The Education Gadfly Weekly

Alliance For Excellent Education
Bob Rothman
December 2009

This brief provides a summary of why America’s public schools need not just higher academic standards, but common (“national”) standards. A mere six pages in length, the brief is worth a read if only to remind you why Ohio’s recent decision to fully adopt the Common Core standards in mathematics and English language arts is so significant. 

The Time is Now points out that between 2005 and 2007, seven states lowered their standards for eighth-grade reading; nine states also lowered their standards for eighth-grade math proficiency. This trend could not come at a worse time. Changes to the American economy have led to a vanishing of low-skill jobs; students increasingly must possess a college degree in order to acquire prosperity. In fact, the nation’s future depends on the college readiness of our students; to remain globally competitive, America’s workforce must be prepared to work with their minds – not with their backs.

Yet state-by-state improvements to academic standards will be insufficient, as allowing states to set their own proficiency bar leads to variations in academic content, quality, and college readiness among graduates. A 2009 Fordham report found that schools’ ability to make federally mandated Adequate Yearly Progress depended entirely on the state within which they were located. That’s why the Common Core State Standards initiative, led by the Council of Chief State School Officers and the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, is so critical. Common Core promises to create an unprecedented collaboration between states in defining academic expectations, enable comparisons across states in a meaningful way, and eventually lead to shared curriculum and assessments for use at the classroom level.

Ohio is on board for adopting the Common Core and will benefit greatly from this overhaul. Besides providing Ohio’s students and teachers with a clear idea of what they are expected to know, teach, and improve upon, implementing common standards is a main criterion for winning federal Race to the Top money (for Ohio, a confection worth $200-400 million). If nothing else, common standards may end up being the only of Sec. Duncan’s reforms that Ohio fully embraces and that holds potential to improve education for students across the Buckeye State. Read it here.

Center for Research on Education Outcomes
January 2010 

This brief report supplements CREDO’s June 2009 national study on charter performance in 15 states and the District of Columbia. The January 2010 report focuses on the school years 2003-04 through 2008-09, and looks at roughly 20,000 students in grades 3-8 across 49 New York City charter schools.

The results of the New York City report show significantly better results for most students and student subgroups in math (with the exception of students with disabilities, Limited English Proficient students, retained students, and students in poverty) and better results for students in reading (students enrolled for 1 year, students with disabilities, Limited English Proficient students, and retained students).

Although there are a number of differences between the national study and the NYC study – including vastly different results in mathematics, wherein more than half of the NYC charter schools showed statistically significant growth in math, as compared to just seventeen percent in the national study – one common theme is that students enrolled in charters seem to perform better over time. Specifically, the New York City report indicates that after three years in a NYC charter school, students showed a four point advantage in reading and 15 point advantage in math as compared with students in traditional public schools. Copies of both the New York City and national reports are available here.

The Dayton Public Schools, in Fordham’s hometown, rang out 2009 with an announcement that it faces a $5 million budget shortfall caused by rising home foreclosures and delinquent property taxes. A mere two weeks later the head of the Dayton Education Association announced that she couldn’t support the district’s participation in the state’s “Race to the Top” application. Her logic, “The requirements of the grant itself ask for too much….Too many strings.” …This is like a starving man refusing a steak because he is asked to cook it for himself. Read the full post here.

The news coverage around Race to the Top and the efforts states are making to become more competitive seems to now dominate much of the conversation around education. With so many state leaders moving into action (or at least using aggressive reform rhetoric), Ohio is like the kid in show-and-tell who forgets to bring something cool and shows off a piece of pocket lint while classmates hold up crystal geodes, model airplanes, and Indian arrowheads. Read more here.

Ohio Auditor of State Mary Taylor recently released special audits as part of an investigation into Daniel Burns, a former district administrator at the Toledo and Cleveland school districts who is accused of stealing $820,000 from the two districts over the course of eight years…. One can’t help but wonder if there is a “Deep Throat” somewhere lurking in the shadows of Cleveland or Toledo waiting to tell all. If you are out there, Gadfly would love to hear from you. Read the full post here.

Enrollment in Buckeye State charter schools was up eight percent last year, to 89,000 students statewide, according to the Ohio Department of Education’s annual report to the governor about the state’s community schools.

The report and accompanying tables include demographic and historical academic performance data for all charter schools, a map of charter school locations, school enrollment numbers, information about sponsors, analysis of charter school performance, and a recap of legislation (from the past year and previous years) impacting charter schools. This year’s report also features a section examining district conversion schools.

Conversion charter schools are those in which all or part of an existing traditional public school has been transformed into a charter school. These schools may be sponsored by any public school district in the state. Fifty-two of the 332 charter schools operating last school year were conversion schools.

ODE staff visited 36 conversion schools last year to gain information ranging from the schools’ educational programs, admissions processes, and staffing to their independence from their sponsoring districts. The department found that many conversion charter schools do not operate as independent, autonomous entities and instead operate more like district programs.

