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Everything You Need to Know About Teaching

March 14, 2013 By

Teach.com is a comprehensive educational web resource dedicated to discovering, discussing and encouraging great teaching around the world.  Like certificationmap.com, Teach.com also provides a map outlining the steps to become a teacher, including information on teacher salaries, teacher preparation and certification requirements for all 50 states as well as information on teaching abroad.  The site also profiles great teachers from around the country and highlights the need for more great teachers.

Teach.com

 

Certification Map is a comprehensive resource for teacher certification information.  It provides state specific information on how to become a teacher, teacher salaries, teaching credentials, teacher certification tests, alternative teacher certification, and teaching certificate reciprocity.  Their aim is to provide all the information necessary to become a teacher no matter where you live.

Certificationmap.com

Filed Under: Teacher Quality

Mississippi Moves Closer On New Charter School Measures

March 13, 2013 By

Yet Student Opportunity And Choice Are Still Limited

CER Press Release
Washington, D.C.
March 13, 2013

Calling their passage of a broad education bill “the most significant in 30 years,” the Mississippi state senate moved closer to adopting new measures to open charter schools, yet yielded to pressure from school districts in limiting the opportunity for students across the state to have substantive, meaningful choices.

“Mississippi has yet to open the book on what charter schools can really do for the whole of education across the state,” said Center for Education Reform (CER) President Jeanne Allen: “Not only is this not significant in any way, but it’s evidence that even the relatively new leadership in power is inept at withstanding the political power of the education establishment.”

The charter school law in Mississippi ranks as one of only four “Fs” on the national ranking of charter laws, an analysis that for 16 years has been measuring the impact of components of law on creating actual charter school opportunities for students. First enacted in 1997, the initial law permitted school districts to convert schools. Only one did so. That law expired in 2009, and in 2010 a new charter law was enacted, but this law allows only for the conversion of low-performing public schools. No charters were opened subsequently.

Once enacted, this bill will give a new state-level commission authority to approve new charter schools in districts currently rated as D & F, but not without prior “evidence” of local support. Proposed charters in A, B and C districts must be endorsed by a majority of the local school board members. There is no appeal for such decisions and it’s still not clear if full funds follow children to their school of choice.

“Many in and outside of Mississippi will say that this proposal is a good step forward, incrementally. The reality is that not all progress is good, and it’s unlikely that the legislature which has taken 16 years to even move charter schooling forward would improve upon this measure in enough years to save the 80 percent of children still not proficient in reading across the state,” says Allen.

Filed Under: Press Releases

Daily Headlines for March 13, 2013

March 13, 2013 By

NEWSWIRE IS BACK! Click here for the latest weekly report on education news and commentary you won’t find anywhere else, spiced with a dash of irreverence, from the nation’s leading voice in school reform.

NATIONAL COVERAGE

Education Programs Are Bad For Education
Washington Examiner, DC, March 12, 2013
Schools of education, whether graduate or undergraduate, tend to represent the academic slums of most college campuses. They tend to be home to students who have the lowest academic achievement test scores when they enter college, such as SAT scores.

FROM THE STATES

ALABAMA

New Poll Finds Strong Overall Support For School Choice, Support Slips When Tax Dollars Go To Private Schools
Alabama Blog, AL, March 12, 2013
A poll commissioned and paid for by Republicans has found solid support for a school choice plan passed by the Legislature Feb. 28.

ARKANSAS

Changes Could Come To The Charter School Process
THV11, AR, March 12, 2013
A House committee has approved legislation that would change the way Arkansas approves charter schools applications.

CALIFORNIA

L.A. Charter School Aims To Toss Out Students With Fake Addresses
Los Angeles Times, CA, March 13, 2013
Officials at Carpenter Community Charter, a top-notch elementary, think 120 children are enrolled fraudulently. They want to make room for students who live in the neighborhood.

Divided over L.A. Unified
Los Angeles Times, CA, March 12, 2013
One nasty election later, there is no sign that the divisiveness in the Los Angeles Unified School District will abate. If anything, it looks likely to increase, with activists in United Teachers Los Angeles announcing that teachers will vote on a passel of anti-reform positions.

Parent Trigger Group Gets Proposals To Remake LAUSD School
Contra Costa Times, CA, March 12, 2013
A group of Los Angeles parents who successfully invoked a state law to take over their failing school have received four proposals on how to remake the school, including one from the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Manteca Unified, Charter Schools Compete For Pupils
Manteca Bulletin, CA, March 13, 2013
Manteca Unified School District’s competition was fairly small just a few years ago. Primarily Christian schools such as St. Anthony’s, Plumfield Academy, Ripon Christian Schools, and Manteca Christian Schools competed with the district for students. And given parents had to come up with the tuition, the numbers of students who opted out of public school was small.

Students, Parents, Teachers Voice Support Of Imagine Imperial Valley To Local School Board
Imperial Press, CA, March 13, 2013
In an effort to ensure Imagine Imperial Valley stays open for years to come, parents and students alike pledged the charter school’s good work to the El Centro Elementary School District board of trustees at a meeting Tuesday.

COLORADO

Double Talk On Lobato Case Before The Colorado Supreme Court
Denver Post, CO, March 13, 2013
So if the Colorado Supreme Court upholds a district judge’s ruling that we grossly underfund our public schools, how long will judges, rather than elected lawmakers, dictate funding decisions?

