There’s one bright spot in this ongoing recession, and we’re not talking about the Dow breaking 10,200.  A new report from the advocacy group Pre [k] now says that, despite severe budget shortfalls, states have increased pre-k funding by more than $64 million.

“In light of the tough fiscal environment, the news for young children is surprisingly good,” writes Susan K. Urahn, managing director of The Pew Center on the States, Pre [k] now’s parent organization, in a letter accompanying the report.

Fifteen states increased pre-K  funding, and nine others and the District of Columbia expect spending increases through school funding formulas, the report says. Texas, which has a school funding formula, also saw a legislative increase.  Funding remained the same for six states. And just 10 state legislatures cut pre-K spending. (One state’s budget not completed in time for the report.)

Despite this relatively good news, the report criticizes states like Ohio, Michigan, and Illinois for cutting preschool funding. Those decisions “will cost thousands of young children the opportunity to enter kindergarten better prepared,” the report says. “ At the same time, rising unemployment and declining economic security mean families are even more in need of publically funded programs like quality early learning.”

The national economic picture might be slowly improving, but state budgets “are projected to get worse before they get better,” the report says. In such a climate, it might be easier, politically, to cut funding for poor children, who don’t vote and can’t match the lobbying power of wealthier and well-placed interest groups.  But to do so would hurt our nation’s long-term economic health and prevent thousands of disadvantaged children from reaching their potential.

Lawrence Hardy, Senior Editor

Courtesy of StockVault

Here’s a great way to test the accuracy and rigor of your state reading and math tests: Fill in the multiple-choice section of each test by answering at random.

Leave the rest of the test (such as essay questions) blank, and then use the test’s scoring key or raw score conversion table to see how you fare.

If you live in New York City, you’ll score well enough to be promoted to the next grade.

How is that possible? It should be obvious. Some states have dumbed down their exams so they can show improving student proficiency, keep voters happy, and avoid sanctions mandated by No Child Left Behind.

People have complained about the dumbing down of state tests for years. But, let’s acknowledge that, even with the best of intentions, state education officials need years of effort—with constant tweaking—to maintain a sound accountability system that accurately measures student progress.

But whether deliberately or accidently, education officials sometimes trip up spectacularly. That appears to be the case in New York City, where Daily News reporter Meredith Kolodner found this summer that “the number of correct answers needed to score a Level 2 to get promoted has sunk so low that a student can guess on the multiple choice selection and leave the rest of the test blank.”

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For years, special education has largely focused on ensuring equal rights and access to inclusive classrooms or the least restrictive environment.

There wasn’t much talk about whether some students really needed to be identified, even though many special educators saw firsthand that some populations, most notably African-American boys, were overidentified. And some pundits often claimed school officials were identifying too many students to receive extra funding.

Then research began to show the importance of early interventions, and a strategy called Response to Intervention (RTI) was born. It’s not a program, it’s a framework that helps catch students early on, when they first start to show signs of difficulties in learning.

The irony is, RTI is often called the best thing to happen to special education since the original version of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act was enacted in 1975, but it’s not really about special education.

RTI was included in the 2004 reauthorization of the IDEA, but it’s designed to identify, diagnose, and prescribe treatment for problems before a student falls far behind. Often, that means the student does not enter special education, but if they do, there is a much better chance that they need to be there.

The Boone County, Ky., school district saw its number of referrals for special education drop 300 percent once they implemented an RTI program, and officials there have no doubt the students are getting more appropriate educational services.
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 Two days after Walter Cronkite’s death, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Frank McCourt passed away earlier this week at the age of 78. I was fortunate to interview them both. You can find my Q&A with Cronkite here  and my January 2006 interview with McCourt below.

 McCourt’s childhood memoir, Angela’s Ashes, won the Pulitzer Prize in 1997. The sequel, ‘Tis, sold millions and remained at the top of the bestseller lists. In November, he added a third chapter: Teacher Man, a memoir of his 30 years in New York City’s schools.

Teacher Man, like its predecessors, pulls no punches. And neither does McCourt, who called teaching “my mission.”

After two successful memoirs, why write a third book?

