NCTAF News Digest:

A Weekly Digest of News Articles & Reports

Thursday April 17, 2008

In this Issue:

--NCLB Watch

--Teacher Retention a Critical National Problem

--Lawmakers Prepare to Reconcile Bills to Renew HEA

--Charters' Teach Gap

--Commentary: The Key to Keeping Teens in School

--Texas Legislators Looking at Revamping School Ratings

--Commentary: Destroying Public Education in America

--Many Mass. Graduates Unprepared in College

Greetings,

This is the NCTAF News Digest, a timely news service provided to our partner states, commissioners, and the education policy community. This Digest is for the personal educational use of the recipient. At publication time, all links were active. Some publications may require free registration. You may wish to bookmark links for future reference.

Teacher Retention a Critical National Problem

-EdNews.org; April 14, 2008

It is a commonly known that 50% of the new teachers leave the profession within the first five years of teaching. In addition, young people studying to be teachers rarely know if they will succeed as a teacher. There has been no effective way of predicting whether or not one individual will be successful in teaching and will remain a teacher for an entire lifetime. As the number of able teachers continues to decline, there is a severe need for more teachers in many fields and geographical areas. Teachers are needed to meet the classroom needs of disadvantaged children and the accountability standards of various states in particular, teachers are needed to narrow the achievement gap between high and low socioeconomic students. To further add to the critical need to retain teachers is the requirement of the federal "No Child Left Behind Act" that every classroom have a "a highly qualified" teacher by school year 2005-2006. Here we are in 2008 and the goal has not been achieved.This requirement applied to all teachers, including special education teachers. The cost of teacher turnover is unusually high and deprives our schools of the needed personnel resources. The impact of the low teacher retention can be devastating to a school district. Example.1)Let's say between 1998 and 2001, a district lost 3,907 teachers.(2) At an estimated cost of 20% of the annual salary of a first year teacher,(3) or $7400. per teacher.(4) the district would have to spend nearly $30 million dollars to replace teachers who left between 1978 and 2001. More shocking is the fact that nearly a third of the these teachers could be new hires, costing the district more that 9.6 million. The problem of teacher attrition is costly; it is even more damaging to the educational development of students, especially low income and minority students. In schools with75 % or more minority, economically disadvantaged, or Hispanic, the turnover rate exceeded 20 percent last year. In schools determined to be least effective the turnover rate was more than 40 percent.

The task of teacher recruitment and teacher retention is, therefore, a critical national problem. We not only need more teachers, we also need better teachers. Teachers must be selected not only on the basis of their academic credentials, but also on the likelihood that they will remain in the profession long enough to make an impact. A possible effective solution is the Haberman Star Selection Process.

Dr. Martin Haberman is a teacher educator who is committed to determining the attributes of successful teachers. He has studied teachers in school districts around the country for more than 30 years and has reached the conclusion that there is a third important attribute, in addition to content knowledge and pedagogy, which leads to success in the classroom. This area is the capacity to build relationships with children, parents and school leaders is the dimension that is the best predictor of teacher retention. Dr. Haberman has developed an interview process that elicits responses regarding the following mid-range functions: (1) persistence, (2) organization and planning, (3) value of student learning, (4) theory to practice, (5) teaching at risk students, (6) approach to students, (7) surviving in a bureaucracy, (8) explaining teacher success and (10) fallibility. The responses of teacher applicants are compared with the responses of successful "star" teachers. The process, which has been researched and validated, can predict teacher success with a high degree of probability.Many testimonials from school districts that have employed the Haberman Star Teacher Selection Process are now coming forth.

To read the full article, click here.
To view NCTAF's Cost of Teacher Turnover study, click here.

Lawmakers Prepare to Reconcile Bills to Renew HEA
-Education Week; April 14, 2008

Congress is poised to finish crafting long-stalled legislation reauthorizing the Higher Education Act, providing the first comprehensive update in federal law covering teacher education and college-preparatory programs in nearly a decade. The HEA, which governs a broad swath of federal higher education programs, was last reauthorized in 1998. The renewal has been pending since 2003, although Congress has passed separate legislation revamping student-lending programs usually governed under the HEA. Most recently, lawmakers approved the College Cost Reduction Act of 2007, which boosted Pell Grants and other student aid. The House approved its version of the HEA renewal by a vote of 354-58 in February; the Senate passed its measure last July by a 95-0 vote. Lawmakers negotiating behind the scenes are expected to meet soon in a conference committee to reconcile the two bills. They hope to finalize a compromise measure this spring. On teacher education issues, the two chambers' bills are more alike than different. Both would combine three separate programs aimed at teacher-training programs into a single funding stream focused on helping school districts collaborate with colleges on preparing prospective teachers. Under the measures, teacher colleges could work with needy districts to offer beefed-up field experiences, including teacher residencies, which allow students seeking a master’s degree in education to work alongside an experienced educator while taking graduate courses. The grants could also be used for induction programs, which provide ongoing support for beginning teachers, including mentoring.

