Cash for school: The D.C. variation

Posted by helen at 10:17 AM

Looks like Washington, D.C. schools head Michelle Rhee is borrowing another page from her mentor's playbook; see this story for her proposal, modeled on Klein's prototype, that students at 14 District middle schools earn up to $200 a month for steady attendance.

That's some kind of walking-around money for young teens and forces some tough questions: What do we teach kids when we pay them to show up? And where's the equity in rewarding some students but not others? What of the kids in schools who aren't getting paid to come to school -- do they strike for their 'due wages'? Badger their parents for allowances that match the city's incentive pay? The mind boggles.

Money for high marks

Posted by helen at 7:58 AM

In a signature transposition of business practice into the education environment, the Klein administration at the DOE has installed a range of mechanisms to pay people -- teachers, principals, and students, at selected schools -- for performance. Today's Times story challenges the merits of a $2 million REACH incentive program (for REwarding ACHievement). Guess what? The results are a mixed bag.

Turns out more high-school students took Advanced Placement exams, which can earn college credit for high-scoring students. Fewer students passed overall, but a fraction more scored at the highest level, 5.

Promoters beg more time to show stronger results; critics say there are better ways to spend that kind of (private) money, despite similar programs' rising popularity in schools nationwide. And you can bet that man-about-town Joel Klein will face sharp questions on the program in his three public appearances today, at a REACH briefing, an NAACP event in Brooklyn and a Teach for America welcome-teachers evening program. But a quote at the end of the story caught our eye: Kati Haycock, director of the DC-based Education Trust, says that "rich kids get paid for high grades all the time and for high test scores by their parents."

Do you pay your kids for good grades? Do you reward effort (trying hard) or outcomes (the grade itself)? And what's the line between motivation and bribe -- between incentive and payoff? We don't think parents have deep pockets for report-card shakedowns, but we could be wrong...

GOP spin on NYC schools

Posted by helen at 10:04 AM

John McCain (or his ghostwriter) spun an impressively bold segue from public-school reform to private-school vouchers in this editorial in the Daily News. Touting the Mayor and the Chancellor, along with Rev. Al Sharpton, as visionary ed reformers, McCain cites their efforts as evidence of school failure -- anyone else miss the logic here? -- and promises private- and religious-school vouchers as his vision of public school reform.

Read Sharpton's praise for McCain here, if you're curious.

Even with the spin, the editorial asks a big, legitimate question: Sharpton, Klein et al are at the forefront of the Education Equality Project, which defines education as an essential civil right for all Americans. Barack Obama, whose daughters attend private school, hasn't yet weighed in. As the AFT-endorsed candidate, we'd welcome his views.

Weekly news round-up: politics and product placements

Posted by Lindsey at 11:40 AM

More money woes this week: city funding for pre-K programs run by community groups was cut in half, leading to the overnight evaporation of about 300 seats. Yet Obama accepted the endorsement of the national teachers union (AFT) union, vowing his commitment to "quality, affordable early childhood education for all our children,” and McCain announced his intention to fully fund No Child Left Behind, offer private school vouchers and put tutoring funds directly in the hands of parents. Ambitious plans on all sides, given the current economic climate.

Meanwhile, NYC education bigwigs are going national: Joel Klein is hoping to advise the next president and UFT President Randy Weingarten was elected head of the AFT. She says she's staying in New York for now (and announcing fresh lawsuits on behalf of city teachers) but just might be grooming a successor. Klein, who claims accountability as his hallmark reform, might want to explain why it apparently took a newspaper article to stop the city school bus system from “losing” parent complaints.

Children's health came under fresh scrutiny: A new report confirms what parents have known for eons -- that America’s active kids morph into sedentary teenagers – and documents health risks that have led others to recommend cholesterol meds for kids. And each successive scandal that the Administration for Childrens Services (ACS) faces tragically impacts the city’s most vulnerable citizens.

Too many teens are stuck in middle school , according to a report released by Advocates for Children. While some kids in the Bronx are apathetic about keeping their neighborhood clean, juvenile offenders are helping restore and reopen classic American diners. And the Times celebrated high school theater geekdom at its best, which seems a lot more wholesome than the current crop of product-infused teen novels. But for now, ditch the screen, shut the book, and get out! It's summer.

Bloomberg, Klein to school House panel

Posted by helen at 9:45 AM

Quiet week in NYC? Head down to D.C.: Tomorrow morning, Mayor Bloomberg and Schools Chancellor Joel Klein will address a House panel on progress in urban education, along with D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty, Klein protegee D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee and public school leaders from Chicago and Atlanta.

