What's New

Report: Promising results from Chicago teacher observation evaluation model

admin — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 17:45:21 -0600

The Joyce Foundation completed a study on Chicago's Excellence in Teaching Project, a two-year pilot that assisted teachers with evidenced-based feedback. Below is an excerpt from the report, Rethinking Teacher Evaluation. You can download the report by clicking here (large PDF).

Students showed the greatest growth in test scores in classrooms where teachers received the highest observation rankings, indicating that classroom observations are valid measures of teachers' impact on student learning. This finding is especially relevant in determining teacher evaluation methods for non-tested subjects like art and gym.

Principals and trained observers who watched the same lesson consistently gave the teacher the same ratings. Some rating inconsistencies show a need for better tools to identify low-performing teachers.

Both principals and teachers agreed that conferences following the evaluation were more productive and had a greater focus on instructional practice and improvement. The report authors say there is room for improvement in this area, because many principals lacked instructional coaching training.

More than half the principals involved in the pilot were highly engaged in the new evaluation system, and those principals who were less engaged cited the new system's time demand.

Report: More states moving away from "seat time" credits to student learning

admin — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 10:21:12 -0600

The National Governors Association released a report analyzing the trend for states to move away from "seat time" credits, based on hours in class, to awarding credit based on student learning. Washington is debating this issue in the state Legislature now. Here's an excerpt from NGA's press release on the report, State Strategies for Awarding Credit to Support Student Learning:

WASHINGTON-Awarding credits based on student mastery of content and skills can remove barriers to increasing student readiness for college and careers, according to a new issue brief released today by the National Governors Association.

Currently, education systems in most states dictate inputs such as the amount of time students are required to complete a course instead of outputs such as student learning. State Strategies for Awarding Credit to Support Student Learning provides states with strategies that encourage flexible policies for awarding credit and a competency-based education system.

"By shifting our education system from focusing on inputs such as seat time and the number of days in a school year to focusing on outputs like student mastery of academic skills and knowledge, states could realize gains in student achievement," said NGA Executive Director Dan Crippen. "Transitioning to credits based on mastery could also reduce the costs of remedial education."

State Strategies for Awarding Credit to Support Student Learning shows how governors can lead efforts to foster alternative methods of awarding credit by working to:

Build flexibility in state policy for students to earn credit based on learning;

Modify school funding formulas to allocate resources based on student mastery of content and skills as opposed to enrollment;

Ensure data systems are linked across state agencies and education providers; and

Require public institutions of higher education to accept student transcripts with credits earned by demonstration of mastery.

Vancouver set to open STEM magnet school

admin — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 15:45:22 -0600

Vancouver Public Schools is set to open a new STEM magnet school in September 2012. The district produced two videos: a recruiting a video to draw interest, and another showing the tremendous interest by parents and students in attending the new school. Below is an excerpt on Vancouver's new schools. Click here to watch the videos:

Across the country people are talking about STEM: science, technology, engineering and math. Specifically, they are talking about the lack of qualified applicants to fill STEM-related jobs in this country. "We want to make sure STEM education doesn't fall behind, because it's the engine of our research enterprises," said Dr. Subra Suresh, the director of the National Science Foundation.

Vancouver Public Schools is responding with plans for a new school of choice in STEM education. Last winter planning teams, made up of representatives from Vancouver Public Schools, Clark College and Washington State University Vancouver, began researching other STEM schools in the country, and laying the groundwork for our own STEM school.

The new school, slated to start in September 2012, will prepare students in grades 6-12 for college and careers in STEM-related fields. Through partnerships with higher education and local high-tech companies, the new school is envisioned as an exciting, real world environment for all of its students and teachers.

Ed Week: Analysis raises questions about rigor of state tests

admin — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 12:22:18 -0600

Education Week performed an analysis of preliminary data from six states on teacher-candidate licensing exams. The analysis has raised questions about the rigor of the exams. Here's a short excerpt of the Education Week article:

The average scores of graduating teacher-candidates on state-required licensing exams are uniformly higher, often significantly, than the passing scores states set for such exams, according to an Education Week analysis of preliminary data from a half-dozen states.

The pattern appears across subjects, grade levels, and test instruments supplied by a variety of vendors, the new data show, raising questions about the rigor and utility of current licensing tests.

There are, in essence, two main ways to interpret the findings. Some observers say the data suggest most states set low passing marks, screening out only candidates with the very lowest level of content knowledge.