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Median D.C. Charter School Outperforms Median Traditional, Study Finds
Washington Post, DC, March 13, 2013
Student proficiency in math and reading improved at the median D.C. public charter school over the past five years, while student proficiency at the city’s median traditional school declined, according to a new analysis of school data.

GEORGIA

Regional Charter School Idea Floated
Jackson Progress-Argus, GA, March 13, 2013
Area school officials are considering establishing a regional charter academy that would serve students from multiple counties, delivering a curriculum at least partly based around area business and industry needs.

Evaluation Process For Teachers Gaining Momentum Through Legislation
North Fulton, GA, March 12, 2013
State legislators are getting serious about the competency of teachers and administrators in local schools, and are putting political clout behind the drive. However, the legislation leaves more questions than answers for local school systems as they move toward full implementation.

INDIANA

Left In Dark On Charter Appeals
Journal Gazette, IN, March 13, 2013
Charter schools are public schools, financed with your tax dollars. Yet when Ball State University – a public, taxpayer-subsidized school – hears appeals from three local charter schools trying to save their Ball State-authorized charters, the hearings will be secret.

MASSACHUSETTS

Charter School’s Debt Shows Need For State Reforms
Gloucester Daily Times, MA, March 13, 2013
And the truth is, the schools debts once again point, more than anything else, to a dire lack of oversight on the part of the state’s Department of Education, and the need to reform the manner in which the state funds and then tends to its charter schools.

MICHIGAN

Charter School Boards Need More Training, Guidance
Bridge Magazine, MI, March 13, 2013
Since the new Legislature convened in January, more than 40 bills related to public education have been introduced. These bills cover a wide range of topics, from funding for pre-kindergarten programs to high school graduation requirements.

MISSISSIPPI

Senate Oks Ed Reform Bill In Close Vote
Clarion Ledger, MS, March 13, 2013
The Senate on Tuesday passed a comprehensive education reform bill that includes charter schools, but the vote was closer than expected and its fate in the House is uncertain.

NEVADA

Grants Save Rainshadow Community Charter School In Reno From Closing
Reno Gazette-Journal, NV, March 12, 2013
When news of the closing of Rainshadow Community Charter School came out last month, the community stepped up.

NEW JERSEY

Hatikvah Accuses E.B. Board Of Misusing Taxpayer Dollars
East Brunswick Sentinel, NJ, March 13, 2013
The Hatikvah International Academy Charter School’s board of trustees last week called upon the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office and the state commissioner of education to probe the East Brunswick Board of Education for what the charter school board described as a “gross misuse of taxpayer dollars to fund its ongoing campaign against the dual-language charter school.”

Student Achievement, The Real Goal of Educator Evaluation
New Jersey Spotlight, NJ, March 13, 2013
On March 6, the New Jersey Department of Education submitted to the State Board new teacher and principal evaluation regulations, which will be required to be fully implemented beginning in September 2013. Before we begin a spirited debate on the details of the department’s proscriptive approach in the code, we should take a moment to focus on the goals of educator effectiveness and the realities of implementing school reforms, on the ground-floor level, in New Jersey schools.

NEW MEXICO

Charter School Sex Case Is Shrouded In Secrecy
Albuquerque Journal, NM, March 13, 2013
The people running Bataan Military Academy seem to forget that it is a public school using taxpayer dollars to keep it in operation.

NEW YORK

Walcott Urges Principals To Engage Parents On New Academic Standards
New York Daily News, NY, March 12, 2013
Principals should do a better job engaging parents, city Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott admitted Tuesday.

OHIO

Kasich’s Pick Is Named State Schools Chief
Columbus Dispatch, OH, March 13, 2013
A divided state Board of Education yesterday named Gov. John Kasich’s top education adviser as Ohio school superintendent.

Court Orders Charter-School Manager To Open Books
Columbus Dispatch, OH, March 13, 2013
The Franklin County Court of Appeals upheld an order requiring Ohio’s largest for-profit manager of charter schools to share detailed financial records.

Gov. John Kasich’s School Funding Formula Would Increase Charter School Aid By 4.5 Percent
Cleveland Plain Dealer, OH, March 12, 2013
Charter schools would receive about $35 million more from the state — a 4.5 percent increase — under Gov. John Kasich’s proposed school funding formula than they have over the last two years, according to an analysis by the Legislative Service Commission.

OREGON

Supporters Of Kids Unlimited’s Charter School Proposal Pack House At Hearing
Mail Tribune, OR, March 13, 2013
The Medford School Board meeting room overflowed Monday night with supporters of Kids Unlimited’s proposed charter school, VIBES.

PENNSYLVANIA

Philly Charter School Lottery Shows Effects Of District Closures
6abc, PA, March 12, 2013
A thousand kids applied to get in, but there’s only room for a little more than 100. On Tuesday night, GLA, Global Leadership Academy Charter School in West Philadelphia, held its lottery for grades kindergarten through 8.

TENNESSEE

Charters Drain Funds From Other Students, Board Chairwoman Says
The Tennessean, TN, March 13, 2013
Charter schools are expected to siphon about $40 million from the Metro Nashville school budget next year, school board Chairwoman Cheryl Mayes said, leaving the district with a shortfall close to $30 million.

Tennessee House Committee OKs Voucher Bill
Memphis Commercial Appeal, TN, March 12, 2013
With heated discussion on both sides, a school-voucher bill passed 9-4 Tuesday in the House Education committee, moving Tennessee a step closer to allowing income-eligible children in failing schools to attend private schools with tax dollars in the fall.

