The Education Success Story Nobody Wants to Talk About

New Orleans post Katrina has been up and down.  New Levies were built to replace the ones that failed. The former Mayor went to prison for corruption. The Saints won a Super Bowl.  The city lost 200,000 in population.  Through all of this-- The school system was deplorable, even before the storm.

But for the decade since Katrina, New Orleans has formed a network of charter schools that have showed an amazing level of progress; this is not the sort of success that establishment types will celebrate, though.  So the article that came out this weekend celebrating the successes of New Orleans charter schools will not receive much notice, sadly.  It will be ignored, and if brought up, the person mentioning this success will be castigated by the establishment types, and the results will be questioned in not outright rebuked.

But Statistics and numbers don't lie....

From  Urban Education Reform:  New Orleans Proves Charter Schools Can Work:

"In a short period of time, urban charters have yielded impressive, even astonishing, success at closing the academic achievement gap between the poorest children and more privileged ones. The management of charter schools varies widely, but in urban centers, where education reformers have concentrated most of their energy, their performance has been especially strong.  A major study earlier this year by the Center for Research on Education Outcomes carefully comparing equivalent student populations found that urban charters on the whole produce an extra 40 days (eight weeks)of classroom learning in math and 28 days of extra classroom learning in reading per student per year.. New Orleans provided the largest-scale experiment in charter education in the United States--a complete overhaul, undertaken all at once. The results have vindicated the strategy. As the authors concluded, "We are not aware of any other districts that have made such large improvements in such a short time.. New Orleans is the breakthrough social equity liberals have been waiting for. "We tried to make urban districts better for 50 years. We tried more funding, more accountability, more pipelines of talent, more [professional development], more training, more certification rules, and on and on and on. After all of that time, and all of those cities, we still don't have a single high-performing urban district in America. Not one," Andy Smarick, an education-policy analyst, told me. "But the very first time we try an all-charter system, the first time ever, we get dramatically better results in only a decade." And some liberals, like the Obama administration, have encouraged and praised its success."

Selected Schools Nationwide "Report" Fewer Violent Issues on Campus than in Previous Years

A very non-scientific poll was recently conducted among a "representative" sample of 1600 schools nationwide, and the results are in.  And multiple media outlets are rushing to report the good news, that incidents of violence are decreasing in the nation's schools. According to the Washington Post:

"Nearly four in 10 schools reported that student bullying happens at least once a month, and 5 percent reported that student sexual harassment happens monthly. It’s difficult to compare those figures to previously published data, which showed the number of schools that reported such problems at least once a week. Federal education officials cautioned that there are methodological differences between the last survey, in 2009-2010, and the new report, which could have influenced the results. The earlier survey was conducted by the Census Bureau, and it was completed with pen and paper, for example, whereas the newly released data comes from a survey conducted online by contractors for the NCES."

The National Significance of Vergara v. California

Vergara v. California is a case that everyone throughout America that cares about education should be watching closely.  The case was brought on behalf of nine students who were in schools that did not have effective, high quality teachers. 

The crux of Vergara is this:    California seniority and tenure job protections for teachers serve to deprive students, primarily poor minority students, the rights guaranteed under the California constitution assuring all students equality in education in high quality schools, with high quality teachers. 

The suit, which was historically decided in favor of the plaintiffs earlier this year, has now been appealed by California Governor Jerry (Moonbeam/moon bat) Brown and the California affiliates of the NEA and the AFT.

The powerful and influential teachers’ unions are working overtime to defeat this suit on appeal.  If upheld, the Vergara ruling reforms California’s ridiculously short (16 Months) time-frame for evaluating new teachers for the purpose of granting tenure, streamlines the dismissal process for ineffective teachers, and prohibits union language that makes seniority the most important factor when teacher layoffs occur.

Other states, particularly the dark-blue northeastern states with very similar state constitutional language on education, should pay very close attention to this case.  Florida has already reformed tenure, but Florida could reform dismissal protocols and LIFO practices as well.  Every state should watch this battle.

