Transcript Slide 1

Readings for November 2,4 One reading made optional!
Topic: Alternatives to top-down reform
School-based reform options in Chicago,
Milwaukee, and Sao Paulo
Today Thursday, October 28 Lecture Write 3
• 1. E-RESERVES, MICHIE, G. “Another Path Is Possible”
pages 27-32. Rethinking Schools, 24, 1 Autumn 2009
• 2. E-RESERVES PETERSON, B. “Big City Superintendents:
Dictatorship or Democracy? Lessons from Paulo Freire” 7
pages Rethinking Schools, 24, 1 Autumn 2009
• *****OPTIONAL 3. E-RESERVES DARDER, A. “John
Dewey and Paulo Freire: Comrades or Foes?” in Insights
• 4. TOZER, SENESE, VIOLAS Chapter 13 Primary Source
Reading “The Essential Supports for School Improvement”
pages 440-442. McGraw-Hill Foundations of Education
Reader, Tozer, Senese, Violas (2009)
For 5 points extra credit on Exam 2, be able to summarize in one
paragraph the key ideas behind the centrist neo-conservative view and the
school policies that emerged during the 1980s and 1990s.(Berliner and
Biddle, 137-138, Lecture Notes). What were the problems with schools?
Why were these solutions supported?
A Nation at Risk inspired Federal support by all administrations
since President Reagan for:
• Higher standards
• Holding schools accountable
• Proof based on test scores
• Competition among schools
•
http://learningmatters.tv/blog/on-the-newshour/race-to-the-top-making-history-an-introduction/3410
/
Race to the Top
From the Blueprint
Full bill yet to pass
Secretary Arne Duncan
Plans to “soften sanctions”
• Provide rewards
• Raise bar—everyone ready for college
• Link merit pay for teachers to test scores
• Give teachers more autonomy
• Drastic measures for bottom 1% of schools
Race to the Top
• Rigorous and fair accountability for all levels. All students will
be included in an accountability system that builds on college- and
career-ready standards, rewards progress and success, and requires
rigorous interventions in the lowest-performing schools.
• We will celebrate the Reward states, districts, and schools that do
the most to improve outcomes for their students and to close
achievement gaps, as well as those who are on the path to have all
students graduating or on track to graduate ready for college and a
career by 2020.
• All schools will be aiming to do their part to help us reach that
ambitious goal, and for most schools, leaders at the state, district,
and school level will enjoy broad flexibility to determine how to
get there.
•
http://vimeo.com/7905225
Arne Duncan Incentives
2:28 seconds
No Child Left Behind
States must set standards.
States must test all students in
reading and math grades 3-8 and
once in high school.
For the first time
FEDERAL RULES
MANDATES SPECIFIC
PROGRESS GOALS
Within Content Areas:
Reading and Math Scores-School & District must
Meet Adequate Yearly Progress
Combines 3 Elements
1. Student Performance— Meet a set pass rate
and All SUBGROUPS must pass
2. Student Participation in testing.
95%
3. School Progress over time to 100% pass rate
of all students in grades 3-8 by 2014
100% Pass Rate by 2014
PROGRESS
TO 100% IN
ILLINOIS
TO PASS AYP All subgroups must
meet the standard pass rate.
• Grades 3-8, and once in High School
Subgroups SIZE DIFFERS state-to state: Three
years ago Illinois increased subgroups from 40 to
45, groups are:
Race/Ethnicity
Economic Background
English Proficiency
Disability (now 3% Alternative Tests)
DIVERSITY PENALTY
AYP is determined by making
it over all 18 hurdles (9 hurdles
for reading and 9 for math) by
disaggregation of data.
Reading
Composite American
Indian
Asian
Black
White
Hispanic Students with Low
Disabilities Income
LEP
Composite American
Indian
Asian
Black
White
Hispanic Students with Low
Disabilities Income
LEP
Math
Diversity Penalty
(Darling Hammond, 12)
Diversity Penalty—the more
subgroups, the more ways to
fail.
New York set subgroups at
30 students in the school to
be a valid subgroup, Illinois
set subgroups at 45.
MANY URBAN SCHOOLS ARE
CHALLENGED BY GREATER
DIVERSITY IN THEIR STUDENT
POPULATION
FEDERAL REGULATIONS CONTAIN STRICT SANCTIONS
When schools fail to meet AYP this timeline begins….
