Ideas in education

AN ACT RELATIVE TO THE ACHIEVEMENT GAP

January 26, 2010

Re: Education Reform Legislation

Dear

In the last couple weeks, the Legislature passed and the Governor signed An Act Relative to the Achievement Gap (S. 2247), an education reform bill that aims to systematically improve student success, narrow the achievement gap for low-income students and students of color, and increase accountability in school administration. Many constituents have shared their views on this bill with me over recent weeks, and I have truly appreciated your advocacy and input. While this bill is not perfect, I cast my vote in favor of it because I believe it takes important steps toward addressing some of our most urgent and persistent needs and putting our children on a path to success.

As you may know, I sit firmly on both sides of many of the debates that have surrounded this bill. As a former public school teacher, I have seen impressive victories happen in our district schools, often against long odds. I have also seen the immoral inadequacies that exist within our current public school system and know many children are being failed by it. And I know that charter schools in my district have changed the lives of thousands of students for the better. At the same time, I believe firmly that, as a state, we must craft a system that serves the thousands of children who will remain in district schools even if we lift the cap on charter schools.

When this process began, I set out the goals I would be fighting for in the bill. Below is an accounting of how An Act Relative to the Achievement Gap addresses those core goals:

   * A sense of urgency when it comes to fixing failing schools.  The bill puts in place strict timelines for turning around failing schools, including deadlines for superintendents and the Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education (the “Commissioner”), who are charged with improving underperforming schools.  It also provides serious new tools for school administrators to implement in our failing schools, including expanding the school day or school year and providing for increased opportunities for teacher planning time and collaboration.  By lifting the charter school cap, the bill also ensures that more children, especially students in low-performing districts, have additional school options.  Under this bill, 30-35 school districts will be eligible for an increase in the cap.

   * Equality of service delivered by charter schools to high-need populations, such as special education students, English language learners, and students with less engaged parents.  The bill requires charters to set specific goals for recruiting and retaining high-need student populations and requires the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education to assess, at the time of charter renewal, the extent to which charters have followed their recruitment and retention plans for such populations.  It also requires charter schools to commit to population goals more comparable to what our district schools serve.  While the bill takes a step in the right direction here, it is an area in which more work remains to be done.  An amendment I filed to the bill that would have required charter schools to be evaluated, in part, on progress in reaching annual goals did not pass, due to charter school opposition.  However, I will continue to fight for all our schools to be held to high standards of accountability.

   * Fairness in the funding mechanisms used to apportion money to district and charter schools.  To assist districts in budget planning, the bill allows tuition payments from districts to charter schools to be based on prior year enrollment numbers.  With respect to the state’s role in reimbursing sending districts for students who enroll in charter schools, the bill more accurately recognizes the overhead costs that stay with the district school even after the student leaves.  In addition, the bill preserves a single line item for district schools and charter schools in the state budget, ensuring that funding is linked, in recognition of the fact that charter schools are public schools.

   * Effective transfer of best practices between district and charter schools.  The bill requires charter schools to share best practices with district schools as a condition for charter renewal.  The bill also requires the Commissioner to collect and disseminate best practices and urges superintendents to develop strategies for underperforming schools to study best practices in areas of demonstrated deficiency.

   * Teacher participation in the development of the standards by which we measure schools’ success.  The bill requires the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to develop a measure that takes into account, not just MCAS scores, but also “improvement in academic performance” in determining which schools and districts are “underperforming,” for purposes of takeover by a superintendent or the Commissioner.  This combination of measures more accurately reflects the value added to a student’s education each year, especially in low-income and urban districts, where MCAS scores alone will often show low performance even when great strides have been made.  (Contrary to some public perception, this provision does not narrow the number of school districts eligible for an increase in the charter school cap.)  In addition, the bill includes teachers in the stakeholder groups charged with coming up with turnaround plans for underperforming schools.  The final bill also preserves some critical fairness principles, such as giving teachers speedy but due process when superintendents seek to make changes to the collective bargaining agreement.  The bill also requires a showing of “good cause” before a superintendent can terminate a teacher in an underperforming school.