The new language "is a lot more prescriptive" on how colleges can use the partnership grants than current law, said Brittny McCarthy, the director of federal relations for the American Association of State Colleges and Universities. She said that would help bring the HEA into line with the No Child Left Behind Act, with its emphasis on teacher quality.The House bill also contains language that would allow the partnership grants to be used to train K-12 superintendents and other administrators, as well as teachers. That language isn’t in the Senate bill, but supporters are hoping it will remain intact through the conference process. "It would really be a much more dynamic program [for leadership preparation] than we’ve seen before" in the HEA, said Mary L. Kusler, the assistant director of government relations for the American Association of School Administrators, in Arlington, Va. In the past, she said, the higher education law has "been very focused on preparing teachers to enter the classroom. But there was no focus whatsoever on leadership." The House measure would also establish "Teach to Reach" grants, which could be used to support partnerships between teacher colleges and high-need districts to help general education teachers work with students in special education placed in their classrooms. "For the most part, we’re pretty happy" with both bills, said Jane E. West, the vice president of government relations for the Washington-based American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education.

"Our big push this year is around appropriations," she added. "They’ve got some really good ideas in here. … But we really need a concerted effort to provide some money."

To view the full article, click here.

Charters' Teach Gap

-New York Post; April 15, 2008

April 15, 2008 -- The state's "higher quality" teachers are more likely to be in conventional public school classrooms than in charter institutions, new data show.

The percentage of "highly qualified" teachers in state public schools overall is 95.7 percent. It's 78.8 percent in charter schools, the data show. In the city, 90.8 percent of core academic classes were taught by "highly qualified" teachers in 2006-07. That's a jump of nearly 4 percent from the year prior.  There was no breakdown for city charter-school teachers.  Federal guidelines call for teachers to have a minimum of a bachelor's degree, state certification and demonstrated knowledge of the subject area they teach in order to be considered "highly qualified."

"To me, it really is a somewhat meaningless measuring stick because the outcomes of charter schools are overall better than that of the districts they're in," said Peter Murphy, policy director for the New York Charter Schools Association. Charter schools in many states, including New York, are offered exemptions, in which up to 30 percent of the teachers per school - or a maximum of five teachers - are permitted to prove competency through means other than state certification. If those teachers were excluded from the count, the percentage of charter teachers considered "highly qualified" would likely be greater, according to state Education Department officials.

For the full article, click here.

Commentary: The Key to Keeping Teens in School

-The Christian Science Monitor; April 15, 2008

Washington - Every day 7 thousand high school students drop out of school – and the American high school graduation rate hasn't budged for almost three decades. In an effort to jump-start those rates, General Colin Powell recently announced the development of 100 dropout prevention summits across the US. On the heels of that step comes even more hope for reducing the number of dropouts and it includes the needed spawning of more civic engagement among young people. Service learning is an educational technique that combines classroom learning with community service. What's critical is that it is not only key to getting more students engaged in their communities, but, according to a report released last week by Civic Enterprises, it is also a powerful tool to keep students on track to graduate from high school. A nationally representative survey of high school students, including at-risk students, paints a hopeful picture. Eighty-two percent of all service-learning students said their view of school improved because of their service-learning classes, and 77 percent said that service learning had a big effect on motivating them to work hard. Furthermore, 64 percent of service-learning students claimed that service learning would have a fairly or very big effect on keeping them from dropping out of school. Dropout crisis reforms combat a number of barriers – they must increase attendance, student motivation, engagement, academic performance, and create learning environments free of disruptive behavior. Research shows that service learning accomplishes each of these.

Although high-quality service-learning programs are cropping up across the nation, such programs are still unjustifiably rare. Eighty-three percent of students said that if their school offered it, they would enroll in a service-learning program. Yet only 16 percent of all students, and only 8 percent of students at low-performing schools, reported that their school offered service learning. All too often students do not have access to, or do not even know about, such programs offered by their schools. This latest survey builds on two ground-breaking 2006 reports that jolted the nation to act on educational and civic challenges. One report showed that nearly one-third of all high school students fail to graduate with their class and almost half of all minority students drop out before graduation. Meanwhile, America's Civic Health Index showed that high school dropouts hardly participated in civic duties – declining to vote, volunteer, or advocate for reforming schools that were failing them. Addressing these twin challenges of high school dropout and civic disengagement requires comprehensive reform aimed at making school more rigorous, relevant, and engaging. Enter service learning. As school districts, states, and the federal government debate how to best address the US dropout crisis, service-learning should be at the forefront of strategies used to raise graduation rates.