"If there's not a lot of variation in the performance of graduates by institution, it could mean that education seems to set a lower bar for institutions than other professions," said Dan Goldhaber, a research professor at the University of Washington Bothell, who has studied teacher-licensing tests.

NCTQ reports gives WA a C- grade on state teacher policies

admin — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 13:27:44 -0600

The National Council on Teacher Quality released a report on Washington's state teacher polices (laws, rules and regulations). It the state a C- grade, which is actually an improvement from the 2009 grade of D.

Below is NCTQ's executive summary of its 2011 State Teacher Policy Yearbook:

For five years running, the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) has tracked states' teacher policies, preparing a detailed and thorough compendium of teacher policy in the United States on topics related to teacher preparation, licensure, evaluation, career advancement, tenure, compensation, pensions and dismissal.

The 2011 State Teacher Policy Yearbook includes NCTQ's biennial, full review of the state laws, rules and regulations that govern the teaching profession. This year's report measures state progress against a set of 36 policy goals focused on helping states put in place a comprehensive framework in support of preparing, retaining and rewarding effective teachers. For the first time, the Yearbook includes a progress rating for states on goals that have been measured over time. An overall progress ranking is also included, showing how states compare to each other in moving forward on their teacher policies.

Report: Working together to advance reform

admin — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 10:17:18 -0600

A new report titled "Seizing the Opportunity: How Education Advocacy Groups and State Policy Makers Work Together to Advance Reform" provides an inside look at the role education advocacy groups have played in 11 reform-leading states to advance education reform. This is the type of work and impact the Partnership for Learning has had and hopes to continue in Washington.

The report, written by Education First for the Policy Innovators in Education (PIE) Network, documents best practices used to further and reinforce bolder policy making for improving education at the state level. It describes how state-based advocacy groups have encouraged and supported elected leaders who have made bold moves toward improving K-12 education over the past two years.

Report: A 'balanced look at American charter schools in 2011'

admin — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 16:38:27 -0600

The Center of Reinventing Public Education (CRPE) recently released a report titled, "Hopes, Fears & Reality": A Balanced Look at American Charter Schools in 2011." With the issue again front and center in Washington state, the report presents pertinent facts about public charter schools and why they've increased to more than 4,000 and in 42 states. Below is a short description of the report. To read the full report, click here:

Charter schools are public schools. Historically, however, the relationship between school districts and charters has been nonexistent at best, antagonistic at worst. As the charter sector continues to grow steadily, an analysis of the national landscape explores how that relationship needs to start changing—and where it already has.

This year's 6th annual edition of Hopes, Fears, & Reality provides a clear roadmap for school districts and charter schools interested in working together to improve education options. The report explains the risks and technical challenges behind charter-district collaboration and provides powerful examples of how they can be overcome.

Reflections of a visit to LA. charter schools

admin — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 15:17:07 -0600

By Jana Carlisle
Executive Director, Partnership for Learning

I recently led a diverse group of professionals - from business, education and community organizations - to visit high-performing Los Angeles public elementary, middle, and high schools: Synergy Charter Academy (K-5), Green Dot Locke High Schools (three on same site), KIPP L.A. College Preparatory (5-8), and Aspire Centennial College Preparatory Academy (6-8), which also has two elementaries on site. The six L.A. schools our group visited were among the best I have ever experienced.

The purpose of this trip was to view effective teaching, learning and leadership models that could be transferable to Washington, especially for underserved students and those stuck in low-performing schools. This state has made little to no impact on the opportunity gap since 1996, as 2011 results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) showed. Charter schools focused on the opportunity gap can certainly be one part of the solution.

Interestingly, schools in Los Angeles operate on one of the lowest per pupil expenditures in the country - the ones we visited received an estimated $5,000 to $7,000 per pupil from Los Angeles Unified School District. They serve some of the highest concentrations of low income and students of color in the country. The schools we visited served between 95 to 99 percent Latino from southeast L.A. - better known as Watts or its surrounding area.

As someone who has worked as an education reformer from both within and outside of school systems for close to 20 years, I have visited my share of model schools over the course of my career, including those located throughout the states of Arizona, New Mexico, New York and Washington, and the urban areas of Boston, Chicago, New York, Phoenix, Rochester, Seattle and now Los Angeles.

I have studied effective schools, organizations and practices in this country and abroad; written a best practice school case study; and researched and wrote a dissertation on high school reform and how to transform a school system while drawing on the existing learning styles and experiences of its educators. As a parent of three children, I have also experienced traditional affluent suburban public schools, one of the aforementioned best-practice urban elementary schools, a private catholic high school, a private expeditionary learning middle school and a large urban public high school.