You retire from teaching and you have time for reflection. When I look back on 30 years, one of the things that emerges is the reputation and status of teachers in this country. We have a patronizing attitude toward teachers. People think of it as the profession of failures. We have respect for movie stars and football players and CEOs, but the teacher doesn’t get respect. I find that appalling.

I don’t understand why there is such hostility. The public doesn’t know what the teacher does in the classroom, what sorts of varied roles you have. I certainly didn’t know it when I went into the classroom, and I certainly had to fumble around until I learned what I was doing.

You didn’t write Angela’s Ashes until you were 66, and in Teacher Man, you say that you didn’t read much because you were so busy grading your students’ work. What did you learn from reading their work?
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Stimulus funds up the ante for public schools
USA Today, May 5
School districts are gearing up to receive the first payments under the federal economic stimulus, but some are concerned that a two-year span is not enough time to generate big gains.  
More

White House to seek input on education law
Associated Press via Boston Globe, May 5
Education Secretary Arne Duncan is a man on a mission: to hear what teachers, students, and parents in at least 15 states think about No Child Left Behind. 
More

CDC expert urging cautious approach to swine flu
Associated Press via Google, May 4
Federal health officials are rethinking their advice that schools consider closing for as long as two weeks because of swine flu, a recommendation that has already given an unscheduled vacation to 330,000 students. 
More

L.A. school officials call for legislation easing firing of teachers
Los Angeles Times, May 4
Top Los Angeles school officials  called for new state legislation that would make it easier to dismiss tenured instructors.
More

From School Board News Today

I’ve never really agreed with the practice among some states and districts to hinge a student’s diploma on one graduation test. Not all students are able to demonstrate their mastery of a subject through written tests. Some need a variety of methods to show what they’ve learned.

So it was with some  acceptance that I read about a proposal currently wending its way through Minnesota legislature that would allow juniors who failed the state’s graduation test to move on and receive their diploma any way.

I said “some” acceptance.

Because while the proposed bill prevents exactly what I dislike most about one-size-fits-all assessments, it doesn’t seem to offer another valid and acceptable alternative to gauge student learning.  

Sure, the bill has some provisions: students have to retake the failed test at least twice, take remediation classes, and meet other graduation requirements, but the bill’s author makes me question the authenticity of these measures.

“Frankly, until we get things right in our K-12 system, I’d rather move kids forward … than kick them to the streets without a diploma,” Rep. Carlos Mariani, D-St. Paul, told the Pioneer Press. I imagine, Mariani pitched the bill, because last year only 35 percent of students passed the math portion of the test.

So, it’s move ‘em up or move ‘em out?

That should never be a choice educators have to make—though I’m sure there are many who will say that is the reality of public schools today. Still, a sound educational foundation is what every student should leave school with. And diplomas should only be granted when that is true.

“Is it fair to give students a diploma when we know they don’t have the preparation they need?” asked Jim Bartholomew, education policy director at the Minnesota Business Partnership.

Clearly, the answer is no, it’s not fair. The real question is, who is it most unfair to?

Naomi Dillon, Senior Editor

I applaud Arizona lawmakers for trying to get to the heart of the matter, when it comes to what it takes to keep U.S. students competitive in a global economy.

Last week, State Rep. Rich Crandall, a Republican from Mesa, and State. Rep. David Lujan, a Democrat from Phoenix, proposed a bill that would replace the Arizona Instrustment to Measure Standards or AIMS, with college readinessness as the major determinant of whether a school adequately prepared a student for the future.

Crandall argued that the standardized test high school students must pass in order to graduate is based on 10th-grade questions, hence you have a snapshot of what a student can do at the 10th-grade level but not beyond.

And what Arizona students have been able to do after graduation hasn’t been too impressive, according to a new study by the Arizona Community Foundation. The College Readiness Report tracked 2006 high school graduates from Maricopa County who enrolled directly into the community college or one of the state’s universities.

Researchers found that about half of the students needed remedial math instruction and about a quarter needed back-to-basics help in English. All of the students had passed the AIMS test, finished their coursework, and earned a diploma.