When scores are computed, and schools’
(subgroups) are below standard, then the
School Improvement Timeline takes effect
Miss AYP
Miss AYP
Miss AYP
School Improvement Yr 1(CHOICE)
Miss AYP
School Improvement Yr 2 (TUTOR)
(supplemental educational services)
Miss AYP
Corrective Action
Miss AYP
Restructure (planning year)
Restructure (implement plan)
RESULTS OF STATE TESTS
Composite (Group) scores on state tests don’t tell
the whole story either (Darling-Hammond, 19)
2003
•
•
•
•
•
Laura
James
Felipe
Kisha
Raul
100
90
80
70
20
2004
90
80
70
65
transfers out
“The Collision of New Standards and Old Inequalities”
Professor Linda Darling-Hammond, Stanford University
School of Education
• Some of the unintended consequences
– Teach to the test
– Limited English Proficiency (LEP) groups will never reach
100% (proficient students move out of the group)
– Students with disabilities are not on grade level but have
IEP that reflect “instructional” level
– Teachers leave “needs improvement” and “failing” schools
– The more diverse a school, the more likely to have a
subgroup fail to meet the standard “diversity penalty”
– Loss of funds to struggling schools $$$
– CHOICE Transfer programs need non-failing schools with
open slots
– States will consider lowering standards
– Pressures on students will increase the dropout rate
No Child Left Behind
Testing for Students with Disabilities
• 2001 No Child Left Behind requires testing of all students with
disabilities as a targeted group for Adequate Yearly Progress.
• Alternative Tests--Began with allowing 1% of students identified as
having a disability to take alternative tests, later increased to 3%
alternative tests (Spring,185) .
• The remaining students with disabilities must take grade level tests.
• Follows Inclusion Philosophy- Full access to curriculum and higher
teacher expectations, students will receive more attention because
their tests results count for AYP.
No Child Left Behind
Testing for LEP Students
• 2001 No Child Left Behind requires testing of all students with
Limited English Proficiency as a targeted group for Adequate
Yearly Progress.
• Permitted tests in their native language in math and reading for the
first three years they attend school in the United States
(Spring,185) .
• Problems for some states in the availability of tests in Spanish and
other languages, plus the costs of LEP tests.
Based on history and current results, a test
based system assures a high failure rate.
40% of the nations’ schools have been
labeled as failing AYP over the past five
years
Will high-stakes testing
encourage lower standards?
How can assessments be used to improve
achievement according to Darling-Hammond?
• Value Added Assessments
– Give achievement tests on read and math levels at
the beginning of the year.
– Test at the end of the year.
– Assess advancement in grade levels.
• Diagnostic tests that match to curriculum to
target interventions for students.
– Assess specific skills
– Re-teach skills as needed.
Darling-Hammond recommends that we evaluate schools based
on school organization, resources, and improving teachers’
skills. And support schools that need to improve:
• Qualified teachers
• Strong curriculum
• Opportunities to learn
Race to the Top
Qualified Teachers
• Teachers are the single most important resource to a child’s
learning. President Obama will ensure that teachers are supported
as professionals in the classroom, while also holding them more
accountable.
• He will invest in innovative strategies to help teachers to improve
student outcomes, and use rewards and incentives to keep talented
teachers in the schools that need them the most. President Obama
will invest in a national effort to prepare and reward outstanding
teachers, while recruiting the best and brightest to the field of
teaching.
• And he will challenge State and school districts to remove
ineffective teachers from the classroom.
Race to the Top
Includes changing reward structures for teachers.
Pay for Performance of Teachers has many different options:
1.Assess Teachers’ instructional skills
2. Test Results (Could include: bringing % of students to
grade level, or % students with value added improvements
during the year based on where students scored at the beginning
of the year).
• Bonus systems-extra pay for test results Recently Chicago
Teachers’ Union agreed to a bonus system, see Chicago Tribune
Article by Keilman, John. "School districts retooling how they
evaluate teachers." Chicago Tribune . (2009 Nov. 9): 1 of 3.
OR
• Salary increases and job termination based on test scores
•
http://learningmatters.tv/blog/on-the-newshour/race-to-the-top-teacher-unions-friend-or-foe-pt-3/4329/
However, A CALL FOR HIGHER ACCOUNTABILITYSHOULD
MEAN “two way” accountability Professor Darling Hammond,
Stanford University
• In exchange for being held accountable states
should provide:
– for upgrading facilities
– new textbooks
– higher teachers’ salaries
– more resources
– creating more opportunities to learn
– incentives to attract more qualified
teachers
Study of Outcomes of NCLB 2007
http://www.pbs.org/merrow/tv/newshour/teachers_take_on_nclb.html# (Bailey Elementary, Virginia)
“Teachers Say NCLB Has Changed Classroom Practice”
Education Week, June 15, 2007.
Since 2002:
Students scores on state tests have improved.
Greater focus on testing taking.
More multiple choice tests.
Lower teacher morale.
Teachers complain that state tests don’t align with standards.
In the 1990s, most states respond to the Federal
Government call for HIGHER STANDARDS. By 1997,
Illinois set 2 goals and articulated state standards of
learning in all subjects.
1) Higher Student Achievement--all students
to meet the Illinois Learning Standards by
performance on TESTS
Outcome: States developed tests to correspond
with standards--Illinois Standards
Achievement Test (ISAT), Prairie State Test
(11 GRADE, now includes ACT)
2) Higher graduation rates
Are you concerned by the amount of high
stakes testing in our schools?