of The Center For Education Reform
No. 29 Back-to-School, 1996
Giving Children A Chance
An Offer Only the Blob Could Refuse
CER Factoid Quiz
To the Rescue
Ideas that Work ...
... And Some that Are Tried Despite Evidence to the Contrary
The Condition of Education
National Reports, Polls and Other Antics
And Now for the Next Trick ...
Reinventing Education
From the Skeptics' Corner
Back-to-School 1996 Special Section: In The News
Dear Friends:
The climate is heating up, despite the pleasant change in the weather. Just about every education interest group released a new report, poll, or survey (and every candidate a new program!), and, combined with new programs in many communities, Americans were treated to a pretty solid month of good media coverage of reform. (We talked to over ten reporters and networks in just one day alone). But the info you get there is no where near like the scoop you'll get here!
Hoping to help children whose fates find them in failing public schools, a New York group has established A Better Choice Foundation, to provide about 100 low-income people with $1,000 scholarships. Eligible children are in poor performing schools in Albany, Troy and Schenecdady, NY. The move to assist disadvantaged children brought harsh words from both the New York State United Teachers group, an AFT union, and local school officials, who believe that it is unfair to look only at test scores when they serve a very "challenging" population (or, for a more accurate depiction of what some school officials think, It's the kid's, stupid). Tell that to the parents, which is of course what's been done, which is why so many want to leave. You see, most of us know that good schools can take the most "challenging" child and make them Princeton material.
ABC is the 28th private scholarship program to be established in the U.S. since the late 1980s. Serving over 17,000 children nationwide, these programs were recently featured in USA Today.
In Milwaukee, radio host and author of Dumbing Down Our Kids Charles Sykes launched a radio-a-thon to raise money for children who were enrolled in private schools awaiting a positive decision on the constitutionality of the expanded school choice program. It hasn't come yet, and meanwhile, these kids wanted out of the public schools. Through the Sykes phone-a-thon and with advertisements run around the state, PAVE, the local private scholarship sponsor, raised over $1 million from citizens all around the country, some whom scraped together enough money to send $10, $20 or $50 to help children whom they wanted to see have a real opportunity. The NEA calls that creaming. I call that compassion.
Watching the school choice efforts in Ohio and Wisconsin really challenges one's faculties. On the one hand, a judge rules in the next challenge to the Milwaukee program that allowing kids to go to parochial schools violates the WI constitution, but dissolves the injunction related to children in non-sectarian schools. Then, WI education officials tell the courts its too late to even open up that aspect of the program this year. Meanwhile the ACLU is appealing the lifting of that injunction, saying that it could have an adverse affect on integration. Integration? A city school system that buses its black kids all around the city and beyond and makes them spend hours traveling is better for them than their attending a local neighborhood school? Don't know about you, but if I lived there I'd be pretty ticked by now. Thousands there are. Another 700 parents are on PAVE's doorstep trying to save their children by sending them to a parochial school.
An Offer only the Blob Could Refuse
Saxon Publishing, one of the country's oldest creators of back-to-basics math curricula, is offering $10 million worth of math books to 3,000 schools, the equivalent of $3,500 worth of math textbooks in each grade. Founder John Saxon says the results from his curriculum are so extreme that he wants schools to have an incentive to trade his books for their current stock. Saxon gave 71 Houston schools math books for each grade 1-6. Here's one example of just how effective they are: the percentage of third graders in Field Elementary who passed the math portion of the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) this spring increased to 94% from 45% the previous spring. The fourth grade passing rate increased from 53% to 67%. At another school, the fifth grade rate increased from 61% to 85%. "These gains resulted from using Saxon math for only one year," he reports. "Think of what the pass rate will be like after Houston students use Saxon math for all five years!... These results represent a total victory for 'direct instruction' over the (NCTM-advocated) 'constructivist method' used for the last 20 years." Saxon reports amazing gains on SATs, and in hundreds of schools using his stuff.