The report’s findings is what drove Crandall and Lujan to propose a pilot program that would still look at graduation rates and AIMS scores in evaluating a school’s performance, but would rely more heavily on the number of college bound students who had to take remedial classes.

“People really don’t know what the AIMS test measures,” Lujan told the Arizona Republic. “Looking at how many students have to take remedial classes when they get to college, I think that’s a really good indicator.”

Naturally, there will be opponents who argue not all kids go to college, which is true. But shouldn’t all students be prepared for it any way?

Naomi Dillon, Senior Editor

Who would have thought that the grading system you use to award little Johnny an A, B, or C could cause such headaches for a school district?

But that’s exactly what’s happening these days in two school districts-Pittsburgh, Pa., and Fairfax County, Va.

The irony is each district faces complaints for exactly opposite reasons: Pittsburgh officials are accused of watering down their academic standards by mandating that no student receive less than a 50 percent grade for their homework, test scores, or grading period.

In Fairfax County, on the other hand, parents complain that the grading system is too tough-demanding a score of 64 percent for a passing grade and 94 percent for an A.

Officials in Pittsburgh have logic for their policy. Mathematically, students with a few bad test scores cannot hope to bring their grades back up to passing, and that gives scores of 0-50 more “weight” than higher grades.

Officials say the 50-percent minimum gives students a chance to save themselves academically and may serve as an incentive to stay in school, reports the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. A passing grade still remains 60 percent.

This logic hasn’t swayed critics. “The district was skewered on radio shows and blogs, and backlash from teachers prompted the district and union to form a committee to consider modifications,” the paper reports.

Some accused Pittsburgh officials of a system that could lead to “grade inflation,” but that’s exactly the danger that school officials in Fairfax County raised to defend their tough grading policy.
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Whether you say it was the right time, the right circumstances, or the right message, Barack Obama’s win last Tuesday can largely be attributed to his sharp division and disagreement with many of the policies and players in the current administration.

But as he gears up to take over the Oval office in less than two months, the president-elect won’t be able to do a clean sweep of the cabinet and other top level positions as the Washington Post reports.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s term, for instance, doesn’t expire until 2010, while FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III appointment doesn’t end until the year after that. But as the Post notes, there are reasons beyond the practical to keep a few familiar faces in the White House.

The most important reason being continuity which can only serve to make what’s sure to be a rough transition easier. The process of relinquishing and turning over power from one administration to the other got me thinking about the thousands of schools across the country in the midst of restructuring.

As you well know, under NCLB, if a school fails to make AYP for five years they must enter into restructuring, which can take many forms, the most severe being a complete overhaul of the schools, including ransacking every staff member. Sound familiar?

But is it a good idea? In late September, the Center on Education Policy released a compilation of studies had conducted on the restructuring efforts in schools in five different states: California, Georgia, Maryland, Michigan, and Ohio; states that had among the highest number of schools in restructuring mode.

Their findings were sobering: only 19 percent of schools studied made AYP in the 2006-2007 state tests. Though some states and schools achieved better results than others, the study still called into the question whether change, simply for the sake of change is a good idea. Clearly, it hasn’t been as effective as one would have thought.

Naomi Dillon, Senior Editor

With Education Trust releasing a somber report yesterday that finds kids are less likely to graduate from high school than their parents, I could sort of understand San Diego’s new school chief’s willingness to try something different to keep kids from dropping out.

Sort of.

Less than a year on the job, Terry Grier already has made some tough decisions; whittling more than $50 million from the budget thanks to a state shortfall, the reductions resulting in hundreds of layoffs and plans of closing schools.

Grier also has big plans to reform the district and reduce its dropout rate, which mirrors the national average of one in every four students leaving school before graduating. In fact, Grier has made addressing the graduation rate one of his top priorities this year, no small wonder since it’s tied to his job security — according to his contract, Grier could lose his job or a financial bonus if he doesn’t increase the graduation rate by 2.5 percent this school year.

Toward that end, Grier has introduced graduation coaches, attendance incentives, truancy monitoring programs, and virtual high schools— all measures that make sense. But here’s where Grier loses me a bit.

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