Educational Reform: Who Wins? Who Loses?

As part of the First Wednesdays Discussion Series (see below), a discussion of
“Educational Reform: Who Wins? Who Loses?” will take place, 12-12:50 pm, at WFYI Studios Community Room, 1630 N. Meridian, with panelists Teresa Meredith, VP, ISTA; Eugene White, Superintendent, IPS; Bill Chu, Deputy Superintendent, ISDE; and David Harris, CEO, The Mind Trust; moderated by Matt Tully, Indianapolis Star, sponsored by ACLU of Indiana. For more info, phone ACLU at 635-4059. See more info below



What is First Wednesdays?
The First Wednesday Series serves as a forum for discussion of contemporary issues in our society and features panelists who have subject matter expertise in the chosen topic. We are fortunate to have volunteers and sponsors from local organizations, public and private, who support this event so that we can bring this program to you. Our 2011 community sponsors are WFYI Studios, NUVO Newsweekly and Fraizer Designs. The public is welcome to attend.

Getting the Data Right--Progress in Indiana

Here, Here!  No one we know supports the status quo....but accurate reporting and resisting political spin has to insisted upon.

Data tell story of progress in our public schools


Written by John Ellis

Gov. Mitch Daniels, in his Nov. 7 opinion piece ("Student-centered learning should be our top focus") regarding education in Indiana, stated: "Only the most selfish special interests still insist on defending the status quo." No argument there. Our students deserve the best, and we know all schools are not as good as all of our students deserve.

I commend the governor for his support to require highly effective teachers for all of our children and improved accountability for all schools. Those are big issues and worthy of our time, debate and efforts to make significant improvements. However, we won't get there by ignoring Indiana's educational successes.  The governor stated: "Indiana has led the nation in many areas lately . . . but we can make no such claim about K-12 education."

Indiana's public schools have improved in several important measures over the past two decades, according to data from the Indiana Department of Education, the College Board, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and ACT Inc. It is a risk, when speaking to facts, that one is likely to be labeled as a defender of the status quo. But facts are not controlled by opinion.


On the NAEP, the "national reading and math test," Indiana has consistently outperformed the nation on all 35 assessments since 1990. Indiana's composite score on the ACT rose to 22.2 in 2008-09, the highest mark in state history. Indiana ACT scores have exceeded national averages in all 20 years of the study.

Verbal SAT scores rose from 490 in 1988-89 to an historic high of 504 in 2004-05. Since then, a revised SAT shows reading and writing scores separately. Reading has fallen to 496 in 2008-09, down from 498 in 2005-06. Writing has fallen to 480 in 2008-09, down from 486 in 2005-06. These scores came while Indiana tested 63 percent of all graduates, 17 percent more than the nation as a whole, thus giving more marginal students a chance at college. SAT math scores on the old SAT went up from 487 in 1988-89 to 508 in 2004-05, another top performance in state history. In the four years of the revised SAT, Indiana scored 509, 507, 508 and 507 respectively, maintaining a high performance level on a more difficult test.

The dropout rate was 8.7 percent for the Class of 2009, improving from 10.3 percent, 11.9 percent and 11.2 percent in three previous years of the new system that tracks every student. Hoosier public schools have successfully raised daily attendance in 15 of the past 20 years to the highest level in our state history. In the four years of the revised SAT, Indiana scored 509, 507, 508 and 507 respectively, maintaining a high performance level on a more difficult test.

The dropout rate was 8.7 percent for the Class of 2009, improving from 10.3 percent, 11.9 percent and 11.2 percent in three previous years of the new system that tracks every student. Hoosier public schools have successfully raised daily attendance in 15 of the past 20 years to the highest level in our state's history, 96.1 percent. The percent of graduates aspiring to go to college went up 19 of the 20 years to reach 76.9 percent in 2008-09, the highest level in state history. The need for this improvement has had consistently strong support from the governor.

The data show improvement in Indiana's public schools. Let's build from there, knowing that continuous improvement is never concluded, but ongoing, and needs to be consistently and accurately measured and reported.


Ellis is executive director of the Indiana Association of Public School Superintendents.

More on Race to the Top & Bennett's Failure

Tony Bennett has been alienating and berating folks in education since he got elected and the Feds have noticed.  Indiana will never get the massive federal money if all the stakeholders aren't working together--given the reckless and misguided approach, it doesn't seem like this is even possible.  As for the Union response, when the DOE misleads the public and uses the media to spin and distort the truth, speaking back to the abuse is the only recourse.

Bennett, teachers take fight outside

Public spat threatens 2nd chance at stimulus funds for state schools

Relations between the state Department of Education and the state's two teachers unions have never been cozy, but they have been cordial. These days, a better characterization would be outright war.

That war is taking place mostly in public: press releases with ultimatums, attacks in local newspapers and an exchange of e-mails landing in the inboxes of every teacher in the state.

And the potential loss could be very high: The state's second chance at a piece of $4.4 billion in "Race to the Top" stimulus funds might be in jeopardy.

Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett said he is passionately making a case for reforms he considers crucial to improve the well-being of the state's children.

The presidents of the Indiana State Teachers Association and the Indiana Federation of Teachers say Bennett is trying to steamroll teachers in the process and is using unfair tactics. Both have increased their own rhetoric against and criticism of the state.