WEST VIRGINIA

Education Bill Clears Senate Education Committee
Charleston Daily Mail, WV, March 12, 2013
Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin and supporters of his education initiatives won the first round on Tuesday as the Senate Education Committee approved a moderately altered version of his massive bill.

WISCONSIN

Arnold, Carstensen, Arnesen And Brien: Keep Public In Public Education
Capital Times, WI, March 13, 2013
Gov. Walker’s budget proposals for K-12 education continue to undermine local control of public education, while elevating private schools.

State Law Allows Unaccredited Voucher Schools To Stay In Program
Journal Sentinel Blog, WI, March 12, 2013
Three private schools in Milwaukee that have accepted millions of dollars from taxpayers through the voucher program are no longer accredited, but may continue accepting students because of a loophole in state law, records show.

ONLINE LEARNING

As I See It: A Solution To Cyber-Charter School Funding
Patriot News, PA, March 13, 2013
Next year, Pennsylvania’s public school districts will send $1 billion to charter and cyber-charter schools across the state. But what if Pennsylvania taxpayers could save $1 billion next year and every year after that. A bill now before the state Senate would do just that.

Cyber School Funding Reform Urged
The Sentinel, PA, March 12, 2013
Legislators can save $4.6 million in taxpayer dollars just by fixing the formula school districts use to fund cyber-charter schools, says a report from Education Matters in the Cumberland Valley.

Caution In Authorizing Online Schools Makes Sense
Jackson Sun, TN, March 13, 2013
A proposal by Gov. Bill Haslam to put limits on privately-run online schools in Tennessee is set to be taken up in a Senate committee this week. Better known as “virtual schools,” online education is a new approach to education that has potential, but still is in the developmental stage. Haslam is right to take a go-slow approach to bringing online education to Tennessee.

Fox Valley Districts Set Hearings On Proposed ‘Virtual’ Education Effort
Aurora Beacon News, IL, March 12, 2013
Residents of 17 Fox Valley school districts will get their chance to ask questions about a proposed charter school that would serve students online, rather than in a classroom.

Online Charter School Proposed for District 427
Daily Chronicle, IL, March 13, 2013
Sycamore School District 427 could add an online charter school next school year if the Board of Education approves.

BDHS Expands Virtual Classes
Beaver Dam Daily Citizen, WI, March 12, 2013
Beaver Dam High School principal Mark DiStefano said the Virtual Academy program at the school will expand next semester.

Virtual Charter School Enrolling Students
KNOE, LA, March 12, 2013
There’s no need to wait for the bell to ring to start learning, a group of educators have a different way to help students learn and they don’t have to go far to do it.

Filed Under: Daily Headlines

DC Charter Schools Outperform

March 13, 2013 By

“New study finds that median D.C. charter schools outperform median traditional schools”
by Emma Brown
Washington Post
March 13, 2013

Student proficiency in math and reading improved at the median D.C. public charter school over the past five years, while student proficiency at the city’s median traditional school declined, according to a new analysis of school data.

The study, which the nonprofit D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute expects to release Wednesday, also found geographic trends. In more-affluent wards, proficiency rates at the median school rose over the past five years, while in poorer wards the median school’s proficiency rate fell.

The findings suggest that charter schools are slightly outperforming traditional schools and that to meet ambitious improvement goals, city school leaders will have to make greater strides over the next five years than they have in the past five, a period of rapid and wide-ranging reform efforts.

“We still have a long way to go to see citywide performance go up,” said Soumya Bhat, the study’s author. “That theme is consistent.”

Public officials often assess school progress by tracking the average scores of students in charter schools, in traditional schools and citywide. Between 2008 and 2012, the share of all D.C. students proficient in math and reading rose five points, from 42 percent to 47 percent.

Bhat instead examined the trajectories of individual schools. Using the results of annual standardized tests at 152 schools that existed in both 2008 and 2012, she analyzed the share of students who scored proficient or advanced at each school. She then tracked how the median school — the one squarely in the middle of the pack, with the same number of schools doing better and doing worse — performed.

Citywide, that middle-of-the-pack performance did not improve over the past five years, dropping slightly from 41.8 percent to 41.2 percent.

Proficiency rates at the median charter school rose from about 44 percent in 2008 to about 50 percent in 2012. At the median traditional school, proficiency rates fell from 40 percent to 37 percent over the same period, chiefly because of declines in reading.

Bhat said those numbers suggest the traditional school system might need to consider substantial changes to boost achievement, particularly at the 40 lowest-performing schools, where the goal is to raise proficiency rates by 40 percentage points by 2017.

School system spokeswoman Melissa Salmanowitz was provided with an advance copy of Bhat’s analysis. She said officials could not comment, because they have not had an opportunity to fully review the data.

Median school proficiency rates dropped in poorer parts of the city, including east of the Anacostia River and east of Rock Creek Park in Wards 4 and 5. They rose across Wards 1, 2, 3 and 6, which include the more affluent Upper Northwest and Capitol Hill neighborhoods.

The study points out that performance trends varied widely within every category of school. Since 2008, proficiency rates have risen significantly — by at least five percentage points — at about one-third of all traditional and charter schools. They have declined by that much at another one-third of schools. And one-third of the city’s schools have had modest changes of less than five percentage points.