As a member of the Joint Committee on Education, I worked long and hard with the Chairman of the Committee, my other Senate colleagues, constituents, and education stakeholders to ensure these key principles were addressed.

Finally, the bill recognizes something we have known for a long time: that all of this work must be undertaken in conjunction with other community supports and services. In creating plans for underperforming schools and districts, superintendents and the Commissioner must include steps to: (1) address the social service and health needs of students and their families, in order to help students arrive and remain at school ready to learn; (2) improve or expand child welfare services and, as appropriate, law enforcement services in the school community, in order to promote a safe and secure learning environment; and (3) improve workforce development services provided to students and their families at the school.

Thank you again for reaching out to my office and for your continued advocacy, which is so important in bringing about better public policy in our Commonwealth. I look forward to working with you going forward, as we monitor the on-the-ground impacts of this bill. Please do not hesitate to contact me or my Legal Counsel, Angela Brooks, at (617) 722-1673 or angela.brooks@state.ma.us, should you have any additional questions or concerns.

Saludos,

Sonia Chang-Díaz State Senator Second Suffolk District

A sense of urgency

the bill looks rushed, sloppy, repetitive and ill considered.

Equality of service

"delivered by charter schools to high-need populations, such as special education students, English language learners, and students with less engaged parents." The law fails to do what you claim to want to do. This is a toothless law. Why bother. It boils down to a trading of mailing lists. The charters get the addresses of all the public school students for marketing purposes and they give back a list of the zip codes of their selected students. How is that equal? Charters are to make a good faith effort because in 5 years somebody may ask them about it when the charter is up for renewal.

We could call this the Cherry Picking Assistance Act. If you, as a state senator actually want to work in the interest of high-need populations, such as special education students, English language learners, and students with less engaged parents and (can I add disruptive students here). I challenge you to help me place some of those students from my school into the charter schools. Just giving 3 or 4 students from each of my classes that opportunity could make an enormous positive difference in what gets accomplished in my classes and in my school. In meetings with students and parents I could give out charter school promotional material and then hand the family off to your staff "in conjunction with other community supports and service" to ensure that they are given equal consideration for enrollment.

Fairness in the funding mechanisms

The part at the end of the act seems to be some minor fiddling with the formula. The give-away of public resources and power listed as "Education Collaborative Trust Funds" seems both irresponsible and ill-considered. Let's see: each charter school gets its own school committee representative AND the power to go after the Federal and State money that the city of Boston kids are eligible for. What about my school and all the other Boston Public schools. Why don't we each get a board and school committee representation to ensure that we get a share of that money? You have given the green light for private companies to siphon off taxpayer money earmarked for Boston kids. One could interpret the recent history of Boston Public Schools as the same kind of dis-empowerment in letting organizations like the Boston Plan For Excellence siphon off grant and taxpayer money intended for Boston kids, using it hire consultants to develop and endless array of programs to be sold back to the schools. The corporization of education is complete on your watch. I fear the concentration of power and the giveaway to charters. In a state among the most corrupt in the nation, where our disgrace of a government has had its last three House Speakers removed for corruption and the top leaders in the Department of Education implicated in the improper awarding of charters for new privatized schools and given that you campaigned on an anti-corruption platform, one would think you would be more cautious than to allow these 'trust' funds.

Teacher participation

You often claim the former teacher mantle and I guess there is nothing wrong with that. Many people try teaching for a couple of years and then decide that they want to move on to something else. So I can see how you would relate to the charter school model where young people teach for a few years, add it to their resume and then go on to law school or education administration or senator. What bothers me is your calculus. You compare seeing [some] district victories to knowing charters improved thousands of lives. There are 14 charter schools, many with very mixed records. There are 135 Boston Public Schools. How do you know thousands? By reading their press releases? By MCAS score comparisons? Do you correct for selection method, disability, factor in those who drop out to public schools. Who wrote the study you base your knowledge on? There is nothing in this bill for teachers or for the vast majority of students in Boston. It is as top down as it can be. It is a sellout that you could never get away with in a rich suburban community.