The debate has come to a head over whether the unions will sign on to the state's second attempt to win stimulus funds.

Bennett has advocated tying job reviews for teachers to their students' test scores, and he has advanced policiesthat would allow teachers to be paid or dismissed based on job performance rather than years of experience.

The unions find that onerous.

"We've never been invited to be full partners," IFT President Rick Muir said. "I hope he wakes up and changes his course of action, but I'm not holding my breath."

Read More: IndyStar

On Reading & Retention

Indiana Citizens was pleased to see this response from Carole Craig (NAACP) to Sunday’s Star on the Retention Law ( Senate Bill 258).  The Star picked two "experts" who just happened to agree with the policy and apparently the paper's position.  Certainly, we want reading to be a priority but this just shows another punitive effort that ignores focusing on the child.  Craig also points to the clear research on retention and dropout rates (which....we thought was a priority).
_______________________________________

Retention isn't answer to reading problem

Having spent more than 30 years in urban education, currently as a consultant working with the NAACP to promote equity in education, I would never advocate that children be promoted to the next grade without having the appropriate skills. However, as research over the past 30 years shows, retention is not the answer either.

One of the first indicators of who will struggle in school and eventually drop out and be relegated to a life of poverty is the child who cannot read by third grade. However, studies show that a child who is retained is no more likely to be a successful high school graduate with the ability to complete college than the one who was socially promoted.

The issue becomes, instead, how can a child get through third grade without the necessary reading skills?

Elementary principals will tell you that they have no desire to socially promote such a student. They will tell you that they don't have needed resources and that more than likely these children came to school without preschool and kindergarten experiences, which are not fully funded for full day in Indiana.

Principals will tell you that more volunteers for mentoring and tutoring and more business and community partnerships are needed since teachers don't have the time to provide enough one-on-one instruction.

Rather than mandate retention, I would like see a public report from every Indiana school at midyear with the number of students who are not on the path to having reading skills needed to move on to fourth grade. I recommend that schools be required to list the strategies, resources, programs and partnerships being used to eliminate the problem (including a request to the Indiana Department of Education for help). I recommend that the number of staff members not considered proficient through the district performance evaluation process be listed.

If these are resource and personnel issues, how can children be punished through retention only to receive more of what didn't work? Instead, shouldn't proper action be taken by the Department of Education at midyear to ensure that every child be provided with what is necessary to succeed? If these children are suffering from not having preschool and kindergarten, then why not mandate and fund these for all students, as many states have already done?

Craig, an education consultant, is NAACP co-chair for Greater Indianapolis and the state

The Public in Public Education

Friends,
  I’m sure you’ll see more of this in the Indianpolis paper but Indiana Citizens just left Manual High School where a second holiday show (see below) was necessary as 1200 community members filled the auditorium to capacity.  Many turned around as the traffic getting in was so heavy but it looked as if another 3-400 waited for the second show.  Undoubtedly, folks were there for many reasons and have many different ideas about needed solutions but....this was a resounding message that this city is willing to engage in a conversation about Public Education!  Well done and well played--what happens next is up to us.

Friends,
  I’m assuming that folks have been following this in the paper and, while a bit problematic in the reporting at places, a showing here might be a strong statement to our community.  Just an idea

____________________________Hi. I'm sending this blog post [from the Indy Star] to everyone who has expressed an interest in Manual. Having a lot of people attend this event Tuesday would be a big deal for the students. Hope you are well. MattA night to support Manual One thing I've been struck by in recent months is the large number of people who want to help Manual High School, and particularly its students. As I wrote recently, many people have donated money, food and time since reading about the school. It's been very touching to see how much people care.
This coming Sunday I will write about another way I hope people will help Manual.
It's pretty easy. The school is putting on a holiday concert this coming Tuesday, Dec. 15, at 6:30 p.m. Performances at the school typically draw small crowds. The students and teachers putting on this concert deserve a big crowd.
Why I am suggesting this?
Well, I have spent many hours in Spencer Lloyd's choir class this year. He is an amazing teacher -- energetic, caring and insistent that his students reach for excellence. In a school without many of the staples of high school life -- a football team, school newspaper, student council, etc. -- Lloyd is growing the choir program in only his second year at the school. It's been wonderful to watch him work with his students this year. He runs a fun but disciplined class. He has improved his students as singers, but has also helped them deal with serious personal problems.
His class is an example of what can be achieved at an IPS high school. The choir sounds great.
Many of the choir students, as well as those in the band, have been through hard times. They've overcome a lot but are sticking with school. One girl told me choir is the reason she still comes to school. It would mean a lot for these students to see a lot of faces in the crowd next Tuesday.
Finally, this is the kind of program that in tough budget times could be cut. As I am going to write in Sunday's column, how great would it be to see this program not just survive but thrive. After spending so much time watching Lloyd's class, it's easy to imagine Manual in future years becoming known for its wonderful choir program. The choir will be joined by the small but growing school band at Tuesday's roughly one-hour concert.
I hope you can make it to the concert -- and bring a friend or a few. Many people care about IPS and its students. Attending this concert would be a good way of expressing that.

Details:
What: Manual High School Christmas Spectacular
When: 6:30 p.m. Tuesday Dec. 15
Where: Manual High School auditorium, 2405 Madison Ave. (about 1.5 miles south of the Lilly corporate center)
Cost: It's free though donations are welcome