Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Publicly Thanking Claudia Dreifus and Andrew Hacker

The fourth printing of Higher Education? How Colleges Are Wasting Our Money And Failing Our Kids And What We Can Do About It by Claudia Dreifus and Andrew Hacker will be out in August. Claudia let me know that my work is mentioned in their section on student loan debt. I want to publicly thank them for writing such a provocative and important book, and also referencing my work as an advocate for student loan debtors.

If you haven't purchased their book yet, I recommend that you buy it immediately!


Related Links


"Conversations that Matter: Claudia Dreifus talks about why Colleges are Failing U.S. Students", AEM, September 12, 2010

Publicly Thanking Claudia Dreifus and Andrew Hacker

The fourth printing of Higher Education? How Colleges Are Wasting Our Money And Failing Our Kids And What We Can Do About It by Claudia Dreifus and Andrew Hacker will be out in August. Claudia let me know that my work is mentioned in their section on student loan debt. I want to publicly thank them for writing such a provocative and important book, and also referencing my work as an advocate for student loan debtors.

If you haven't purchased their book yet, I recommend that you buy it immediately!

Both Sides Now

After recent reports of apathy regarding the New Badger Partnership, I've spent more time reading and analyzing the comments that are springing up like crocuses these days. While it's a darn shame that people don't regularly sign their names to web comments, or at least provide some description of their position relative to the institutions involved (e.g. are you student, staff, faculty, etc), absent a real live on-campus discourse, the virtual world is what we've got to work with.

Here is my thematic analysis of commentary from the last month-- I'm focusing on that since it's possible that opinion has changed over time as the discussion has deepened.

(1) Critics are primarily concerned about the behavior of Chancellor Martin. It seems that concern extends to what her actions foretell for a future under a public authority model that gives her additional power, as well as what her actions have done to relations between UW Madison and the state. While some have claimed the concerns are more about process than policy, my reading of the commentary is that this is not the case, since many are tying the implications of the process to the implications of the policy itself. In other words-- what does her interpretation of "shared governance" thus far mean about how she would use or protect it under PA? Terms frequently used to describe Martin include "secretive," "naive," "vague"-- and according to at least one "a rather pleasant looking lady" and "a campus celebrity."

(2) While Martin is often linked to Scott Walker in comments, people seem to have independent feelings about their leadership capabilities, styles, and intellect. For example, one person writes: "In the past 100 days, Governor Walker has shown himself to be hostile to everything the UW used to represent ...But the Chancellor has been silent as employees' rights are rescinded; their take-home pay slashed; their institutions decimated; and themselves publicly slandered as everything from the root cause of a national recession to 'violent thugs' ... while alienating her colleagues at other system schools and deeply disappointing those of us who conserve a sense of solidarity with our fellow employees."

(2) There seems to be more agreement with the need for flexibilities in hiring, procurement, and construction than with regard to flexibility in tuition-setting.

(3) There is a lot of sentiment about the need to keep UW-Madison affordable and accessible to all Wisconsin residents-- not only those who are low-income. But people disagree on how to achieve these goals. This is clearly a conversation that needs more time and thought to develop.

(4) The rhetoric of "crisis" has taken hold. Many commentators mention a crisis but very few cite specifics of what makes this is a crisis. This discussion of how the "money has been stopping" is a good example.

(5) There is a fair bit of animosity towards UW System -- or at the least a sense that the Board of Regents is not as effective as it could be. I see fairly equal evidence of this in Madison papers and those from other cities and towns across the state.

(6) That said, the most common objection to the NBP is the separation of Madison from System. That move is often termed a "disaster,"

(7) Many of those who write in favor of the NBP paint its critics as "Lefties," "liberals" or "Socialists." Those who write against the NBP describes its advocates either as "neoliberals" or "conservatives," "Repugs," or even "devils."

(8) I count as many alumni writing against the NBP as writing in favor of it-- however, I remain concerned that the negative comments that dominated the WAA page were deleted from that website, tipping the scales in favor of supporters.

Abusive Phone Calls Wanted! Looking for the Worst Stories

What's the worst thing your lender or debt collector has said to you over the phone? Let's collect the worst of the worst and share them on AEM, and show the world what thugs these lenders are! 


"Honey, I can't believe what this a$*!!! just f$*#! said to me." 

Higher Education Under Attack: An Interview With Dr. Henry Giroux

The full interview with Dr. Giroux is available here.

In Case You Missed The Panel: JD in the New Economy

This panel about student loan debt, law school, and employment in the legal field took place on April 7th (I was the moderator), and can be accessed for free here.

There's an April Brizard Hitting Chicago

When news reports surfaced late last year about his wife angling for a role in the all-girls charter school, Superintendent Brizard said he was trying to keep the media off of the story until the charter application was in. Brizard's new boss, Rahm Emanuel, successfully did the same thing by keeping media questioners at bay.  -
http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/iteam&id=8080428&rss=rss-wls-article-8080428
Chicago, Chicago - the birth of mayoral control and vicious ed deform - still not getting it right after 16 years. Vallas, Duncan, Huberman, Brizard - what a lineup.

Lots of Brizard stuff - Rahm bringing him in to stand up to Karen Lewis and CORE. What a laugh. He will however last longer than Cathie Black - but hey, isn't she from Chicago? Now that she has some ed experience why wasn't she a candidate?

Brizard is another Broad Acad grad. (Scroll down sidebar for Sharon Higgins' list of failed Broad Acads.)

