Education Research Report: Advocates for “Portfolio School Districts” Oversell their Product

Education Research Report: Advocates for “Portfolio School Districts” Oversell their Product:

Advocates for “Portfolio School Districts” Oversell their Product

‘Portfolio district’ reform is among the most dramatic and fast-growing changes to public schooling over the past decade. But its growth has not been matched by supporting research evidence. In fact, little research evidence is available at all to help policymakers consider the value of this highly promoted reform.

Into this vacuum have stepped advocates offering sales-pitches, most notably in the form of PowerPoint presentations. A new review of two such presentations examines their content and limitations, cautioning policymakers and others that the claims are weaker than they may initially seem.

Under the portfolio district model, a public school district contracts with outside providers to run the district’s schools. The district administration is responsible for holding the outside providers accountable for their results—generally ¬the academic achievement of the schools’ students, and typically measured by standardized tests.

Two recent presentations claiming success for the portfolio district approach focus on Memphis, Tennessee, and New Orleans, Louisiana. These presentations have now been reviewed for the Think Twice think tank review project by Elizabeth DeBray, an associate professor in the College of Education at the University of Georgia, and Huriya Jabbar, a doctoral candidate at the University of California, Berkeley.

The review is published by the National Education Policy Center, housed at the University of Colorado Boulder School of Education.

DeBray has conducted research on the politics of federal education policy, policy implementation, and the role of intermediary organizations in 

Is Beginning a BA Program a Good Investment?

Using data from California’s higher education systems, this paper estimates individuals’ and society’s economic returns to a Bachelor’s (BA) degree and evaluates the quality as an investment of a beginning a BA program . Most studies of the rate of return to college use a best-case scenario in which students earn a degree with certainty in four years. More realistic calculations that account for s

by Jonathan Kantrowi... / 38min mark as read  //  save

E-books and printed books in parent–child reading as support for children’s language

Early shared book reading activities are considered to be a promising context for supporting young children’s language development. In this study ninety low socioeconomic status preschoolers and their mothers were randomly assigned to one of three groups: (1) e-book reading; (2) printed book reading; (3) regular kindergarten literacy program (control). Mothers of children in the intervention group

by Jonathan Kantrowi... / 45min 

Advocates for “Portfolio School Districts” Oversell their Product

‘Portfolio district’ reform is among the most dramatic and fast-growing changes to public schooling over the past decade. But its growth has not been matched by supporting research evidence. In fact, little research evidence is available at all to help policymakers consider the value of this highly promoted reform. Into this vacuum have stepped advocates offering sales-pitches, most notably in th

by Jonathan Kantrowi... / 51min 

YESTERDAY

A Critique of NCTQ's Review of Teacher Preparation Programs

The National Council on Teacher Quality’s (NCTQ) recent review of university-based teacher preparation programs concluded the vast majority of such programs were inadequately preparing the nation’s teachers. According to this article, that study has a number of serious flaws that include narrow focus on inputs, lack of a strong research base, missing standards, omitted research, incorrect applicat

by Jonathan Kantrowi... / 1d 

Full Funding Friday #5 | WeArePCAPS

Full Funding Friday #5 | WeArePCAPS:

Full Funding Friday #5

Posted on October 8, 2013by wearepcaps

This Friday, Oct. 11, as part of our ongoing Full Funding Friday Campaign, we will be holding rallies at 7 schools, with parent, staff and student speakers.   We will be circulating our petition for full funding, distributing buttons and stickers with the yellow full funding school bus and we will help parents file complaints about conditions in their school.   Join us if you can, wear the button if you have it, change your facebook profile to the yellow school bus or otherwise to something to draw attention to the conditions in our schools and the need to get  our children the resources they need.

Schools for this week:

Sayre High School,   5800 Walnut St.,  7:15 a.m.

Mastbaum AVT High School,  3116 Frankford Ave.,  7:15 a.m.

E. Washington Rhodes Elementary School,  2900 W. Clearfield St.,  7:45 a.m.

Northeast High School, 1601 Cottman Ave.,  7:15 a.m.

John B Kelly Elementary School, 5116 Pulaski Ave.,  7:45 a.m.

Stephen Girard Elementary School, 1800 Snyder Ave.,  7:45 a.m.

