Thursday, January 29, 2009

The Center for Education Reform Newswire

CER Newswire Special CHANGE Edition Vol. 11, No. 4 January 27, 2009

Newswire - January 27, 2009
"Special Change Edition: Juan Williams on Federal Accountability ... John Engler on Transparency ... Kevin Chavous on Charter Schools ... Jeanne Allen on School Choice ... Richard Whitmire on Teacher Quality"

The Center for Education Reform
"The Center for Education Reform / edreform.com" button links to http://www.edreform.com/, your interactive source of data, analysis and resources on education reforms that create better educational opportunities for all children. The Center for Education Reform website helps turn parents into activists, policymakers into advocates, and educators into reform leaders."

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Would you like some education with that Latte?

This just in: The Chicago Public Schools wasted money. What? My tax dollars?? This can't be! Surely, then, it must be for a good cause like the professional development of teachers, additional enrichment courses, or new high-end computers??? An article from the Chicago Sun-Times this month details the startling (but not surprising) news: CPS spent $67,000 on Cappuccino machines. Yeah, coffee. Our money went to machines that turn little beans into a drink (granted a delightful, frothy, invigorating drink!)

The best, however, was still to come. When asked about the purchase, Inspector General James Sullivan was quoted as saying: "'We also look at it as a waste of money because the schools didn't even know they were getting the equipment, schools didn't know how to use the machines and weren't prepared to implement them into the curriculum.'" WAIT. Hang on one second. Is he saying that if the schools (twenty-one of them) were informed of the machines that it would be okay? Is he saying that if the schools knew how to use the machines, everything would be alright? Is he suggesting that if CPS could find a way to implement cappuccinos into the curriculum that somehow the purchases would be forgivable or vindicated?

Well, let's give it a try. How does this course sound: "Cappuccino 101: How to drink a cappuccino, appear scholarly, and gain nothing out of your education."

No, Mr. Sullivan, these purchases are not forgivable. Period. The correct line would have been: "These purchases are a waste"; the fact that he "also" viewed them that way implies that the real shame was the schools' inability to figure out the instructions and enjoy a nice cup of European joe.

Oye. If this continues, we'll be able to add point number 16 to the "Top 15 Effects That Coffee Has on Your Health"--it could literary throw a wrench in your child's education. Anybody feeling stressed?

Monday, January 26, 2009

The "Obama Effect" in test-taking??


It is a preliminary study, but an interesting one at that. The idea that confidence, social anxiety and quite simply- hope, can influence competency.

I saw it in the faces of every kid I passed in Grant Park the day Obama got elected. The cynicism seemed to be lifted out of the air. The idea that their voices mattered and that they might have a say in their own futures was prevalent and something I will never forget.

Friday, January 23, 2009

New Schools Expo

Learn about Chicago's new public schools at:

The 2nd Annual New Schools EXPO:

Presented by: Parents for School Choice & the Chicago Public Schools


For more details, please go to the website for Parents for School Choice by clicking on "New Schools Expo".

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Parents Want More Choices in Education


And it seems choice can now save $$$.

Article written by Eric Johnson, posted on Sunday, January 18, 2009 in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution

"... it’s time to start thinking about parents such as Skollar and stop offering a one-size-fits-all education model to Georgia students. It’s time to offer a school voucher program for parents who want it for their children who need it."

"The economic recession and the state’s $2.3 billion budget shortfall will be tossed around as an excuse not to help children. But vouchers actually save money for taxpayers and help local educators."

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

President Obama on Education

To view President Obama's vision on education, please click on the title "President Obama on Education".

Obama on Education

Monday, January 19, 2009

Donate to the Vision



On August 28, 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered one of the most revered speeches in our nation’s history. His I Have a Dream speech marked a defining moment in the quest for racial equality and freedom. Though the sinews of racism have not been fully extinguished, King’s dream has never felt more alive than at the present moment. On January 20, 2009—forty-six years after King’s speech; one-hundred and forty six years after the Emancipation Proclamation; and three-hundred and ninety years after the introduction of slavery into Jamestown—the culmination of the civil rights movement will, it seems, take place. Barack Obama’s inauguration as President of the United States—the first African American ever elected to this position—will forever live in the annals of our nation’s history.

