CURMUDGUCATION: Democracy vs. Money

CURMUDGUCATION: Democracy vs. Money:
Democracy vs. Money

Perhaps the most striking thing about the many, many elections going on around the country (honest, the Presidency is not the only thing up for a vote) is the huge amount of money being invested in so many of these races.

* In Massachusetts, an extraordinary amount of dark, out-of-state money has been spent to open the market for more charter entrepreneurs to come in and make a buck revitalize education for at least a few select Massachusetts students.

* In Washington state, charteristas have dropped a bundle trying to unseat three incumbent State Supreme Court justices who had the nerve to stand in the way of charter growth.

* In Connecticut, charter groups are dumping a bunch of money into the legislative races.

* In Georgia,an amendment to push an "Opportunity School District," modeled on the failed state turnaround districts of Tennessee and Louisiana, is being driven by Georgia Leads, a deep-pocketed group supported by more dark money. 

* In New York, Zephyr Teachout is up against a pile of money to the point that it makes perfect sense for her to issue a debate challenge to her opponent's billionaire backer rather than the opponent himself.

* In Florida, a solar energy amendment is actually a red herring, backed by millions of dollars from energy corporations and intended to actually shut solar energy down rather than free it-- an ugly enough mess that the bill had to go to court.

What these races, and so many other local and school board and state-level races around the CURMUDGUCATION: Democracy vs. Money:

The School-to-Prison Pipeline Starts in Preschool | Schott Foundation for Public Ed #GivingTuesday

The School-to-Prison Pipeline Starts in Preschool | Schott Foundation for Public Education:

The School-to-Prison Pipeline Starts in Preschool

Racial Justice NOW!

Below are infographics Schott developed with Racial Justice NOW! in Ohio. Click here to learn more about how RJN is fighting the school-to-prison pipeline in the Buckeye state!

The School-to-Prison Pipeline Starts in Preschool | Schott Foundation for Public Education:

 Spotlight on Rethink: Lifting Up the Voices Too Often Left Out

In honor of #GivingTuesday on November 29th, the Schott Foundation has reached out to some of our grantee partners to get the low-down on what they do, who they’re doing it for, and the challenges that they handle like rockstars every day.

The Schott Foundation began partnering with Kids Rethink New Orleans Schools this year to support their work around organizing and providing leadership opportunities for youth of color in New Orleans.

Today, we’re talking to kg marshall, executive director.

WHO: Kids Rethink New Orleans Schools
WHERE: New Orleans, LA
WHAT: Education, Youth Organizing
THEIR FICTIONAL CHARACTER OF CHOICE: The Mongoose from West Indian folklore – witty, resourceful, and always finding ways to outsmart the other animals that are meant to depict colonizers.

SF: Tell us about Kids Rethink New Orleans Schools – how did it get started, and why?
KG: Rethink is one of three organizations in New Orleans that train youth organizers and the only one that works with youth as young as 10 years old. We started ten years ago, after Hurricane Katrina, to lift up the youth voices that were conspicuously absent in the rebuilding of the city. For many years, we focused on changing school policies, especially related to food justice and discipline practices.

More recently, we have expanded our focus to look at the many interlocking systems that oppress young people of color in New Orleans.

What are the main objectives of the organization? 
Rethink’s work is guided by a 5ive Point platform that was developed by our members over the last few years. The platform is a youth perspective on the big changes we need to see related to Education, Mass Incarceration, Food Oppression, Media and Health Care.

For example, one of the demands in the Education platform point is “we want an education for all youth that includes critical analysis of systems that govern society and that teaches our true history and the role that it plays in our current society.”

“We see grassroots fundraising as an important organizing skill and try to bring everyone - youth, staff, board members and other supporters - into the process.”

What are the core services/activities of the organization?
We start political education and organizing training with youth as young as 10 years old and continue to build with them as they age up through our leadership pipeline. Our core programs are Roots Crew (ages 10-14) and Branch Division (ages 15-22). We intentionally use the metaphor of a tree because we are building a strong, grounded base that is capable of addressing multiple issues simultaneously and making connections across issues.

Roots Crew members all get a thorough introduction to understanding oppression and standing in their own power. They also learn the praxis of Youth Led Participatory Action Research (YPAR). Branch Division is split up into multiple collectives that each focus on a different issue area guided by our 5ive Point Platform.