We bet we'll hear about test score gains and closing the achievement gap -- but we doubt the conversation will include troubling nuances, like the fact that race-based gaps between brighter kids widen over time, even as they narrow for kids with lower skills. And we bet we won't hear the nitty-gritty on why level 4 test scores have dropped for middle schoolers this year: Will anyone ask about the price bright students pay in a system so focused on raising low-level student skills?

We'll likely hear about charter schools and merit pay, about leadership pipelines and increasing accountability. We'll hear about rising grad rates -- but bet the numbers they cite will be based on old data, as the newly calibrated scores are yet to be made public.

Will we learn anything new? We doubt it, but we'd love to be wrong. As it stands now, though, our bet is on celebration over substance, and photo-ops over hard questions.

A toast to test scores

Posted by Lindsey at 5:15 PM

It was a love-fest today at PS 178 for New York City’s educational leadership. Ongoing battles over budget cuts were tabled (momentarily) as the Mayor, Chancellor Joel Klein, UFT president Randi Weingarten and CSA rep Ernie Logan lauded city children’s performance on the state ELA and Math tests, which were announced today, and are posted on line here. The credit for the steadily rising test scores (with still-glaring gaps between grade 4 and grade 8 achievement), was generously shared as speakers thanked each other, the children, the parents, the teachers and, of course, themselves.

Each speaker in turn emphasized how much work educational reformers in New York City have yet to accomplish.

“It’s a wonderful day for New York,” the Mayor said, before adding this caveat: “If history looks back and says, 'this is a high point,' shame on us.”

Big Picture: Two New Initiatives

Posted by helen at 8:12 AM

This week marks the launch of two new initiatives that share strikingly similar aims -- improving school outcomes for high-need urban kids.

The first report, produced by a superstar task force at the Economic Policy Institute, aims to address shortfalls of NCLB's test-driven strictures by turning attention to the whole child, especially the socioeconomically challenged. Schools have long stood in loco parentis, despite mixed feelings and lean resources; this project endorses stronger engagement and a bigger investment in children's development (social, emotional, academic, everything) from the earliest years. It's a stance that's hard to argue, and reminds some of Geoffrey Canada's groundbreaking Harlem Childrens Zone.

The second, headed by the unlikely alliance of Chancellor Joel Klein and Brooklyn's own Rev. Al Sharpton, the Educational Equality Project, was announced yesterday in Washington, DC. (A roster of notable participants include Newark mayor Cory Booker and DC Schools Chief Michelle Rhee.)

This effort reframes the guaranteed right to public education as the pressing civil rights issue of the 21st century -- a point made even sharper in the context of vastly different graduation rates for urban students of color, compared with white and Asian peers: Although grad-rate gaps are narrowing slightly, about half of all African-American and Hispanic high school boys in New York City won't graduate.

The end of the school year is always a time for taking stock and planning for the future. Executing those plans, and achieving lofty goals dearly held, is the challenge that awaits.

DOE: Rethinking for Next Year?

Posted by helen at 12:03 PM

With the pre-K dust still swirling and hundreds of middle-school families still waiting for official word on where their children have been placed, the citywide admissions process obviously needs rethinking. Politicos like Betsy Gotbaum, Bill deBlasio, Brookyn borough president Marty Markowitz and others are challenging the DOE to review, and redo, applications as needed. (DeBlasio, a public-school parent, is also waiting for middle-school news for his own child.)

The difficulties are undeniable, and the cures uncertain. But while the DOE says they'll work to clarify whatever confused parents this year ahead of next year's applications, they don't (yet) explain how they will address and amend this year's problems. It's increasingly difficult to wait with a degree of patience.

Comments like "it's simply not correct to say that we're running way behind" on middle-school notification, which Andy Jacob wrote to me this morning, sorely test that patience. Earlier this week, he said all letters were to have gone out by Monday June 2. Now, he says, "some of the assignments went out last week. ... Some of them went out earlier this week. All the letters should be out by today." Does that 'should' make you nervous, too?

We are working with the DOE, seeking detailed comment on specific enrollment and admissions questions. We hope for their candor and prompt communication. And for the reader who wondered, where's Chancellor Klein in all this? He's in Washington, DC -- giving a talk this afternoon at the American Enterprise Institute, on the challenges of revitalizing urban schools.

Chancellor Klein: Always wear sunscreen?

