Thursday, July 8, 2010

Education Week: Truly Paying for Performance

Education Week: Truly Paying for Performance

Truly Paying for Performance

By Catherine Awsumb Nelson & Richard Wertheimer
Pay for performance. Merit pay. Incentive compensation. Linking teacher pay to classroom effectiveness is a central premise in both current federal school reform strategy and in the recent education investments of major national foundations. Given that education is such a labor-intensive process—more than 75 percent of the average district’s budget goes to compensation—the idea of tying those dollars more tightly to the core mission is appealing.
Current teacher-compensation systems make no attempt to incentivize quality. Most educators would concede what research bears out: that the years of experience and educational credentials rewarded by lock-step salary scales are poor proxies for teacher effectiveness. Yet most of the new compensation plans now being discussed skip over performance and proceed directly to outcomes. In doing so, they do no better than the status quo at promoting quality teaching. What is described as paying for teacher performance is really paying for student outcomes, which in practice means paying for standardized-test-score gains, a very limited, perhaps even counterproductive, focus for incentives.
Standardized tests are a narrow measure of the educational goals our society and school systems hold for students. The No Child Left Behind years have provided ample evidence that focusing on a small slice of easily testable subjects and skills introduces damaging distortions into the system and impoverishes our definition of a “good education.” The practice of paying teachers based on students’ test-score gains rests on a false sense of


Congress Weighs Changes to School Lunch Program
Schools in high-poverty areas could skip the paperwork and serve free meals to all students under the proposals. (July 8, 2010)
Value of Yearly Special Ed. Reviews Questioned
Six years after IDEA ushered in federal ratings of state special education programs, it’s not clear if the process is worth the effort.
(July 7, 2010) | Comments (3)
Investigation: Troubled Students Face Discrimination in Hartford Schools
(July 8, 2010)
POLITICS K-12 BLOG
Edujobs or Race to Top: What's Worth More to States?
(July 7, 2010)
Judge Rejects La. Parish School Consolidation Plan
(July 8, 2010)
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Conservative Candidates Take Aim at Federal K-12 Role
As the GOP seeks to retake Congress, some hopefuls take sharp aim at the Education Department and the stimulus. (July 7, 2010)
Detroit Tries Something New: A School Run by Teachers
(July 8, 2010)
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NYC Public School Parents: Last Minute Pitch for LeBron

NYC Public School Parents: Last Minute Pitch for LeBron

Last Minute Pitch for LeBron

by Gary Babad
July 8, 2010 (GBN News): The LeBron James saga took an unexpected turn today when, in a desperate attempt to bounce back from a mediocre season, the New York City Department of Education made a last minute push to lure the free agent star to the DOE. GBN News has learned that Chancellor Joel Klein and Mayor Michael Bloomberg hosted Mr. James last night at the Mayor’s posh East Side home. In an hour long Powerpoint presentation prepared by the DOE publicity department, he was shown how by playing ball with the DOE, he can realize his dream of making a billion dollars far faster than by merely playing for an NBA team.

Mr. James was reportedly wowed by the Powerpoint, which went through the myriad of ways that big money can be made through an association with the DOE. While he found possibilities such as no bid computer consulting contracts andvending machine deals very appealing, he was said to have been particularly impressed by the fortune that can be made in charter schools alone. And lest he worry about conflict of interest, Mr. James was assured that working for the DOE would in no way disqualify him
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This Week In Education: Campaign 2010: Edu-Politics Heating Up

This Week In Education: Campaign 2010: Edu-Politics Heating Up

Campaign 2010: Edu-Politics Heating Up

Page0000001_2Relationship Chills Between Teachers Unions, Obama NPR: Notably absent from both national teachers unions' annual meetings this week are President Obama and his education secretary. According to the head of one of the unions, if the administration does not rethink its policies, it will be on a collision course with teachers and their unions... TFA Alumnus Bill Ferguson Running For Office Whitney Tilson: "Most recently, he worked for Baltimore schools CEO Andres Alonso, executing some of that system's most comprehensive and exciting reform




AM News: A Lull In The Action

by Alexander Russo
Edujobs or Race to Top: What's Worth More to States? PK12: Depending on which state you live in, the edujobs bill may not be such a good deal—especially if your state might win a Race to the Top grant... News2Seattle Superintendent Sets Ambitious Agenda EdWeek: In her first three years in Seattle, schools Superintendent Maria Goodloe-Johnson closed schools, oversaw a new student-assignment plan, added an exam and revamped the way the district funds schools. And she's just getting started... D.C. schools chancellor plans to expand use of standardized tests Washington Post: D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee plans to significantly expand the use of standardized tests so that, eventually, every D.C. student from kindergarten through high school is regularly assessed to measure academic progress and the effectiveness of teachers...Unlocking More of Mark Twain's Unpublished Material PBS: Mark Twain had a lot to say, and most of it was funny. Reading his novels and essays, it doesn't seem like he pulled his punches; he said what he wanted, and a lot of it was pretty radical for the times. But as it turned out, he restrained himself greatly. Spencer Michels reports on the author's long-awaited autobiography.
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The Only Child. Spoiled? Lonely? Nope. - THE DAILY RIFF - Be Smarter. About Education.

The Only Child. Spoiled? Lonely? Nope. - THE DAILY RIFF - Be Smarter. About Education.

The Only Child. Spoiled? Lonely? Nope.



Chelsea Clinton, Cary Grant, Rudy Giuliani,
Robin Williams, Mahatma Ghandi & Frank Sinatra:
You're Not Alone

"What really changes, the fewer siblings we have,
is how we define family."
-- Susan Newman

Glad to know Time comes to the rescue with their upcoming cover story, "The Only Child Myth". There are far too many parents of onlies who should be spared from reciting their prepared litanies of how their child is not spoiled, lonely or set up for a dysfunctional adult life. Same goes for the onlies themselves . . . why do they have to prove that they aren't selfish when there are so many examples of overly-indulged, overly-needy kids who have siblings?