Ed Notes has done some Brizard stuff in the past:
"jean-claude brizard in a letter to parents of december 12 the major problem was that tilden was “not on track” to meet the city's goal of “raising the city-wide 4-year graduation rate to 70% and the 6-year graduation rate to 80"

Nov 24, 2007
He basically pegs Brizard as a Klein flunkie. What is the real story on Brizard? He gets appointed on Thursday and then there is no turning back. http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article? ...

My friend Bill Cala (who should be NY State Ed Commissioner AND Chancellor) preceded Brizard in Rochester as Superintendent. He had this to say about Brizard's claims he raised grad rates - from Substance:
Brizard’s claim has even been called into question by his predecessor, former Interim Superintendent of the Rochester schools, Dr. William Cala.
Here’s what Dr. Cala had to say about the graduation rates, in a series of e-mails with Brizard which were obtained by a Rochester reporter using the Freedom of Information Act: "Let’s make one thing perfectly clear. Brizard had nothing to do with a 12 point graduation increase. Here are the facts. In 2007 the graduation results were announced by SED for 2006 graduates at 39%. In 2008 the results for the 2007 year were announced at 51%. 2008 was Brizard’s first year. The 12% increase came before he stepped in the door. The real facts are that graduation rates dipped below 51% during his tenure, thus actually losing ground.
More on the story at Substance.

Here (http://bit.ly/dHP3kB) is a good year by year summary of articles related to Brizard from his tenure in Rochester. I know a few goodies from his time here but he was bumped around a lot because he was not on a fast track - I think he kept going down in the pecking order - Klein passed the lemon in this case.

Just some of the titles should stimulate some debate. Here are a few favorites:

RCSD School Officials in Vegas During Testing, Layoffs
RCSD Board to Question Brizard’s Raise
Brizard Hires $100,000-a-Year, Part-Time Special Assistant
Principals Told to Cut Art, Music, Phys EdRCSD Staff Stayed at Luxury Resort During Budget Crisis
Brizard Said He Didn't Give Raises to Top Staff, but He Did
State Test Scores Plummet, Erasing Gains
Brizard Spinning Graduation Data
EEOC Finds Brizard Discriminated Against Official
Staff Survey Finds Little Support for Brizard
Fact-Checking Brizard on Cabinet Spending
State: Only 5% of RCSD Grads Ready for College

Looks like the right guy for Rahm.

 

I-Team: The questions Emanuel wanted new CPS CEO to avoid

April 18, 2011 (CHICAGO) (WLS) -- When public officials refuse to answer or even entertain questions that is normally a red flag for the I-Team. So when Chicago Public Schools superintendent-appointee Jean-Claude Brizard was muzzled Monday by Mayor-elect Emanuel, the I-Team started looking at what questions should have been asked.
First, there is the ethical question of that long term contract that Brizard signed late last year with Rochester, New York school officials. The contract paid him $235,000 and his often-stated pledge, which is still on the school district website, is to carry out his five year plan.
Second: the legal question of a newly signed contract in New York that requires "termination by mutual agreement." That means the school board in Rochester has to agree to let Brizard out of his commitment.

Related Content

More: Brizard letter of resignation to Rochester schools
More: Contract Brizard is breaking to come to Chicago
More: Video: Rochester teacher union leader reports no-confidence vote
Story: New Chicago Public Schools CEO named

"I am not happy at all about that. I'm disappointed that he would do that to us. I consider him a friend, but I am very disappointed in my friend," said Adam McFadden, Rochester school board member.
Then there are the questions about why Brizard was unreachable the past week by phone or text message. School board members and city officials said that for days he would not return their calls.
"I'm sorry that he's leaving. I said all along that I thought he was the right person for the job, I wanted him to stay and I was willing to do what I could to support his activities over there so I think it's unfortunate for us that he's leaving," said Mayor Tom Richards of Rochester.
In addition to the recent no-confidence vote by 94 percent of Rochester teachers, some school district officials wanted Brizard out as long ago as last summer.
Finally, there are questions about whether his wife, K. Brooke Stafford Brizard, is a part of his Chicago Public Schools deal. In Rochester, while slashing public school budgets, Brizard moved to enlist new privately run charter schools, including an all-girls charter school that was to have been led by his wife and open in 2012.
When news reports surfaced late last year about his wife angling for a role in the all-girls charter school, Superintendent Brizard said he was trying to keep the media off of the story until the charter application was in. Brizard's new boss, Rahm Emanuel, successfully did the same thing by keeping media questioners at bay.

Quick Announcement: Henry Giroux


I recently interviewed Henry Giroux to discuss the assault on higher education in the U.S. That piece will appear on my new blog - The Margins of Everyday Life - and I've already posted a 'teasers' for your enjoyment. Stay tuned!

Related Links


"A Discourse of Critique must always include a Discourse of Possibility," The Margins of Everyday Life, April 18, 2011

Seung Ok on Social Promotion

If there is a grey area involving a medical decision, I would hope that  a specialist in that field makes it.  So if a teacher who knows their students and knows the curriculum, makes a decision to pass on a struggling student - devoid of outside pressure - I'm okay with it.--- Seung Ok
 
It was so good to hear from Seung Ok, one of the early members of GEM, who has been busy at his new school. As usual, Seung drills deep - this time on social promotion. And note the comments he inspired, especially from Deb Meier.