Filed Under: Breaking News

Newswire: March 12, 2013

March 12, 2013 By

Vol. 15, No. 10

RACISM & GREED? Should our public services be used for people who really need them? Aren’t prisons a place for criminals who defiantly break the law? And how exactly does intentionally breaking the law help children understand the importance of schooling? These and more questions are on our minds as we ponder the actions by President of the AFT union Randi Weingarten this past Thursday, who, upon her arrival in Philadelphia to protest the closing of 23 FAILING (yes that was caps intentionally) schools got herself arrested. Make no mistake — this was planned. Anyone with a big time PR shop like the AFT has doesn’t do these things without much consideration. You could just see her — boarding the plane, arriving in Philly, taking her car to the site, getting poised to protest and WHAM, standing in front of the door to the School Reform Commission meeting just to be carried away to the Klink, the pen – prison! The cheering and hizzahs were incredible, thanks to the adult members of the union who joined her. “This is about Racism and Greed” one sign said. Actually — he’s half right. It’s about the not so subtle racism that pervades a system that makes someone want to keep a bad school open and keep poor kids of color from getting a good education and it’s about the greed of the unions who just can’t let it go.

BABIES TO THE CORE. Those cute little kindergartens we all like to fawn over are apparently getting the shaft in schools that have already started implementing the Common Core standards for young children. It’s not intentional, as Harlem Village Academies Founder & Author (and CER 2006 Honoree) Deborah Kenny writes in a fabulous op-ed. It’s that teaching requires more than a handbook or list of instructions from even the most respected and well-funded efforts to ensure better learning happens in the classroom. The law of unintended consequences that many have been predicting may occur from a national effort to ensure common learning state by state seems to be cropping up all over the place. Hold your fire. Just saying. One could argue that the perverse reaction to NCLB was a bit the same as that to Common Core. Perverse or not, it happens, and we need to be prepared.

CER president Jeanne Allen will join a crowd of experts and researchers on March 25 at the American Enterprise Institute to discuss these issues and more.

SEQUESTER – REVISITED. Each day continues to reveal distorted predications of doomsday in our nation’s schools due to the sequestration. First there was the Arne flap and across the country school districts are crowing that they’ve had to cut millions from their schools. Our investigative eyes are on it, and we have discovered a few more Pinocchios in recent coverage. One example is the report which says that schools on Indian Reservations and Military facilities are hardest hit given their percentage of federal funds. The Washington Post provides evidence in Arizona’s Navajo based Window Rock School District, whose superintendent just last week said that closing schools, cancelling bus routes and cutting positions are among the things she has to do ASAP. “We may have to close those schools — we don’t have any other avenues at all,” Superintendent Debbie Jackson-Dennison said, adding that she will cut five administrators, 25 support staffers and 35 certified teachers by the end of May. School bus routes, vital in a large rural setting, will be reduced beginning this month, guaranteeing that some children will be riding an hour to and from school. But a closer look reveals that this district has had financial problems long before the sequester, and most are a result of bad management. First, the district’s impact aid which the Superintendent says in this press release from September 2012 was likely to be cut because of the sequester back then, and yet, all of that aid has already flowed to the district. Then, apparently the county treasurer was found at fault with his investments causing the district to lose money. Much of the story is outlined here. It’s another example that very often the actual story is much more complex than what is commonly thought.

WHY CAN’T JOHNNY STILL READ? Or at least, why can’t we reach the estimated 33% of kids in this country that are below basic come fourth grade? Just weeks from the 30th Anniversary of A Nation at Risk, we have a nation still at risk and states are grappling with whether to retain or promote. Meanwhile, thousands of schools, which ARE accountable for how their students perform year to year in most states that have charter schools and robust authorizing, are doing it well. And yet…

OPPOSITION REMAINS FIXED ON CHARTERS. …Despite their success, the mainstreamness of it all, the Kumba-ya between both political parties, charters are under constant attack in communities and at some state levels. If they are not under attack, they face an uphill fight to even get approved much less enacted. To wit:

• Maine — Knowing that his charter law is weak and it’s time to educate the public better on the issues, Governor La Page is holding a major summit one week from Friday, March 22, to grow support for the importance of charters. He would not need to do this if his law had not been a political compromise with the establishment.

• Mississippi – Legislators are working on a compromise bill that would allow charters to open in failing school districts under certain limitations, and yet even this very modest bill which is riddled with restrictions is having a tough time gaining traction as a “don’t worry be happy” crowd of Republicans in that state just thinks everything is great for their kids.

• Pennsylvania – Reports of Philly notwithstanding, legislators have introduced poison pill bills to withhold more funding from already underfunded charters. Reform bills are coming, but the powerful school boards lobby remains fixed in Harrisburg.

• Tennessee – An effort to improve and expand that state’s charter bill is wavering, while a proposal by the Governor would create a limited voucher program for 5,000 low-income students in 83 failing schools across the state. If passed, the cap would rise to 20,000 students by 2016. A modest proposal at best, and some lawmakers would like to see a much more expansive program.

• Alaska, Alabama, and Georgia have all seen action recently on charters, tax credits and a parent trigger bill, respectively. Scaled back or compromised by the special interest clout, the progress isn’t near what it should be if Johnny and Jane and Jose and Josephine are expected to read well.