Due to the enormity of President Obama’s inauguration, in conjunction with the celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, School Choice Illinois is asking for your support to make our dream—providing every child with an excellent education—a reality.

Where will the money go? Your donations are vital to the livelihood of School Choice Illinois. Every dollar helps our organization grow by providing much needed resources for our grassroots campaigns. A Challenge Grant has been made to School Choice Illinois by two anonymous donors that will match each individual donation made up to $100,000. As a result, the value of your gift will immediately double!
Please also view Martin Luther King, Jr's famous speech, here. It is vital for us to reflect on his legacy.

Rockford's Chance at Choice


Richard Lorenc of the Illinois Policy Institute continues to track the city of Rockford's progress (and tentative success) towards educational choice. On January 13th, 2009 the Rockford School Board unanimously approved the Legacy Charter School's application. This means that Rockford, IL will have its first charter school by 2010. For the full blog, click here. For more in-depth coverage, see Richard's original article in the Rockford Register-Star from December 20, 2008.

Friday, January 16, 2009

Education and the New Stimulus Package

We finally get some color on how much education will get out of the new stimulus package. Approximately 14% of the Obama’s $825 billion stimulus package or $117 billion is being allocated to Education. Of this total, $41 billion will go to local school districts to students of low-income or where large student populations of special needs are. Another $39 billion will go to other school districts and public universities. An additional $15 billion will be made available to states for meeting important performance measures. The rest of the money will go towards public universities, construction projects, and higher education including the increase of Pell Grants. The potential issue in this respect that comes to my mind has to do with the appropriate handling and allocation of the money.

A Second-Rate Secondary Education

High schools need to start treating their students with the same respect colleges do.

By Leon Botstein NEWSWEEK
Published Aug 9, 2008
Aug. 18-25, 2008 issue


The weakest and most vulnerable element in education, particularly in the developed world, is the education of adolescents in our secondary-school systems. Relative economic prosperity and the extension of leisure time have spawned an inconsistent but prevalent postponement of adulthood. On the one hand, as consumers and future citizens, young people between the ages of 13 and 18 are afforded considerable status and independence. Yet they remain infantilized in terms of their education, despite the earlier onset of maturation. Standards and expectations are too low. Modern democracies are increasingly inclined to ensure rates of close to 100 percent completion of a secondary school that can lead to university education. This has intensified an unresolved struggle between the demands of equity and the requirements of excellence. If we do not address these problems, the quality of university education will be at risk.....

To read more, please click on the title, "A Second-Rate Secondary Education".

Flunked The Movie

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Guidance for Choice in Public Schools

Department of Education Press Release

Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings announced the release of new, non-regulatory guidelines regarding the public school choice provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act. It explains the role that educating authorities play in transportation, funding, school selection, and other choice-related issues. The publication stresses the importance of keeping parents informed of the performance of their local schools and giving them enough time to decide which one is best for their children. The Secretary stated the value of keeping parents educated in her press release:

“Families want choices in education because they know their children benefit from them. By offering a range of educational options for parents and injecting competition into the system, we support innovations that help students do better."

To read the full guidelines, click here

School Choice Illinois eVoices Newsletter

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Arne On the Fence

An article by Sam Dillon of the New York Times discusses Arne Duncan's ambiguous education agenda. Obama's pick for Education Secretary has given the public little insight into how the administration plans to procure tangible educational change.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Opening Doors: How Low-Income Parents Search for the Right School

Center on Reinventing Public Education

January 2007
Paul Teske, Jody Fitzpatrick, Gabriel Kaplan

Download Full Report (PDF: 1167 K)

Researchers working for CRPE's Doing School Choice Right initiative zero in on school-choice decisions made by 800 low- to moderate-income families in three cities. The parents surveyed rely on multiple sources of information but trust word-of-mouth more than documentation; seek quality schools but limit the number they examine; and feel well-informed and appear satisfied with the school-choice decisions they make. The parents have specific ideas about what their individual children need in a school and try to find the right match.