 Once Vergara is upheld and the appeal is defeated in California, I would not be surprised to see similar challenges in courts in other union stronghold states.  Stay tuned to this one. 

An excellent summary/timeline of the case is here.   

The most profound quotes from the Judge’s June, 2014 ruling can be found here.

Interesting Insights into How We Evaluate Teachers Locally

...“Why would anyone work here with so much at stake?” one teacher related to me recently, a teacher who’s ranking went from “Effective” to “Needs Improvement” because her VAM was developed utilizing a small sample size due to a small stability group because she works in a high-poverty school with tremendous student mobility..

The formula for evaluating teachers is complex.  Not only is it intricate-it can be unfair to teachers in some locations and to those teachers that teach ESE students.

Previously in our district, we had an evaluation system that was a joke, it was horrendous.  And I discussed it frequently because it was so bad; it was almost as bad as a pass/fail civil service evaluation.  Everybody is great, everybody wins-you know the type...  But it was terrible, it did nobody any good, and needed to be scrapped.  Eventually the district put together a much better system that was much more objective.

Recently the state mandated that student test data become a component in the teachers’ evaluation—an idea I strongly support if it is done fairly and correctly.  Under this scenario, not only does the teacher get evaluated based upon the test scores of the students the individual teacher teaches-but this data also has huge consequences and can significantly impact a teachers’ overall rating.  

In some cases, the addition of the test score data (or VAM data),  can take a “highly effective” or “effective” teacher all the way down to “needs improvement” or “unsatisfactory!” (Under state law now, two consecutive teacher evaluations that are “unsatisfactory” can lead to removal of a teacher from the profession—so the stakes could not be higher)

So how can this happen?  I was wondering that too so I had a long conversation with the district’s director of evaluation services so that I could understand how the process works.  Here it is in a 

Is Better Teacher Training Really the Solution--- Or, is it the Convenient, Politically-Correct Solution?

...That is the question that needs to be answered.  Secretary of Education  Arne Duncan is making this a big push on his swing out to California, rolling out fresh mandates from DC that will eventually trickle down....  From this morning's L.A. Times story:

"U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan on Tuesday announced new guidelines to improve the preparation of the nation's teaching ranks that will require states to rate the performance of training programs and shift federal funding to those that receive high marks.
The proposed regulations would allow states broad flexibility to develop measures of performance but demands that emphasis be placed on teacher outcomes, such as employment, retention and success in the classroom. That could include evaluating training programs based on the test scores of K-12 students taught by their graduates, a model that provokes heated contention in the education community."

I've heard this sentiment locally and at national conferences-it is a story about how teachers are coming out of education school unprepared for the realities in the American K-12 classroom of 2014. 

But is an intensive focus on these schools of education really the solution?  Or, is it the convenient solution, absolving local districts, parents, students, current teachers, current administrators, unions and everyone else practically of any responsibility for the current state of American public education?

Joel Klein agrees with this sentiment, that teachers need better preparation.  He stated it at a recent conference I attended.  In NYC, with its Union dominated schools--there are many applicants for every opening.  The pay and benefits are really good, people compete for jobs there to get into that system--so that district can be selective.  I get that.

Similarly, in other countries like Finland, there are 9 applicants for every open teaching slot according to a fascinating presentation I recently watched from Andreas Schleicher.  Teachers there ( and in many other high performing systems worldwide)  are valued by their society, they enjoy great salaries and esteem--so they can be selective, too.  (Schleicher gave an amazing presentation comparing different educational systems worldwide.  Unfortunately, this video is not published online anywhere.  I found a similar presentation he gave from Missouri in 2012, which is linked here )

So what is going on here in America?  We don't pay teachers enough, apparently.  We don't provide them with enough professional development, apparently.  Last but not least, we don't prepare them well enough in education colleges in the U.S.  Yes, that is the new clarion call to fix the issue.  Start punishing the Education Colleges.  Could a changing society be a bigger factor in why teachers are leaving the profession and their replacements are not coming forward in sufficient numbers?  Could the real problem be much more simple, yet infinitely more controversial?  I think so.  Nevertheless- the convenient, PC fix du jour is, let's demonize colleges!