Filed Under: Newswire Weekly Tagged With: , , , , ,

Why DC Can’t Read

March 12, 2013 By

It is just weeks away from the 30th anniversary of A Nation At Risk, and we are STILL struggling with what to do with kids who can’t read. Really?

Read more in the Washington Post article “States draw a hard line on third-graders, holding some back over reading”.

Filed Under: Standards & Testing

Quality Teaching Trumps Common Core

March 12, 2013 By

Successful school leader and one-time CER awardee Deborah Kenny of Village Academies makes the case for good teaching as the key to triumphant kids, not standards alone.

Read her Op-Ed about how the Common Core is affecting how schools handle young children here.

Filed Under: Standards & Testing

AFT President Randi Weingarten Arrested

March 12, 2013 By

Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, thinks jail is apparently the way to show her displeasure with Philadelphia schools closing.

What happened and what she had to say, here.

Filed Under: Unions & Establishment

Daily Headlines for March 12, 2013

March 12, 2013 By

NEWSWIRE IS BACK! Click here for the latest weekly report on education news and commentary you won’t find anywhere else, spiced with a dash of irreverence, from the nation’s leading voice in school reform.

NATIONAL COVERAGE

AFT’s Weingarten On Why She Got Arrested, ‘The Gall’ Of Reformers, Etc.
Washington Post Blog, DC, March 12, 2013
American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten was arrested last week in Philadelphia while protesting a hearing of the School Reform Commission that voted to close 23 public schools. Here’s a Q & A with her about why she went to Philadelphia, what teachers are worried about, and more.

Report: Half Trillion Needed To Update Schools
Associated Press, March 12, 2013
America’s schools are in such disrepair that it would cost more than $270 billion just to get elementary and secondary buildings back to their original conditions and twice that to get them up to date, a report released Tuesday estimated.

FROM THE STATES

ALABAMA

Scofield Responds To Alabama Education Association’s ‘Betrayal Ad
Sand Mountain Reporter, AL, March 11, 2013
State Sen. Clay Scofield, R- Red Hill, recently found himself in the crosshairs of an ad placed by the Alabama Education Association, which claimed he betrayed his constituents with his support of the recently passed Alabama Accountability Act.

Alabama School-Choice Decision as Theater of the Absurd
National Review Online, March 11, 2013
No claim was too ridiculous. But farce doesn’t seem to capture what happened last week in Alabama.

ALASKA

Bill Increases Time Required For Teacher Tenure
Alaska Public Radio, AK, March 11, 2013
Public school teachers might have to wait a couple years longer to acquire tenure rights if a bill proposed in the Alaska House is passed.

CALIFORNIA

Parent Group Receives Proposals To Remake Failing LAUSD Elementary
San Bernardino Sun, CA, March 11, 2013
A group of Los Angeles parents who successfully invoked a state law to take over their failing school have received four proposals on how to remake the school, including one from the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Educators Gathering For Charter School Confab
San Diego Union Tribune, CA, March 12, 2013
Educators from across the state are in San Diego this week for the 20th annual California Charter School Conference.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

KIPP DC Proposes New High School in Southwest Washington
Washington Post, DC, March 11, 2013
One of the District’s highest-performing charter schools is proposing to build a high school on public land in Southwest, drawing mixed reviews from those with a stake in that part of the city.

35% Of Gates Foundation Scholarships Go To Friendship Charter Students
Washington Examiner, DC, March 11, 2013
More than 300 District public school students have received full college scholarships for next year through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

GEORGIA

‘Parent-Trigger’ Bill Bad For Schools
Savannah Morning News, GA, March 12, 2013
House Bill 123, which passed the House and is now awaiting a Senate hearing, is aptly nicknamed the “parent-trigger” bill because it may “trigger” anything from the firing of a principal, switching faculty all over the place or (the real reason) so that a public school could be converted to a charter school.

Byron Council Votes To Transfer Building For Proposed Charter School
Macon Telegraph, GA, March 12, 2013
City Council voted unanimously Monday to give a former elementary school building the city owns to a group working to start a charter school in Byron.

Deal, NAACP In Heated Talks Over DeKalb School Board
Atlanta Journal-Constitution, GA, March 11, 2013
A meeting between Gov. Nathan Deal and leaders of several civil rights organizations took a fiery turn on Monday during discussions on whether Deal should be specifically seeking black candidates to replace DeKalb County’s ousted school board members.

ILLINOIS

A Promise Worth Breaking
Chicago Tribune, IL, March 10, 2013
Chicago Public Schools officials are trying to unload 24 school sites that have been vacant at least 10 years. Soon, they’ll likely have a lot more properties to move in their vast real estate portfolio.

CPS Changing How It Gives Money To Schools
WBEZ, IL, March 11, 2013
Chicago Public Schools is fundamentally changing how it will fund schools next year—giving principals the power to decide how many teachers to hire and what programs to offer.

INDIANA

School Choice Advocates Step Out
The Journal Gazette, IN, March 12, 2013
Supporters of alternatives to traditional public education took to the Statehouse on Monday to encourage lawmakers to continue the fight for school choice.

Gov. Mike Pence: Indiana Needs More Education Reform
Indianapolis Star, IN, March 11, 2013
Indiana needs to keep pushing for more education reform to build on the momentum of the past two years, Gov. Mike Pence told a Statehouse education reform rally on Monday.

MAINE

Portland Charter School Sues Its Founder
Portland Press Herald, ME, March 11, 2013
he board of Portland’s first charter school is suing fired founder John Jaques, demanding that he turn over all school property that he still controls online.