Posted by Philissa at 8:03 AM

In a couple of hours, Chancellor Joel Klein will give the Class Day address at Columbia; he graduated from the school in 1967. Lots of seniors were nonplussed by the choice, Columbia's student newspaper reported last month. Barnard's got Klein's boss, Mayor Bloomberg. But hey, boring speeches mean more time for blowing up beach balls and stealing bases, right?

Chancellor to principals: "Money isn't everything"

Posted by Philissa at 4:51 PM

Chancellor Klein understands that principals are furious about the mid-year budget cuts. That's why he emailed them on Monday to tell them how much he wants to help them (through their Integrated Service Centers, of course) and to explain that the city has shielded schools from budget cuts for years and is making cuts now reluctantly and "in such a way that respects principals' decisions." He wrote:

More money is always welcome in education. Everyone in our City -- from principals to parents to the Mayor and me -- always wants to see budgets increase. But we also know that money isn't everything. Some schools in our City are literally doing more with less. They were shortchanged in the past -- but [are now] achieving better results for kids.

No excuses, right? View the whole letter on the Class Size Matters' yahoo message board.

School budgets slashed; CEO principals not given much say

Posted by Philissa at 6:23 AM

You must be living under a rock if you haven't heard about the significant school budget cuts that the DOE made last week. In addition to the $324 million that schools will need to cut from their budgets next year, principals were also lost 1.75 percent of this year's budget — before they could even stop to think about where to find the money.

As of early last week, the DOE hadn't actually told principals that they would each have to cut a total of $180 million from their budgets; principals had to learn about the plan from the newspapers. I spoke to a principal on Friday who said she received an email at night informing her that she would have to cut $125,000; when she woke up in the morning, the money was already gone.

While the DOE will be making some cuts centrally, most of the reductions are being passed down to individual schools. The Times reported that the cuts will range from $9,000 to $447,587; for many schools, it's possible that the cuts will undo the Fair Student Funding gains they might have seen earlier this year.

As the mayor suggested earlier this week, Klein told the Times that principals will "have to tighten some programs." He suggested that principals might eliminate after-school activities or Saturday tutoring programs. But even if principals were okay with making those cuts, it looks like the losses might go deeper; Steven Satin, principal at Norman Thomas High School, told the Times that he has to cut the equivalent of "six teachers' salaries for the rest of the term" from his budget. The Daily News reports that schools in Queens have already canceled dance classes, disbanded a class taught by a long-term substitute, and cut tutoring programs. Also on the chopping block centrally: two of the 10 planned citywide standardized tests (NY Times); some ESL teaching positions (NY Times); and the Lead Teacher program (last Monday's PEP meeting).

Principals disagree with the DOE's ideas about what ought to be cut, and they've been circulating emails with sarcastic (and yet eminently reasonable) suggestions for the DOE. From the Times on Friday:

The principals in their e-mail chain of complaints wondered whether their evaluations would take into account constraints because of budget cuts, and also spoke disparagingly of the city’s contracts with I.B.M., which developed the $80 million computer system, and as one principal put it, “a whole host of other private, for-profit corporations that have entered into our world.”

The DOE considers principals the CEOs of their schools, but it sounds like many principals continue to put their students, not the notion of business efficiency, first. Chancellor Klein is testifying at a legislative budget hearing this morning in Albany. For which philosophy will he advocate?

Student Thought: My letter to Chancellor Klein on the new report cards

Posted by Seth Pearce at 2:27 PM

Dear Chancellor Klein,

My name is Seth Pearce. I am a senior at LaGuardia High School and a member of the NYC Student Union, a citywide, student-run and -created education advocacy organization. I am writing to you to express both my support for your new school progress report program and my criticism of some of its parts.

At last week's NYC Student Union meeting, students from schools around the city discussed the progress reports. Some students supported them and others didn't. There was, however, a general agreement on the need for accountability in our schools. These progress reports bring added accountability and transparency to our city's schools. They help give valuable information to our city's parents. The most important benefit of the progress reports might be increased involvement from these parents who now have a clearer view of what's going on their children's schools.

While I support the principle of the progress reports, I also believe that the system needs revision. A large problem with your report card is the small amount of influence the Learning Environment section has on the overall score. Attendance is also as a major indicator of school performance. Students who go to bad schools will probably go to school less often and vice versa. If students are in the habit of going to school it is more likely that they will progress academically and proceed to the next level of education. Surveys should also play a larger role because parents, students and teachers have the most direct insight into the schools output.