....But wait.  Fewer students than ever are going into education.

 I'm all for holding the bar high, but won't this exacerbate shortages if we start shuttering education schools?  How will those shortages be fixed?  We already cannot recruit enough candidates locally to fill our classrooms.  Minority hiring? we're lucky to get a handful each summer to take contracts--and we're trying really hard!  I mean, even though nobody can give me a cogent rationale for why having a teacher force that mirrors the population they serve, is ABSOLUTEY ESSENTIAL!!  I'm told by everyone, and everything I read, says that's the problem.  But I don't buy it.  Until someone can logically answer the question "Why does it matter if Asians teach whites, Blacks teach Whites, or Whites teach  Blacks--what difference does it make if all teachers are qualified and effective?" I will not buy that politically expedient, liberal talking point that I feel is a disingenuous, fallacious lie.  Rubbish.  Regardless, even though we

“What Are You Lookin’ at, Cracker!”

One day in the life of a local, inner-city elementary school.  A Norman Rockwell painting it ain't...

As was her usual method of venting frustration, this fourth grade girl left her classroom, came out into the hallway, leaned against the wall, and began to kick against the wall as hard as she could while flailing her hands side to side-creating a loud ruckus that disrupted the entire fourth/fifth grade wing of the school.  According to those familiar with this school and this student, this is a daily event.

After a couple of moments, a passing adult stopped to see what was going on.                                                 

The young girl looked at this adult that had stopped and said “What are you lookin’ at, Cracker?”

The adult ignored that and asked the girl “Where are you supposed to be?” but the girl wouldn't answer the question.

“Where are you supposed to be?" the adult again asked

“Shut up!” the girl exclaimed loudly.

At this point, two teachers came from nearby classrooms to address the issue.  One, a soft-spoken female, asked the girl to return to class.  “No!”  Said the girl.  “I hate this school, I don’t want to be here! -- I want to go to Lakeview”

(This school has two “behavior technicians”-however they were both inundated handling other student misbehavior issues.  On this one recent day at this one school, one young 3^rd grade student was cuffed and taken into police custody for reasons unknown, and one kindergarten boy punched a kindergarten girl in the face, injuring her to a point where she was bleeding profusely…this in 

Closing the Achievement Gap Task Force: Some Strong Recommendations to Consider

The Closing the Achievement Gap Task force presented their recommendations to the School Board yesterday in a special meeting. Five main areas of focus were discussed-which all make very good sense.

1. Mandatory Tutoring for Students who are not making sufficient progress
2. Peer to Peer tutoring (the suggestion is to hire high school students to tutor struggling peers after school)
3. Mandatory Parental Participation-this is an excellent idea, however nobody knows the magic secret to make this happen; I think the closest thing to making parents participate is the way we mandate conferences between 1st and 2nd grade as a part of the 1st grade retention program-perhaps we can do this between all three of the middle grades.
4. Mandatory teacher cultural diversity training-I think teachers already do this as a part of their training regimen during college-however if they don’t I think it could be helpful
5. Mandatory school social worker resource training.

 At the conclusion of the power-point, it was revealed that the committee would not disband after submitting the recommendations; rather, they’ll be staying together and “adopting” Montclair elementary school as the test bed for implementation of their strategies.

For my part, I expressed appreciation to all the participants and panelists for taking their valuable time to participate. The other board members echoed this sentiment.

All of these ideas are intriguing-and I would strongly support implementation of items 1-3. I think we get the biggest bang for the buck by implementing these, and if we can successfully model these ideas at Montclair, I’d like to scale the concept to other struggling schools district-wide.