MARYLAND

Montgomery County Report To Focus On Progress In Narrowing Achievement Gap In Schools
Washington Post, DC, March 12, 2013
The Montgomery County Council will be receiving an update on how well county schools are narrowing the achievement gap.

MICHIGAN

Michigan Education Panel Outlines School Reforms At Pioneer High School Event
Ann Arbor News, MI, March 12, 2013
A forum at Ann Arbor’s Pioneer High School to discuss the future of public education in Michigan drew a standing-room-only crowd of nearly 300 people Monday night.

Detroit School Board Seeks Contempt Order Today Against Roberts
Detroit News, MI, March 12, 2013
The Detroit Board of Education is asking a Wayne County judge on Tuesday to hold Emergency Manager Roy Roberts in contempt of a court order that requires both the board and Roberts to work cooperatively in operating Detroit Public Schools.

MINNESOTA

Charter Schools For ‘At-Risk’ Kids: What Are Fair Standards?
MinnPost, MN, March 11, 2013
The school is one of about 25 charter high schools in Minnesota that serve academically at-risk students. This can mean students who are behind in credits, perform well below their grade level, have dropped out of or been expelled from school, are pregnant, have mental health problems or — an increasing problem since the recession — are homeless.

MISSISSIPPI

Miss. House Rejects Appointed Superintendents Bill
Clarion Ledger, MS, March 11, 2013
House members want Mississippians to keep their elected school superintendents.

NEBRASKA

National Common Core Academic Standards Get A Closer Look From State
Omaha World Herald, NE, March 12, 2013
Nebraska’s refusal to adopt the Common Core academic standards in math and language arts could cost students, teachers and taxpayers as 45 other states press full steam ahead to implement them, some educators say.

NEW JERSEY

Matter of Principals: School Administrators Also Getting New Grading System
New Jersey Spotlight, NJ, March 12, 2013
Revamped evaluations, which don’t apply only to teachers, prompt questions from principals association about criteria

Poll: N.J. Teacher Evaluations Too Heavy On Testing
Daily Record, NJ, March 12, 2013
Readers overwhelmingly said they think the state is relying too heavily on standardized testing in its newly proposed plans for assessing the state’s educators, but most also said the evaluations should include test scores, according to a New Jersey Press Media online survey this month.

NEW YORK

Panel Rejects Proposal to Stop School Closings
New York Times, NY, March 12, 2013
A city panel on Monday night rejected a proposal to stop city-mandated school closings in a tense, often raucous meeting, effectively putting any hopes of reversing Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s education policy into the next mayor’s hands.

NORTH CAROLINA

N.C. Charter School Review Board May Be Cut
News & Record, NC, March 12, 2013
The 15-member group that reviews state charter school applications could soon be disbanded. Senate Bill 10, or the Government Reorganization and Efficiency Act, would eliminate a host of state boards and commissions, including the Charter School Advisory Council.

For Better North Carolina Schools, Link Teacher Pay To Effectiveness
News & Observer, NC, March 11, 2013
Thirty years after being warned that America is “A Nation At Risk,” our schools are still not where they need to be. Gov. Pat McCrory says the school system is broken. Teachers complain that they are disrespected and underpaid. Parents wonder whether their kids are getting the education they need for a global economy.

OREGON

Kids Unlimited Charter School Hangs in the Balance
KOBI-TV, OR, March 11, 2013
The Kids Unlimited Charter School, which would serve vulnerable kids in the community, has been five years in the making. But now, there are concerns about a potential conflict of interest.

PENNSYLVANIA

Parents Tell School Board They Plan To Open A Charter School
Sun Gazette, PA, March 12, 2013
Southern Tioga School District board members got an earful from a large contingent of Liberty area residents upset that the board closed their school and will bus their children to North Penn in the fall.

Charter School Controversy Here
Lancaster New Era, PA, March 12, 2013
The School District of Lancaster school board is expected to vote March 19 on whether to approve a charter school application that has generated a lot of hard feelings.

ASD Denies Elderton Charter School’ Application
The Kittanning Paper, PA, March 12, 2013
The Armstrong School District Board of Directors formally voted 8-1 to deny the application of the founding board members to create Everlasting Elderton Charter School.

Pa. Must End ‘Double Dip’ Reimbursement Of Charter School Pension Costs
Allentown Morning Call, PA, March 11, 2013
As our school districts prepare their budgets for next school year, we must account for cyber charter school tuition payments for students who do not attend district schools that divert significant resources from our budgets. When it comes to cyber charter school tuition, our school districts and taxpayers are overpaying these schools, and we must address this issue now.

TENNESSEE

Charter School Authorizer Debate Begins To Heat Up
The Tennessean, TN, March 12, 2013
Both supporters and naysayers of a statewide charter school authorizer are taking their pleas to the streets and asking for support.

Memphis Board Members To Consider Cutting Seniority Pay For Teachers
Commercial Appeal, TN, March 11, 2013
School boards for years have affirmed the value of seniority and advanced degrees by paying teachers more for both. Next week, the board is expected to approve policy changes to ditch them both except for math and science teachers.

TEXAS

Texas Tutoring System Provides A Lesson In Dysfunction
Star-Telegram, TX, March 11, 2013
As with many good intentions, No Child Left Behind meant well with its tutoring mandate: low-income students at consistently struggling schools are eligible for tutoring paid by federal funds.