In national ads, Saxon argues that NCTM standards are intended to make children feel good. He quotes NCTM's documents: "Assessments have...ignored differences in students' experience, physical condition, gender, ethnic, cultural and social backgrounds...new assessment strategies...need to be developed [to] enable teachers and others to assess student's performance in a manner that reflects NCTM's vision for school mathematics." Saxon says in their two volume standards, he found the word vision 56 times. " I am pleased the NCTM has 'visions' but what we need are measurable gains in students' achievement...," Saxon retorts. (Note to schools: NCTM standards are the basis for most of the big publishers' math texts.) Why mention the Blob? Most districts haven't responded to the free offer.
CER Factoid Quiz (True or false)
"And I do not think that education programs should become political trophies." Education Secretary Richard Riley (With all due respect, Mr. Riley, you're in the wrong business!)
Multiple Choice: This statement is about 1)Programs, 2) Money, 3) Test
Scores, 4) Children, 5) All of the above except 4
".....our schools today are graduating more students -- with higher SAT
scores -- despite a broader, more diverse pool of test takers...NEA and its
state affiliates are working to ensure quality schools and a quality education
for every child in America. In the last decade, we have channeled some $70
million into innovative efforts to improve the nation's public schools."
Bob Chase, NEA President-elect
To varying degrees, many state statutes continue to squelch privatization efforts. Did you know that in Massachusetts districts are required to accept low bid proposals, no if's and's or but's? (Who cares about quality, it's only our kids) Did you know that California law limits public/private partnerships to transportation and "management consulting" for food service, or that Louisiana prohibits the privatization of food service altogether? According to a 1995 NSBA survey, Superintendents and school boards are well aware of what is tying their hands-they point to restrictive laws and regulations as the biggest obstacles to public/private partnerships. Thanks to the concerted effort of the newly formed Education Services Council however, more people, including those who roll out the red tape, will be made aware of impediments to privatization that are indeed impediments to providing quality services to our children. Call (703) 528-0700.
The Merrow Report's latest documentary on school reform previews on your local PBS channel September 6 and throughout the month. Early Learning is not a piece you want to miss. Merrow visits four very distinct schools which each subscribe to one of four reform "methods:" that of James Comer, the Core Knowledge Curriculum, the Accelerated Schools Model and Roots and Wings. There's a rare glimpse into an inner city teacher who uses only sight to teach children to read. As the child makes up a story that does not even resemble the words in the book, the teacher applauds the child with "very nice," and "very good," despite the child's total inability to read. This example is contrasted with successes. Merrow didn't spend enough time on Core Knowledge, but overall, it is a great look at four approaches to teaching and learning. Check your PBS station, or call (212) 941-8060.
Some reporting and research on the Writing Road to Reading program tells of overwhelming successes in teaching children how to read. The program is the basis for the programs offered by the Oregon-based Riggs Institute, which just completed its second round of Super Summer Spelling Camps to focus on good old-fashioned, phonics-based teaching and penmanship. They've been overwhelmed by applications year after year. Teachers tell Riggs Director Myrna McCullough that they've never seen children learn to read and spell as well as they do with the Spalding-based method. McCullough is quick to point out that it differs dramatically from the computer-based Writing to Read program, which is said to use inventive spelling and very little phonics. One of the public schools to use the Writing Road to Reading is Grant Intensive Basic in Rock Island, Illinois. Prior to 1990, the school had a dismal record. After the new reading program and other basics came in, scores rose dramatically. It's also garnering community moral and financial support by doing so, and the school that once looked abandoned now is bright and appealing. Rosa Smiley, Grant's Kindergarten teacher, says it was hard to learn to use the Spalding method at first, but now she's a believer. "It's a total language arts program. They learn to write what they hear. They gain a strong decoding base, and it advances their analytical skills. Spalding is a tough system to learn, but it truly works.... Sometimes people are shocked by what they see here. They see well-behaved, well attentive children. We've broken the stereotypical thinking that poor, black children can't learn or have discipline." The Riggs Institute is only a phone call away. Dial (503) 646-9459. Tell them CER sent you.