The study also reveals that when children are involved in the decisionmaking, parents report a higher level of satisfaction with the school selected than when children are left out of the choice process. The parents studied had already made at least one school-choice decision. Low-income parents who have never before had the opportunity to choose among schools might not be as efficient as those in the survey. But the study shows that parents who know they have options take choice seriously and quickly develop sources of information.

Additional Information
See press release

School Choice in Illinois

Report Roundup

By Mary C. Breaden Vol. 27, Issue 21, Page 5

Illinois’ Opinion on K-12 Education and School Choice

Half of likely voters in Illinois expressed moderate to strong support for the use of school vouchers, according to a survey by the Indianapolis-based Milton and Rose D. Friedman Foundation, a nonprofit organization that advocates school choice.

When asked if they viewed vouchers favorably, 39 percent of the respondents said they were “somewhat favorable,” and 12 percent said they were “strongly favorable.”

The survey also asked other questions related to school choice. For instance, when questioned on what the ideal school for their child’s education would be, 39 percent of respondents preferred private schools, 23 percent preferred charter schools, and 19 percent preferred regular public schools, the study found.

The 1,500 likely voters surveyed through phone interviews were defined as those who voted in 2006 and said that they were likely to vote in 2008. The poll, conducted by Atlanta-based Strategic Vision LLC in November 2007, has a margin of error of 2.5 percentage points.

Published Online: January 29, 2008
Published in Print: January 30, 2008

Bush Calls for Resolve on NCLB Renewal

At a Philadelphia school, the president seeks to cement the federal education law as part of his domestic-policy legacy.

By Alyson Klein

Philadelphia

"In a speech aimed at bolstering his legacy on education as he prepares to leave office, President George W. Bush today touted the success of the No Child Left Behind Act in raising student achievement and called on Congress to renew the law, without weakening its core principles of accountability and testing.

“As president of the United States, this is the last policy address I will give,” Mr. Bush said Thursday morning at General Philip Kearny Elementary School, a K-8 school in the Philadelphia district, on the seventh anniversary of his signing of the federal education law. “What makes it interesting is that it’s the same subject of my first policy address as president of the United States, which is education and education reform. I hope you can tell that education is dear to my heart. I care a lot about whether or not our children can learn to read, write, and add and subtract.”

The president acknowledged that critics have charged that the NCLB law focuses too heavily on standardized tests and sets unrealistic goals, but he called on lawmakers to reject those claims and continue to hold schools accountable for students’ progress.

“For the sake of our children’s future, this good law needs to be strengthened and reauthorized by the United States Congress,” Mr. Bush said. “Now is not the time to water down standards or to roll back accountability.”

Mr. Bush also addressed the oft-repeated criticism that the law focuses too heavily on test results.

“I’ve heard every excuse in the book why we should not test—‘Oh, there’s too many tests; you teach the test; testing is intrusive; testing is not the role of government,’” the president said. “How can you possibly determine whether a child can read at grade level if you don’t test? And for those who claim we’re teaching the test, uh-uh. We’re teaching a child to read so he or she can pass the test.”

Mr. Bush recalled the NCLB law’s bipartisan support in Congress and credited it with expanding access to school choice, particularly for disadvantaged families, giving struggling students access to free tutoring, and boosting minority students’ scores on some indicators measured by the National Assessment of Educational Progress, the nation’s report card.

“No Child Left Behind is working for all kinds of students in all kinds of schools in every part of the country. That is a fact,” the president said. “There’s still a long way to go, however.”

Mr. Bush thanked his “buddy,” Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings, who accompanied the president here today, and he praised her work at the helm of the Department of Education. He also had warm words for President-elect Barack Obama’s choice as education secretary, Chicago schools chief executive Arne Duncan.

“I have seen the resolve for reform and the belief in high standards in Chicago, where reading and math scores are soaring, and where every child still has time to study a foreign language and the fine arts,” Mr. Bush said. “The school in Chicago we went to, like other schools across the city, have benefited from the vision and leadership of a person named Arne Duncan. And he is going to be the next secretary of education. And we are fortunate he has agreed to take on this position. And we wish him all the very best.”