When he says, "Have I ever socially promoted a child? Sure I have," I am in agreement, having done the same. The Ed Deformer policy of trying to "automate" such a delicate process - part of the litany of taking basic ed decisions out of the hands of teachers - is idiocy. But it also works both ways for ed deformers. When it comes time to pump the grad rates so they look good politically, they also take the decisions out of the hands of teachers by using gimmicks to socially promote kids.

Seung gets to the heart of it: Who is making the basic decision?  I had a battle with a new principal in 1978, a woman who had taught for 6 months, who took the decisions on promotion out of our hands. She wanted to hold as many kids back as early in the grades as possible so that when they took the tests in future years they would always be a year early (brilliant woman). So it is not just ed deformers. But she was data driven, hoping to use it to move her career, so she interdicted our decisions in order to create a system that manipulated the data. She turned our school into her own high stakes school decades before the ed deformers. I immediately saw the evils personified in our little den (it took another 6 years but this change was what led to my leaving the self-contained classroom - the infantry of teaching). One day I'll share a few stories on how I used to beat her system - I have to check if the statue of limitations has run out.

Like the ed deformers, she didn't really give a rat's ass as to what kids really were learning. She could be the mother of ed deform.

In today's world, if we want to get to the essence of ed deform, whether you talk Cathie Black/Dennis Walcott, the business types at Tweed, Teach for America, it comes down to not trusting professional educators but instead placing blame for past system failures on them.

Posted to NYCEdNews listserve by Seung Ok:
In Frank McCourt's humorous passage, he describes how a group of high school teachers creatively added points to a student's score to help him obtain a 65 on the NY state English exam. He was describing an event that occurred back in the 1970's. This may me think of the key differences between the social promotion that had occurred in the old days compared to the state sanctioned promotion encouraged by education reform ala Mayor Bloomberg and NCLB.  

When I first came into teaching, and during the era of Frank McCourt's career, there was a choice of 2 high school degrees.  A student could  opt for the Regent's diploma ( by passing all the state mandated tests) or the non -regents diploma (which just required passing the classes offered by the school).  Obviously, top colleges looked to the regents diploma for their selection criteria.

Combine this with the fact that in 2002 - when the United States still led all countries in the number of those obtainment of college degrees- the US census reported that only 27 % of all Americans held a bachelor's degree.  Specifically for whites alone, the rate was 37%. 

So, the majority of house owning families in suburban areas like long island lived self supporting and productive lives as small business owners, civil servants, plumbers and whatnot - without a college degree. The myth that college is the only route to success is repeated so often that it is accepted as doctrine.

Have I ever socially promoted a child? Sure I have.  I passed struggling students who have taken the same course multiple times, and obtained a 55 average instead of the 65 minimum standard for proficiency.  However, I can recall many more times that I have  failed a student who performed a 55 average, but had the potential be be an 80 student - but lacked the motivation and work ethic to perform in class.  The key criteria I used in making the decision, was whether that student would be helped by taking the class over again.  

The main difference in the social promotion of old and what is occurring today - is centered on who makes that decision.  If there is a grey area involving a medical decision, I would hope that  a specialist in that field makes it.  So if a teacher who knows their students and knows the curriculum, makes a decision to pass on a struggling student - devoid of outside pressure - I'm okay with it. It is similar to the decisions of a jury of our peers who have to dispense justice- even though it is an imperfect system. 
However, the social promotion policies of today derive not from educators but politicians and corporate ideologues who believe they know more than those specialists working in the schools. It is a one size fits all approach that brings social promotion to a massive and uniform scale with dumbed down tests and punitive pressures for schools with many high needs students.

Frank McCourt's description of teachers helping to artificially boost up a student's scores in a state test was indeed humorous, mainly because the consequences was not high stakes.  In other words, the graduation of that student , the closure of that school, and the livelihood of the teachers were not dependent on the that student passing the state exam. 

And there is a difference when that scale for "helping" students slides down from those that earn a 55 to 50 to 45 to 40 to 35.  It is a lot like comparing the speed limit posted on the highways and the actual speed most of us drive.  The exponential increase in risk in driving 10 miles over the limit than say 20 is stark - and it is society who will take the burden of that risk.

Dangers always arise when simple solutions are offered for complex systems and problems.  The focus on high stakes testing and evaluation is one such example.  We may argue that the particular child in Mr. McCourt's passage may never become a surgeon or engineer, but the institutionalized promotion happening in all the grades today - which are promoted by the likes of Mayor Bloomberg - are destroying the drives of those otherwise destined to become the surgeons and engineers of tomorrow. 
Seung Ok
Comments on Seung's piece

----------
Re Seung's piece BELOW. I'S A VERY VERY Nice Piece, but... A MINOR QUIBBLE. Colleges did not care whether you had passed the Regents. There wasn't even a place on applications for such info, and sine I was the principal of a high school during the old days I'm in a good position to testify that the Regents were a non-issue when we helped students go on to college. No college even inquired. It is true that parents--and maybe teachers and the public--believed otherwise, Many great schools never followed a Regents diploma, and, of course, no private independent school used it, nor did students in neighboring states who did fine at getting into college. IT'S ONE OF THOSE URBAN MYTHS.

Deborah Meier
----------

When I first came into teaching, and during the era of Frank McCourt's career, there was a choice of 2 high school degrees. A student could opt for the Regent's diploma ( by passing all the state mandated tests) or the non -regents diploma (which just required passing the classes offered by the school). Obviously, top colleges looked to the regents diploma for their selection criteria.

I graduated high school in 1966 and we had 3 diplomas - Academic, Commercial and General. If I remember correctly (and I very well may not), the Academic and Commercial were either Regents or Non-Regents.