I would also like to say that while standardized test scores deserve a place in the progress report they are given too much value in this system. While they provide some insight into student performance, they are inadequate and distract from the real business of education: teaching and learning. Emphasis on these tests also devalues the roles teacher and student. Furthermore, the need for constant progress to succeed in their progress reports is unrealistic for high performing schools and can actually distract them from the great work they are doing. In my mind the importance of progress for these purposes should be taken on the sliding scale determined by a school's previous performance, e.g. progress would more important for low performing schools.

Thank you for taking the time to hear a student's opinion. If you ever want to read some student commentary about our school system, check out the NYC Students Blog or stop by at one of our Monday meetings.

Have a nice day,

Seth Pearce
seth@nycstudents.org
http://nycstudents.org

Student Thought: Report Card Report Card

Posted by Seth Pearce at 11:54 AM

B

What does this grade mean?
Your [The Department of Education's Report Card program's] overall score ranks within the 45th-85th percentile among accountability strategies for an incomparably large school system. Although this is a step in the right direction for accountability and is necessary in a system this large, some of the factors you grade schools on are a little misguided.

School Environment- Out of 15%
A large problem with your report card is the meager amount of influence this section has on the overall score. Attendance should be seen as a major indicator of school performance. Students who go to bad schools will probably go to school less often and vice versa. If students are in the habit of going to school it is more likely that they will progress academically and proceed to the next level of education. Surveys should also play a larger role because parents, students, and teachers have great insight into schools' output.

Student Performance- Out of 30%
High-stakes testing is not a great way of measuring results. Test-taking requires an entirely different skill-set from learning. Its emphasis also reduces the amount of actual teaching and learning that takes place in our schools. However, it is still the most feasible way of assessing student performance and deserves to be a factor (albeit a smaller one) in a school's overall grade.

Student Progress- Out of 55%
Measuring student progress is a toughie and the McGraw Hill period assessments are a great way of doing it. Maybe with ARIS you can track a student's grades and how they've improved or worsened over time. Also: Tracking a student's progress from 8th to 9th grade is ridiculous and impossible. Puberty and the transition to high school make expecting all students (especially boys) to progress academically is unrealistic. After being a really good student in middle school it took me until my sophomore year to really get back on track. This section should bear less weight.

Additional Credit
I have to agree with Errol Louis on this one. It is a step in the right direction. Hopefully these assessments will show over time that principal empowerment is a good idea (as it has been at LaGuardia). Accountability is necessary. These report cards help spread the information to the public and let parents get a better picture on how their school is doing. However, the factors of assessment and their weights need heavy revision. Also, the system of relative letter grades will help the DOE and the other education wonks out there learn more about the benefits of competition between public schools in a system as large as New York's.

Joel Klein's new report card system gets a B. It's an interesting and well-intentioned concept but like Joel Klein's other programs, it is most definitely a work in progress.

Bonuses for top-performing DOE officials?

Posted by Philissa at 12:46 PM

Wow. The Sun today reports that top DOE officials and aides will be eligible for bonuses based on the test scores of the students their responsibilities affect. According to the article, Chancellor Klein has asked about 100 top administrators to draft their own performance goals, which he and others will monitor. If they meet those goals, improve student test scores, and get good reviews from principals, the administrators could get performance bonuses as early as June.

I can't even begin to figure out what I think about this new development. The incentives are coming fast and furious out of the Chancellor's Office and at this point we have no way of telling how they will affect schools and students. But no one can say that the mayor and the chancellor aren't doing a darn good job of replicating the features of the business world that they have long said they admire.

At NYC Public School Parents, Leonie Haimson is incredulous about the new plan. She writes:

So let me get this straight: if test scores improve enough in our schools, even if this leads to a ridiculous amount of test prep and/or cheating, and if graduation rates improve, even if this causes increasing numbers of students to be suspended, transferred or discharged from our schools, then the already overpaid officials at Tweed will get even more of our taxpayer money for being able to further degrade the conditions for authentic learning at our schools.

I'm not quite so cynical, but it's valuable to remember that with higher stakes comes increased potential for corruption. For that reason, the DOE needs independent oversight of all of its data -- before they're used to make decisions, not audited after the fact. If we could trust the DOE when it says things are on the right track, I would feel a lot better about its leaders getting performance bonuses.