What are the challenges facing the organization? 
We are acutely aware that radical work cannot rely entirely on grants to move forward. As a growing organization that prioritizes paying young people to organize and lead each other, we are constantly hustling to raise an annual budget with support from our community, not just big foundations. We see grassroots fundraising as an important organizing skill and try to bring everyone - youth, staff, board members and other supporters - into the process. It’s a challenge to build our fundraising muscles when there is so much urgency in the work.

How would you describe the people you serve/advocate for? What is important to them?
Rethinkers often describe themselves as a family. We just celebrated our 10 year anniversary so we have many members who literally grew up together over a decade of building collectively. Many of these folks are now on our staff or in leadership positions within our collectives. They welcome in new members with open arms and continue to build a close knit culture that is as much about building relationships of mutual love and support as winning campaign victories.

Our members are youth of color who are growing up in a New Orleans that is as steeped in white supremacy as ever, and increasingly locks them up or pushes them out. They are focused on struggles for survival and liberation, as well as the daily concerns of being teenagers.

Okay, kg, one last question – what do you love most about this work? 
Seeing young people explore their own agency and ways to shift power!

#GivingTuesday is a chance for all to support incredible work happening around the country.
Don’t forget to keep Rethink in mind on November 29th!

Donate >

Also check out Kids Rethink New Orleans Schools’ website and follow them on Facebook to keep up-to-date on their activities.

 Spotlight on Rethink: Lifting Up the Voices Too Often Left Out

Russ on Reading: Can Fiction Save Democracy?

Russ on Reading: Can Fiction Save Democracy?:

Can Fiction Save Democracy?

By many accounts this is the most contentious presidential election ever. There seems to be genuine fear that our democratic system of government, built on the ideals of the rule of law, an honorable and peaceful political process, and the ability of elected leaders to compromise in the face of difficult decisions, has devolved into warring camps on constant attack. These camps then use a variety of media outlets, which often seem more like political arms of the dueling parties rather than journalists bent on informing the public, to push their point of view down our throats.

How are teachers to respond to this? Our educational system was built on the ideal that a thriving democracy depended on an informed, educated citizenry. What is our responsibility as teachers in the face of the growing polarization of the parties and the overwhelming amount of propaganda parading as information bombarding our students?

Some educators are arguing that what we need is to help children develop news literacy. The News Literacy Project defines news literacy as the ability to discern between reporting that seeks to present information fairly, accurately and contextually from reporting that is rooted in opinion, rumor and disinformation. You can learn more about the news literacy approach from The News Literacy Project web site and the Center for News Literacy, both of which are developing lesson plan ideas for teachers.

News literacy is a worthy and necessary goal, of course, and it has the advantage of slipping nicely into place alongside the Common Core State Standards' call for the reading of more nonfiction text in school and for the critical analysis of that text. But I would like to focus on one way we can address the threat to democracy that may not be as obvious, and that seems to be downplayed in the Common Core, but is nonetheless vital if our country is to survive. I want to suggest that reading fiction is the best hope for our current and future democracy.

Why fiction? I believe that our current state of political affairs is the result of an increasing inability to see another person's point of view as legitimate. I am talking here about empathy. The ability as the songwriter Joe South put it, to "walk a mile" in the other guy's shoes. Our increasing isolation as a Russ on Reading: Can Fiction Save Democracy?:

Verification Reporting - School Nutrition (CA Dept of Education)

Verification Reporting - School Nutrition (CA Dept of Education):

Verification Reporting

Instructions for local education agencies (LEAs) on submitting the verification collection report through the Child Nutrition and Information Payment System (CNIPS) using the verification report function.

The verification report is an annual, mandatory process by which school food authorities (SFA) report the results of their eligibility verification process. All agencies that participate in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) or School Breakfast Program (SBP) are required to complete the verification report, including those that are exempt from the eligibility verification process. The report requires NSLP and SBP participating districts/agencies to report the verification results of their annual free and reduced-price (F/RP) application process to the California Department of Education (CDE).

The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 (HHFKA), Public Law 111-296, amended NSLP and CalFresh (also referred to as SNAP) regulations to provide for the collection of data elements needed to compute each state’s direct certification performance rate. The HHFKA required state’s to count the number of children who are members of households receiving benefits under CalFresh and who were directly certified for free meals as of the last operating day in October. Therefore, program operators are required to separately report the students directly certified through CalFresh on their annual verification collection report.