Karen

---------

Myths are powerful, but there is no evidence for it Karen. When we opened a bunch of Coalition of Essential Schools in NY state we looked into this and discovered that top notch colleges had no record of which NY State students did or didn't take a Regents exam. It did serve for some as a way to get a NY State scholarship. That's not a myth. And among principals the Regents high schools liked to brag about it.

Should it have counted? That's another matter; and today it might given all the attention given to it. I wonder. But many teachers even then found it lowered their "standards"--as a geology teacher told me--at Stuyvesant !!--"Your son should have taken this course last year--it was a much better course then." So, why didn't you keep teaching it, I asked, incredulous? "The Regents changed their test and the focus was on much more boring stuff." I still suspect he could--with the students he had--have done both. But maybe not.

We had no trouble at all getting kids into the CUNYs or SUNYs. They all had a regular high school diploma which most NY State kids had. At one point they added a requirement for a proficiency exam in English ELA and math--I think it was called a competency test for a diploma. After Tom Sobel left Mills instituted the single diploma, requiring everyone pass the Regents, and then made it easier with a lower passing score and I gather some still get a diploma without it. I'm not completely---to say the least--up on what it takes to be called a high school grad anymore in NYS. Mills claimed the purpose was to have one and only one criteria for a diploma, but even he--grudgingly--exempted some 40 schools who had for some years waivers from course credits/regents etc (Coalition schools) and who had a portfolio/exhibition set of criteria with outside "scorers". Mills appointed a panel of expert who concluded that those 40 schools had at least as reliable and valid a form of assessment as the Regents provided. I think Mills was not expecting that but he accepted it.

Deb

---------

Monday, April 18, 2011

A Free Book Well Worth Your Time

For those interested in the topic, click here to obtain a free download of Policy and Choice: Public Finance through the Lens of Behavioral Economics by William J. Congdon, Jeffrey R. Kling, and Sendhil Mullainathan.

To be clear, this download is not a pirated copy but a free electronic version authorized by the authors. I don't expect this kind of thing to be the beginning of a trend.  A free-download strategy makes sense when an author's sole goal is maximizing readership and intellectual influence.  Most authors, however, from novelists to (of course) textbook writers, have some pecuniary motives as well.

AEM is over

After much deliberation, I've decided no longer to accept donations
for All Education Matters, Inc., and when it comes time to renew the
incorporation filing, AEM will officially cease to exist.

As most of you are aware, I have done this work - advocating for
student loan debtors - in a variety of locations and contexts.   I
have worked as an advocate in my off hours while employed full time, and full time
while unemployed in the U.S.  AEM was created while I worked as a
teacher in Korea, and I've continued with the mission since I returned
(I am happy to say that I have resumed teaching in the U.S.).   All
along, the goal with AEM was to establish an organization with the
resources to be a permanent voice for change in the way we fund
education in America, while  (perhaps more importantly) advocating for
relief for current debtors who are being brutalized by a ruthless
lending system.  For obvious reasons, one of my aims was to be able to
make a living (i.e., pay rent and put food on the table; my lifestyle
is not lavish, and other than my own loan payments my expenses are
modest) while working as a full-time advocate.  For some reason,
though, despite a complete lack of proof, and in the face of a
mountain of contradictory evidence, the benevolence of my motives has
been questioned almost from the start, and most dishearteningly, this
assault has come from within the student loan reform movement itself.
Specifically, I have been been accused of somehow profiting off of
student debtors.  I don't consider myself obligated to justify myself
to anyone, because all along my actions have spoken for themselves.
But for the record, I have never materially profited off of student
loan debtors, and I have never changed my goals or ideals.  I believe
the student lending problem is massive and complex, and requires that
we consider a range of solutions.  Because of that, I have at times
advocated for (and continue to espouse the potential benefits of) loan
forgiveness, the return of bankruptcy protections that were lost in
2005, progressive programs to get people out from under their debt
more quickly and with better terms, investigations into the lending
industry's fraudulent activities, greater oversight and regulation of
that industry, cleaning up the Department of Education (which is
riddled with industry insiders), and also, more generally, a shift in
the trends in education and educational funding of the past 20-30
years (specifically inveighing against the corporatization of higher
education and the precipitous rise in higher education costs).

The sad reality of any movement for change is that there are always a
variety of opinions about how best to bring about that change, or the
most effective form that change should take.  The student loan reform
movement is no different; I was prepared for this, and I navigated the
pitfalls of it relatively well for 2 years.  But at this point I have
decided that the fractiousness is counterproductive and I'm tired of
expending so much energy fending off attacks from the very people I'm
supposed to be allied with.  Unfortunately, many people in movements
like this one take extreme, hard-line positions, and they prefer to
complain about the lack of change than see any kind of incremental
improvements.  And when there are improvements that don't speak to
these people's specific goals, it would seem they feel threatened. So
they refuse to compromise on anything and spend 90% of their energies
dragging down anyone else in the movement they consider a "traitor."
That way of seeing the world is incomprehensible and, it seems to me,
far more destructive than constructive. But again, movements for
change have always been like this, with a sharp divide between those
who think the first step is to tear everything down, no matter the
cost, and those who think change can be made incrementally. I think
attacking people who ultimately want the same thing as you do because
you disagree with their approach is counterproductive. I have
steadfastly refused to respond to lies and accusations about me and
AEM and, should such attacks continue, I will maintain that policy.
Such engagement is beneath me, AEM, and the student lending reform
movement.