Independent governance of the school and integrity of the sponsor’s fiscal monitoring functions could not be assured for 34 of the 36 schools visited. Likewise, independent operation of the school could not be assured for nearly half of the schools. Smaller numbers of schools had other problems, including not providing instruction in core subjects in classrooms dedicated to charter students, having insufficient staffing because charter teachers performed similar functions at one or more of the sponsoring district’s schools, and not having evident, adequate space dedicated to the charter school.

The report does not speculate why conversion schools don’t operate in consistency with state charter laws and regulations. In practice, though, this generally happens for one of two reasons: 1) savvy administrators see starting a conversion charter as a simple way to bring additional money (through federal charter school start-up grants) into their district coffers, or 2) well-meaning district leaders don’t fully understand the charter school model and the autonomy requirements that go with it. In any case, ODE intends to work with conversion schools and their sponsoring districts over the next year to ensure that they comply with state and federal law and that each school operates as a separate and unique entity.

To be eligible for a portion of $200 to $400 million in Race to the Top money (should Ohio win), Local Education Agencies (LEAs) – school districts and charter schools – were required to submit memorandums of understanding (MOUs) to the Ohio Department of Education by last week.

We previously speculated on Flypaper that Ohio, unlike states with more contentious applications, might see hundreds of LEAs signing up. This, in turn, might threaten to diminish the intention of Race to the Top, as spreading funds far and wide across the state would result in very few dollars with which districts could make any real changes.

Indeed, over a third (250) of Ohio’s 613 districts signed the MOU, including many large urban districts -- Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Toledo, and Akron. (It’s a shame that Dayton [facing a $5 million hole in its budget] and Youngstown [the state’s lowest performing school district] decided to sit this one out.) Of 332 charter schools, 187 signed on to the provisions of Race to the Top.

In terms of student enrollment, the discrepancy between districts and charter schools is stark. If Ohio wins a portion of Race to the Top funding, 46 percent of students enrolled in district public schools attend a school eligible for the money, compared to 72 percent of students enrolled in charter schools. The graphs below show that a far larger share of children in the state’s charters than in district schools have administrators that have signed the state’s Race to the Top memorandum of understanding.

Last week Cleveland Metropolitan School District CEO Eugene Sanders released his long-awaited district transformation plan. It is an ambitious proposal that seeks a substantial reorganization of CMSD and looks to spur innovation for the long-suffering urban district.

One hardly needs to make a case for reform in Cleveland’s public schools. A dwindling manufacturing base, high rate of home foreclosures, abandoned neighborhoods, and the current economic recession put the city at risk of becoming the next Detroit. Its population and student enrollment have declined exponentially over the last decades, and as a result many school buildings remained under-utilized or empty. Cleveland’s academic performance is arguably one of the worst in the nation. As we noted previously (see here and here), the district’s performance on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (aka, the Nation’s Report Card) has been alarmingly low and remained stagnant. For example, Cleveland is the only urban district in NAEP’s Trial of Urban Districts that has not seen academic achievement gains in reading or math since 2003. Graduation rates have not exceeded 62 percent in the past decade, and the city has been rated “Academic Watch” (a D) by the state or below by the state for nine of the last 10 years.

The transformation plan’s primary goal is ambitious – within five years no district school will be rated below “Continuous Improvement” (a C) by the state and at least half of the district’s schools will be rated “Excellent” (an A) or “Effective” (a B). 

The district is seeking a broad array of changes. Most notable is a mass consolidation of its facilities. A third of its 110 buildings will stand to be “repurposed” or closed. While academic performance does play a role in scheduled closures, the primary motivator seems to be unused capacity. The district’s approach to turnarounds (which it refers to as “repurposing”) is interesting as it seeks multiple approaches such as total closure, restarts, and charter conversions.

The plan calls for strong K-8 neighborhood schools with enhanced social services, and replacing large comprehensive high schools with smaller academies of choice that have an emphasis on ninth-grade retention.

There are some significant top-down changes outlined, among them a shake-up of the central office. The district’s offices will be reorganized to more efficiently serve schools and promote innovation. The district is seeking to establish more of a building-based management approach that allows principals greater latitude in administrative decisions. (This decentralization effort seems to be based on the efforts of reform-minded districts like New York City, but unlike in NYC the money in Cleveland won’t follow the child to the school and be managed by school leaders.)

The district also includes language that seems to get tough with teachers whose students are not performing academically. The plan touches briefly on linking student performance with teacher evaluation, and hints at removing teachers who do not deliver results.

While this reform proposal is incredibly detailed in some areas, it is vague in others. It continually mentions strengthening a system of accountability. However, it includes only broad proposals in this regard and does not provide substantive examples of accountability benchmarks.

Additionally, it goes into few specifics on development of curriculum and pedagogy, pushing their development down the road. The document talks about a mishmash of “common core” curriculum and 21^st century skills jargon. 

There are quite a few hurdles that the district will need to clear for these efforts to be successful. It is predicting a serious deficit for the next school year, and it will cost approximately $20-25 million annually to implement all of the proposed reforms. CEO Sanders seeks to cover the costs through a combination of Race to the Top funds, private and corporate philanthropy, and cost cutting. Both the Cleveland and Gund Foundations have provided substantial financial support for the thinking behind the district’s reform strategy.