...And some that are tried despite evidence to the contrary
Has your child ever subtracted recently outloud and said 10 "take away" 2 is 8? I was amazed that my first grader didn't know the definition of minus. When adding two digit numbers together, I asked him if he could "carry over." He said that's not the way they do things (showing me instead that they are encouraged to lay out the numbers horizontally and use a counting line to add them up). I thought it was odd, but then some things came across my desk, including a piece by Pacific Research Institute about the new, new math, or fuzzy math in San Francisco. There, results on the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills showed a significant decline from last year's scores, on which 57% of African-American second-graders were in the bottom quarter of test scores. Superintendent Bill Rojas said that part of the blame could be put on "new math." According to a Dept of Education study 20 years ago, "direct instruction," or teaching math through rote memorization and skills outperforms all other methods, reducing special ed and boosting scores on basic skills test by as much as 50% or the equivalent of one grade or more.
As of this September, more than 80,000 children will be attending at least 412 charter schools in 13 states. Charters sponsored by Central Michigan University alone will serve over 7,500 children this fall. According to the Hudson Institute's survey of 35 schools, Charter Schools in Action: What Have We Learned? the children attending charters are for the most part square pegs in round holes - children who would not normally be successful in traditional public schools. In the schools the Hudson researchers looked at, a majority of children are minority, 1 in 5 are limited English proficient, some are disabled, and about 14% would not be attending public schools if it weren't for charters. Despite union attempts to mask their success, charters are more accountable, by being compelled to lay down their own goals and standards and by being held to them by a performance contract - and by the reality that if they don't succeed, parents won't choose them any more.
"Aside from the 'recentered' SAT, almost all the hard evidence we have seen confirms that student performance in U.S. schools remains far from what it ought to be. What we used to call a crisis has become a chronic problem of underperformance, in which the abilities and talents of most young Americans are persistently underchallenged and underdeveloped." This from the Educational Excellence Network's annual education reform report card. If you want a glimpse into this past year efforts, you'll want to get a hold of this tremendous document. Call 1 (800)-HUDSON-O or try the electronic world at http://www.edexcellence.net.
National reports, polls and other antics
(If you're not on our fax alert list, you may not know about the latest NEA poll
data or the problem with the new SAT scores. Read on...)
They'll huff and they'll puff, but they won't blow our house down. Another transparent ploy by the NEA to convince the media that the public opposes school choice and supports more federal control of schools fails. The NEA hired Republican pollster Linda DiVall to survey a sampling of 1,000 Republicans, 69% of whom, by the way, did not have children in school. They asked questions that even the pollster conceded could elicit a different response, such as 'paying for private school tuition at public expense.' Asked that way, respondents did not support school choice, but they weren't really asked that. And despite musings to the contrary, NEA found little support for a strong federal role in public education. In answering the question "Do you think the federal government should have a major role in education," 70% of respondents said the federal government should have a minor, or no role in education. Rather than spending time, money, and energy on biased polls designed to score a partisan victory, perhaps resources would be better spent on programs for the kids.
The new SAT scores have been released, and the news is good...for as long as you believe the hype. Although the College Board reports SAT scores have experienced another increase this year, putting scores at their highest point in 25 years, the dramatically changed tests and the recentering of scores raise questions as to what, if anything, the high scores mean. According to the Wall Street Journal, (8/24/95), the then new test had fewer questions, longer reading passages, fewer multiple-choice math questions and no antonym section in the verbal portion. An additional 30 minutes and calculators were added. On scoring, previously a perfect 1600 could only be granted to a student who answered every question correctly. Now, up to four questions can be wrong and still result in a perfect score. In addition, last year's average of 428 on verbal and 482 on math has been recalibrated according to the new scores to become 504 and 506 respectively-the wide gap in performance on the two disciplines magically disappears. The SAT used to be a useful means of assessment, but it no longer can gauge what someone's 1985 score of 510 means compared to today's 510. Unless, of course, you believe in magic.