An Eye to the Future

The No Child Left Behind law calls for students to be tested in reading and mathematics every year in grades 3-8, and once in high school. Schools that fail to make adequately yearly progress for specified subgroups of students, or for the student population as a whole, are subject to a range of increasingly serious sanctions.

The law passed Congress with overwhelming bipartisan support in late 2001, but has since come under attack from teachers’ unions and some school superintendents, school board members, and state lawmakers who say the Bush administration didn’t seek adequate funding for the law, and that the law unfairly punishes schools that are making progress, among other criticisms.
Conservative members of the president’s own Republican party have also lambasted the law as an overreach of federal authority. The law, the latest version of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, was scheduled for renewal in 2007, but lawmakers haven’t been able to reach agreement on a reauthorization bill.

“I call upon those who can determine the fate of No Child Left Behind in the future to stay strong in the face of criticism, to not weaken the law—because in weakening the law, you weaken the chance for a child to succeed in America—but to strengthen the law for the sake of every child,” the president said in closing.

Before the president’s speech in the school’s auditorium, Mr. Bush, first lady Laura Bush, and Secretary Spellings toured the school, which is in a socioeconomically and racially diverse neighborhood near Philadelphia’s center city. The school has met the goals of the No Child Left Behind law every year since 2003.

The president and Ms. Spellings also participated in a roundtable discussion on education with U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa.; Arlene Ackerman, the superintendent of the 167,000-student Philadelphia school system; Eileen Spagnola, the principal of Kearny Elementary; as well as state lawmakers and other participants from the state and school district.

Also on hand were Roy Romer, the chairman of Strong American Schools, an advocacy organization based in Washington, and the Rev. Al Sharpton, an activist and a co-chairman of the Education Equality Project, an education reform organization.

After the speech, Ms. Ackerman, Mr. Romer, Ms. Spagnola, and others addressed reporters.
Ms. Ackerman acknowledged that she “wasn’t always supportive of every aspect of the law,” but said she supports “the concept” of the measure, and praised the Education Department’s decision to allow some states to restructure their accountability plans to better measure student growth over time. Mr. Romer called on the states to adopt more rigorous and uniform standards.
Ms. Spagnola said the law has helped her school better compare itself to others in the state because it requires all to take the same standardized exams.

But Margaret Bush, who has taught at Kearny Elementary for eight years, said the “law has not changed the school,” which she said was focused on student achievement before the NCLB measure was enacted.

“There are some parts of the law that are strong and are good,” said Ms. Bush, who is no relation to the president. “But the federal government doesn’t fund it completely.”

And she said the law’s deadline of bringing all students to proficiency on state tests by the 2013-14 school year may not be workable for some students in special education.

“That’s not realistic,” she said."

Vol. 28, Issue 18

Thursday, January 8, 2009

The Shadow Behind CPS

In recent weeks we have been blasted by a whirlwind of Arne Duncan. President-Elect Obama's pick for Secretary of Education has gotten, overall, fairly positive feedback from media and pundits, alike. Duncan, the CEO of Chicago Public Schools (CPS), certainly deserves many accolades. His involvement with Renaissance 2010, firmness with school closures, and ability to please a vast, variegated group of constituents, has given him great credentials for a national role that will require innovative ideas, boldness, and the ability to assuage and cajole.

And even though Chicago's public schools have vastly improved over the past decade, recent findings continue to reinforce a sense of urgency and direness.

One such finding is from the Consortium on Chicago School Research, an educational research institute at the University of Chicago. Released this past Spring, the document, titled "Making the Transition: How CICS-West Belden Eigth grade Graduates are Doing in CPS High Schools," by Nicholas Montgomery, is a longitudinal analysis of students from West-Belden, a Chicago International Charter School that provides K-8 education. In essence, the study tracks the West-Belden alumni as they immerse themselves within Chicago's public high schools.

Most pertinent to our conversation, however, are the numbers relating to CPS as a whole.

They are startling.