Willard Elementary School, 1930 E. Elkhart St.,  7:45 a.m.

NYC Public School Parents: Parents and advocates comment on today's charter school march

NYC Public School Parents: Parents and advocates comment on today's charter school march:

Parents and advocates comment on today's charter school march

Arthur Z. Schwartz, Advocates for Justice: aschwartz@advocatesny.com; 917- 923-8136

Leonie Haimson, Class Size Matters: leonie@classsizematters.org ; 917-435-9329

Sam Pirozollo, NYC Parents Union: sam@nycparentsunion.org ; 917-533-3437 

Today, Eva Moskowitz and other charter school operators have closed their schools and are holding a political rally of students, parents and teachers, to try to pressure Bill de Blasio, Democratic candidate and frontrunner for Mayor, to go back on his campaign pledge that if elected, he will call for a moratorium on charter co-locations and charge charter schools rent.  What she and others in the charter lobby have ignored is that while Section 2853(4)(c) of the NY State Education Law allows districts to lease public school “buildings and grounds” to charters and to “contract for the operation and maintenance thereof,” it also requires that “any such contract shall provide such services or facilities at cost.” 

Arthur Schwartz, attorney with Advocates for Justice, who first filed a lawsuit on behalf of public school and charter school parents on this issue in 2011, says: “New York State Education Law requires that when a district provides space or services to a charter school it shall do so at cost.  Yet the DOE provides free space and services for more than 100 co-located charter schools.  Using figures from the NYC Independent Budget Office, we estimate that the space and services these charter schools currently receive is worth more than $100 million a year. A large chunk of that unfair subsidy goes to Success charters, which operates 22 schools across New York City, all of them co-located, with plans for seven more schools in 2014. Yet Success had an operating surplus of more than $23 million in 2012, and probably enjoys an even larger surplus this year.” 

“We have now been instructed by Justice Barbara Jaffe to take the issue to the State Education Commissioner. But in light of a recent ruling in a related case, we are asking the judge to reconsider. If she sends us to the Commissioner again we will appeal, in time to face off with a new Mayor. Success Charter Schools, which has organized the upcoming rally, is trying to exert political muscle. It will not succeed, in the public arena or in the courts. That $100 million will go back to our public schools, starved for resources, and hopefully allow them to reduce class sizes, which are now the largest in 15 years.” 

"This 'protest march' is yet another example of separate and unequal treatment afforded to charters, especially Eva Moskowitz's Success Charters," says Noah Gotbaum, a public school parent of three and a Vice President of Community Education Council District 3 on the Upper West Side and Harlem. "Success claims its schools are public, but what other public school could close their doors and demand that its parents and students attend a political rally? What other public school could sue the State Comptroller to avoid the transparency of a state audit?  And what other public school could use our tax dollars to pay its CEO almost $500,000 per year?" 

As Leonie Haimson, Executive Director of Class Size Matters points out, “A 2011 study from the Independent Budget Office showed that co-located charters in NYC receive more in public dollars per student than regular public schools, and city spending on charters is expected to exceed one billion dollars next year.  A report released by the charter lobby attempts to contradict the IBO analysis but has little credibility, especially since its author, Harry Wilson, is personally close to many in the charter school movement , according to Whitney Tilson, prominent board member of Democrats for Education Reform.  Indeed, Wilson promised not to 'harass' charters by auditing their books when he ran for NY State Comptroller in 2010.” 

Karen Sprowal, whose own son was pushed out of a Success charter in Kindergarten, observes:  “Over the last few months we have learned of even more cases of troubling disciplinary and push-out policies in charter schools, in a series of investigative reports from Juan Gonzalez of the Daily News.  There needs to be an immediate moratorium on expanding charters as well as co-locations, so that these abusive and potentially illegal practices can be carefully examined by authorities before any new charters are allowed to open in New York City.” 

Mona Davids, President, NYC Parents Union, said:  "As a former charter parent who spearheaded the charter reforms in 2010, I'm disgusted that Eva Moskowitz and other charter leaders are using parents and students as political pawns while continuing to violate the law by not serving their fair share of students with disabilities and English Language Learners, by not establishing Parent Associations and by refusing to be audited by the State Comptroller.  This march is an abuse of power by Eva Moskowitz and other charter leaders because no public school would be allowed to shut down for an entire morning to have their students engage in political activities." 