students for the betterhappen in our district schools

I have seen impressive victories happen in our district schools, often against long odds. I have also seen the immoral inadequacies that exist within our current public school system and know many children are being failed by it. And I know that charter schools in my district have changed the lives of thousands of students for the better. At the same time, I believe firmly that, as a state, we must craft a system that serves the thousands of children who will remain in district schools even if we lift the cap on charter schools.in the development of the standards by which we measure schools’ success

I believe it takes important steps toward addressing some of our most urgent and persistent needs and putting our children on a path to success.

I sit firmly on both sides

I believe firmly that, as a state, we must craft a system that serves the thousands of children who will remain in district schools even if we lift the cap on charter schools.

A sense of urgency rush the bill.

set specific goals for recruiting and retaining high-need student populations ... to assess [5 years later], at the time of charter renewal,

Effective transfer of best practices between district and charter schools.

The  education collaborative shall be  managed by a board of directors which shall be comprised  of 1 person appoint ed by each  member school committee and 1 person appoint ed by  each  member  22  charter board of trustees.23 

Each board of dir ect ors of an education collaborative shall  establish and  manage a trust fund, to  be  known as an Education Collaborative Trust Fund, and  each such fund shall be designated by an  38  appropriate name. All  monies contribut ed by the  member  municipalit ies and charter schools and all  39  grants or gifts from the federal  gover nment, state government, charitable foundations, private  40  corporations or any  other source shall be paid to the board of dir ect ors of the  education collaborative and  41  deposit ed in the fund.  42 

apply for state, federal or corporate grants or contracts  to obtain funds necessary to carry out the purpose for which such collaborative is  established57 

The board of directors of the  education collaborative shall be consider ed t o be a public  employer  and  have the authority t o employ personnel, including teachers, to carry out the purposes and functions  67  of the  education collaborative68 

 (1)  expand, alter or replace the curriculum and program offerings of the school,  including the  implementation of research­based  early literacy programs, early int ervent ions for  198  struggling readers and the t eaching  of advanced placement courses or ot her rigor ous nationally or  199  int ernationally recognized courses, if the school does  not already have such programs or courses; 

(2)  200  reallocate the uses of the  exist ing budget of the school;201 

(4) increase the salary of any administrator, or teacher in the school, to attract or retain highly­  205  qualified administrators, or teachers or to reward administrators, or teachers who work in  206  underperfor ming schools that achieve t he annual goals  set forth in the turnaround plan; 

(5) expand the  207  school day  or school year  or both of t he school; 208 

(7) following consultation  with applicable local unions, requir e the principal and all administrators,  teachers and staff to reapply  210  for their positions in the school, wit h full discr etion vested in the superint endent  regarding  his  211  consideration of and decisions  on rehiring based on the  reapplications. 

(8) limit, suspend or change 1  or  212  mor e provisions of any contract or collect ive bargaining agreement, as the contract or agreement applies  213  to the school; provided, that the superint endent shall not reduce the  compensation of an administrator,  214  teacher or staff member unless the hours of the person are proportionately reduced;215 

(14) develop a strategy to search for  and study best practices in areas of demonstrated deficiency in the school; 225 

(b) The purposes of  establishing charter schools are: (i) to stimulat e the development  of  innovative programs  wit hin public education; (ii) to provide opportunities for innovative learning and  900  assessments; (iii) to provide parents and students  wit h greater options in selecting schools  wit hin and  901  outside their school districts; (iv) to provide t eachers with a vehicle for establishing schools with  902  alternative, innovative  met hods of  educational instruction and school structure and  management; (v) to  903 encourage perfor mance­based  educational programs; (vi) to hold t eachers and school administrators  accountable for students' educational  outcomes; and (vii) to provide  models for replication in ot her  905  public schools.  906 

