Children should be educated and instructed in the principles of freedom. - John Adams
Obama administration education secretary Arne Duncan, who is the former CEO of Chicago Public Schools, put the word out to the states that the federal government plans to hand out some free cash in 2010 and 2011 to states that are willing to change the way their schools are run. The $4 billion “Race to the Top Fund” will have portions awarded to schools that score high on six factors: high quality assessments and rigorous international standards; data systems that track student achievement; teacher and principal evaluation systems; improvement of lowest-performing schools; support of charter schools and progress in closing the achievement gap. Arne Duncan is the man responsible for killing the Washington, D.C. student voucher program earlier this year despite impressive evaluations that showed voucher students reading nearly half a grade ahead of the non-voucher students. The benefits also showed the compound effects of the program are very promising. According to the Wall Street Journal , a study released in April of this year showed that voucher students were 19 months ahead of non voucher students after just 3 years of the programs existence. Now Mr. Duncan and his department have come up with a replacement for the No Child Left Behind Act that sounds eerily like the NCLB act. Delaware Secretary of Education Lillian Lowery who stepped into the fiasco that was the Christina School District and righted the financially capsized ship by ordering full and completely transparent audits has suggested that Delaware is in good position to secure some of the major federal government grants. Reviews of the current state education system with regards to the factors that the United States Department of Education will use to grade the states suggest that Dr. Lowery may be a bit overly optimistic.
High Quality Assessments and Rigorous International Standards
The recently abandoned 12 year old Delaware State Testing Program (DSTP) is the only available benchmark for Delaware’s assessment habits. If the Department of Education grades are based on the results of that program Delaware is sure to fail to make the grade. The DSTP’s all or none approach did not take into account achievement improvements or overall growth. It also singled out special needs and ESL students by placing a burden on the teachers that often resulted in teaching to the test as opposed to teaching to the students. For all of the effort and time that went into the testing the educational benefits realized were far from adequate. Delaware students on average went from being at or just below basic proficiency in most subjects to being at or just above basic proficiency despite the average annual cost of $6.29 million over the last 5 years. Delaware is slightly ahead of the announcement of a renewed focus on high quality assessments in some respects. The state Department of Education has decided after 12 years to scrap the DSTP test in favor of a computer based testing system called the Delaware Comprehensive Assessment System (DCAS). DCAS will be a computer based test that will bring Delaware into the 21st century. DCAS appears to be promising and it does seem to address some of the problems with the DSTP.
When the administration suggests “rigorous international standards” one cannot help but to wonder if it is referring to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organizations list of “standards”. The World Conference on the Right to and the Rights in Education held by UNESCO adopted the Amsterdam Declaration which among other things suggested “THAT the use of tools of direct democracy in educational governance (such as referenda) is potentially harmful of minority student rights;” Secretary Arne Duncan said at the 2009 Governors Education Symposium that “We think that every state should set internationally benchmarked standards and assessments that prepare students for success in the workforce and college. World-class standards are the foundation on which you will build your reforms.” In the same speech, Secretary Duncan made sure to clarify those comments, “Your standards must be rigorous and they also must be tightly focused on the most important things students need to know. Right now, standards are too broad, covering 35 to 40 topics per subject in each grade as opposed to 15 or 20 standards in many high–performing countries. Teachers scramble to cover everything—a little of this, a little of that, and not enough of what's really important. They can't dig deeper on a challenging subject that excites their students. And students can't master material when they are racing through it. We must limit standards to the essential knowledge and skills our kids need so teachers can focus in depth on the most important things their kids should know. And once these standards have been created—and reviewed by professionals in every state—I encourage you to adopt them.” Arne has repeatedly reiterated these statements over the last year. Is there any doubt what subjects would be cut to ensure that our children meet the “rigorous international standards”? If there are doubts, let’s look at the text books used during the formative years of learning in the Chicago Public Schools where Arne previously ran the show. The name of the history textbook series is “A History of US” and it is published by Oxford Press. In 2006, during a Mel Gablers review, 126 errors were found. The text is also found to have a double standard against Christians and ignores the relation of the first Great Awakening to the Revolution. It focuses far more on gender inequalities and sexism, has barely a whisper about the violations of the rights of the American colonists under the British Constitution and fails to even mention “Constitutional Convention conflicts over choosing the president (Electoral College), tariffs (no export tariffs) or the 2/3s Senate majority to ratify treaties”. The student text goes on for 41 lines on a “1600lb cheese" given to Thomas Jefferson by Massachusetts citizens yet it does not discuss Washington's Neutrality Proclamation, Jay's Treaty, or the 1807 Embargo Act. The text book also openly and without passed judgment discusses Indian and Mexican racism toward whites and ignores the Indian massacres of British garrisons as well as the vicious nature of the Indian attacks. Judgment is passed however in a negative light when discussing the British practice of executing Indian prisoners and William Tecumseh Sherman’s use of the term “final solution” when referring to killing Indians. In fact, the independent review of the 5 textbooks approved by the California education department rated “A History of US” dead last. If the CPS will use such a text on students from 4th through 8th grade and focus units in the 8th grade curriculum on titles such as “Growth of Labor/Industry and Immigration (late 1800s-early 1900s)”, “Progressive Era and The Gilded Age”, “U.S. Imperialism” and “World War I; Rise of Communism”, how can we expect any national standards to use anything different?
Data Systems to Track Student Achievement
Delaware is actually moving in the right direction to incorporate a good data system that can accurately track student achievement and improvement. The only thing really missing from Delaware’s current plan to move forward is a capital injection to rewire and connect our schools through technology. Delaware’s move toward computerized testing gives the state a nudge toward pumping much needed capital dollars into education technology. Our schools, especially in the city, badly need technology dollars. Imagine our students with computers on every desk, video monitors connected to the rest of the world and the ability for teachers to tie into live instructions given by the world’s leaders in various fields. Imagine schools that can shift and move with its students needs. Now imagine that parents can also tie into their children’s classes and be up to date with their instruction. For instance, schools could establish a database of parents within a website created for each school. Parents could access cameras through a secure website that would allow them to follow their children (and only their children) throughout the day. Children would be tracked through a GPS device attached to their assigned classroom Netbook. Teachers would be able to dynamically update a webpage created for parents that would hold the students school records including instant behavioral updates. Student testing would be done using a PC and the results would be immediately available to parents. Schools would begin this program in stages and some classes such as writing and arithmetic would utilize the Netbook less or not at all as they are formative subjects that rely heavily on penmanship. States would then be able to manage, track and adjust funding and aid to correspond more directly with student and school performance. It would also allow an avenue for educator evaluations to be based on performance in the classroom as well as students test results.
Teacher and Principal Evaluation Systems
By infusing technology into our schools educators and administrators will be able to be evaluated in new and more effective ways. Currently Delaware schools rate their teachers overall as effective. In the Lake Forest School District last year 99% of the educators were rated as effective with seven schools listing 100% of their educators as effective. In the Lake Forest School District students in grades 2-8 met or exceeded state goals by an average of 86.5%. 87.9% of the 8th graders in the Lake Forest School District are reading at or above expectations. By 9th grade the percentage of students meeting or exceeding reading goals drops to 59.5% and rises to just 63.9% in 10th grade. Math scores in the Lake Forest School District paint a somewhat bleaker picture with scores dropping from 82.4% meeting or exceeding goals in 8th grade to 46% in 9th grade with a slight bounce back to 56% in 10th grade. Lake Forest High School students scored 61 points below the state average on the SAT’s and 141 points below the national average. Despite the problems at the high school level not a single teacher has been let go for under performance. Even the Red Clay School District received a large majority of “effective” evaluations despite below 65% of 9th graders meeting or exceeding goals in mathematics and 68.9% meeting or exceeding goals in math. Less than 67% of 11th graders are meeting or exceeding goals in science and social studies and yet virtually no one loses their job over performance. How can that be given that the Delaware State Education Association describes the Delaware Performance Appraisal System as “probably one of the better evaluation systems across the country”? Well it’s because the DSEA is actually the union that represents and supports the teachers and not an independent agency that can fairly grade such a system. In fact, the DPAS II system is more of a “suggestion” than an evaluation. Teachers do not set hard goals for themselves and no mandates are handed out to teachers who do not meet their goals. In fact, achieving the goal is “encouraged” but not required to receive a “satisfactory” rating. There are no pay penalties for teachers that fail to meet their goals, no censure and no real means of probation. Of course the teachers union would find a system that contains no means of holding educators or administrators accountable sets no hard goals for the teachers and has no consequences to schools, educators or administrators as a good evaluation system.