Current borrowers have always been and will remain my chief concern,
but AEM will no longer accept donations. Once the paperwork is needed
to file in Delaware again, I will not go through with it. I am deeply
grateful to those who have supported AEM. Without your generosity, it
would never have become a non-profit corporation, and that tells me
why my work, and that of AEM, is so important. My materials have
always been free and accessible to all. My work and research will
remain that way, because I am committed to coming up with viable
solutions to the student loan debt crisis.  I will continue to write
and advocate, but I'll do it from the sidelines.  It's obvious to me
that the fractiousness and toxic atmosphere within the student loan
reform movement make the prospect of full-time advocacy unrealistic,
at least for me (unless I win the lottery, in which case, watch out!),
and it's time to move on professionally.

What Are You Doing This Summer?

Want to work with a talented group of students and faculty, helping find ways to make Wisconsin public higher education more affordable? Then please consider joining the Wisconsin Scholars Longitudinal Study as an undergraduate or graduate intern this summer!

The WSLS is seeking students who will commit to at least 10 hours/week of work for summer and fall 2011. The ideal candidates are responsible, trustworthy, and detail-oriented. Those studying sociology, psychology, economics, or political science are especially needed.

Potential tasks include: (1) piloting a study of undergraduates using text-messaging, (2) interviewing students, (3) transcribing and coding interviews, and (4) Using STATA to clean, code, and analyze survey data. Interns will be included in regular biweekly staff meetings and social events.

We offer class credit and/or pay based on experience.

If you are interested, please email Alison Bowman at ambowman@wisc.edu by May 13. Include a resume and short description of your relevant skills and time availability.

Thanks!

Scott Walker's Hokey Pokey


Eliminating collective bargaining for Wisconsin public employees was all about balancing the state budget. Until it wasn't.

Expanding the Milwaukee voucher program was all about equal educational opportunities for low-income children. Until it wasn't.

Howard Fuller is absolutely right to threaten to "get off the stage" and refuse to strike a deal with the devil.
“I will never fight for giving people who already have means more resources. Because, in the end, that will disadvantage and squeeze out the possibility of poor parents having some of these options,” said Fuller.

This is not to say that Fuller won’t consider raising the income threshold to serve more of Milwaukee’s working poor. In the interview, he talks about aligning the requirements for entry into the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program with those of Wisconsin’s BadgerCare program, which provides health care to state residents who earn less than 300 percent of poverty. “That would capture over 80 percent of the households in the city,” he said. “So if your real objective is to expand the level of support, you could do that and still retain a focus on low-income and moderate-income families.”

But if Wisconsin and other states want to make their vouchers universally accessible to families of any income level, “it may very well be that it’s time for people like me to get off the stage,” he said. “Maybe it has to be a different movement going forward, but if that’s the way the movement has to be going forward, it’s not something that I can be a part of.”

While I disagree with Fuller's approach to expanding vouchers rather than focusing on reform of and investment in public education, I admire his steadfast adherence to principle and his commitment to advocacy on behalf of disadvantaged children and families.

Others in Wisconsin -- including UW-Madison Chancellor Biddy Martin -- need to come to the same conclusion. What YOU may think or want something to be about probably isn't why this right-wing governor is your new friend. Just say "no, thank you." There are alternatives that may need to wait for more thoughtful and progressive leadership in Wisconsin.

Trampling workers' rights. Privatizing public education. THAT's what it's all about.

AP Photo: Andy Manis


Ed Deform Hypocrisy: Class Size - share with your anti-teacher Seda Relatives, Tchr Eval at Schools they pick for their kids, and Brizzard Resigning Today in Rochester

UPDATE:

Poor Chicago parents, teachers and kids! 

Brizard received a nearly unanimous no-confidence vote among Rochester folks. 

For more on how his policies have been deeply unpopular among Rochester stakeholders, see

http://communityeducationtaskforce.rocus.org/?p=162

Eli Broad and Joel Klein have a lot to answer for!

Rahm Emanuel to name new Chicago schools chief

By KIM JANSSEN Staff Reporter / kjanssen@suntimes.com Apr 18, 2011 11:13AM
Chicago Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel plans to name Rochester Superintendent Jean-Claude Brizard (right) to be the Chicago Public Schools CEO. He'll replace Ron Huberman, who resigned last year.
Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel plans to name the man in charge of schools in Rochester, N.Y., to head Chicago’s public schools, The Associated Press is reporting.
Jean-Claude Brizard — who has headed the 32,000-student Rochester City School District since 2008 — was with Emanuel Monday awaiting the start of a news conference at Kelly High School on the Southwest Side.
Brizard signed a three-year contract there in February paying $235,000 a year but has clashed with the teachers union there.
Previously, he taught and worked as an administrator in New York City’s schools.
Brizard replaces Ron Huberman, who resigned last year. Since then, Terry Mazany has served as interim schools chief.
---------------

Lots of stuff coming in. Leonie has a piece you should share on class size. Then there is the hypocritic oath taken by ed deforms :
I shall not send my own child to a school where teachers are evaluated based on test scores or where there are few senior/experienced teachers, or with high class sizes, or where my child must spend the day doing test prep, or where the school has a KIPP like discipline program.
From Leonie:
The education Deformers like to say that class size does NOT matter, only teacher "quality". That is why we must pay and fire teachers based on test scores. Read below a report from Leonie Haimson of Class size Matters that counters the education "deformers".