Teachers Rally In Capitol Over School Reform, Funding, Vouchers
Houston Chronicle, TX, March 12, 2013
Hundreds of Texas public school teachers, rallying Monday at the Capitol, left state lawmakers with some homework for the rest of the year’s legislative session: Allocate more money for schools. Require less testing. And say no to vouchers.

UTAH

Left Behind
Salt Lake Tribune, UT, March 11, 2013
But, despite problems with No Child Left Behind, the concept of leaving no child behind as state lawmakers divvy up revenue for public education is well worth keeping in mind. Some education bills under discussion as the legislative session winds down have lost that focus.

WISCONSIN

Every Child Deserves A Great School
Baraboo News Republic, WI, March 12, 2013
If you’ve been listening to the arguments offered by supporters and opponents of Wisconsin’s school voucher program over the years, you’ve probably noticed each side has a very different focus. Supporters speak up for poor kids. Opponents speak up for the public school system.

A Crash Course On The Constitutionality Of School Choice
Wisconsin State Journal, WI, March 12, 2013
Now that Gov. Walker has announced plans to expand the school choice program, we are hearing gravely intoned “concerns” about the program’s constitutionality. These are expressed, not as claims that school choice violates the state or federal constitution, but as the vague raising of “questions” and identification of “issues.”

State Withholding About $1.3 Million From 5 Milwaukee Voucher Schools
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, WI, March 11, 2013
Five private schools in Milwaukee’s voucher program are operating on fumes this semester as the state Department of Public Instruction continues to hold back about $1.3 million in payments to them.

ONLINE LEARNING

District 304 Holds Hearing On Virtual Online Charter School
Kane County Chronicle, IL, March 12, 2013
What if they gave a party and the guest of honor did not show up? That is kind of what happened Monday at Geneva School District 304’s public hearing on an application to establish an online charter school: Virtual Learning Solutions, which made the application, was a no-show at the hearing.

La. Online Program Chooses To Register
The Advocate, LA, March 12, 2013
Despite legal questions the state is taking applications for online and other courses that will be offered by private firms and colleges, state Superintendent of Education John White said Monday.

Virtual Schools Respond
Albuquerque Journal, NM, March 11, 2013
The basic quarrel is whether charter schools should be able to contract with for-profit companies to provide fully online curriculum. Opponents of such schools say that New Mexico law does not allow for-profit entities to manage charter schools, and that these online companies are essentially managing the schools. Proponents say the charters are locally managed by their governing boards, and the online companies are just providing curriculum, like any for-profit textbook publisher.

Filed Under: Daily Headlines

Can’t Read? Can’t Move on to 4th Grade

March 11, 2013 By

“States draw a hard line on third-graders, holding some back over reading”
by Lyndsey Layton
Washington Post
March 10, 2013

A growing number of states are drawing a hard line in elementary school, requiring children to pass a reading test in third grade or be held back from fourth grade.

Thirteen states last year adopted laws that require schools to identify, intervene and, in many cases, retain students who fail a reading proficiency test by the end of third grade. Lawmakers in several other states and the District are debating similar measures.

Not every state requires retention; some allow schools to promote struggling readers to fourth grade as long as they are given intensive help.

Advocates of the new tough-love policies say social promotion — advancing students based on age and not academic achievement — results in high-schoolers who can barely read, let alone land a job or attend college. Literacy problems are best addressed at an early age, they say.

Critics say the policies reflect an accountability movement that has gone haywire, creating high-stakes tests for 8-year-olds. The child, not the school, bears the brunt of the problem, they say, pointing to research that shows that the academic benefits of repeating a grade fade with time while the stigma can haunt children into adulthood.

“This is completely unsettling. I’m concerned about a number of those legislative initiatives,” said Shane Jimerson, a University of California at Santa Barbara professor who has studied retention for 20 years and found that, from a child’s perspective, being held back is as stressful as losing a parent.

“This is deleterious to hundreds of thousands of students,” he said. “But children don’t have a voice. If you were doing this to any group that had representation, it would not be happening.”

Third grade has become a flashpoint in primary education because it’s the stage when children are no longer learning to read but are reading to learn, educators say. If children haven’t mastered reading by third grade, they will find it hard to handle increasingly complex lessons in science, social studies and even math.

In large urban districts, retention policies can affect a large share of third-graders. In the District last year, for example, almost 60 percent of third-graders were not proficient in reading, according to the city’s standardized tests.

“It’s been that way for a long time,” said D.C. Council member Vincent B. Orange (D-At Large), who is proposing a third-grade retention law that would apply to traditional and charter schools. “And we have to try something different. There has to be a full-fledged assault on the problem in the classroom.”

In some places, retention has morphed from an educational issue into a political fight.

Tony Bennett, Indiana schools superintendent, lost his elected position in November to Glenda Ritz, a teacher who ran because she was angered by Bennett’s third-grade retention policy.

“It was the final straw,” said Ritz, adding that her state should emphasize reading as early as kindergarten and help struggling readers well before third grade. She wants to stop retaining children based on standardized test scores.

Bennett, meanwhile, became state education commissioner in Florida, where the third-grade retention policy has served as a model for other states.

Ending social promotion has become so popular in some policy circles that Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell (R) boasted to a recent meeting of the National Governors Association that he had accomplished it, though Virginia’s laws actually fall short.