The CDE reports consolidated verification results for all SFAs on the NSLP and/or SBP to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Due Dates

The verification process must begin October 1 and be completed by November 15 each year. The verification report is due to the CDE by the end of January. The CDE will send notification to all SFAs when the report is available in the Child Nutrition Information and Payment System (CNIPS).

Accessing the Report

• Access the CNIPS Web site 
• In the boxes provided, enter your User ID and Password and select Log On
• Select Applications from the blue tool bar at the top of your screen
• Select Verification Report
• Follow the Verification Report Instructions below and complete the report
• Select Save—NOTE: you will not receive a confirmation message
• If the message "Saved with Errors" is displayed:
  • Select Edit, make the corrections
  • Select Save
  • Select Finish—you will not receive a confirmation message

Completing the Report

The USDA has provided detailed instructions for completing the revised Verification Report, which can be found in the Download Forms section of the CNIPS. Each section is also broken out below.

Verification Reporting - School Nutrition (CA Dept of Education):

Students vie in statistics contest to predict the next president. Here are their calculations. - The Washington Post

Students vie in statistics contest to predict the next president. Here are their calculations. - The Washington Post:

Students vie in statistics contest to predict the next president. Here are their calculations.

The American Statistical Association held a Prediction 2016 contest in which more than 450 high school and college students from more than 30 institutions in nearly 20 states and the District of Columbia used (what else?) statistics to predict who will win the presidential election and by how much.

Students were asked to predict the winning presidential candidate in each state and the District of Columbia as well as the  final percentage — rounded to the tenths place — of the popular vote for each major candidate. They were also asked to include a brief description of the methods they used to get their results.

Who won? According to the association, nearly all of the participants — 97 percent to be exact — predicted that Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton will be the next president. The median projection found that Clinton will win 49.3 percent of the popular vote and 332 electoral votes with Trump getting 43.3 percent of the popular vote with 204 electoral votes. Here are the results:Students vie in statistics contest to predict the next president. Here are their calculations. - The Washington Post:

Schools Matter: The Alexander-Ravitch Policy Era Grinds On

Schools Matter: The Alexander-Ravitch Policy Era Grinds On:

The Alexander-Ravitch Policy Era Grinds On

Valerie Strauss is publishing interviews by oddball and Disruptor Foundation Fellow, C. M. Rubin, who is in the process of interviewing six "potential" candidates for Secretary of Education under the next President Clinton. 

Diane Ravitch's is the most recent interview offered at Valerie's WaPo blog.

Ravitch begins her first response to the first question by labeling our sordid modern history of racist standardized testing the "Bush-Obama policies." Even though the standardized testing ideology has been around for over a hundred years, Diane would have been much more accurate to label the modern-day fixation on testing as the "Alexander-Ravitch policies," as Lamar and Diane provided the foundation upon which Bush II and Obama built their shaky edifices. 

After all, it was during the mid-to-late 1980s gained national prominence as the nation's first "Education Governor" by instituting some of the first high stakes grade-level tests in Tennessee and by initiating bonus pay for teachers based on evaluations. 

In 1991, Alexander leveraged his bullshit reforms in Tennessee into the Secretary of Education slot under Bush I.  With recommendations from Checker Finn, Lamar hired Diane as his Assistant Secretary in charge of research at ED, even though Ravitch had never even written a doctoral dissertation.  But that did not matter: Diane had attended elite colleges, had never trained as an educator, had never been a teacher, and she marched to drummers at the Hoover Institution.  

In the years leading up to her post at ED, however, Diane had already gained lot high-level experience in using test scores to demonize public schools.  She was part of Washington's inner circle of former Reaganites and corporate enemies of public education who pushed through a set ridiculous cut scores for Schools Matter: The Alexander-Ravitch Policy Era Grinds On:

Feds offer guidance on new Title IV funding :: SI&A Cabinet Report

Feds offer guidance on new Title IV funding :: SI&A Cabinet Report :: The Essential Resource for Superintendents and the Cabinet:

Feds offer guidance on new Title IV funding

(District of Columbia) A new federal block grant aimed at helping schools provide a “well-rounded education” can be used in a wide variety ways–from nutrition and health care, to music and foreign language instruction, according to new guidance issued by the U.S. Department of Education.