Stakeholder buy-in is essential, particularly when dealing with school closures. Many in the community are upset about the proposed closures, and the city council and teachers union have expressed anger over their lack of input in the plan. 

Union acceptance of the reform package is sure to be a major sticking point, as the district and its union have had strained relations in the past. However, as Ohio’s only district under mayoral control, Sanders may have the leverage needed to push the reforms through. 

Overall it seems as though CMSD did its homework before releasing this substantial reform package, and it presents a comprehensive strategy for moving itself forward. While the transformation strategy is light on pedagogy and curriculum changes, its structural and organizational changes are sorely needed. The main challenge for CMSD will be in the heavy lifting of implementation and actually carrying out the sweeping change for which it aims. This is a step in the right direction for the district, and hopefully a sign of turnaround not only for Cleveland’s school system, but also for the city itself.

The news coverage around Race to the Top and the efforts states are making to become more competitive seems to now dominate much of the conversation around education. With so many state leaders moving into action (or at least using aggressive reform rhetoric), Ohio is like the kid in show-and-tell who forgets to bring something cool and shows off a piece of pocket lint while classmates hold up crystal geodes, model airplanes, and Indian arrowheads. Read more here.

Alliance For Excellent Education
Bob Rothman
December 2009

This brief provides a summary of why America’s public schools need not just higher academic standards, but common (“national”) standards. A mere six pages in length, the brief is worth a read if only to remind you why Ohio’s recent decision to fully adopt the Common Core standards in mathematics and English language arts is so significant. 

The Time is Now points out that between 2005 and 2007, seven states lowered their standards for eighth-grade reading; nine states also lowered their standards for eighth-grade math proficiency. This trend could not come at a worse time. Changes to the American economy have led to a vanishing of low-skill jobs; students increasingly must possess a college degree in order to acquire prosperity. In fact, the nation’s future depends on the college readiness of our students; to remain globally competitive, America’s workforce must be prepared to work with their minds – not with their backs.

Yet state-by-state improvements to academic standards will be insufficient, as allowing states to set their own proficiency bar leads to variations in academic content, quality, and college readiness among graduates. A 2009 Fordham report found that schools’ ability to make federally mandated Adequate Yearly Progress depended entirely on the state within which they were located. That’s why the Common Core State Standards initiative, led by the Council of Chief State School Officers and the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, is so critical. Common Core promises to create an unprecedented collaboration between states in defining academic expectations, enable comparisons across states in a meaningful way, and eventually lead to shared curriculum and assessments for use at the classroom level.

Ohio is on board for adopting the Common Core and will benefit greatly from this overhaul. Besides providing Ohio’s students and teachers with a clear idea of what they are expected to know, teach, and improve upon, implementing common standards is a main criterion for winning federal Race to the Top money (for Ohio, a confection worth $200-400 million). If nothing else, common standards may end up being the only of Sec. Duncan’s reforms that Ohio fully embraces and that holds potential to improve education for students across the Buckeye State. Read it here.

Ohio Auditor of State Mary Taylor recently released special audits as part of an investigation into Daniel Burns, a former district administrator at the Toledo and Cleveland school districts who is accused of stealing $820,000 from the two districts over the course of eight years…. One can’t help but wonder if there is a “Deep Throat” somewhere lurking in the shadows of Cleveland or Toledo waiting to tell all. If you are out there, Gadfly would love to hear from you. Read the full post here.

The Dayton Public Schools, in Fordham’s hometown, rang out 2009 with an announcement that it faces a $5 million budget shortfall caused by rising home foreclosures and delinquent property taxes. A mere two weeks later the head of the Dayton Education Association announced that she couldn’t support the district’s participation in the state’s “Race to the Top” application. Her logic, “The requirements of the grant itself ask for too much….Too many strings.” …This is like a starving man refusing a steak because he is asked to cook it for himself. Read the full post here.

Center for Research on Education Outcomes
January 2010 

This brief report supplements CREDO’s June 2009 national study on charter performance in 15 states and the District of Columbia. The January 2010 report focuses on the school years 2003-04 through 2008-09, and looks at roughly 20,000 students in grades 3-8 across 49 New York City charter schools.

The results of the New York City report show significantly better results for most students and student subgroups in math (with the exception of students with disabilities, Limited English Proficient students, retained students, and students in poverty) and better results for students in reading (students enrolled for 1 year, students with disabilities, Limited English Proficient students, and retained students).

Although there are a number of differences between the national study and the NYC study – including vastly different results in mathematics, wherein more than half of the NYC charter schools showed statistically significant growth in math, as compared to just seventeen percent in the national study – one common theme is that students enrolled in charters seem to perform better over time. Specifically, the New York City report indicates that after three years in a NYC charter school, students showed a four point advantage in reading and 15 point advantage in math as compared with students in traditional public schools. Copies of both the New York City and national reports are available here.