Delaware will never succeed and really do justice for its children if it doesn’t address the wide range of issues that lead to the states failing grades. The curriculum must be more rigorous and it must focus on the American value system. The whole DPAS II system is a farce and must be totally torn up and thrown out. Teachers pay must be based not on tenure as it currently is, but on performance. Administrators must be graded by how well their school does in areas including: Code of Conduct Violations, Educator Performance, Student Performance, Parent Opinion and School Board Review. An educator evaluation system that utilizes new technology to track and monitor educators must be developed and used to hold the teachers accountable. Teachers should also submit to random video reviews of their classes just as collection agents and sales associates do. Peer reviews should be done and both parent and student appraisals should be factored in. In the end there must be consequences for our educators and administrators. It’s time to hold them accountable for their ineffectiveness or for their effectiveness. Ineffective teachers should be placed on academic probation, receive a temporary pay cut and should be mandated to participate in a more strict review process that more closely examines the educator, sets mandated goals and suggests strategies and processes to help them achieve them. Teachers who are habitually ineffective regardless of tenure must be demoted, suspended or fired.
Improvement of Lowest Performing Schools
The state’s responsibilities don’t stop there. Students who come from tough communities, infested with crime and poverty are generally among the worst performers. Most of the 16 schools that have either been forced to restructure under the No Child Left Behind Act or that are planning to restructure are in or support undeserved communities. Most of these same schools have not improved and in fact they have gotten worse in many cases. The children that attend these schools come from communities that must be cleaned up. The government must create a business climate that encourages economic growth and help to create private sector jobs especially in and around hard hit communities like Wilmington. The communities and local, city and state governments must work together to clean and beautify the communities and create a sense of ownership for the residents. Residents today don’t see much value in caring for their communities because they don’t feel like they own them. They don’t feel like the government is doing what it should be doing, protecting them. Instead, they see the government pushing jobs out of the state in record numbers. Two auto plants that have employed close to 10,000 at times were closed earlier this year and nearly 700 jobs are being lost early next year when the state forces the Valero plant in Delaware City to shut its doors. Sallie Mae who recently came to Delaware stands to lose thousands of jobs in Delaware if the United States government continues on its path to take over the student loan industry. State government should be bringing businesses to Delaware not pushing them out.
By investing in new technology based capital investments for all of our schools the state can ensure the sanctuary and safety of our schools that doesn’t exist right now. A child is as likely to get beaten up inside the school as they are outside of the school. In 2005, 24% of students reported gangs at their schools with an unchanged number reporting gangs in 2007. Drugs, sex, violence and immorality in our schools are chasing away the educational aspect and turning schools into a social gathering house. The school boards so far have addressed these issues with “Zero Tolerance” policies and bussing. These policies have not fixed the problems but instead have exacerbated or shifted the problem. Simply bussing problem students from one school to another only shifts the problem child and their problems to the new school to affect those other children, it does not address the root causes of the issue. “Zero Tolerance” policies have been proven ineffective and expensive. According to the NASP zero tolerance policies lead to increased expulsion and suspension rates which in turn elevate the dropout rates but do little to curb behavior or limit violence. At an educational level, by returning to the sanctuary school mentality and instituting new technology based capital solutions teachers will be freed up to focus on the learning needs of their students. Also, introducing new technology based solutions to the students will bring them new tools to help them learn better and work smarter in the school environment.