In constructing the Every Student Succeeds Act, Congress consolidated several small programs to create Title IV, otherwise known as the Student Support and Academic Enrichment program. As designed, funding under Title IV can be used by local educational agencies to:

• Provide all students with access to a well-rounded education;
• Improve school conditions for student learning; and
• Improve the use of technology in order to improve the academic achievement and digital literacy of all students.

But in non-regulatory guidance released by the Education Department late last month, district managers will find Title IV money is highly flexible in support of the Congressional mandate.

Improving instruction in science, technology, engineering and mathematics is one option highlighted by federal officials.

Among the approved activities would be efforts to increase access for groups of underrepresented students to high-quality STEM courses; supporting participation in nonprofit competitions in robotics or math competitions, for example,; providing students hands-on learning and exposure to STEM, including through field-based and service learning; or supporting the creation and enhancement of STEM-focused specialty schools.

Arts and music are also emphasized, which includes dance, media arts, theater and visual arts. The new guide points to a clearinghouse developed by the Education Commission of the States–called ArtsEdSearch–which provide a database of research on programs and services in the many areas of artistic instruction.

The Title IV funding can also be used to support drop-out prevention. Federal officials highlighted a national nonprofit–Jobs for the Future–which has helped start or design nearly 250 early college schools that currently serve more than 75,000 students nationwide. JFF has seen increased graduation rates with 90 percent of early college students graduating high school, compared to the national rate of 78 percent, the report said.

ESSA authorized $1.65 billion for the new block grant, although Obama’s 2017 budget would only allocate $500 million for the program.

The award given to states is formula-driven, based on what they are already getting in Title I money. The subgrants to LEAs is also based on the Title I allotment.

For a district receiving more than $30,000 of Title IV money, federal law imposes three conditions:

• At least 20 percent of funds for activities to support well-rounded educational opportunities (ESEA section 4107);
• At least 20 percent of funds for activities to support safe and healthy students (ESEA section 4108); and
• A portion of funds for activities to support effective use of technology (ESEA section 4109).

While local school boards are encouraged to look to leverage other state and federal grants to broaden well-rounded education services.

“For example, Title I, Part A (Title I) of the ESEA may be used to promote supportive school climates to reduce the use of exclusionary discipline practices in a Title I schoolwide program,” the guidance paper said. “Likewise, LEAs may use Title II funds to provide training for school personnel to address issues related to school conditions for student learning, such as safety, peer interaction, drug and alcohol abuse, and chronic absenteeism.”

The Education Department was also careful to point out that Title IV cannot be used to replace an existing funding source–that is, the long-standing federal prohibition on supplanting is in play here.Feds offer guidance on new Title IV funding :: SI&A Cabinet Report :: The Essential Resource for Superintendents and the Cabinet:

Demand the Impossible! (final excerpt) | Bill Ayers

Demand the Impossible! (final excerpt) | Bill Ayers:

Demand the Impossible! (final excerpt)

Bill Ayers -- Demand the Impossible!: A Radical Manifesto | Haymarket Books -http://www.haymarketbooks.org/pb/Demand-the-Impossible

[This is my final (tenth) posting of excerpts from Demand the Impossible! published by Haymarket Books in Chicago in 2016, and now available everywhere]

What is to be done? Struggling with that question illuminates the strongest argument the [science deniers] have, even as it exposes their point of greatest vulnerability: seriously engaging the environmental catastrophe, and taking the necessary steps to solve it, will mean—I’ll just spit it out here—overthrowing capitalism. This is the real choice in front of us: the end of capitalism or the end of the habitable earth, saving the system of corporate finance capital or saving the system that gives us life. Which will it be?

In Don DeLillo’s grimly funny and super-smart novel White Noise…Jack Gladney, a professor of “Hitler Studies” at a small midwestern college…sleepwalks through his life to the dull background sounds of TV and endless radio, the Muzak of consumerism and electronics, unrestrained advertising and constant technological innovation, appliances and microwaves… When a train derails outside of town creating what is at first described officially as a “feathery plume” but later becomes a “black billowing cloud” and finally an “airborne toxic event,” everything becomes a bit unhinged. Jack’s response to an official evacuation order is disbelief: “I’m not just a college professor,” he complains. “I’m the head of a department. I don’t see myself fleeing an airborne toxic event. That’s for people who live in mobile homes out in the scrubby parts of the county, where the fish hatcheries are.”