Of the 28,449 students tracked between 2002 and 2006, only 12,505 graduated within the four-year span, an abysmal rate of 43.95 percent. In contradistinction to this are the number of students that either dropped out or left CPS altogether (for another public school district, private school, home-school, or correctional facility), with percentages of 21.25 and 22.99, respectively, and for a combined total of 44.24--a percentage that exceeds the graduation rate.

Well, perhaps, then, the students simply needed an extra year? When including data from a fifth year, the 2006-2007 school year, the graduation rate increased by only 3 percent! Certainly, having nearly another 900 CPS students graduate high school is inherently good--for the students, schools, and city--but the nasty reality remains: less than half of all CPS students graduate in five years.

So what does this all mean? Unfortunately, not anything good. Though Mr. Duncan has fulfilled his role as CEO of Chicago Public Schools with vigor and passion, there is a shadow lurking behind the improvements CPS has made. If now, after years of reform and additional dollars injected, CPS still cannot graduate more than half of its students in five years, something else needs to occur.

George Santayana's famous and regurgitated phrase--"those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it"-- comes to mind and takes an interesting twist in relation to Chicago's education system: Chicagoans remember the past, have studied the past, and understand the past thoroughly, yet continue to allow educational mediocrity. It seems like Chicago is condemning itself.

Perhaps, then, we should try something new.

Perhaps each student should have the means to decide which school is best for his/her needs.

Perhaps we need more school choice.

Boston's Charter & Pilot Schools Show Significant Increases in Achievment

Results from a new study from the Boston Foundation Forum compared Boston's Charter, Pilot and traditional Public schools in student achievement on standardized tests. The results show promising increases in charter schools when compared to public, as well as Boston's "pilot schools".

"Whether using the randomized lotteries or statistical controls for measured background characteristics, the authors generally find large positive effects for Charter Schools, at both the middle school and high school levels. Among key findings of the report: the impact of charter schools was particularly dramatic in middle school math. The effect of a single year spent in a charter school was equivalent to half of the black-white achievement gap. Performance in English Language Arts also significantly increased for charter middle school students, though less dramatically. Charter students also showed stronger
performance scores in high school, in English Language Arts, math, writing topic development, and writing composition. Students in pilot high schools also made measurable progress."

We need to support research that gives us insight into the tangible outcomes of children attending nontraditional public schools versus traditional public schools. Unfortunately the study was conducted only to see if student achievement increased, not to understand how and why. The Boston Foundation Forum is recommending to the state to do a study as to why Charter and Pilot schools increased student achievement, which definitely is a step in the right direction. It is not enough to show the improvement; in order to emulate what is working we must understand what these schools are doing in the building and in the community to support higher learning.

Monday, January 5, 2009

Education Reform on the Big Screen


Check out the trailer for this new movie! The film takes a look at the crisis of our public education system and also offers some inspiring solutions. Here is a little about the movie from the flunked webpage:
"America, we have a problem.

Results of national and international tests show that our students are falling further and further behind. The average American student is no longer able to compete with foreign students, and in many cases, they’re failing to meet even basic academic standards.

Success rates are plummeting, and remediation and dropout rates are skyrocketing. Students entering the current American education system are in for a grim ride. It truly is a national scandal.

One size does not fit all...

Complaining about the problem is easy, but it produces few productive results — especially when many schools nationwide are truly “getting it right.” Flunked is the story of these schools—their founders, leaders, and students—who are breaking the mediocre mold by attaining great results in terms of college preparation, high test scores, and graduating competent workers for tomorrow’s economy. Discovering that one size truly does not fit all, they are finding different ways to make it work in theirtheir students. area, with

The main characters of Flunked are our “heroes,” men and women from all walks of life—parents, teachers, principals, business professionals—who are making a difference to our students. These individuals have defied the odds, pressed the system, and succeeded in seemingly impossible situations. Through it all, they have proven that solutions in education are available here and now, if we will only follow their examples…"

Friday, January 2, 2009

Year of bad reports, worse budgets for K-12 schools


Budgets shrinking amidst poor results...hmmm.


In Illinois there is a $500 cap on what parents can recieve per child if they need to transfer their student from their failing or closed school. $500 dollars is supposed to cover a year of transportation costs as well any fees for books or extra curricular activities? And this number might be decreasing?