Last week, the Center for American Progress released a report by Matthew Chingos, who previously wrote a highly-flawed critique of Florida’s class size reduction program. (See my recent debate with Chingos on CNN.)

CAP has put out a series of crude reports posing as educational research, but this must be one of the least impressive. Despite its title, “The False Promise of Class-Size Reduction,” lowering class size is only one of K-12 four reforms that, according to the Institute of Education Sciences, have been proven to work through rigorous evidence.

In this report, Chingos falsely claims that that the benefits of smaller classes, as shown by the Tennessee STAR studies, faded out over time:

“The bump in test scores after one year would be impressive if it didn’t erode over time despite the continued use of small classes.”

Actually, follow up studies by Jeremy Finn reveal that students who were randomly assigned smaller classes in the early grades had significantly higher graduation and college-going rates. The gains were especially impressive for low-income students:

“For all students combined, 4 years in a small class in K–3 were associated with a significant increase in the likelihood of graduating from high school; the odds of graduating after having attended small classes for 4 years were increased by about 80.0%. Furthermore, the impact of attending a small class was especially noteworthy for students from low-income homes. Three years or more of small classes affected the graduation rates of low- SES students, increasing the odds of graduating by about 67.0% for 3 years and more than doubling the odds for 4 years.”

The report continues:

http://parentsacrossamerica.org/2011/04/more-clap-trap-from-cap-on-class-size-reduction

Combined w/ Winerip story tells a very sad story.

Teacher evaluations at the schools that Obama, Duncan picked for their kids

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/teacher-evaluations-at-the-schools-that-obama-duncan-picked-for-their-kids/2011/04/15/AF1S1cwD_story.html

By Valerie Strauss, Sunday, April 17, 10:35 PM

Bill Schechter taught history for 35 years at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School in Sudbury, Mass. Now retired from the classroom, he supervises the student-teacher practicums of students earning master’s degrees in teaching at a local university. He is also a volunteer tutor at a Boston public school.
  •  
A question occurred to Schechter recently when he was preparing testimony to give before the Massachusetts Board of Education, which will soon hold hearings on whether to base teacher evaluations on students’ standardized test scores — and if so, to what extent.
The question was: How do the schools serving the children of President Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan handle this important school reform issue? He decided to find out.

The issue of linking a teacher’s salary and pay to how well students do on a standardized test has come to dominate the national education debate.

With the Obama administration’s support, more states are passing laws to connect teacher pay and test scores, even though experts on assessment say it is a bad idea.

The tests being used today were not designed to evaluate teachers (and they don’t do a good job of assessing students, either).
Furthermore, everybody who has ever taken a test understands that there are numerous factors that can affect how well someone does that have nothing to do with the teacher; kids who go to school hungry or tired or mentally ill or sick or anxious aren’t likely to do well, even if the teacher is to the teaching profession what Einstein was to physics.

Knowing that the Obama administration’s policies support linking teacher pay with test scores, Schechter wondered what Sidwell Friends School, the private Quaker school in Washington where Obama’s two children are enrolled, does regarding teacher pay-for-performance.

Schechter wondered the same about the Arlington County public school system, where Duncan’s children attend school.
This is part of what Schechter wrote to me:

“What did the president and the secretary seek and obtain for their own kids, where the important issue of teacher evaluation was concerned? The answers recently arrived in two e-mails:

“Arlington school district teacher, March 31, 2011: ‘We do not tie teacher evaluations to scores in the Arlington public school system.’

“Sidwell Friends faculty member, April 1, 2011:
“ ‘We don’t tie teacher pay to test scores because we don’t believe them to be a reliable indicator of teacher effectiveness.’ ”




Is he going elsewhere, say Chicago?  Hope not for their sake.

Jean-Claude Brizard expected to announce resignation today

9:38 AM, Apr. 18, 2011  |  

Rochester City School  District Superintendant  Jean-Claude Brizard talks with the media recently about raising graduation standards.
Rochester City School District Superintendant Jean-Claude Brizard talks with the media recently about raising graduation standards. / JAMIE GERMANO staff photographer
http://cmsimg.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/persbilde?Avis=A2&ID=tlankes&maxH=55&masW=55
Written by
Tiffany Lankes
Staff writer
School board President Malik Evans said this morning that Superintendent Jean-Claude Brizard will likely announce his resignation this afternoon.
Evans said the board planned to meet in executive session to discuss its legal options regarding his contract and then hold a press conference.
Evans said he did not know where Brizard is planning to go.
School board members said last week that they had not been able to reach Brizard for several days amid rumors that he may be considering a job in another district.
Check back for more details as they become available.

Washington TU protest at WAPO - LInks to Kaplan Test Prep and Virtual Schools Push as Critical Blog Post is Rejected by WAPO

Updated, Monday, April 18, 10AM- This blog keeps changing every 10 minutes, so check it out again even if you read it.

mport84 Comment
The Post editorial board is not entirely separate and independent of Kaplan. Furthermore, Kaplan Educational Services in involved in something far more troubling than even their higher-education frauds. I will explain.  
In October, at Jay Mathews invitation, I wrote a guest blog for his Washington Post education column, Class Matters. I discussed Kaplan's stealthy expansion of its tax-funded, public K-12 for-profit virtual charter schools. I was concerned that the Kaplan website appeared to be hiding these ventures from the local communities whose education budgets are paying for them. Judge for yourself:  http://www.kaplanonlineschools.com/district/soluti...  
Mathews says his editors refused permission for him to print the blog, saying they would handle the Kaplan matter themselves. Ask him. Is that editorial independence?
I was contacted by teacher/blogger mport84 about the link between the protest at WAPO and their parent company, Kaplan Industries. I'm updating this post with information sent to me by mport84.