The unions have changed their tune....well, maybe not tune, but tactics. Incoming NEA president Bob Chase, who said he'll advocate a "new unionism" says that the NEA spends $70 million on school reform, likes charter schools, and believes in holding teachers accountable. This is part of it's new cosmetic makeover. "We must either lead or be led." says Chase. Their friends at the AFT also say they want more accountability for teachers and charter schools. When asked why they spend so much money on fighting specific reform efforts in the states that do just that, they deny it, and blame bad contracts on school boards and administrators. Moreover, they say it's unfair to talk about their political efforts when it's clear that they are a democratic organization and issues are arrived at through mutual consent. Maybe they use Boss Tweed's definition of democratic.
The annual Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup poll on Public Education is out, and once again, the public still has mixed feelings about their local vs. everyone else's schools. Jumping on the political bandwagon, PDK's press release reads "vouchers and private schools are not the solutions most Americans would choose for the problems of public schools." But like most questions done with a bit of slant to them, the beliefs beyond the answers are not clear. The authors, for example, report that 61% of the public vs. 36% reject the idea of "allowing students and their parents to choose a private school to attend at public expense." When asked whether Americans support a "voucher system that would allow parents to choose a public, private or church-related school, with the government paying all or part of the tuition," the numbers drop to 54% vs. 43%. The irony is, there's no real difference in what they are asking. Like the NEA pollsters, these rely heavily on the more negative words "public expense" or "government paying." When asked more objectively, the numbers flip-flop. Support for public/private choice on even the PDK poll, however, has grown from 24% in 1993 to 36% today. Nonpublic school parents support the "private schools at public expense" question by a margin of 60% to 38%, up from 45% vs. 55% in 1993. And public school parents alone support the same question by a margin of 39% vs. 59%, versus 27% vs. 72% in 1993.
The public still gives high marks to their own public schools, while only 21% graded the nation's schools as a whole as As & Bs. Grades awarded local nonpublic schools are significantly higher than those awarded local public schools: 63% A &B for local nonpublic schools versus only 43% A & B for local public schools. PDK reports that "the public still believes in public schools." That's no surprise, and indeed they should. Thousands of reformers wouldn't be dedicated to providing positive improvements if they didn't. But PDK's reports of support mask the deeper attitudes uncovered in the good work done by the Public Agenda Foundation earlier this year. The public is deeply frustrated by the schools and their lack of accountability, and would join the chorus for just about any effort that sounds viable enough to correct the problems.
From the Reason Foundation comes a pathbreaking report that demonstrates the extent to which private schools educate special education students, and provides a glimpse into the 100,000 such challenged students who are being educated there at the request and with the money of public school districts. It's too much to summarize here, but suffice it to say that anyone who wants to see how much public and private schools already intertwine programs should get a copy of this report. Call (310) 391-2245.
More redrawing of the traditional lines of educational authority can be found back in Milwaukee, where an overflow of 700 public school students are being sent to private schools this year, with the $2.9 million earmarked for their education. This is but one response of the school board to the increasing pressure put on them by the existence of the Milwaukee choice program, and their new-found openness to trying to educate the children they are currently unable to serve in the system. What's more is that the district had already contracted with 22 private schools to educate about 1,500 "at-risk" children with behavioral or learning problems.
With the 1995 Texas education reform law, districts in the Lonestar state can now give teaching permits to non-credentialed individuals with a bachelor's degree, unless they would be teaching vocational classes. The provision was intended to allow experts in a particular field to offer their experience and help expand the pool of quality teachers more quickly. It could also be a way for the increasing movement of private practice teachers to contract with schools for their services.
