Billions of dollars are being spent to increase learning time in struggling schools through Extended Learning Time (ELT). “ELT,” which the U.S. Department of Education defines as the use of a longer school day, week, or year, is a key component of the School Improvement Grant program aimed at turning around failing public schools.
Billions of dollars are being spent to increase learning time in struggling schools through Extended Learning Time (ELT). “ELT,” which the U.S. Department of Education defines as the use of a longer school day, week, or year, is a key component of the School Improvement Grant program aimed at turning around failing public schools. But is the way to improve low-performing schools simply to add more time in school A recent report by Education Sector, Off The Clock: What More Time Can (And Can’t) Do For School Turnarounds, attempts to answer that question by looking at how schools are actually using their extra learning time. The report states that roughly 1,000 public schools around the nation are now operating with extended learning schedules, and at least 60 percent of those are charter schools.
ELT takes three major forms:
In Ohio, of the 42 schools awarded SIG funds, 27 of them chose to take advantage of the transformation model, some using ELT, in various ways. The long term effects of ELT’s success will depend on careful use of resources, staff, and planning. And like most grant-funded reform efforts, while ELT may have a positive effect on academic performance, when SIG funds dry up schools may not be able to support the expense of ELT.
The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) recently released Arts Education In Public Elementary and Secondary Schools1999-2000 and 2009-10, a report detailing the status of arts education in K-12 schools, the third study of its kind. This report builds on topics covered in the two prior reports: extent to which students received instruction in the arts, facilities and resources available for arts education, and preparation and instruction practices of art specialists and non-classroom teachers. The study also added new categories that were not discussed in the prior reports: the availability of curriculum-based art education activities outside of regular school hours and the presence of school-community partnerships in the arts. A total of 3,400 school participated in the current survey, including both district and charter schools.
The report compares the 1999-2000 school year data to the current data, in other words, pre-recession data versus post-recession data. In secondary schools, the only arts subject to increase in availability was music, with 91 percent of public schools offering courses in 2008-2009 (only 90 percent did so in 1999-2000.) Availability of courses in visual arts, dance, and drama/theatre all decreased from the 1999-2000 school year. In elementary schools, the numbers are worse. Schools offering music courses remained steady at 94 percent, the same as 1999-2000 school year. However, schools offering visual arts, dance, and drama/theatre courses all decreased, with dance availability dropping 17 percentage points and drama/theatre dropping 16 percentage points from the 1999-2000 school year.*
In Ohio, State Superintendent Stan Heffner is worried about the future of arts education in public schools. Due to budget restraints, many school districts have cut back or altogether eliminated arts education. Cleveland Superintendent Eric Gordon recently announced that balancing his district’s budget will mean cutting programs. He is shortening the K-8 school day by 50 minutes and trimming gym, art, and music classes. These subjects won’t be eliminated completely, but course offerings will be scaled back and instructors will be assigned to more than one school.
*Many schools did note that, due to the number of classes specifically devoted to these subjects decreasing, many core subjects began to incorporate music, visual arts, dance, or drama/theatre into their teaching.
Among the suite of education proposals included in Governor Kasich’s “mid-biennium review” legislation is a transition from Ohio’s current, confusing, and complicated school-rating system to a more straightforward A to F one. Not only would the new system be easier for parents, educators, and the public to understand, it would also provide a more accurate assessment of how well schools and districts in the Buckeye State are educating students (which isn’t quite as well as many of them have been led to believe – see Bianca and Terry’s analysis, here). The proposed changes are a necessary step towards a more honest appraisal of how well prepared Buckeye State students are for the work and college. It also provides insights for what is necessary to increase preparedness for students moving forward.
But another change in the works, one not included in the governor’s bill (because it doesn’t require a change in law), is equally important when it comes to helping all players in the K-12 arena prepare for the higher expectations and rigor of the Common Core standards and the 21st-century global economy in which our students, as adults, will compete.
Early drafts of this year’s district- and building-level report cards were shared this week with the State Board of Education. The cover includes an “early warning system” alerting parents that higher standards and more rigorous assessments are just two school years away. Next to the school’s current percent of students proficient in reading and math is a projection of the percent of students who would be proficient in 2014-15 under the new system (the state uses the percent of students who are “accelerated” or “advanced” on the current tests as a proxy). In most cases (as State Superintendent Heffner said at our February Common Core event), proficient rates drop by half.
For example, in Columbus (Ohio’s largest district):
The results are worse for certain subgroups:
These projections are stark and show just how great the challenges are facing students, schools and districts as Ohio moves forward in fully implementing the Common Core and the greater academic expectations that go along with it. Lawmakers, the state board of education, and the state superintendent are sure to take much flak from local education leaders and others about broadcasting such dismal information. But shining light on the reality of how well our students are doing is the first step to upgrading expectations for students, schools and the larger community, and ultimately developing the capacities needed to meet the challenge.