Well, not anymore, Jack. Our own feathery cloud has turned toxic at breathtaking speed, and those folks in the mobile homes might be our best natural allies after all.

The great rebel Rosa Luxemburg, jailed for her opposition to World War I, lived her life to that rhythm. She sent a letter from prison to a friend and comrade who’d complained to her that their revolutionary work was suffering terribly without Luxemburg’s day-to-day leadership. First, Red Rosa wrote, stop whining—excellent advice in any circumstance, [and advice that resonates powerfully for US radicals today]. She went on to urge her friend to be more of a mensch. Oh, I can’t define mensch for you, she said, but what I mean is that you should strive to be a person who loves your own life enough to appreciate the sunset and the sunrise, to enjoy a bottle of wine over dinner with friends, or to take a walk by the sea. But you must also love the world enough to put your shoulder on history’s great wheel when history demands it. Working that out may become for each and all of us a collective daily challenge—it’s also the way forward toward commitment and balance.

Choose life; choose possibility; choose rebellion and revolution.

Be a mensch!

Demand the impossible!

Demand the Impossible! (final excerpt) | Bill Ayers:

 

An extraordinary battle over charter schools is consuming this state - The Washington Post

An extraordinary battle over charter schools is consuming this state - The Washington Post:

An extraordinary battle over charter schools is consuming this state

Fights over charter schools have become commonplace, but the one being waged right now in Massachusetts — which has long had as fine a public education system as any state in the country — isn’t your ordinary battle.

Question 2, an initiative on Tuesday’s ballot to approve the raising of the state’s cap on charter schools, is the most expensive ballot initiative in the country — with at least $35 million reportedly raised by both sides — and it’s been as bitter as any. The campaign in support of Question 2 seemed sure to be a success when it started, enjoying bipartisan support, but as time went on, opposition grew.

And now, whatever happens on Tuesday in Massachusetts could affect the national fight over the growth of charter schools,  which supporters say give parents more educational choices for their children, and which critics say drain resources from traditional public schools, typically under-serve the highest-needs students and are not accountable to the local communities.

There are now nearly 80 charter schools in Massachusetts, some of them among the highest-achieving schools in the state. Massachusetts has capped the total number at 120 charter schools, but Question 2 seeks to raise that cap, allowing the state to authorize 12 new or expanded charter schools to open every year, effectively blowing the idea of a cap.

The maneuvering over Question 2 has brought all of the elements we’ve come to expect in charter wars: big money from outside the state; concerns about the use of “dark money;” Wall Street involvement; charges of arrogance from both sides; a nasty advertising campaign, marked by pro-charter ads created by the firm that made the infamous “Swift Boat” 2004 ads against then-Democratic presidential candidate John F. Kerry; and a split among Democrats about the virtues and drawbacks of more charters.

President Obama hasn’t weighed in, but his secretary of education, John King Jr., did, telling the Boston Globe that if he lived in Massachusetts, he would vote “yes.” Obama’s former secretary of education, Arne Duncan, supports it too, as does the Democrats for Education Reform advocacy group. The Boston Globe’s editorial board agrees, as does Republican Gov. Charlie Baker, who said in a pro-charter ad: “Imagine if your kid was trapped in a failing school. Public charter schools give parents a choice and are a pathway for these kids.”

But the opposition is strong, too. Dozens of local school districts have come out against the initiative, as has the Massachusetts Parent Teachers Organization. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren opposes Question 2, saying in a recent statement that while “many charter schools in Massachusetts are producing extraordinary results for our students,” she is concerned that traditional public schools could be harmed An extraordinary battle over charter schools is consuming this state - The Washington Post:

The Burden of Being a Black School Teacher in America - The Atlantic

The Burden of Being a Black School Teacher in America - The Atlantic:

The Burden of Being a Black Teacher

Many African American educators say they don’t feel respected or empowered at their schools.

As classrooms across the United States become more diverse, schools are working to hire more teachers of color, particularly black teachers. Some have actually done a reasonable job of bringing more African American educators in the door. Yet the vast majority of teachers remain white women, in part because many black teachers leave just a few years into the job. Federal data suggests that in 2012-13, nearly 22 percent of black public-school teachers moved schools or left the profession altogether, compared to only about 15 percent of white, non-Hispanic teachers. 