If you consider how "lonely" the supporting research was for this ongoing present day stereotyping and how long ago it was conducted:

"The image of the lonely only was the work of one man, Granville Stanley Hall. About 120 years ago, Hall established one of the first American psychology-research labs. But what he is most known for today is supervising the 1896 study "Of Peculiar and Exceptional Children," which described a series of only-child oddballs as permanent misfits. For decades, academics and advice columnists alike disseminated his conclusion that an only child could not be expected to go through life with the same capacity for adjustment that children with siblings possessed."

Enter Toni Falbo:
"No one has done more to disprove Hall's stereotype than
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Education Week: Bill Seeks Changes for School Lunch Program

Education Week: Bill Seeks Changes for School Lunch Program

Bill Seeks Changes for School Lunch Program


Tracy Bennigsdorf, kitchen manager for Centennial Middle School in Montrose, Colo., prepares a salad bar before lunch. Under a bill proposed in the U.S. House of Representatives last month, all children attending schools located in high-poverty areas could qualify for free school lunches without having to submit paper applications.
—Joel Blocker/Montrose Daily Press/AP-File
By Christina A. Samuels
Premium article access courtesy of Edweek.org.
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More children would be enrolled in the federal free school lunch program and schools would be reimbursed a higher amount for those lunches under bipartisan legislation introduced last month in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The Improving Nutrition for America’s Children Act of 2010would allow schools in high-poverty areas a new option called “community eligibility,” which permits free meals to all students without collecting paper applications.
The bill would, for the first time, establish mandatory national nutrition standards for foods sold outside of the cafeteria, such as in vending machines, and would expand direct certification for school meals for foster children and children who are eligible for Medicaid. The bill also provides $10 million for expansion of and grants for the School Breakfast Program.
The federal reimbursement rate is currently $2.68 per meal for free lunches, and is adjusted each year for inflation. The bill proposes increasing the reimbursement rate by 6
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Intel Sponsors Nature Education Position Paper on Science Education - MarketWatch

Intel Sponsors Nature Education Position Paper on Science Education - MarketWatch

Intel Sponsors Nature Education Position Paper on Science Education

CAMBRIDGE, MA, Jul 08, 2010 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- Nature Education, the educational wing of global science publisher Nature Publishing Group, today announced Intel as sponsor for "Time to Decide: The Ambivalence of the World of Science to Education," a position paper based on research conducted by NPG over the past year. Intel joins Roche Diagnostics, Tata Consultancy Services, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, and New England Biolabs as primary sponsors of Nature Education's efforts.

"We are delighted by the enthusiasm and support from a major international institution such as Intel for our ongoing efforts to address the challenges of global science education," said Vikram Savkar, SVP & Publishing Director at Nature Publishing Group.

"Time to Decide" is based on surveys with 450 university-level science faculty in more than 30 countries as well as extensive interviews with several thought leaders. The paper highlights a dilemma in academic science: since research brings more funding and prestige to universities and individuals than teaching does, scientists tend to prioritize research over teaching, resulting in challenges to the quality of education for science students globally. The paper suggests several initiatives that universities, foundations,

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Intel Sponsors Nature Education Position Paper on Science Education - MarketWatch

Intel Sponsors Nature Education Position Paper on Science Education - MarketWatch

Intel Sponsors Nature Education Position Paper on Science Education

CAMBRIDGE, MA, Jul 08, 2010 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- Nature Education, the educational wing of global science publisher Nature Publishing Group, today announced Intel as sponsor for "Time to Decide: The Ambivalence of the World of Science to Education," a position paper based on research conducted by NPG over the past year. Intel joins Roche Diagnostics, Tata Consultancy Services, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, and New England Biolabs as primary sponsors of Nature Education's efforts.

"We are delighted by the enthusiasm and support from a major international institution such as Intel for our ongoing efforts to address the challenges of global science education," said Vikram Savkar, SVP & Publishing Director at Nature Publishing Group.

"Time to Decide" is based on surveys with 450 university-level science faculty in more than 30 countries as well as extensive interviews with several thought leaders. The paper highlights a dilemma in academic science: since research brings more funding and prestige to universities and individuals than teaching does, scientists tend to prioritize research over teaching, resulting in challenges to the quality of education for science students globally. The paper suggests several initiatives that universities, foundations,

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D.C. schools chancellor plans to expand use of standardized tests

D.C. schools chancellor plans to expand use of standardized tests

D.C. schools chancellor plans to expand use of standardized tests


Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, July 8, 2010

D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee plans to significantly expand the use of standardized tests so that, eventually, every D.C. student from kindergarten through high school is regularly assessed to measure academic progress and the effectiveness of teachers.
The plan, to be phased in beginning in the spring, is certain to reignite debate about what some D.C. parents and teachers already regard as a test-happy culture.
The federal No Child Left Behind law requires that all public school students in grades three through eight be tested annually for reading and math proficiency; high school students are required to be tested once. Every April, the District administers the DC Comprehensive Assessment System (DC CAS). Students in grades five and eight and in high school also get DC CAS science or biology tests. Four times a year, students in grades three through 10 take the DC Benchmark Assessment System (DC BAS) to track progress. Children in kindergarten through third grade receiveDIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy). And, every two years, fourth- and eighth-graders take the NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) in math and reading.


Relentless principal transforms Sousa Middle


Principal Dwan Jordon checks on students at Sousa Middle School before classes begin (Susan Biddle For The Washington Post).
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