New Study Says District-Union Collaboration Catalyst for Improving Teaching Quality and Raising Student Achievement
Clark County, NV and Hamilton County, TN Touted as Successful Reform Models
WASHINGTON – November 13, 2007 – The often adversarial relationship between school district officials and the local teachers’ union can keep schools from providing a high quality education to all students. However in Clark County, Nev. and Hamilton County, Tenn. school leaders have worked collaboratively with their local teachers’ union to develop strategies that retain quality teachers and close achievement gaps, according to a new report released today by the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future (NCTAF).
The NCTAF study, funded by the NEA Foundation, documents the journey each district took as they sought to turn around low-performing schools, address unprecedented growth, attract, support and retain quality teachers and distribute them equitably, and develop systemic ways to close achievement gaps. The districts are very different but their key reform tool was the same: a spirit of collaboration focused on students first.
The study, Reducing the Achievement Gap Through District/Union Collaboration: The Tale of Two School Districts, provides strong proof that unions and districts can collaborate successfully to improve student achievement. “When union and district leaders collectively focus on the needs of students and teachers first, change can happen,” said NCTAF President Tom Carroll. “The possibilities are endless for transforming the culture of teaching and learning in schools.”
“We are very interested in supporting efforts that reveal new professional practices that positively impact student achievement, and of equal importance, is showing teachers unions as collaborative partners in education reform,” said Harriet Sanford, President and CEO of the NEA Foundation.
The Power of Collaboration
A major factor in the reform success of the two counties was the districts and their teachers’ unions utilizing Interest Based Bargaining (IBB), a negotiation strategy in which parties collaborate to find a “win-win” solution to their dispute. This strategy focuses on developing mutually beneficial agreements based on the interest of all parties, enabling those negotiating to become joint problem solvers.
In Clark County the union and school district partnership resulted in a range of changes including expedited hearing processes to assure that contract disputes are resolved before they reach the grievance stage, a waiver process that enables teachers to go beyond contractual restrictions if they and their administrators believe these changes will positively impact student achievement, creating empowerment schools where teachers received bonus pay based on overall school performance, and an enhanced support system for new teachers.
In Hamilton County, because of the union-district collaboration, a community-wide partnership developed to support their work to improve teaching and learning. By openly addressing hot-button issues like teacher transfers, pay incentives, reconstituting schools, and data and evaluation, all parties were able to come up with solutions that benefited students and teachers the most. The schools in Hamilton County now have site-based school planning, principal networks, family support services, change coaches, teaching teams across grade levels, small learning communities within high schools, and a more challenging high school curriculum.
Because of the willingness of all parties to work together, tangible improvements were made in student learning and teaching quality for both counties.
By the Numbers
In Clark County, the number of schools meeting AYP increased by 12 percent (from 183 in 2005 to 216 in 2006) and the number of schools not meeting AYP decreased from 149 in 2005 to 123 in 2006. Additionally, the number of high performing schools increased, with schools designated as “exemplary” increasing from six in 2005 to 11 in 2006 and schools designated as “high achieving” increasing from 34 in 2005 to 44 in 2006. Clark County schools also experienced significant improvements (as high as 14 percent) in mathematics and reading scores in every grade from 3rd to 8th. During the past three years, the percentage of high school graduates passing the Nevada High School Math Proficiency exam has increased, and the drop out rate of 9th – 12th grade students decreased while the number of advanced and honors diplomas awarded increased (more than 4,400 out of 11,642 diplomas awarded) as have the number of scholarships awarded (an increase of $10.5 million). Teacher turnover rates in the district decreased by 10 percent; even more impressive were the improvements in teacher stability at high risk schools previously characterized by high teacher turnover year after year.
Hamilton County also achieved great success in shrinking the achievement gaps and improving student achievement at all levels. In 1999, 12 percent of 3rd grade students in the lowest performing schools were reading at proficient or advanced levels. By 2003, more than half (53 percent) achieved this level -- and by 2006, almost three-quarters (73 percent) had reached the proficient or advanced levels. Additionally, in 2002, the first year in which the union agreed to the “reconstitution” of struggling schools and to the bonuses to attract and retain teachers at these schools, the number of teachers new to their schools reached an all-time high of 31.4 percent. By 2005, that number had dropped to 17.9 percent.
Since reform efforts began in 2003, the percentage of middle school students scoring advanced and proficient in reading/language arts has risen across Hamilton County, but particularly in high needs schools. A 25.9 percentage point achievement gap in 2003 was reduced to a 19.9 percent gap in 2006. In those three years, the achievement gap in middle school math dropped from 25.8 percent to 17.4 percent. Finally, Hamilton County high schools are also making gains in promotion rates, on-time graduation rates, and numbers of graduates enrolled in college. The percent of ninth grade students receiving a “proficient” or “advanced” rating on the Algebra Gateway exam rose, as did performance of tenth graders on the English Gateway exams.
Lessons Learned
The two districts had very different reasons for collaborating with their local teachers’ union but they learned valuable lessons that other school districts can model. First, a strong foundation for change must be in place. The study clearly shows:
• Systemic reform cannot take place without the active formal and informal involvement of the district administration and the education association (union).
• All stakeholders must have a comprehensive, common vision that focuses on student learning and is guided by instructional improvement.
• It is extremely useful to create a dedicated time and retreat space where the key stakeholders can initially meet to work out the details of the reform plan.
• Interest Based Bargaining creates a sound structure for working through issues and goals.
• All stakeholders must recognize and respect the fragile, critical and essential nature of trust relationships and must actively work to protect and nurture this trust, especially at the beginning of the process.
• All parties must keep their constituencies informed of the reform goals and progress.
• The stakeholder leaders should be ready to approach foundations and outside funders as a team, presenting a common agenda.
Secondly, it is important to identify and implement solutions that include:
• Assessing the gap between the goals of the project and the current status (and capacity) of available teachers, leaders, resources, data, parental and community support must be done before solutions can be identified and implemented.
• Labor contracts must be examined to identify contractual provisions that could impede the reform efforts.
• Stakeholders must reach consensus on the selected solutions.
• The reform effort should include data to inform work, collaboration around goals, common language for instruction, and embedded professional development.
Finally, the study offers specific strategies to support policy change for leaders from the district, union, and community. Clark County and Hamilton County stand as evidence that, with strong collaboration among key partners, change can happen and dedicated education leaders can improve learning opportunities for every child in their community.
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The National Commission on Teaching and America's Future (NCTAF) is a non-profit, non-partisan advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C. NCTAF is dedicated to providing every child with competent, caring, qualified teaching in schools organized for success. With a network coalition of 25 states and links to professional educational organizations across the nation, NCTAF provides leadership on innovation and improvement in teaching and learning in America’s schools. For more information, visit NCTAF’s website: www.nctaf.org.
The NEA Foundation is a non-profit, 501(c)3 organization created in 1969 by members of the National Education Association and sustained today by contributions from educators, corporate sponsors and other supporters of public education. The Foundation offers programs and grants that support educators’ efforts to close the achievement gaps, increase classroom innovation, salute excellence in education and provide professional development: www.neafoundation.org.
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