The result is that only around 7 percent of the country’s teachers are black, despite the fact that African Americans make up around 16 percent of the overall student population. I’ve written about why that matters, but the upshot is that children benefit when they see and hear people who come from different backgrounds. Students learn to collaborate and compromise, and they prepare for the inevitably global nature of their future jobs. When schools have a diverse teaching force, they may also be able to limit the effects of implicit bias. A recent study found that white teachers have lower expectations than black teachers for the same black students. Having more teachers of color might help mitigate that imbalance.The Burden of Being a Black School Teacher in America - The Atlantic:

Districts grapple with superintendent turnover along with new reforms | EdSource

Districts grapple with superintendent turnover along with new reforms | EdSource:

Districts grapple with superintendent turnover along with new reforms

At a time when California schools are introducing a range of landmark reforms, there is a continuing churn in the leadership of many of the state’s largest districts.

An EdSource survey of the state’s 30 largest districts indicates that in 17 out of 30 districts, the superintendents have been in office for three years or less. In nine of those districts, superintendents have served for less than a full year. Three are interim appointments during ongoing searches for permanent appointments.  

Only seven of the surveyed superintendents have been leading their districts for five years or more.   Only two – Michael Hanson in Fresno and Chris Steinhauser in Long Beach – have been in their posts for 10 or more years.

The survey results in these districts are not intended to be representative of California’s nearly 1000 school districts, but they highlight the extent of  leadership turnover in the state’s largest, mostly urban districts.  The combined enrollments of the 30 districts total about one-third of the state’s 6.2 million public school students.

Education experts worry that continuing turnover in school leadership could hamper implementation of a basket of  reforms, including the state’s new accountability system and the Common Core standards in math and English, along with their potential to improve student academic outcomes.

For interviews with four California superintendents appointed in 2016, go here.

“I don’t think nearly enough superintendents have the time to make both dramatic and lasting improvements in their districts,” said Becca Bracy Knight, executive director of the Broad Center for the Management of School Systems in Los Angeles. “We have to ask ourselves what is keeping people from staying in their jobs longer. If you want big change, and big improvements for your students, and you want it to be sustainable, that simply takes time.”

Irvine Unified Superintendent Terry Walker, appointed to his post in 2011, said experience translates into a far more effective school leader.

“There is so much going on (in the district) that you can’t help but be a better decision maker,” said Walker, who after six years on the job is one of the more experienced superintendents in the state. “You are far less likely go ‘ready, fire, aim’ when you have a better sense of how all the parts fit together.”

While much attention has been paid to teacher turnover, there has Districts grapple with superintendent turnover along with new reforms | EdSource:

 New superintendents seek continuity as they reflect on challenges ahead

ne of the superintendents in the state’s 30 largest districts were appointed to their posts in 2016. EdSource interviewed four of them to get their thoughts about their experiences during their early months on the job. They were interviewed by EdSource’s Michael Collier and Louis Freedberg. EdSource plans to follow up with them as their tenure unfolds to hear about their successes and challenges. 

For an overview of superintendent turnover in California’s largest school districts, go here.

ELISEO DÁVALOS

DISTRICT:  STOCKTON UNIFIED

START DATE: JULY 2016

Eliseo Dávalos served most recently as assistant superintendent of curriculum/instruction and accountability at San Bernardino City Schools. He has worked in K-12 public education since 1979, as high school teacher, migrant education resources teacher and community college teacher. He spent nine years at the Corona-Norco Unified District as director of instructional support and student services.

What do you think is the impact of superintendent turnover on districts?
I believe that superintendent turnover has a negative impact on the district and the entire community. It contributes to the inability of a district to define and implement a shared vision for the district, to establish clear goals and expectations and to provide continuity in all aspects of the district. It also undermines any strategic long-term planning that the district might want to engage in.

How has your district responded to your superintendency so far?
When I introduce myself to someone from the district and community, instead of hearing “nice to meet you,” I hear, “so, how long are you here for?” My response is that I am here to stay, not going anywhere. That seems to calm them. Then I get the “nice to meet you.”

What is the impact of turnover on teachers and principals?
I believe that instability of superintendent tenure in a district contributes negatively to day-to-day life at the schools. Principals are more likely to support status quo practices rather than innovation. Teachers are more likely to believe that the direction and leadership the superintendent provides is of no consequence to them. They are waiting to add the next name to their list of leaders who have passed through the organization.

