The feds are distributing $4.3 billion "stimulus money" for education, but only to states that demonstrate excellence in public education.
This is an Obama priority and Education Secretary Duncan is pushing it.
Essentially, a state would have to demonstrate that it can implement successful, student-focused reforms in the face of political obstacles. How does Washington measure up?
Tacoma News-Tribune
Some of their core expectations:Obama has "homed in on characteristics that distinguish flexible, performance-oriented school systems designed to serve students, not power structures." Also Washington Post.- A state must connect data on student performance to individual teachers. The logic for this is blindingly obvious: The data connection can not only help evaluate teachers, it can help evaluate the curriculum they use, the schools of education that trained them and the effectiveness of their principals.
The failure to make that connection cripples accountability all around. Washington doesn't make it.
- A state must reward high-performing teachers. For the most part, Washington does not.
- A state must encourage educational innovation by not imposing a cap on the number of charter public schools - schools commonly organized and self-governed by teachers and parents. Washington imposes a cap: zero.
- A state must have a credible way of stepping in and fixing failing schools. Washington doesn't.
Our history on allowing such flexibility for schools is sad. Just one example: Our Legislature passed a bill to implement charter schools a few years back - a bipartisan effort. Charter schools are run independently and bypass many of the "this is the only way to run a school" rules; most states have them. The Washington Education Association immediately brought a referendum to cancel it. The got the public scared and the voters went along. So all our schools are required to work by the one-size-fits-all system. No flexibility allowed.
How can Washington make the changes so we qualify for this additional funding? More importantly can we implement what is proven to work? Or do we choose to stick with our 20th-century industrial school system?
Christine Gregoire was in D.C. asking for more money this week. Will she lead our Legislature to get our schools the additional flexibility her Obama wants? Or actively pass around her tin cup begging?
Via Washington Alliance for a Competitive Economy:
On the strange new dem education principles. What? Performance standards? Are Bush appointees still running the Ed dept?
Posted by: deadwood on August 2, 2009 07:29 AMBut it won't happen in our public schools because people like Gregoire and the rest of WEA leaders trade authoritarian union control and protectionism for gauranteed votes. This is the way of the Democrat. Create controllable victims and substandard anti-competitive conditions.
Posted by: Jeff B. on August 2, 2009 10:47 AMConsider the EFF School Report Card that came out a few months ago. Some of the worst elementary schools that they identified are in small towns: Omak, Granger, Oakville, Outlook, Mabton, Mesa, Soap Lake, and Grand Coulee among them. To take over those schools you're going to have to be willing to have OSPI go in and
1) Replace the locally elected school board
2) Fire teachers who probably live in the community
3) Allow the state to dictate how local levy monies get spent
....all of which, maybe, could be a part of the solution, but are we willing to take those steps?
Posted by: Ryan on August 2, 2009 01:39 PM"Seattle schools is launching a MAP pilot in 79 schools (Measures of Academic Progress) which are online tests that help the teacher and student know if and how much progress the student is making. From Board meeting minutes:
MAP is a computer-adaptive
benchmark assessment offered in reading, math, language use and science, for students in grades
K-10, designed to be administered three to four times per year. In SPS, schools will administer
only the reading and math tests three times per year in grades K-9. The assessments take about
45-60 minutes per subject to complete, although they are untimed. Teachers have immediate
access to student scores after students complete the tests. The reports are detailed, showing for
teachers the specific skills students have mastered and need to work on. MAP is aligned to
Washington state standards and is used by 131 school districts in Washington state and
thousands of districts across the country."
Now does this solve teacher assessment? No, but it adds to the information needed to put teacher assessment into place.
As for charters, give me legislation that will - as Secretary Duncan and President Obama have said - give us "high quality" charters with definitions of such and how to easily get rid of those who aren't, I might vote for it. But charters have NOT proven themselves to overall be better than public schools. But as for that last charter vote, we didn't get scared. We got educated and for the third time, voted down charters.
As for innovation, in Seattle our alternatives schools are like charters. ALL were started by parents with an idea for a focus. Most are very popular and run like other schools except for their focus and how they present the curriculum through that lens.
As for failing schools, Seattle has closed several schools that were underenrolled and underperforming over the last 4 years. It's not like it isn't happening here; it is.
But the WEA and SEA are going to have to grow up and realize that change is coming. All of us get performance reviews and I'd like to think that there could be a fair teacher assessment created that isn't based on one test. But teachers have got to get past seniority as their only criteria.
I mean, the WEA's ONLY concern has ALWAYS been just the kids....
... right?
Posted by: Hinton on August 3, 2009 08:01 AMI mean, the WEA's ONLY concern has ALWAYS been just the kids....
... right?
Posted by: Hinton on August 3, 2009 08:02 AMSo what is needed is to figure out those items that can in fact measure a teacher's performance while minimizing the effect of outside factors.
Posted by: erich on August 3, 2009 09:19 AMOne of the key metrics should be both student, parent, PTA, and other teacher evaluations. Sure, you will get the occasional kid who simply hates their teacher because they demand results, but for the most part, good teachers get rave reviews from kids and parents. So, that's an easy way to determine who's doing a great job. And then test results follow suit, because good teachers get results.
But more than that, there needs to be professional evaluation, just like there is at Microsoft. If you get a bad boss and you don't get along, bummer, you might not get the best review, but you can always go elsewhere, and if you are good, you will be rewarded. As it is now, teachers can "camp out" in their positions without fear of being fired, let alone being evaluated by a superior.
There's plenty of ways to evaluate the good teachers, and to create a competitive environment. If we had such a competitive environment, where salaries were much closer to private sector jobs minus the summer vaca, then there would be many more teachers signing up, and staying in to teach. And there are legions of useless bureaucrats at the Seattle and Tacoma School headquarters buildings that should be let go tomorrow so that there salaries can be freed up to give to the best teachers. As it is now, really talented people often leave for private sector, private teaching. Or they simply never enter the teaching profession in the first place, because it does not pay well, and they have to put up with other teachers who have seniority, but who are otherwise far inferior.
But again, this won't happen. Because the unions are all about protecting Democrat votes. Results, and educational success are optional.
Posted by: Jeff B. on August 3, 2009 08:58 PM