(There have been some calls from teachers to protest Murdoch's NY Post but other than Gotham Schools most people don't take the Post too seriously. WAPO is different with more of a NY Times-like rep.)

To be fair: It's not all one-sided at WAPO. They have ed deformer Jay Matthews balanced by the fabulous Valerie Strauss and good reporting from Bill Turque.

The WTU did mention the Washington Post's distorted and pro-ed deform policy to their ownership by testing and test prep giant Kaplan which makes so much profit from ed deform. Kaplan's new push is for virtual schools where the kids will never leave their house - think of it - no messy school building, or teacher salaries - all costs go directly into the hands of corps - see why Joel Klein pushed the idea and then left to join Rupert to get some of that business - reason enough for him to have fulfilled my failed prediction (so far) that one day he would be taken out of Tweed in cuffs. Mport84 also touched base with WTU President Nathan Saunders:
I spoke to Saunders, who said that while there was no direct connection between Kaplan and the DC public schools, Kaplan was part of a “testing culture” that had permeated the public school system, ruining the educational experience for both students and teachers."
Here are a bunch of reports on the protest. The first one is WAPO's own coverage:
Teachers’ union protests Post editorial board
 
"The D.C. teachers union staged a rally outside The Washington Post on Friday alleging that the paper’s editorial positions are influenced by Kaplan, the for-profit educational services division owned by The Post Co.
 
Dozens of teachers clad in red chanted “Down with The Post lies” during the midday protest. Union activists parked a giant inflatable rat near the entrance to The Post’s headquarters at 15th and L streets in Northwest Washington.
 
“Absent Kaplan, The Post would be out of business,” Washington Teachers’ Union President Nathan Saunders said. Saunders said The Post’s editorial board stakes out positions that are in keeping with the general business aims of Kaplan, which offers a range of services, including degree programs and standardized test preparation. Saunders pointed to a Post editorial supporting IMPACT, the D.C. teacher evaluation system, which is partly based on students’ performance on standardized tests. Kris Coratti, The Post’s communications director, said Kaplan is not involved in The Post’s editorial decision-making."
 Now one from Politico:  On Media: Teachers union protests Washington
 
"But the greater oddity is connecting Kaplan to the kinds of editorials that the teachers union was upset about – in this case, supporting the controversial teacher evaluation system that was former DC Public Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee’s signature initiative. The former is primarily about higher education, the latter about K-12. Kaplan does also run a test-prep business that might mingle with the interest of DC public schools, but not in any fundamental way that is worth waging a policy battle about.

Blogger mport84 left the comment that leads this piece. Here are reports from themail which includes WTU VP Candi Peterson's report of the rally.
The Washington Teachers Union held a protest against the editorial board of The Washington Post on Friday, and the protest was much larger than either of the DC statehood protests that got much more publicity. So, if you haven't heard about it, read Candi Peterson's article below.
Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com
###############
WTU Protests the Washington Post
Candi Peterson, saveourcounselors@gmail.com
Approximately three hundred teachers, school personnel, city workers, union and community members protested outside The Washington Post building on Friday, April 15. This day was selected because it coincided with a day-off furlough for DC Public Schools employees and DC government workers. The protest was organized by the Washington Teachers' Union (WTU) against the Post due to their biased reporting that consistently vilifies DC public school teachers and fails to include more balanced reporting of the obstacles teachers face in a mostly urban school district. According to WTU President, Nathan Saunders: "You've got to understand that the Washington Post has been vicious against, not just teachers unions, but the Washington Teachers' Union in particular, for the last three or four years," he said. "And everything that the former chancellor, Michelle Rhee, has done in the district, they have embraced wholeheartedly at the expense of working teachers.
In the words of Reflective Educator blogger, a former DC teacher: "Why is the Washington Post such an awful place for citizens to get information about what's really going on with education in the District?" We have to ponder why did it take USA Today newspaper's investigative journalists, Jack Gillum and Marisol Bello to cover the story, "When Standardized Test Scores Soared in DC, Were The Gains Real?" Another reason for Friday's protest was to call attention to the Washington Post's relationship with Kaplan Testing Company, which accounts for the majority of their revenue. It is the Washington Teachers' Union position that the Post fails to adequately cover education reform from all vantage points, fails to print letters to the editor from education stakeholders, colors their editorial viewpoint, and heaped undeserved praise on former Chancellor Michelle Rhee during her term in DCPS, despite her many transgressions.
At the protest, teachers carried signs that read: "Cancel your Washington Post subscription today" and "We'll stop buying until you stop lying" while singing chants, as a big inflatable union rat loomed large in front of the Post. Speakers included other union leaders, including Jos Williams, President of Washington, DC Metro Labor Council; Bill Simon, Former WTU President; AFSCME representative, Caneisha Mills; AFGE representative, Johnny Walker; Vincent Orange, At-Large City Council candidate; Robert Brannum, President of the DC Federation of Civic Associations; Jerome Brocks, a now-retired activist teacher; and Sheila Gill, a wrongfully terminated school counselor; and a host of others, with closing remarks given by Reverend Grayland Hagler, who encouraged protesters to march in solidarity around the K street corridor. All in all, it was a beautiful day and just the start of actions planned by the Washington Teachers Union which will seek to build momentum and convince our government and the mayor of the need to provide adequate funding for public education.
MPort84 also sent this info along:
Here are some quotes from Kaplan website extolling virtual schools:
“IMAGINE REACHING EVERY CHILD, EVEN IF SHE NEVER WALKS THROUGH THE DOOR....PROGRAM SOLUTION: DISTRICT-LABEL VIRTUAL SCHOOL”
Kaplan created public school programs to address the needs of districts seeking a partner....Districts can also open an intact virtual school that has the look and feel of the district and not that of Kaplan.
Districts can accommodate students who cannot be served by a traditional brick and mortar school, thus keeping them in-district and capturing per-pupil funding. Plus, a dedicated Account Manager will work as a district partner to deliver results.”
http://www.kaplanonlineschools.com/district/solutions

