Category Archives: Innovation and Reform

Education Week blogger Stephen Sawchuk reports that Georgia may be taking a bold step in reforming teacher compensation: Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue has announced plans to support legislation that would overhaul the statewide teacher-salary schedule and allow teachers to opt into one that determines pay partly on performance-based measures. States have tried to do statewide performance-pay before, but this example stands out because it sounds as though it would fundamentally restructure how the salary schedule operates. Teachers opting in would no longer get supplements for advanced degrees, which have only weak correlations to student performance. Instead, they would win additional compensation based on observations of teachers and growth of student performance to determine teacher effectiveness and base compensation on those results. The plan would go into effect in 2013, and current teachers could “opt into” the plan or remain on the current salary schedule. Teachers hired after Jan. 1, 2014, would automatically be enrolled in the system.

So American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten, leader of one of the national teachers unions, gives a big speech this week on how her group is interested in reforming the tenure system and is willing to accept student performance as part of meaningful teacher evaluations. New York Times columnist Bob Herbert gives Weingarten a fair hearing (H/T Eduwonk) but concludes: If the union chooses not to follow through on these proposals, its credibility will take a punishing and well-deserved hit. Otherwise, skepticism seems to be the word of the day….

Two days from now Colorado’s state legislature starts the 2010 session. And with a recession cutting into tax revenues, many lawmakers will show up without the enthusiasm to create new programs or boost spending on existing programs. As legislative sessions go, this one has a particularly strange character about it. Tough and unpleasant decisions will have to be made. But what about K-12 schools? As Todd Engdahl explains in a thorough preview for Ed News Colorado, at least a few lawmakers (Engdahl quoted many more from the majority Democratic Party) are not looking forward to education reform debates when budget cuts are on the table: Some wish that were the case. “I’m hoping there isn’t too much [education legislation], quite frankly,” said Rep. Karen Middleton, D-Aurora and a member of House Ed.

So with this new year of 2010, I’m really thinking all futuristic. Yesterday it was brain skills testing. But what about technological changes that promise to transform our education system? That’s what Harvard professor Clayton Christensen writes about in his 2009 book Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns. If you can’t afford the time or the money for the book, then you’ll at least want to check out this audio/video presentation on the topic by Dr. Scott McLeod (H/T Mike Antonucci).

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2010 to my mom, a few random basement-dwellers, and the handful of my other regular readers … I will be back on this space on January 4! (Yes, that’s a picture of the world-record largest Lego Christmas tree from Oberhausen, Germany, in 2003. Can you imagine how many presents would fit under it? Not to mention how much fun it would be to help build it! May all your Christmas dreams come true, too!) A couple days ago I asked how far Colorado was willing to go to reform personnel policies in order to win federal Race to the Top dollars. An interesting report from Education Week‘s Michele McNeil gives us every indication that Colorado is among the 25 states with application grants funded by the Gates Foundation, and thus more likely to be on the inside track for Race to the Top. So there you have it … It’s nice to end on a positive note, no matter how briefly. Race to the Top is going to be an even hotter education issue for 2010. So rest assured that I will be writing about it plenty, along with other important issues, when I […]

Education leaders here in Colorado have shown a great deal of interest in the federal Race to the Top dollars, a multi-billion dollar program that we are told is designed to spur reform. In order to be eligible for rewards, states will be rated according how well their policies and goals line up with innovative practices mostly aimed at boosting student achievement. But no category will carry more weight in the Department’s Race to the Top determinations than “Great Teachers and Leaders.” That’s why the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) has created a very handy scorecard (PDF) to help you figure out whether Colorado or any other state might be on the right track to pursuing needed “human capital reforms.” I like going to Coors Field and keeping track of what happens on a baseball scorecard, but I don’t think that’s exactly what they mean. Just what sort of things could Colorado do to get a high score in the area of “Great Teachers and Leaders” and increase our state’s chances of getting Race to the Top funds? Some of the “bold practices” NCTQ indicates would really help us include (in no particular order):

Every year the Center for Education Reform rates the quality of different states’ charter school laws based on their flexibility and equity. This week they released the new edition, and the news again is good for Colorado — one of only 13 states with “strong laws that do not require significant revisions.” But I’m never satisfied with a B letter grade, and neither should Colorado. As usual, there are some key improvements that can be made to our state’s charter school law: More alternative authorizing options beyond the state’s Charter School Institute Greater opportunity for charters to have autonomy from district policies over budgeting, personnel and the like Greater opportunity to access funding for the construction and maintenance of school facilities It’s great to be one of the best states when it comes to charter school laws. But as long as the District of Columbia, Minnesota, California, Utah, Arizona and Michigan stand ahead of Colorado, our work is cut out for us to provide the best in independent public school innovation that meets the needs and demands of families in our state.

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports some interesting developments in that city’s nearly two decades old voucher program (H/T Joanne Jacobs). Four Milwaukee voucher schools — including the fast-growing independent Atlas Preparatory Academy — now have more than 750 students each. More than 21,000 students total are enrolled in 111 voucher schools this year. But what’s really telling: And 18 schools that were on the voucher roster a year ago were not there. It’s hard to get sentimental looking at the list. Most were small or weak. Some could not meet the tightened requirements of state law, including rules being applied full force now that voucher schools get accredited by independent organizations…. “The market is working,” said Terry Brown, who heads St. Anthony. “It’s not a perfect market,” but over time many bad schools have been weeded out.

Last night marked a key moment of transition for the Denver Public Schools, as the old, reform-friendly Board made its last votes and the new, not-so-reform-friendly Board was sworn in to take its place. More remarkable and bizarre, however, was how dramatically events unfolded, as reported by Ed News Colorado: As board member Michelle Moss walked up to take her seat for what was to be her last meeting in eight years representing southwest Denver, her newly elected replacement Andrea Merida told her that she would be sitting on the dais instead. Merida, rather than waiting to take the oath of office with two other new members after the meeting, had instead been sworn in hours earlier so she could cast a vote on the controversial reforms.

I’ve told you before about groups like ABCTE that are reaching out to top-notch professionals and making it easier for them to make an effective transition into classroom teaching. But where’s the proof this is a good idea for the bottom line of education? In the new edition of Education Next, Daniel Nadler and Paul Peterson show that states with genuine alternative teacher certification programs (like Colorado) have experienced greater gains in math and reading scores, and especially among African-American students. Is it a coincidence, or cause-and-effect? Ultimately, it’s hard to say. But as the authors conclude, the arguments against alternative certification have been eroded: But the burden of proof would now seem to shift to the plaintiffs in the Renee v. Spellings case, who argue that traditional state certification is necessary to ensure teacher quality. Genuine alternative certification opens the door to more minority teachers, and student learning is more rapid in states where the reform has been introduced. Meanwhile, scientific evidence that alternative certification harms students remains somewhere between scant and nonexistent. The Race to the Top push in Colorado has brought forth some good ideas, but a truly bold and visionary effort also would have included a […]