Support of Charter Schools
Delaware has been under fire in recent years for its poor support of charter schools. Delaware does not currently provide capital funding to charter schools which means that each charter school is responsible for its own startup costs and building construction. The state does kick in dollars to cover some of the operating costs but the lack of capital funding leaves many charter schools unable to get off the ground. The state General Assembly is out of session until after due date for the application submission in the Race to the Top lottery so Delaware is likely to receive a failing grade in this area. Also, the state’s teachers union has engaged in a vicious attack campaign against the state's charter schools since 2008. According to a report done by the News Journal in June of 2008, the DSEA hired Belden, Russonello & Stewart Research and Communications to develop a campaign to affect the expansion of charter schools. The Washington based PR firm suggested that the union focus on the funding of charter schools as a reason to limit them and to “use teachers to carry the message.” Greg Meece of the Delaware Charter School Network has described the attacks by the DSEA as “a jihad against charter schools.” This push by the teachers union led to the General Assembly passing a moratorium to prevent any new charter schools from applying to the state. Given the sway that the unions have in the state it’s unlikely that the legislature will be able to change much in the coming year either.
Going forward, it’s hopeful and likely that Dr. Lowery will push for more capital support for charter schools but the sticking point will be with the DSEA. It’s unlikely that Dr. Lowery will succeed or even try to break the strangle hold that the DSEA has on the Delaware legislature. Without a change in the law to allow capital support for charter schools Delaware will not keep pace with the growing number of states that already provide that support to charter schools. Given the climate in Delaware with the union control of the legislature it’s more likely that private schools will continue to crop up across the state and that public school support will continue to wane.
Progress in Closing the Achievement Gap
The achievement gap that exists between white students and black students in Delaware schools is narrowing but is still too large for comfort says Delaware’s “Vision 2015”. The focus on the racial inequalities is a concern as the actual distinction should be made on community and societal factors. The real disparities are found in the communities from which the children come. It’s true that the majority of our roughest communities are predominantly black and that our suburbs are dominated by white families but that is where the racial divide ends. It’s not about black and white; it’s about the community and the facilitation by parents. The educational disparities are easily passed off as racial problems despite studies found in other countries that poor white students do worse or as bad as poor black students. In America 70% of black children are born to unmarried mothers. By contrast 27% of white students live in fatherless homes. Also, city schools or schools that serve rough neighborhoods that are overrun by gangs, drugs and crime become overrun with those same gangs. A story by Patrick Welsh, an educator in Alexandria, Virginia shows the same kinds of insanity that goes on Delaware’s schools
“Perhaps nothing shows how out of touch administrators are with the depth of poor students' problems more than the way they chose to start this school year. The Alexandria School Board had added two more paid work days to the calendar, a move that cost more than $1 million in teachers' salaries. So the administration decided to put on a three-day conference they dubbed "Equity and Excellence." We were promised "world-class speakers." If only that had been true. As part of the festivities, Sherman formed a choir of teachers and administrators that gave us renditions of "Imagine" and "This Land Is Your Land." Sherman closed the conference by telling us that if we didn't believe that "each and every" child in Alexandria could learn, he would give us a ticket to Fairfax County.
Now, six weeks into the academic year, some 30 fights -- two gang-related -- have taken place at T.C. Williams. I wish those three days had been spent bringing students to school to lay out clear rules and consequences and for sessions on conflict resolution and anger management.”
The fact is that the “achievement gap” is directly related to the societal, familial and community settings in which these children are raised. Bussing them to new schools doesn’t address the root cause issues as these students return each day to those same undeserved communities that are failing them today. Instituting “Zero Tolerance” policies gets the students out of the school system but does nothing to help the student. Delaware and by extension America can never make any more progress in closing the achievement gap until it recognizes that the gap is not necessarily a racial gap but is instead a societal gap. Instead of instituting "School Based Health Clinics" our congressional leaders need to step back and look to the state governors in order to rebuild the education system from the ground up. Economic development, community revitalization and integrating job, mental health and counseling services into these communities as well as an increased focus on closed circle families, parental involvement in education and localized education are the necessary focus areas for America generally and for Delaware specifically to reform education and truly bring the achievement gap to a close. It's time to reinvest in the founders.
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