Read


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What is going on inside — and outside — the dropout nation. Updated throughout the day: Surprise, surprise: Poor black and other minority students in Texas are less likely to…

What is going on inside — and outside — the dropout nation. Updated throughout the day:

    1. Surprise, surprise: Poor black and other minority students in Texas are less likely to get highly-qualified teachers than students of all races in wealthier parts of the state, reports Gary Scharrar of the Houston Chronicle.
    2. Spend, spend, spend: The Wall Street Journal looks at spending by the national operations of the NEA and AFT. Given that teachers generally don’t have much choice but to join the unions — either on their own or agency fees that they pay even if they aren’t members — it is important to think about how the NEA and AFT spends the money of its rank-and-file. Especially — and more importantly — as the state and local affiliates lobby state legislators and policymakers for more favorable governance rules.
    3. Mike Antonucci has his own thoughts.
    4. Liam Julian on Affirmative Action: “Affirmative action hasn’t just somehow changed, somehow morphed, into a policy by which privileged whites can expiate past wrongs and rid themselves of guilt… These are what affirmative action has, in fact, always been about.” Credit Kevin Carey for this discussion.
    5. Is education devalued by rhetoric: So asks Mike Petrilli at Flypaper in a discussion about why education doesn’t always grab the attention of the average voter as other issues do. From where I sit, the problem lies in the reality that education is one of the few government goods everyone uses and therefore, each person thinks their experience is the norm. Suburban students who graduate from school, make it to college and succeed in the workforce, therefore, have difficulty understanding why their counterparts in urban schools don’t do so. Or why their parents keep them in those schools in the first place. Thus adding to the difficulty of selling the value of concepts such as vouchers and charters schools to suburbanites. And proving the point that people only know what they see and don’t care about what they don’t.
    6. Of course, it doesn’t help that some people think schools aren’t the problem: Just read the declaration of the Broader, Bolder Coalition, which proclaims that poor-performing schools aren’t the problem. Then read this polemic by Michael Holzman of the Schott Foundation for Public Education — who just oversaw the release of its latest annual report on low graduation rates for young black men — in which he declares that such schools are the problem. One of these folks knows better. The others, well, ignore most of the problem, thus weakening their argument altogether.
    7. Speaking of Schott: Joanne Jacobs offers some thoughts on the report, while commenters offer their own explanations for the academic woes of black males.
    8. In charts: Ken DeRosa explains the correlations between school spending and academic performance.
    9. Suburbia and School Reform, Part MMM: Chicago Public Radio takes a look at one effort to start a charter school in a suburban community — and why the effort is not taking hold. Until suburban parents recognize that their schools are often no better than some average-performing urban high schools, they will not embrace reform.
    10. Self-promotion, as always: The real reason why so many Americans aren’t reaping the benefits of free trade and globalization can be seen not in NAFTA, but in L.A.’s Hollywood High School and other schools in which academic failure has become the norm. Check it out today at The American Spectator.

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