A new reason to email Chancellor Klein

Posted by Philissa at 10:14 AM

Chancellor Klein has always said you can email him directly (jklein@schools.nyc.gov) with difficult questions or complaints. But now, thanks to President Bush, he could start getting emails from school officials nationwide who want to find out just how the DOE has managed to close the achievement gap in New York City. Speaking in New York yesterday, Bush suggested that people "email" the DOE to learn its success secrets, the Sun reports today. Whether the improvements are real is another story. Either way, members of the Chancellor's Strategic Response Group have their work cut out for them.

What Bush and Klein talk about when they talk about schools

Posted by Philissa at 4:42 PM

President Bush and Chancellor Klein are spending time together today, the Daily News reports. The meeting is a chance for Bush to congratulate Klein on the Broad Prize and talk up the upcoming No Child Left Behind reauthorization. The Washington Post noted yesterday that NCLB might be in for a name change; perhaps Donna Shalala's (I think sarcastic) suggestion of "Children First!" is more likely than she thought. (Via TAPPED)

2007-08 the year of parent engagement?

Posted by Philissa at 3:03 PM

We can hope so. If recent experience with the DOE is any guide, though, it's more likely to be merely the week of parent engagement.

Today, Chancellor Klein, along with Office of Family Engagement and Advocacy CEO Martine Guerrier, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, and Alonta Wrighton, principal of PS 11 in Brooklyn, held a feel-good press event to announce the DOE's newest family engagement efforts. The highlights: the creation of District Family Advocates to replace the old Parent Support Officers; Guerrier's office's "year-long, citywide public information campaign," soon to be found on subways and buses; expansion of access to translation services; and better support for the Community Education Councils.

I hope these much-needed improvements make a difference for parents who have felt for years that the DOE doesn't adequately address their questions and concerns. But how will the DOE make sure that these engagement efforts pay off? Remember, as the press release points out, "principals will be evaluated in part based on the effectiveness of their School Leadership Teams, half of which is comprised of parents."

Oversight is a central issue at two meetings tomorrow focusing on the DOE's parent engagement initiatives. The City Council's education committee is holding a hearing on the initiatives starting at 10 a.m. (Map) and the Chancellor's Parent Advisory Council also has parent engagement on the agenda for its 10 a.m. meeting in Tweed, where Guerrier and Klein are expected to appear (Map). We hear there may also be some kind of press event on the steps of City Hall at 11 a.m. It looks like it will be a busy morning for the DOE's parent engagement gurus -- we'll let you know what we find out from those meetings, but if you are able to go, please let us know your take as well!

Klein and Colbert: fun, but truthiness* questionable

Posted by Philissa at 4:02 PM

If you haven't seen Joel Klein's "Colbert Report" appearance yet, you can check it out on ComedyCentral.com. Klein had a big smile on his face and was quick on his feet; the DOE evidently is proud of his performance because it was included in the department's email newsletter today. The New York Times' City Room blog has the transcript, and commenters there are having a field day poking holes in Klein's plan to pay students for their grades and suggesting alternatives. Klein's defense sounded strong on TV, but it needs to be fact-checked -- has anyone ever heard of a study finding that financial incentives for abstinence actually work?

*No, I know that truthiness isn't a real word. But don't tell that to Colbert, or to Merriam-Webster, which gave it "word of the year" honors last year.

TONIGHT (9/12): Joel Klein on Colbert Report

Posted by Philissa at 6:31 AM

Joel Klein is the featured guest tonight on Comedy Central's satirical "Colbert Report." While Stephen Colbert is not known for conducting hard-hitting interviews, it should be fun to see the chancellor get a kind of question he's not used to. The Post reports that Klein's new PR guru Kerri Lyon, who is charged with getting more positive stories about the DOE into the press, asked "Colbert Report" producers for the slot.

"Colbert Report," 11:30 p.m. on Comedy Central (Channel 45)

Independent research board to audit DOE data

Posted by Philissa at 12:51 PM

Following up on its revelation that increasing test scores might have more to do with easier tests than smarter kids, the Daily News now reports that Chancellor Klein is setting up an independent audit bureau to review test data, which historically have been reported by the same city and state education departments being judged by the tests.

The independent Research Partnership for New York City Schools has been in development for the last year, according to its website, which lists members of the bureau's working groups but hasn't been updated in months. I'm pleased to see the DOE taking seriously criticisms that cut to the core of its recent reforms, but Sol Stern of the conservative Manhattan Institute is wise to question whether the bureau's members will be able to evaluate the data impartially, given that many of them have "an interest in what the research will show."

The bureau, which is being supported with private money, will hold a conference Oct. 5 but is likely to take the entire school year to get fully up and running, the Daily News reports.