My motivation for continuing my career as an education reformer is my belief in education as a democratic right and an economic necessity. There is an ever-growing need for our country to educate all students to different and higher levels of academic and technical prowess and to provide urban or rural students - who are low income and predominantly from communities of color - with effective educational options and safety nets that do not leave their academic and technical skill acquisition, and thus their futures as contributing citizens, to chance. Regardless of a student's post-secondary pathway, these schools provided students with the option not just to graduate high school, but also to develop the skills and attributes sought by employers, technical training providers, colleges and communities in general.

I would describe the six L.A. schools as effective not because of their type (public charter), but rather because of their consistency, commitment, expectations, motivation, and their teaching, learning, leadership, assessment, professional development, and data practices. They were relentlessly dedicated to equity.

Students were engaged in learning -– discussing, debating, providing feedback, instructing, answering, writing, calculating, researching, producing, tutoring, and processing. Their classroom walls included student performance data snapshots, varied demonstrations of students’ current work, and materials and whiteboards that reinforced lessons and behavioral expectations. These schools introduced students to strong college-going cultures evidenced by students’ ability to identify with specific colleges or universities, discuss college expectations and application processes, classroom affiliations with a teacher’s alma mater, and displays of numerous college banners. If students weren’t meeting specified learning gains, in one school additional adults followed the struggling students throughout the day and worked closely with the classroom teacher to pre-teach the student; in another school, students were taught by their classroom teachers or peers in after school and Saturday sessions.

Whether we talked to students or adults, these schools demonstrated:
1) adherence and commitment to a common mission and set of teaching, leadership, and behavioral practices and norms;
2) dedication to, belief in, and targeted support for students and their academic success;
3) consistent, cogent, and aligned curriculum, instruction, and assessment systems;
4) engagement with and respect for the community and parents;
5) regular and transparent analysis of student, teacher, school leader, and school climate data for purposes of evaluation, improvement, ongoing student and adult learning, and decision making;
6) school schedules and professional planning and peer observation time that reinforced the school's mission; and,
7) continuously improving academic results.

The students we encountered had both aspirations and options. The adults with whom we interacted had dedication, skill, support, and instructional, leadership, and school coherence to ensure that nothing was left to chance for these students. We learned a tremendous amount from our visit -- about charter schools; good teaching, learning, and leadership; and the palpable possibilities available - for our students, their communities, and their futures.

Finally, we need to remember that public charters are just one option that our education system in Washington should examine. Charters aren't guaranteed to be successful, but there are enough models in other states that can be followed to provide solid options for students and their families. If charter schools are adopted in Washington, they won't immediately provide systematic change, but they can certainly pave the way for key reforms that need to be made in our education system.

Report: 12 issues to move education forward in 2012

admin — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 11:38:35 -0600

The Education Commission of the States released a report highlight 12 issues that will move education forward in 2012. Below is the list of 12 issues to the 12 for 2012 report (PDF):

1. Pre-K: Expanding the focus to P-3

2. K-12 finance: Creating and maintaining efficiency and financial accountability without lowering expectations

3. Blended learning: Getting moving. Getting it right.

4. Common Core State Standards: From talking to doing

5. Developing civic engagement in PK-12: State action in the absence of federal funding

6. Teaching quality: Fasten your seatbelts!

7. Rural: Enhancing the potential of education in rural America

8. Data: Access to what teachers and leaders need to improve student outcomes (and the skills to use it)

9. Individualized instruction: Faster. Cheaper. Smarter.

10. Performance funding: Building a model without a blueprint?

11. Remedial education: We know more now than we ever have

12. Credentials of value: Some are better than others

Report: Career and college issues loom for U.S.

admin — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 11:15:58 -0600

A new report from the Organization for Economic Cooperations and Development reveals that it's more important than ever for United States to prepare its students for life after college. Education Week wrote about OECD report:

If there were ever an argument for investing in career- and college-readiness, the impact of the economic crisis in recent years provides one: In 2009, unemployment globally was more than twice as high for those who did not complete high school compared with university graduates. In the United States, it was three times as high-15.8 percent for high school dropouts, compared with 4.9 percent for college graduates.

Those numbers offer an indicator that even though the United States overall has one of the most educated workforces in the world, its lead is slipping.

With 41 percent of the adult population holding a postsecondary degree, the United States ranks among the top five educated countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a global network of 34 developed countries that identifies and analyzes issues including education.