According to Sam Pirozzolo, president of the Community Education Council in District 31, Staten Island: “I find it ironic that Ms. Moskowitz, a leader who has been given the task of eliminating the achievement gap has done little more than increase the divide between the haves and have nots.  It is unfortunate that Eva Moskowitz has chosen to intimidate mayoral candidates by closing her schools for a day. She is hiding behind parents and children for the sake of profits and a paycheck. Since their inception, charter schools have been creaming only the best students from our public schools.” 

Faith in Social Mobility Isn't Enough - Bridging Differences - Education Week

Faith in Social Mobility Isn't Enough - Bridging Differences - Education Week:

Faith in Social Mobility Isn't Enough

By Deborah Meier on October 8, 2013 8:52 AM

Dear Mike,

Wow.  You've raised enough hackles to start a healthy debate.  

My response in short: It's not a matter of "faith in social mobility" as your title suggests, but a matter of having the political will to make it feasible.  

Thanks to those who've already said much of what I'd like to say. Yes, Mike, if labor leader Al Shanker said that the answer to poverty and de-unionization was more highly educated workers he was wrong.  He often was. 

Yes, globalization has changed the game.  We now have "international corporations of the world," rather than the left's dream  of "international workers of the world."  Most workers are still "stuck" in their native soil, but corporations can go where the money is—i.e. where other workers get paid in wages we Americans haven't yet imagined.  (But, might have to, someday, if ...)  

So producing an economy that can put most Americans to work at decent wages—so they can be self-sustaining—is a tough job. The notion that schools can be the center of the solution simply can't work; and I say that as one who would love it to be otherwise!  Faith in the possibility that it can is asking of faith what it isn't designed to accomplish!  It's built around a persistent American myth about how we became a middle-class nation. 

You say to Leo, "I guess I'm in the dark ... when you say it's 'no great secret' how to reduce 

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 10-8-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all:

Business Leaders Push More Privatization in Milwaukee

Some critics of my book “Reign of Error” say that “reformers” are not privatizers. Who, me, they say, in all innocence? I invite them to read this post by veteran reporter Bobby Tanzilo in Milwaukee. Here is a city with a thriving voucher program, a thriving charter sector, and a shrinking public school system (that contains disproportionate numbers of students with disabilities and English learne

by dianerav / 12min 

Chile: The World’s Most Free-Market School System: The Results

Professor Mario Waissbluth of Chile wrote three blog posts previously about Chile’s choice-based free-market schools (see here and here and here). Here he adds a fourth, summarizing the results of recent studies: Previously, I wrote in this blog a 3-part sequence describing the Chilean educational system, its consequences, proposing some ways to run away from this malignant design. Recently, Unive

2 by dianerav / 25min

Parents in San Jose Ask for Your Help in Stopping Rocketship Charter Chain

The Rocketship charter chain is known for replacing teachers with computers, relying on Teach for America to cut costs, and eliminating the arts to have more time for test prep. The chain is backed by the rich and powerful California corporate charter industry, and it is opening more test prep charters across the country. But it is heavily colonizing San Jose, California. The rich entrepreneurs of

1 by dianerav / 34min mark as read  //  save

Texas Tribune: Consultants Ripping Off Taxpayers $$$

The Texas Tribune is beginning a series of reports about how consultants and tutoring companies are ripping off millions of dollars in Texas, thanks to NCLB. Race to the Top will empower many more scams and legitimate frauds, as companies proliferate that claim to know how to “turnaround” schools, how to train teachers, how to train leaders, how to do everything that schools should know how to do

2 by dianerav / 39min 

Parent Groups: Moskowitz March Proves That Charters Are Not Public Schools

Today, Eva Moskowitz closed her Sucess Academy charter schools for the morning to lead a march across the Brooklyn Bridge to protest Democratic candidate Bill de Blasio’s intention to declare a moratorium on charter co-location and to charge charters rent for the use of public space, as the law stipulates. The very fact that Moskowitz has closed her schools to take the children, staff, and parents

8 by dianerav / 50min 

Joe Bower Reviews “Reign of Error” LINK ADDED

Reposting because I forgot the link. Joe Bower teaches in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada. He blogs and tweets about education with a singular passion for students and learning. In this post, he makes some strong statements about “Reign of Error.” He calls it “The best book on education you can read today.” He writes: “This book was written to challenge those who believe in the corporate reform movemen