Each local school district shall be required to  grant a leave  of absence t o any t eacher in the  public schools syst em request ing such leave to t each  in  a commonwealth charter school. A t eacher  may  1272  request a leave  of absence for up to 2 years.  1273 

widget

quotes

Are teachers just interchangeable widgets? I just lost my teaching assignment, the job I had for 4 years of teaching humanities to seniors. The stated reason was that we should all be able to teach in any position. I guess this is better than last year. Last year I was told in the middle of the summer that I would be teaching tenth grade. On the first day of school I was told I was teaching twelfth grade after all. Some teachers found out what they were teaching a class they had never taught before. They found out on the first day of school. The students are the ultimate victims of this widget philosophy.

Being a good teacher requires a tremendous amount of thought and design in preparation for the school year; on average I spend a couple of hundred hours even on the classes I have taught for years. In order for the material to be compelling to your students it has to be fresh and compelling for you.

The beginning of the year has its own significant requirements for preparation. Every day you are getting feedback from your new students. Their individuality combined with the chemistry of each class has an enormous effect on your ideas of what you are going to do the next day and every day.

The Widget Effect by The New Teacher Project takes a critical look at how we view and value our teachers. It is their view that, "a culture of indifference about the quality of instruction in each classroom dominates". I find this to be true.

They postulate that, "If districts could systematically identify which teachers perform at the highest level, they could use this information to inform teaching assignments, target teachers for teacher leader positions, and prioritize the retention of these teachers." I wish it were so easy.

The authors move from "If districts could systematically identify" to "yes districts can systematically identify." This is a huge leap and one that neglects the very real problems that make education such a messy business.

In 30 years of running a company I became very dependent on having a systematic approach to product quality and customer satisfaction. Applying good business management practice will certainly reap improvements, but the run-it-as-a-business approach has already become part of the underlying problems.

One example is the mission statement / shared vision / team approach to education promulgated by advisers based in business culture. Being on board is viewed as an indication of being a good teacher. Questioning the 'vision' is seen as detrimental to school culture.

It is thought that teachers can be objectively evaluated using "performance standards based upon student achievement outcomes" and to a certain extent this is probably true. But we have created an industry that produces these standards measures externally from the classroom and another whole industry that creates products to help you meet those standards. It all becomes very self-referential and removed from the classroom and its students.

Additionally we have the political dimension. Opinion leaders identify problems and schools try to address them. A "good" high school, for example is one in which students pass the standardized tests and graduate. A mayor or other official may expand the definition, perhaps instituting a plan in which the number of AP offerings must be increased by some percentage in a district.

While on the face of it all of these ideas have some merit, as they become intertwined with the definition of a good teacher, we move further, not closer, to understanding and recognizing good teaching and good education. A "good" teacher agrees with the vision and happily consumes the products and lingo of the publishers, consultants and Ed. schools. A "good" teacher defines student expectations in line with the what makes the school look good and successful.

Systematic identification of good teaching is far from a foregone conclusion in the real world of education. The very forces who say they would like to see it are often working against its realization. The externally influenced definitions of what good teaching is may have little to do with what it actually is. The Boston Teacher Residency teaches these external measures to its new teachers. Teachers attempt to comply, teaching the the script that they are given at the pace that is approved. They are immunized, cleared of responsibility for their students by their compliance with the strategies and standards. Their superiors are trained in the same vein by the Boston Principal Fellowship Program. The Ed. schools produce these programs in collaboration with Harvard Business School and they are implemented by NGO consultants with an interest of wresting education from the grip of the evil teachers' unions.

The New Teachers Project oversimplifies the issue of why there are bad teachers. "The contours of this debate are well-known. One side claims that teacher tenure and due process protections render dismissal a practical impossibility; shielding ineffective teachers from removal in all but the most egregious instances. The other argues that the process provides only minimal protection against arbitrary or discriminatory dismissal, but that administrators fail to document poor performance adequately and refuse to provide struggling teachers with sufficient support."