What are some positive outcomes when a new superintendent arrives?
The stability of a superintendent in a district can give the entire school community a feeling of being respected and valued, while at the same time a sense of comfort, in knowing that there is someone at the helm who is focused on the day-to-day, but also on the future of the district.

***

NANCY ALBARRÁN

DISTRICT:  SAN JOSE UNIFIED

STARTING DATE:  APRIL 2016

Nancy Albarrán began her career as a teacher in the Los Angeles and Oakland Unified districts. She joined San Jose Unified in 1999  as a bilingual teacher, and later became director of bilingual education and special programs. In 2010, she was appointed director of elementary curriculum and in 2012 she became assistant superintendent of instruction. 

How has your longevity in the district helped  New superintendents seek continuity as they reflect on challenges ahead

¡Llegó la hora! ¡Todos a votar! - Lily's Blackboard

¡Llegó la hora! ¡Todos a votar! - Lily's Blackboard:

¡Llegó la hora! ¡Todos a votar!

No sé tú, ¡pero yo estoy bien emocionada! (Y no solamente porque los cachorros de Chicago ganaron la Serie Mundial después de esperar más de 100 años.) ¡Estoy emocionada porque vamos a hacer historia! El momento que hemos estado esperando ha llegado. Vamos a votar el martes, 8 de noviembre.

Estoy súper contenta que después de todas las llamadas que hemos hecho, los votantes que hemos registrado, las puertas que hemos tocado, y los zapatos que hemos desgastado (y ni se diga de los pies adoloridos), finalmente ha llegado el día de las elecciones.

¡Qué alivio!

Me imagino que pensarán que les voy a decir que sigan adelante y continúen trabajando hasta llegar a la meta final. A lo mejor pensarán que les voy a volver a decir lo importante que son estas elecciones – no solamente la contienda presidencial, sino también las otras contiendas, especialmente en estados claves como Virginia, Carolina del Norte, y Ohio. Si eso es lo que piensas, me conoces demasiado bien. Tienes toda la razón.

Pero mayormente te voy a motivar, presionar, rogar para que salgas a votar. Los estudios señalan que si haces planes para ir a votar, es más probable que sigas con los planes y acudas a las urnas.

Conoce tu centro de votación. Si tienes alguna pregunta sobre si estás registrado para votar, por favor visite este sitio web.

Y acuérdate que si estás en la fila en tu centro de votación antes que cierre, deben permitirte votar. Si tienes dudas sobre cuál es tu centro de votación o el horario, averigua eso ahora.

Sé que estás cansado. De verdad que lo entiendo. He tocado tantas puertas que ni me acuerdo como es la puerta mía. Pero estamos bien cerca de una victoria. Tenemos que marchar hacia adelante; nuestros niños dependen de nuestro voto.

Por eso cuando te canses, haz como yo hago: cámbiate de ropa, tómate una taza de café y cómete un pedacito de chocolate, y sigue adelante. Robert Frost, uno de los grandes poetas de Estados Unidos, lo dijo mejor que nadie:

Los bosques son hermosos, oscuros y profundos,

Pero tengo promesas que mantener,

Y millas por recorrer antes de dormir,

Y millas por recorrer antes de dormir.

Todos a las urnas ¡vamos!

¡Llegó la hora! ¡Todos a votar! - Lily's Blackboard:

Evidence for the Disconnect Between Changing Test Scores and Changing Later Life Outcomes - Education Next : Education Next

Evidence for the Disconnect Between Changing Test Scores and Changing Later Life Outcomes - Education Next : Education Next:

Evidence for the Disconnect Between Changing Test Scores and Changing Later Life Outcomes

Over the last few years I have developed a deeper skepticism about the reliability of relying on test scores for accountability purposes.  I think tests have very limited potential in guiding distant policymakers, regulators, portfolio managers, foundation officials, and other policy elites in identifying with confidence which schools are good or bad, ought to be opened, expanded, or closed, and which programs are working or failing.  The problem, as I’ve pointed out in several pieces now, is that in using tests for these purposes we are assuming that if we can change test scores, we will change later outcomes in life.  We don’t really care about test scores per se, we care about them because we think they are near-term proxies for later life outcomes that we really do care about — like graduating from high school, going to college, getting a job, earning a good living, staying out of jail, etc…

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But what if changing test scores does not regularly correspond with changing life outcomes?  What if schools can do things to change scores without actually changing lives?  What evidence do we actually have to support the assumption that changing test scores is a reliable indicator of changing later life outcomes?