4 by dianerav / 16min 

Joe Bower Reviews “Reign of Error”

Joe Bower teaches in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada. He blogs and tweets about education with a singular passion for students and learning. In this post, he makes some strong statements about “Reign of Error.” He calls it “The best book on education you can read today.” He writes: “This book was written to challenge those who believe in the corporate reform movement. This book was written for those who

1 by dianerav / 12min 

Idaho Virtual Charter Outsourced Essay Scoring to India

The Idaho Virtual Charter Academy outsourced the scoring of student essays to India, according to local reports. The company involved, K12, has been criticized for its business practices and its poor academic results; its bottom line is cost-cutting, not academic quality. Its virtual schools typically have high student turnover, low test scores, and low graduation rates, yet the corporation is pro

1 by dianerav / 30min 

Geaux Teacher Reviews “Reign of Error”

Lee Barrios in a national board certified teacher in Louisiana who blogs as Geaux Teacher. She writes an open letter to the state legislators, recommending the book as the necessary antidote to the fluff they are certain to hear from Bobby Jindal. She begins; “Dear Louisiana Senators/Representatives: “I just finished reading Reign of Error:The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to

by dianerav / 45min mark as read  //  save

What One Texan Says to Another Texan About the SchoolsToday

I was interviewed by Jake Silverstein of the Texas Monthly and we talked about testing, accountability, poverty, and what’s happening today. It is a very good interview, I think. He asked interesting questions. Funny side note: my birth name was Silverstein but my parents changed it to Silvers by the time I was in kindergarten. I don’t think Jake and I are related because Silverstein was not my re

by dianerav / 1h 

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 10-7-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: Common Core Tests in NY Spur Opt Out MovementThe most amazing thing is happening. The Common Core tests were made so “rigorous” that most students were expected to fail, and they did. Less than a third across the state “passed” the tests because the passing mark was set very high and the content of the test was so challenging that

by mike simpson / 10h 

10-8-13 Perdido Street School

Perdido Street School:

NYPD Cop Took Part In Vicious Motorcycle Gang Attack

We'll let this story speak for itself: An off-duty undercover cop was charged with felony criminal mischief Tuesday after smashing the window of a Manhattan driver’s SUV in a fit of rage during a biker-mob attack, sources said. “He totally lied when he said he did nothing [to help the victim] because he didn’t want to blow his cover,’’ a law-enforcement source seethed. The 29-year-old detective wa

by reality-based edu... / 17min 

Philip Chevron

RIP:

by reality-based edu... / 20min 

Arne Duncan, As Usual, Totally Incoherent On Education

This is from the Morning Education email from Politico:Although Education Secretary Arne Duncan couldn't attend MSNBC's Education Nation event in person due to the shutdown, he was on hand via satellite to deliver tried-and-true talking points about the flaws of No Child Left Behind and the merits of college- and career-ready standards. NCLB's "laser-like focus on a single test score led to a

by reality-based edu... / 25min 

Solidarity

The press is back on a teacher witch hunt once again, probably the last one of the Bloomberg years.Articles have come from both the Daily News and the Post smearing teachers in the rubber room as perverts, criminals and/or freaks.Those of us who work in the system know that anybody can go to the rubber room, all it takes is an allegation and an administrators who wants to get rid of you.The allega

by reality-based edu... / 53min 

Andrew Cuomo Accused Of Corruption Cover-Up

Sheriff Andy is pointing fingers at all the crooks in Albany - but the crooks are pointing out he's a crook too:ALBANY — When Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo created the Commission to Investigate Public Corruption in early July, he promised a muscular response to bad behavior by legislators that included allegations of bribe taking, favor trading and embezzlement. But three months later, according to people

by reality-based edu... / 48min 

10-7-13 Perdido Street School

Perdido Street School: Daily News Shills Play Fast And Loose With Facts On Charter SchoolsThe neo-liberals at the Daily News have an editorial today supporting Eva Moskowitz's walk across the bridge protest for charter schools.As usual with the DN, they play fast and loose with the facts:The innovative approaches, longer school days and longer school years they offer — almost always carried out by

by mike simpson / 10h