“We essentially put an end to social promotion in third grade by major new third-grade reading incentives,” McDonnell told a panel of other governors on Sunday. “I mean, we just do a disservice to these young people, we all see it in our schools. If they get passed along to eighth, ninth grade, it contributes to the drop-out rate if they’re not able to read.”

Virginia requires school districts to identify struggling readers by third grade and provide intensive help. But students do not have to pass a reading test to progress to fourth grade, and schools are not required to retain third-graders who are weak readers.

Literacy is a struggle for many U.S. children, with 33 percent of all fourth-graders nationwide reading below basic levels in 2011, according to federal data. For minorities, the picture was worse: Half of black and Hispanic fourth-graders were below basic in reading.

Children who don’t read proficiently by third grade are four times more likely to drop out of school than those who read well, according to a recent study by the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

A matter of debate for more than a century, decisions about whether to hold back a child usually have been made by teachers and principals in consultation with parents.

But in an accountability era ushered in by the 2002 No Child Left Behind law, the new retention policies offer little wiggle room. Decisions are based on test scores, not the subjective judgment of teachers and administrators. Parents have little recourse. And individual students bear the impact, as opposed to an entire school being sanctioned for failing to perform.

The new approach began in earnest in 2002 in Florida under then-Gov. Jeb Bush (R), who promoted an education strategy that also featured private-school vouchers, data-based assessments for schools and teachers, charter schools and online learning.

Mary Laura Bragg, who ran Florida’s third-grade retention program under Bush, said it forced elementary schools to get serious about literacy. Principals moved their best teachers to kindergarten and first and second grades, she said. Schools sought state funds for diagnostic reading tests and other help.

“I saw a sea change in behavior,” Bragg said. “It’s a shame that it was the threat of retention that spurred these schools into doing what they should have been doing all along.”

A study that tracked third-graders retained in Florida found that they showed significant academic gains in the first two years, but those effects faded over time. Still, fewer students have been retained each year since the policy took effect, which suggests the emphasis on early reading is having an impact.

After leaving office, Bush created the Foundation for Excellence in Education to promote his education policies across the country. The foundation, which reported more than $9 million in revenue and assets in 2011, has lobbied and provided technical and strategic help to state officials and lawmakers who want to adopt third-grade retention laws.

Bragg, now a policy director at the foundation, is in frequent contact with lawmakers and education officials across the country. “Our mission is to help spread reform state by state, and a K-3 reading policy is one of those that states are very interested in,” she said.

In Ohio, Gov. John Kasich (R) signed into law the Third Grade Reading Guarantee, which says that starting this year, third-graders who fail a statewide reading test won’t be permitted to enter fourth grade. Similar laws are rolling out in Indiana, Iowa, New Mexico, Tennessee and Colorado.

Most policies require that schools evaluate children as early as kindergarten and notify parents if their child is below grade level. Schools are required to create a plan for each student and provide intensive reading tutoring, summer reading programs or other help. Most states make exceptions to the retention policy for English language learners, students with disabilities or children who have been previously retained.

Retaining a student can be expensive. In addition to providing additional coaching during the school year and summer programs, districts essentially must add another school year to a child’s academic career.

Paula Peterson, principal at Charles Fairbanks Elementary in Indianapolis, said she’s seen children slump under the weight of Indiana’s new law, which took effect last year.

“The children all knew if you didn’t pass, you weren’t going on,” she said, adding that children who failed last spring’s test were demoralized. “A lot of them gave up. They weren’t trying to do any work. The attitude was, ‘What’s the difference? I failed.’ ”

Of 64 third-graders tested last spring, 29 did not pass. After exemptions were granted, 12 children were held back. Seven of those children did not return to Charles Fairbanks Elementary in the fall; the school is in a high-poverty neighborhood where children are frequently moving in and out, Peterson said. That left five students to repeat third grade.

“I know there has to be accountability,” she said. “But I have a problem with anything that hinges on one picture, on saying that one quick snapshot means anything. One test and everything hangs on the balance.”

Cameron Flint, 9, is intensely aware that she must pass the third-grade reading test this month at her school in Evansville, Ind.

“She talks about it, she’s even cried,” said her mother, Bobbie Flint. “She says things like, ‘I hope I go to fourth grade with all my friends.’ ”

Even though she is an honor-roll student, Cameron finds reading difficult and doesn’t perform well on tests. Her teachers notified Flint at the start of the current school year that Cameron was at risk of being held back.

“I freaked out,” said Flint, who learned that Cameron was almost a full grade behind her peers and is mildly dyslexic. Flint hired a tutor and says her daughter has made progress.

“I feel confident she’s going to pass that test,” Flint said. “But I still feel these tests aren’t fair. It’s good to know where your child stands. . . . But let’s not go so far as saying we’re going to retain your child, and you have no say. Don’t threaten my child and her educational career because of one test.”

Worries about stressed-out children are misplaced, Bragg said.

“The pressure shouldn’t be on the kids, it should be on the adults,” she said.

Ralph Smith, managing director of the Campaign for Grade Level Reading, a collaboration between political, education, philanthropic and business leaders to improve literacy, said the country shouldn’t be arguing about social promotion vs. grade retention. If teachers and schools performed well, the debate would be moot, he said.

“Adults should just do what they should be doing, which is to identify the challenges that kids face and respond to those challenges early,” he said.

Filed Under: Breaking News
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