This concern is similar to issues that have arisen in other fields about the reliability of near-term indicators as proxies for later life outcomes.  For example, as one of my colleagues noted to me, there are medicines that are able to lower cholesterol levels but do not reduce — or even may increase — mortality from heart disease.  It’s important that we think carefully about whether we are making the same type of mistake in education.

If increasing test scores is a good indicator of improving later life outcomes, we should see roughly the same direction and magnitude in changes of scores and later outcomes in most rigorously identified studies.  We do not.  I’m not saying we never see a connection between changing test scores and changing later life outcomes (e.g. Chetty, et al); I’m just saying that we do not regularly see that relationship.  For an indicator to be reliable, it should yield accurate predictions nearly all, or at least most, of the time.

To illustrate the un-reliability of test score changes, I’m going to focus on rigorously identified research on school choice programs where we have later life outcomes.  We could find plenty of examples of disconnect from other policy interventions, such as pre-school programs, but I am focusing on school choice because I know this literature best.  The fact that we can find a disconnect between test score changes and later life outcomes in any literature, let alone in several, should undermine our confidence in test scores as a reliable indicator.

I should also emphasize that by looking at rigorous research I am rigging things in favor of test scores.  If we explored the most common use of test scores — examining the level of proficiency — there are no credible researchers who believe that is a reliable indicator of school or program quality.  Even measures of growth in test scores or VAM are not rigorously identified indicators of school or program quality as they do not reveal what the growth would have been in the absence of that school or program.  So, I think almost every credible researcher would agree that the vast majority of ways in which test scores are used by policymakers, regulators, portfolio managers, foundation officials, and other policy elites cannot be reliable indicators of the ability of schools or programs to improve later life outcomes.

With the evidence below I am exploring the largely imaginary scenario in which test scores changes can be attributed to schools or programs with confidence.  Even then, the direction and magnitude of changing test scores does not regularly correspond with changing later life outcomes.  I’ve identified 10 rigorously designed studies of charter and private school choice programs with later life outcomes.  I’ve listed them below with a brief description of their findings and hyperlinks so you can read the results for yourself.

Notice any patterns? Other than the general disconnect between test scores and later life outcomes (in both directions), I notice that the No Excuses charter model that is currently the darling of the ed reform movement and that New York Times columnists have declared as the only type of “Schools that Work” tend not to fare nearly as well in later outcomes as they do on test scores.  Meanwhile the unfashionable private choice schools and Mom and Pop charters seem to do much better on later life outcomes than at changing test scores.  I don’t highlight this pattern as proof that we should shy away from No Excuses charters.  I only mention it to suggest ways in which over-relying on test scores and declaring with confidence that we know what works and what doesn’t can lead to big policy mistakes.

Here are the 10 studies:

1. Boston charters (Angrist, et al, 2014) – Huge test score gains, no increase in HS grad rate or postsecondary attendance. Shift from 2 to 4 yr

2. Harlem Promise Academy (Dobbie and Fryer, 2014) – Same as Boston charters

3. KIPP (Tuttle, et al, 2015) – Large test score gains, no or small effect on HS grad rate, depending on analysis used

4. High Tech High (Beauregard, 2015) – Widely praised for improving test scores, no increase in college enrollment

5. SEED Boarding Charter (Unterman, et al, 2016) – same as Boston charters

6. TX No Excuses charters (Dobbie and Fryer, 2016) – Increase test scores and college enrollment, but no effect on earnings

7. Florida charters (Booker, et al, 2014) – No test score gains but large increase in HS grad rate, college attendance, and earnings

8. DC vouchers (Wolf, et al, 2013) – Little or no test score gain but large increase in HS grad rate

9. Milwaukee vouchers (Cowen, et al, 2013) – same as DC

10. New York vouchers (Chingos and Peterson, 2013) – modest test score gain, larger college enrollment improvement

– Jay P. Greene

Jay P. Greene is endowed chair and head of the Department of Education Reform at the University of Arkansas.Evidence for the Disconnect Between Changing Test Scores and Changing Later Life Outcomes - Education Next : Education Next: