The Education Gadfly Weekly

Paula J. Carreiro and Eileen Shields-West, eds.
Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
2008

With so many options in the education marketplace today--public to private, progressive to conservative, secular to religious, and more--this collection of essays is a handy reference for any parent trying to make sense of them all. It begins with general principles to keep in mind when reviewing a school, including the fact that there's a clear distinction between a school's mission--its goals, values and cherished dreams--and a school's model--the tools it uses to achieve its mission. The model should always fulfill the mission, explain the authors, and schools where this is not the case are unfortunately all too numerous. The book then describes general school categories, from public education to charters and independent schools, before delving deeper into more specific models, including Montessori Education, Internationally Minded Schools, Islamic schools, Christian schools, boarding schools, schools for gifted/talented students, and those with special needs--nineteen types in all. It finishes with a brief look at the future of education, concluding that innovation is the key to creating a school that is both pedagogically and financially successful. While the volume is expansive, it is not verbose, thus providing parents with practical information in digestible nuggets. Taken as a whole, the parent will finish this book more learned and better prepared to make a superlative school choice decision for his or her child, though it is still no match for Bryan and Emily Hassel's Picky Parent Guide: Choose Your Child's School with Confidence--which remains the standard in this genre.

M.J. Bryant, K.A. Hammond, M.M. Bocian, M.F. Rettig, C.A. Miller, R.A. Cardullo
Science Magazine
September 2008

This limp but well-meaning report checks in on the progress of California elementary schools towards NCLB's 2014 "universal proficiency" target. The study finds--you might want to sit down for this shocker--that not all students will, in fact, be proficient by then. Discouraging indeed, but scarcely news to anyone who (a) has set foot inside a struggling school; (b) follows education reform; or (c) breathes. As Mike already opined, this is about as groundbreaking as discovering that baseball sluggers are unlikely to bat 1.000. On a more helpful, if still unsurprising, note, the study does determine that the low-income and limited-English-proficiency subgroups are least likely to attain AYP. Current trends indicate that virtually no California schools will meet AYP six years from now, despite modest statewide gains in the percentage of students scoring proficient. It's only fitting that a report with such obvious findings would offer up this pearl of wisdom: "we must not lose sight of the importance of educating our children well." Luckily for readers, a meatier evaluation of "proficiency" was published by yours truly just last year, and a new Fordham-Northwest Evaluation Association analysis of AYP is due out in December. You can read more about the Science article here and here.

Three cheers for DC Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee. After a grueling attempt to bribe the Washington Teachers' Union into accepting a generous new pay scale accompanied by teacher accountability, she has decided unilaterally to remove ineffective teachers without waiting for the WTU to assent.

On October 1, Rhee announced a new regime under which poorly performing teachers have 90 days to improve or face dismissal. She is thus demonstrating that union contracts are less of an impediment than most superintendents claim them to be--exposing once again the secret that risk-averse leadership is frequently as responsible for district inaction as is union intransigence.

Rhee's stance is pioneering in the world of K-12 schooling. For decades, the pursuit of "consensus" has been the unifying principle of educational leadership. While students languished, superintendents have been advised to seek just the right words, gestures, and inducements so as to entice all stakeholders to accept necessary changes--at least on paper, even if little or nothing changes in practice. That is district leadership, Mr. Rogers-style.

Rhee spent more than a year walking this well-trod path, promoting a contract proposal that promised a radical break with tradition, though not nearly as radical a break as many imagined. After all, it included large raises for every DCPS teacher--whether they opted for the "red tier" and retained their job protections, or signed up for the new and more lucrative "green tier," in which they would forfeit tenure and allow themselves to be evaluated and potentially dismissed in exchange for yet larger raises.

The green tier would enable a teacher with five years of experience to earn upwards of $100,000 each year in salary and performance bonuses.  To fund the proposed contract, Rhee has lined up $200 million in philanthropic support for the program's first five years--with DC taxpayers picking up the tab after that.

All of this is in a district already spending about $950 million this year to educate 45,000 students--$21,100 per child, or more than $420,000 per classroom of twenty children.

Given such resources, shouldn't it be possible in a low-performing public-education system to boost pay and reward performance without going back to the well for new dollars?  Yet, when it comes to district reform, such questions are almost never asked. The quest for consensus has prevented districts from reconfiguring budgets in sensible ways, as leadership shies away from controversial measures that might cause one or another "stakeholder" to demur. The result? Each new plan to retool troubled districts, promote accountability, or reward merit is tacked onto established, expensive routines and unyielding budgets.

Even Rhee's "radical" contract proposal largely hewed to this course. DCPS teachers who retained their accustomed job security would be in line for a 28% raise over five years as well as bonuses of $10,000.

But Rhee's Plan B breaks new ground. When contract talks stalled, Rhee turned to DC State Superintendent Deborah Gist (yep, DC has one--who knew?!). Gist had spent the better part of a year coordinating a thoughtful effort to overhaul the policy governing renewal of teachers' licenses. Rather than treat that renewal as a pro forma exercise (as is the norm in most states), Gist's new rules require teachers to demonstrate effectiveness. The result is a substantial new opportunity for a strong-willed chancellor and state superintendent to weed out ineffectual educators without having to buy off the union or seek its prior acquiescence. 

Superintendents routinely tell us that they would like to move farther and faster but their hands are tied by regulations and the need for consensus. Maybe. But research on collective bargaining and the superintendency suggests that plenty of leaders could be bolder, if they have the ideas, team, and political support--and are willing to break some china. (It certainly doesn't hurt to have the assistance of reform-minded state policymakers, too.) Rhee's move is another signal that she is not wedded to the consensus-at-all-costs strategy. It will be interesting to see if a little Wyatt Earp does more for D.C. students than a lot of Mr. Rogers.

Dr. Hess is director of education policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute. A somewhat different version of this article first appeared on National Review Online.

Back in April, a trinity of events called attention to the worsening plight of America's faith-based urban schools: Pope Benedict's visit, particularly his Catholic University address; the White House Summit on Inner-City Children and Faith-based Schools; and, of course, the Fordham Institute's stellar publication, edited by Scott Hamilton, Who Will Save American's Urban Catholic Schools?.

All three pointed to a lamentable yet paradoxical situation: even as the United States properly obsesses over the weak academic achievement of poor and minority youngsters residing in our inner cities, hundreds of low-cost, high-performance inner-city schools have been closing. And all three, in their very different ways, suggested remedies for that situation.

Six months later, the White House Domestic Policy Council has brought forth a first-rate treatise on this same topic: Preserving a Critical National Asset: America's Disadvantaged Students and the Crisis in Faith-based Urban Schools. It's not just thorough, well-documented, literate and long (160 pages, though more than half of that bulk consists of edited transcripts of the April summit); it's astute, thoughtful, and in some respects, gutsy. Well worth the time, in other words, of anyone with an interest in educating poor kids or the fate of parochial schools.

In a sad sort of way, though, I feel like I'm coming full circle. Preserving repeatedly cites and quotes the 1972 report of the President's Panel on Nonpublic Education, established by Nixon in 1970 at the behest of my boss, Pat Moynihan, and initially staffed by me, in my very first grown-up job, assisting Moynihan and John Ehrlichman with White House education policy.

Unfortunately, the lesson to be drawn 36 years later is that the country pretty much ignored the 1972 warning that U.S. private schools were faltering and would close in large numbers unless bold steps were taken to reverse that sorry pattern.

A third of a century later, though private school enrollment is still about 11 percent of the K-12 total (versus 13 percent at the time of the earlier report), the urban faith-based sector (especially but not exclusively Catholic) has declined sharply.

You already knew that, of course, and you're also acquainted with some of the reasons (higher-priced teachers, rising costs, diminished Church resources, demographic shifts, competition from other "schools of choice," etc.). Though Preserving does a textbook-quality job of recapitulating all this background and explanation, its signal contribution is a twenty-page discussion of possible solutions.

No rose-tinted lenses here, however. The (anonymous) authors refrain from suggesting that any of this is self-propelled or self-fulfilling. But they cover a lot of important ground, including some tough talk to the private-school sector itself about self-improvement steps that it really needs to take. Particularly striking to me:

•  Better and more comparable assessments, including private school participation in state testing programs and alignment of instruction and curriculum with state standards.

•  Transparency about school performance (including but not limited to standardized tests) to "deflect charges that nonpublic schools want public funds without public responsibility."

•  "Faith-based urban schools and those who support them may consider a number of other avenues for evaluating performance and promoting excellence. For instance, the sector might develop broader indicators of school success (i.e. industry standards), including school safely measures, parental satisfaction figures, graduation rates, data on teacher quality....The final product might include agreed-upon standards of quality, new accreditation systems, or site inspections."

•  Better, stronger management and staffing--including professional fund-raising and public relations.

It's not all self-help, though. Also delineated here are plenty of opportunities for religious communities, individual donors, foundations and, of course, government. The latter seems especially fitting in a month when a $700 billion "bail-out" of private financial institutions seems palatable to Congress and California is seeking a loan from Washington to pay its (public) school teachers. Why not also "bail out" this threatened national education asset? 

Of course the White House document doesn't use that kind of language and isn't contemplating a massive new federal program (though it urges Congress to take seriously the George W. Bush proposal of "Pell Grants for Kids"). Its public-sector strategies include vouchers and tax credits, "weighted student funding" schemes that include private as well as public school attendees, and "faith based charter schools"--both the kind that would allow religious activity within charter schools and the kind (as in D.C.) that converts successful-but-struggling private schools into public charters.

There's plenty to chew on. What's worrying isn't the dearth of good ideas. It's the country's seeming obliviousness to this education problem. The report's closing words bear attention:

These examples represent just a fraction of the promising projects under way to help preserve faith-based urban schools. They demonstrate that great strides can be made and that support can come from all corners of America.

But a few encouraging examples and recommendations are not enough. It is worth noting that in the final report of the President's Panel on Nonpublic Education nearly four decades ago an entire section was dedicated to recommendations. Because they were not followed, though, thousands of schools have closed and millions of children have been affected in the intervening years.

What is needed now is a national commitment to act. This is the only way to guarantee that the next White House report on this subject will be in celebration of the renaissance of faith-based urban education, not in mourning for its demise.

Amen to that. And let's hope this fine report doesn't gather dust on shelves. The timing leaves much to be desired. It's emerging from a White House team that doesn't have much clout or respect these days and is about to fade into history. More full circle, alas. The earlier report appeared just a few months before Watergate began to destroy the administration that issued it. Will private schools fail to be saved because the Presidents that called for their salvation couldn't save themselves?

This article first appeared on National Review Online.

The "judgment" of the presidential candidates has become a major issue in this year's campaign, perhaps because citizens are worried about the dearth of judgment on display in American society. Case in point: a Kansas City charter school teacher who recently posted a video to YouTube featuring his fatigues-clad students chanting in support of presidential candidate Barack Obama. And--surprise!--the digital masterpiece may now cost him his job. The teacher, who has been suspended, filmed the students in May performing a step routine modeled on traditional black fraternity stepping. The group of students quotes elements of Obama's healthcare plan and announces which profession Obama has inspired each of them to join. According to the school's principal, Joyce McGautha, the school was aware of the video and warned the teacher not to put it on the internet. Note to teachers: sometimes principals know what they are talking about. Being motivated by national leaders is undoubtedly a powerful and positive thing; said inspiration should not be demonstrated by orchestrated, cultish, partisan displays in military garb. 'Nuff said.