The report has collected some interesting data. It states,"47 percent of teachers report not having participated in a single informal conversation with their administrator over the last year about improving aspects of their instructional performance". With all of the external forces acting on the administrators, I am not sure that they are even capable of having that conversation.

A more important conversation needs to happen and it needs to happen as the normal course of business. If the administration wants to support good teaching than it has to know what is going on in the classroom so that they are able to bring their considerable influence to bear in helping to make a case for that specific education to students they see in the halls and to motivate those students and keep them motivated. They cannot rely on platitudes.

My students don't buy platitudes. They have been burned by them before, left high and dry while the rest of the world sails into an optimistic future. Part of being a good teacher is the ability to help students understand and define their own educational challenges, set personal goals and see them as attainable. A good administrator elicits those goals from and reinforces them.

When I ran a construction company I made certain to see what 30 or 40 workers on a building site (of say 14 houses) were doing every day. I talked to each of the workers about how the job was going, was there anything in your way, did you see any problems. I did that and I ran a carpentry crew, working with the tools for 6 hour each day. It was a management style that worked, we produced good housing and we all made a good living.

A school like mine (~300 students, 20 teachers) needs a leader who is involved in the education that is going on in the building. That involvement requires commitment, time and effort. It should not be delegated. Ask your teachers individually, every day: What are your current challenges? What are you thinking of doing to address them? Elicit ideas and contribute your own. Spend time in the classrooms to see how the ideas you toss around with your teachers are working out then catch up with them in the hall between classes and compare notes; judge together what works. It will be huge benefit to students. Students respond positively to an adult in the room. They are pleasantly surprised when someone knows what they are working on. It makes their work more important to them. All of this should become the core job definition. Avoid the bureaucracy, do what you have to quick and dirty, ignore what you can.

My school spans parts of 3 floors. I have seen my headmaster on my floor 3 times this year. She was never in my classroom in spite of my open invitation. There are 2 other headmasters and another 4 or 5 people fulfilling administrative functions. Administrators define their job as protecting the students from the teachers. I worked for a city bureaucracy too and it wasn't as big but the Dept of Neighborhood Development was just ineffectual and distracting from the real job of building houses as BPS and its consultants are distracting to the real work of education.

I was in the Boston Public Schools schools for 13*3 school-years as a parent. Involved parents got good at finding out who the good teachers were. We wanted our kids to have those teachers and wanted administrators who would stay out of their way. That was the best we thought we could get. Clearly that isn't enough. Supporting good teaching needs to be reformulated from the top down. You don't bring out the best in people with a periodically applied, computerized carrot and stick. "A comprehensive performance evaluation system...that credibly differentiates teachers" has to happen every day, it has to be local and it probably has little to do with a system. Teachers give up and get to stay since no one cares to check as long as they talk the talk. I would hypothesize that you can't hide having given up on your kids if someone is checking in with you every day and talking with you about what inspires you about your material and how you intend to inspire your students. If it is not working it should be self evident. A bad teacher will realize and accede that they can't do the job. Teachers wake up in the middle of the night and ask themselves that question anyway. There is no job as hard in my experience. I cannot say with certainty how long I will last. The administration usually gets to you first. I'd like to be in the classroom for as long as I am good at solving the puzzle of the kids, am inspired by my material, know I have something to say and still have the energy to run the show.

other

• http://www.aft.org/innovate/index.htm

http://www.tntp.org/newsandpress/060109_TNTP.html

"On education, we will expand exchange programs, and increase scholarships, like the one that brought my father to America, while encouraging more Americans to study in Muslim communities. And we will match promising Muslim students with internships in America; invest in on-line learning for teachers and children around the world; and create a new online network, so a teenager in Kansas can communicate instantly with a teenager in Cairo.

On economic development, we will create a new corps of business volunteers to partner with counterparts in Muslim-majority countries. And I will host a Summit on Entrepreneurship this year to identify how we can deepen ties between business leaders, foundations and social entrepreneurs in the United States and Muslim communities around the world." - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/04/obama-egypt-speech-video_n_211216.html