There is a great need to discuss the actual educational consequences of the profit-driven drive to curtail brick-and-mortar and flesh-and-blood education in favor of virtual products.  
 
Others have voiced genuine reservations, especially considering the horrific record of the for-profit online college mills.  Here is a respected columnist from Forbes, E.D. Kain“The Next Step in Scott Walker’s Corporate Education Reform Agenda: Diploma Mills”
 
“But a virtual school does not fully replicate an actual classroom, and even if it did, we should be deeply troubled by the funneling of public education dollars into the coffers of for-profit businesses with very dubious transparency and even more dubious results.”

ON THE WATERFRONT

                                                                                                                                photo P.B.Lecron
An idle moment along the quais of Conflans-Ste-Honorine, the long time capital of French inland waterways. The inland port is about 24 kilometers (15 miles) downstream from Paris, at the confluence of the Oise and the Seine rivers.

Vocabulary
une voie navigable:  a waterway
un cygne:  a swan
une mouette:  a seagull

©2011 P.B. Lecron

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Reforming Wisconsin Public Higher Education

As we move into the closing months of debate over Governor Scott Walker's budget bill, it is becoming clear that there's little appetite for the New Badger Partnership outside of Madison. That's not to say that the Wisconsin Idea Partnership is likely to succeed either.

Instead, the state has begun a very important discussion about the future of public higher education. No one--whether pro or con-NBP-- seems to think what we're doing right now is working terribly well. And the metrics would seem to bear that out --our degree completion rates, access rates, affordability rates-- all are essentially mediocre. We can and must do better, and it's in that spirit that I will begin to propose some principles and prospects for reform.

My proposals are grounded in the spirit of the Morrill Land-Grant College Act of 1862 that helped create the University of Wisconsin, and the Wisconsin Idea that helped sustain it. They are also grounded in decades of empirical research on undergraduate education and the actual experiences of today's college students. Finally, please note that they are primarily meant to stimulate discussion and debate-- not to preclude it. Wisconsin needs so badly to engage in a series of frank, fearless conversations about higher education with a much wider representation of opinions and ideas than it has before. Now is the time, and here are some thoughts to get us started.

(1) In the 21st century, the two systems of Wisconsin public higher education could work together to meet the needs for undergraduate and graduate education throughout the state. Right now, they are systems divided, competing for scarce resources. While they enjoy different missions they are in many ways complementary and their work needs to be coordinated. Therefore, I call for serious discussion about creating a central, comprehensive governance board overseeing the work of all of Wisconsin's public colleges and universities. In other words, that board would be charged with the future of both the University of Wisconsin System and the Wisconsin Technical College System. The creation of this kind of governing body should be aimed at elevating the educational missions of our institutions and protecting them from the inappropriate incursion of politics (e.g. intrusions from both the governor's office and the Legislature). Given that both parties have, at various times, objected to the involvement of political actors in the work of these schools, this approach could (eventually) garner bipartisan support. That's not to say it will be without pain-- the move would nearly undoubtedly result in the discovery of some mission overlap or creep and/or redundancy in some services that could results in closures and/or job loss. These are hard truths, but not ones that should be avoided.

(2) To ensure cost-effective operations, all institutions of higher education in Wisconsin need to be treated as the schools they are. In other words, they require greater autonomy from state government in a key set of domains. They are unlike other state agencies in terms of their work, their personnel, and their ways of operating. Schools are not businesses, and will not run effectively (and therefore efficiently) as such. Serious consideration needs to be given to finding the means with which to free them from red tape with regards to (a) personnel issues including hiring and compensation, (b) procurement, and (c) construction.

(3) Just like many other not-for-profit institutions, going forward the Wisconsin higher education system should be allowed to retain the revenues it generates as long as it uses them solely for educational purposes-- in other words to satisfy its mission. The state should not be allowed to "sweep" said revenues from the System for non-educational purposes. The possible exception might be to take them for use in funding the state need-based financial aid program -- but ideally that program should be administered by a board that coordinates the work of both UW System and WTCS. Notice that I am suggesting that individual institutions may still have to give up some revenues to the System; that sort of tax facilitates redistributive activities that benefit the common good as long as the revenues are used for educational purposes.

(4) Ensuring the accessibility and affordability of Wisconsin public higher education in the 21st century requires strong oversight of tuition and financial aid policies. Left to their own devices, colleges and universities have significant impetus to act to maximize the opportunities for their employees rather than their students. To control this tendency, a central board needs to coordinate these policies across institutions-- this is an important part of what makes them part of a system. It is also what makes degree completion possible for students who--for a wide variety of reasons-- attend multiple institutions en route to a degree (today that includes more than 1 in 2 undergraduates).

There are four ideas. Let's have at 'em- and let's develop more. Please join the conversation.