"Teacher suspended for students' Obama chants," by Joe Robertson, The Kansas City Star, October 7, 2008

"Middle School Teacher Suspended for 'Obama Frat' Spat," by Jennifer Lawinsky, Foxnews.com, October 6, 2008

Video games might help kids develop more than overgrown thumb muscles, reports the New York Times. Increasingly, publishers and educators are using video games to bait students into opening that ancient relic known as a book. This is, to an extent, laudable: schools should prepare students for the (digital) future, and teachers should strive to make learning relevant and engaging. But while digital media might provide innovative hands-on choices for educators, it is no substitute for the printed word. "Gaming evangelists" who claim that reading is too passive for activity-yearning youngsters ought to take a page from one opponent of this defeatist trend: "rather than say, 'Oh, books are irrelevant in the modern era because there are all these other media available,' I would ask shouldn't we be doing a better job of teaching kids how to read?" Indeed. A student who has learned to actively read--to decode and deconstruct, to question and connect and imagine, to find hidden meaning, to understand and appreciate tone and irony and language--will never be disengaged or unhappy with mere print. And on occasion, he or she might even prefer it to Super Smash Brothers Brawl and World of Warcraft.

"Using Video Games as Bait to Hook Readers," by Motoko Rich, New York Times, October 5, 2008

Our favorite national initiative may be history, but education is alive and kicking in the good ole states. A whopping fifteen of them will have an array of legislative referendums, constitutional amendments, and citizen initiatives on their ballots this November. These ballot addendums address varied subjects and are of varied import, although none has garnered the attention of last year's school voucher hoopla in Utah. Colorado and Nebraska will endeavor to restrict affirmative action in education while Colorado, Maine, Maryland, and Missouri will look to gambling for more education dollars. But Oregon is the one to watch; amongst other issues, the Beaver State is contemplating a crack down on how long students may spend in bilingual education classrooms, plus a version of merit pay based on teacher "classroom performance." Suffice it to say that Oregon's teachers unions are livid. Such emotional response to education issues is rare this year, however; with the globe's financial system melting down, it's hard for school policy to garner much more than a shrug from most voters. Maybe Ed in '12 will have more luck.

"Education in Spotlight on Statewide Ballots," by Katie Ash, Education Week, October 6, 2008

M.J. Bryant, K.A. Hammond, M.M. Bocian, M.F. Rettig, C.A. Miller, R.A. Cardullo
Science Magazine
September 2008

This limp but well-meaning report checks in on the progress of California elementary schools towards NCLB's 2014 "universal proficiency" target. The study finds--you might want to sit down for this shocker--that not all students will, in fact, be proficient by then. Discouraging indeed, but scarcely news to anyone who (a) has set foot inside a struggling school; (b) follows education reform; or (c) breathes. As Mike already opined, this is about as groundbreaking as discovering that baseball sluggers are unlikely to bat 1.000. On a more helpful, if still unsurprising, note, the study does determine that the low-income and limited-English-proficiency subgroups are least likely to attain AYP. Current trends indicate that virtually no California schools will meet AYP six years from now, despite modest statewide gains in the percentage of students scoring proficient. It's only fitting that a report with such obvious findings would offer up this pearl of wisdom: "we must not lose sight of the importance of educating our children well." Luckily for readers, a meatier evaluation of "proficiency" was published by yours truly just last year, and a new Fordham-Northwest Evaluation Association analysis of AYP is due out in December. You can read more about the Science article here and here.

Paula J. Carreiro and Eileen Shields-West, eds.
Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
2008

With so many options in the education marketplace today--public to private, progressive to conservative, secular to religious, and more--this collection of essays is a handy reference for any parent trying to make sense of them all. It begins with general principles to keep in mind when reviewing a school, including the fact that there's a clear distinction between a school's mission--its goals, values and cherished dreams--and a school's model--the tools it uses to achieve its mission. The model should always fulfill the mission, explain the authors, and schools where this is not the case are unfortunately all too numerous. The book then describes general school categories, from public education to charters and independent schools, before delving deeper into more specific models, including Montessori Education, Internationally Minded Schools, Islamic schools, Christian schools, boarding schools, schools for gifted/talented students, and those with special needs--nineteen types in all. It finishes with a brief look at the future of education, concluding that innovation is the key to creating a school that is both pedagogically and financially successful. While the volume is expansive, it is not verbose, thus providing parents with practical information in digestible nuggets. Taken as a whole, the parent will finish this book more learned and better prepared to make a superlative school choice decision for his or her child, though it is still no match for Bryan and Emily Hassel's Picky Parent Guide: Choose Your Child's School with Confidence--which remains the standard in this genre.