Education News: October 2, 2009

Following are some of the top headlines from the world of education for the week ending October 2, 2009.

Recent Study Shows Achievement Gap Has Narrowed Since NCLB
(Christian Science Monitor, October 1, 2009)  According to a major new education study, student achievement is on the rise and achievement gaps in test scores between subgroups, such as African-Americans and whites, are closing across all grade levels and subjects.  The study was released Thursday by the Center on Education Policy (CEP).  It analyzed student performance in all fifty states since 2002, when No Child Left Behind took effect, and paid special attention to achievement gaps for minority and low-income students.  The report focused on "trend lines" and examined the gaps between the lines, finding that 74% of gaps that researches looked at narrowed in size.  This was most often because the gains made by the lower-performing group outpaced the gains made by the higher-performing group.  In general, the news was most positive for Latino and African-American subgroups and for students at the elementary-school level.  Nancy Kober, a consultant with CEP, points out that even with the gaps narrowing, they are still relatively large. 

Rhee Launches New Teacher Evaluation System Heavily Tied to Test Scores
(Washington Post, October 1, 2009)  D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee launched a new evaluation system which will make the district one of the first in the nation to tie teachers’ job security to standardized test scores.  The system, called IMPACT, aligns with nationwide reform goals to hold teachers accountable for student progress.  It will assess teachers against an elaborate framework of requirements and guidelines, including classroom presence and how carefully they check for student understanding of the material.  Rhee has invested $4 million in the system.  This year only reading and math teachers in grades 4 through 8 will be evaluated based on growth, with student value-added accounting for half of their evaluation.  A corps of third-party "master educators" will be employed to maintain neutrality in classroom observations.  The other half will be based on the new "teaching and learning framework" developed at the beginning of the year.  Advocates of the new evaluation method claim that a teachers’ “value added,” or how they contribute to student growth on tests, is more meaningful than the absolute number targets set forth by No Child Left Behind.  IMPACT is expected to be another point of contention between Rhee and the teachers unions, who contend that growth statistics aren’t reliable enough to include in performance evaluations.  The unions also fear that the new system will be used to remove struggling teachers rather than helping them to improve.  School officials say that IMPACT was developed in close consultation with rank-and-file District teachers.  Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, believes the system to be flawed because it is based on the assumption that the teacher is the only factor that contributes to student progress.

NEA Aims to Get the Best Teachers in the Neediest Schools
(USA Today, September 30, 2009)  The National Education Association, the US’s largest teachers union, plans to encourage its local districts to ignore contract provisions that keep the most effective teachers out of the highest-needs schools.  Testifying Tuesday before the House education committee, NEA President Dennis Van Roekel stated that the union will ask its local affiliates for memoranda of understanding with local school districts to "waive any contract language that prohibits staffing high-needs schools with great teachers."  The union will also encourage its “most accomplished teachers-members” to begin their careers in high-needs schools, remain in them or transfer to them.  The NEA has previously received criticism because it supported contracts which allow experienced teachers to transfer to lower-needs schools with middle-class children.

President Obama Expresses Aim to Shorten Summer Vacation
(Denver Post, September 28, 2009)  President Barack Obama has expressed his distaste for the amount of time that American children spend in school.  He believes that it is too little if American students want to remain competitive with others around the globe.  The president aims to add time to classes, stay open late and let kids in on weekends to provide a safe place for kids to go.  Students in Asian countries that consistently outscore the U.S. on math and science exams, however, spend fewer hours a year in school than students in the US, despite having longer school years than the US.  Researcher Tom Loveless of the Brookings Institution looked at math scores in countries that added math instruction time and found that schools who added minutes to the day outperformed those who added days to the year.  Disadvantaged children are particularly harmed by summer vacation, because their parents often don’t read to them, have strong language skills or ensure that they experience good learning opportunities.  Cash strapped districts must also consider their budgets when debating extra time, as it doesn’t come cheap.

After-School Programs See Gains in Math But Not Reading
(Education Week, September 30, 2009)  A federal study of curriculum materials used in two “enhanced” after-school programs found that the math program lead to significant achievement gains while the reading program did not.  The study included students in grades 2-5.  The math program, Mathletics, was developed for the study by Harcourt School Publishers, and the reading program, Adventure Island, was also developed for the study by the Baltimore-based Success for All Foundation.  They were taught in twelve after-school centers in rural, suburban and urban areas in ten states.  Students who took part in the “enhanced” math program for one year even saw far greater achievement than students in regular after-school programs.  A second year, however, showed gains no greater than for those in regular after-school programs.  Results from the first year of the reading program showed no difference from the first year of the regular after-school program, but second year results showed that participants in the enhanced program did far worse than students in a regular after-school program.  The study was commissioned by the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences.  It was conducted by the MDRC, a nonprofit organization known for its large-scale evaluations of social programs.  While the study was not set up to compare the two programs, researchers found that the reading programs pace was too fast and educators had trouble keeping up.  Additionally, students in the reading program began further below grade level than those in the math program.

Cleveland Schools May Cut Mainstream Teachers if Special-Ed Ruling is Enforced
(Cleveland Plain Dealer, October 2, 2009)  Cleveland schools may be forced to let go of mainstream teachers if a recent ruling requiring special-education teachers in every mixed classroom is enforced.  Recently, an arbitrator ruled that, under union contract, a general-education teacher and special-education teacher must be assigned to every class that mixes students with disabilities and other children.  The union estimates that this could require hiring up to six special education teachers per building.  At a school board meeting on Tuesday, Chief Executive Officer Eugene Sanders reported that this would have to come at the expense of general-education teachers.  While the teachers union could go to court to enforce the arbitration ruling, union President David Quolke said he would rather negotiate a solution.  Federal law dictates schools to place students with disabilities in classes with other children, known as inclusion, whenever possible.  The practice keeps special education students from being isolated and ensures equality of instruction.  While some classes do have two teachers, more commonly students with disabilities are pulled out of classes and sent to special-education specialists.

News of a “Slut List” in New Jersey School Sheds Light on High School Hazing
(New York Times, Sepember 26, 2009)  While girl-on-girl hazing is old news, news of a “slut list” at a New Jersey high school has caused greater concern.  The list suggests that taunts are increasingly explicit and sexual in nature, and that allegations of promiscuity are a cause for pride not shame.  Additionally, the list and other hazing activities have gone on at Millburn High School in New Jersey for over ten years.  Many parents worry about the level of popularity a girl attains by being recognized as promiscuous.  In recent years, the list has spread on Facebook.  Experts are concerned as well, mainly with the age of the girls on the list, which includes girls as young as fourteen.  The influx of information since 2002 has Rosalind Wiseman, an expert on adolescent female behavior, planning a new edition of her book, “Queen Bees and Wannabes,” upon which the film Mean Girls was based.  Even Mattel has sensed the increase in hazing, demonstrated by a new American Girl doll this year named Chrissa, who moves to a new school and is immediately targeted by three girls in her class.