More movement to help strengthen the teaching field: Ohio legislators in July replaced the old teacher certificate with an educator license, comparable to what doctors and lawyers get. To qualify, elementary teachers must complete 12 hours in reading instruction, including three of phonics. In addition, teachers would have to renew their licenses every five years, show proof of continuing education, and may be assigned mentor teachers to help with performance.
Political reporting usually doesn't cover state education races. But one race in North Carolina is attracting media attention. Vernon Robinson is vying for the post of schools superintendent in the Tar Heel state, and challenging a Democrat to lead the state. Robinson heads the North Carolina Education Reform Foundation
, and was in large part responsible for the strong charter law enacted this year. (The first may be opened in Durham, where some parents compelled to home school because of the lack of quality education there want to start a rigorous charter.) Robinson beat several others in the primary by galvanizing many diverse groups. Robinson is black, and argues that few status-quo leaders have represented well the interests of African-Americans in his state. North Carolina voters could well make history.Speaking of firsts, Houston, Texas' first charters are now open. The five schools serve a diverse population of students, and are being considered the saving grace for many parents upset with the influence of gangs on their children in school. They all boast high academic standards and strict discipline as the norm, and most will interact with the community to contribute to it and to learn from it.
The school privatization issue continues to gain allies. Overwhelming numbers of those polled by Phi Delta Kappa strongly support contracting for at least non-instructional services, but if actions speak louder than words, even the instructional aspects are on the rise. Educational Alternatives Inc. will be managing at least one Washington, DC school this fall, and many boards continue to seek them out. The Edison Project announced that it is up from 4 to 12 schools, and Alternative Public Schools Inc., which runs Wilkinsburg, PA's Turner Elementary has a contract with a charter in Chalmsford, MA. Several smaller firms are finding their way into other areas, spurred on by creative-thinking school boards and the public's recognition that it can't hurt to try things differently.
The AFT voted this summer to strengthen its resolution against such efforts, stating that it "strongly opposes the unregulated activities of private for-profit management companies in public education and believes there is a profound cynicism underlying the reality that such firms are making their pitch to hard-pressed urban school systems but not to affluent suburban systems that already spent far more per pupil than do cities like Baltimore." WHAAAT?
A school board candidate in Dade County recently told Florida Commissioner Frank Brogan about her interview for possible endorsement by the United Teachers of Dade, the local AFT union. She said the most memorable aspect of the session was the fact that hanging prominently on the wall of their headquarters office is a picture of Commissioner Brogan with horns coming out of his head (yes, devil-style) with the caption underneath BROGUN '98. Unbelievable.
And speaking of sophomoric pranks, will the wise guy who sent us nuts and bolts in that nice contribution envelope please get a life? We know you're in Austin, and we know your wife must have missed a Mary Kay party (remember, you had wrapped your present in the notice?) A union friend once told us that sending obnoxious mail is one of the "training" methods they have to upset people whom they view as extreme. It's intended to run up postage, but what they don't know is that the post office will no longer deliver that which exceeds the normal postage for envelopes that size. But a few get through from time to time. (Teachers are astounded when we tell them their unions carry on so when they don't agree.)
Bus drivers and school boards in Kent County, MD, a rural community in eastern Maryland, are the target of IRS auditors who decided that the independent contractor whose family has served their community for over 50 years must be considered county employees, and thus owe back payroll taxes. Lee Bramble says he wished he had been an employee because he'd qualify for a pension, but the current IRS ruling puts his service in jeopardy. He told the Kent County News that he and his wife care for the kids they drive as if they were their own, often lending them a shoulder to cry on or lunch money when they forget. Go figure.
If you're reading the MONTHLY LETTER for the first time and like what you've seen, please drop us a line and tell us to keep you on the mailing list. We have back issues available, and they're chock-full of information and stories to keep you going. If you're a regular, we thank you for following along, and for being part of a terrific movement. Have a great September, and we'll see you when the leaves begin to turn!
Back-to-School 1996 Special Section: In The News