Troubled charter schools around the state have been in the news of late for misspending and misallocating taxpayer money. Take for instance a recent special audit of the Dayton-based Richard Allen charter schools that revealed over $900,000 in findings for recovery from school management and governing authority members. In northern Ohio three charter school treasurers are responsible for over $1 million in questionable spending of public dollars. Charter schools are not the only ones spending public dollars in questionable ways: The purchase of boxer shorts and golf course memberships recently showed up in audits of local governments.
In response to these financial improprieties State Auditor Dave Yost, along with Rep. Hagan (R-Alliance) and Sen. Schaffer (R-Lancaster), crafted the Fiscal Integrity Act. The proposed bill (yet to be formally introduced) would bolster accountability measures and education requirements for treasurers working in the public sector. The bill would impact district schools, community (aka charter) schools, and local governments.
Highlights of the proposed Fiscal Integrity Act
Education
Accountability
While the proposed legislation has a lot of merit we question the value of requiring more internship hours in a traditional district office for prospective charter school treasurers. Charter schools are decidedly different entities than are traditional districts. That said, ratcheting up penalties for maleficence or shoddy treasury work is totally appropriate and should be widely supported. We’d even go further on this front. The Fiscal Integrity Act waits until a school or district is declared unauditable before the treasurer faces suspension. But in fact, a district can be misspending public money and still be “auditable.” Entities placed on the unauditable list may have already squandered away millions of tax payer dollars – by the time a school or government has been declared unauditable, the damage has already been done. A better approach would be to take quick action against treasurers whose schools are auditable but have “findings for recovery” in an audit. Those offenders should have a set, short period of time to explain the findings and pay the amount owed, or have their license suspended.
Most public treasurers are honest and competent public servants using tax payer dollars in a responsible and legal manner, but as State Auditor Yost said, “One bad apple spoils the bunch and the worms must be rooted out.” There are charter and public schools alike that are working hard and doing the job right, and then there are those like the Richard Allen schools that apparently took an “anything goes” approach and repeatedly misspent tax payer money .
Kudos to Auditor Dave Yost for introducing a piece of legislation that attempts to create an environment of controls, increased education, and real repercussions, which in turn should lessen the temptation to mishandle public funds in the first place.
Billions of dollars are being spent to increase learning time in struggling schools through Extended Learning Time (ELT). “ELT,” which the U.S. Department of Education defines as the use of a longer school day, week, or year, is a key component of the School Improvement Grant program aimed at turning around failing public schools. But is the way to improve low-performing schools simply to add more time in school A recent report by Education Sector, Off The Clock: What More Time Can (And Can’t) Do For School Turnarounds, attempts to answer that question by looking at how schools are actually using their extra learning time. The report states that roughly 1,000 public schools around the nation are now operating with extended learning schedules, and at least 60 percent of those are charter schools.
ELT takes three major forms:
In Ohio, of the 42 schools awarded SIG funds, 27 of them chose to take advantage of the transformation model, some using ELT, in various ways. The long term effects of ELT’s success will depend on careful use of resources, staff, and planning. And like most grant-funded reform efforts, while ELT may have a positive effect on academic performance, when SIG funds dry up schools may not be able to support the expense of ELT.
The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) recently released Arts Education In Public Elementary and Secondary Schools1999-2000 and 2009-10, a report detailing the status of arts education in K-12 schools, the third study of its kind. This report builds on topics covered in the two prior reports: extent to which students received instruction in the arts, facilities and resources available for arts education, and preparation and instruction practices of art specialists and non-classroom teachers. The study also added new categories that were not discussed in the prior reports: the availability of curriculum-based art education activities outside of regular school hours and the presence of school-community partnerships in the arts. A total of 3,400 school participated in the current survey, including both district and charter schools.
The report compares the 1999-2000 school year data to the current data, in other words, pre-recession data versus post-recession data. In secondary schools, the only arts subject to increase in availability was music, with 91 percent of public schools offering courses in 2008-2009 (only 90 percent did so in 1999-2000.) Availability of courses in visual arts, dance, and drama/theatre all decreased from the 1999-2000 school year. In elementary schools, the numbers are worse. Schools offering music courses remained steady at 94 percent, the same as 1999-2000 school year. However, schools offering visual arts, dance, and drama/theatre courses all decreased, with dance availability dropping 17 percentage points and drama/theatre dropping 16 percentage points from the 1999-2000 school year.*
In Ohio, State Superintendent Stan Heffner is worried about the future of arts education in public schools. Due to budget restraints, many school districts have cut back or altogether eliminated arts education. Cleveland Superintendent Eric Gordon recently announced that balancing his district’s budget will mean cutting programs. He is shortening the K-8 school day by 50 minutes and trimming gym, art, and music classes. These subjects won’t be eliminated completely, but course offerings will be scaled back and instructors will be assigned to more than one school.
*Many schools did note that, due to the number of classes specifically devoted to these subjects decreasing, many core subjects began to incorporate music, visual arts, dance, or drama/theatre into their teaching.