For the full article, click here.

Texas Legislators Looking at Revamping School Ratings

-The Chronicle; April 14, 2008

AUSTIN — Rating public schools based on the strides students make on standardized tests, and not simply whether they pass or fail, is among the changes some state lawmakers want considered next year to how school performance is graded. Talk of shaking up the way Texas measures how well public schools are doing comes as momentum seems to be building for significant reforms to the oft-criticized school accountability system when the Legislature reconvenes in January. "The stick can work, but the carrot works better," Republican Rep. Rob Eissler, chairman of the House Public Education Committee, told The Dallas Morning News. Under the current system, every school and district in the state is graded based on annual Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills scores and student dropout rates. State ratings are anxiously awaited by superintendents, teachers and parents because they are the chief measure of how well schools are educating their students. But educators and parents have increasingly voiced dissatisfaction with the grading system that was first implemented in 1994, arguing that increased federal attention and stronger state curriculum have since made it obsolete.

Sen. Florence Shapiro, who chairs the Senate education committee, favors a major shift that would focus on academic growth of students over the school year rather than requiring them to meet minimum TAKS standards.Shapiro, a Republican from Plano, said one way to do that would be measure improvement from one year's TAKS to the next. "We need to look at a system that shows the progress of youngsters over a school year and not base everything on a one-shot test," said Shapiro, who co-chairs the Select Committee on Public School Accountability. School boards and superintendents have almost universally supported an overhaul of the accountability system, voicing support for evaluations based on student growth."A system based on student growth would me more motivating than the black and white standards we now have," said Jackie Lain of the Texas Association of School Boards.

For the full article click here.

Commentary: Destroying Public Education in America

-Atlantic Free Press; April 14, 2008

Diogenes called education "the foundation of every state." Education reformer and "father of American education" Horace Mann went even further. He said: "The common school (meaning public ones) is the greatest discovery ever made by man." He called it the "great equalizer" that was "common" to all, and as Massachusetts Secretary of Education founded the first board of education and teacher training college in the state where the first (1635) public school was established. Throughout the country today, privatization schemes target them and threaten to end a 373 year tradition.  It's part of Chicago's Renaissance 2010 Turnaround strategy for 100 new "high-performing" elementary and high schools in the city by that date. Under five year contracts, they'll "be held accountable....to create innovative learning environments" under one of three "governance structures:"Charter schools aren't magnet ones that require students in some cases to have special skills or pass admissions tests. However, they have specific organizing themes and educational philosophies and may target certain learning problems, development needs, or educational possibilities. In all states, they're legislatively authorized; near-autonomous in their operations; free to choose their students and exclude unwanted ones; and up to now are quasi-public with no religious affiliation. Administration and corporate schemes assure they won't stay that way because that's the sinister plan. More on that below.

George Bush praised these schools last April when he declared April 29 through May 5 National Charter Schools Week. He said they provide more "choice," are a "valuable educational alternative," and he thanked "educational entrepreneurs for supporting" these schools around the country. Here's what the president praised. Lisa Delpit is executive director of the Center for Urban Education & Innovation. In her capacity, she studies charter school performance and cited evidence from a 2005 Department of Education report. Her conclusion: "charter schools....are less likely than public schools to meet state education goals." Case study examples in five states showed they underperform, and are "less likely than traditional public (ones) to employ teachers meeting state certification standards."  Other underperformance evidence came from an unexpected source - an October 1994 Money magazine report on 70 public and private schools. It concluded that "students who attend the best public schools outperform most private school students, that the best public schools offer a more challenging curriculum than most private schools, and that the private school advantage in test scores is due to their selective admission policies." Clearly a failing grade on what's spreading across the country en route to total privatization and the triumph of the market over educating the nation's youths.

For the full article, click here.

Many Mass. Graduates Unprepared in College

-The Boston Globe, April 16,2008

Thousands of Massachusetts public high school graduates arrive at college unprepared for even the most basic math and English classes, forcing them to take remedial courses that discourage many from staying in school, according to a statewide study released yesterday. The problem is particularly acute in urban districts and vocational schools, according to the first-of-its kind study. At three high schools in Boston and two in Worcester, at least 70 percent of students were forced to take at least one remedial class because they scored poorly on a college placement test. The study raises concern that the state's public schools are not doing enough to prepare all of their students for college, despite years of overhauls and large infusions of money. The findings are also worrisome because students who take remedial courses, which do not count toward a degree, are far more likely to drop out of college, often without the skills needed to land a good job. That has broad implications for the state's workforce, economy, and social mobility.

The report, conducted jointly by the state Departments of Elementary and Secondary Education and Higher Education, found that the problem crossed socioeconomic lines. One third of high school graduates in suburban Hanover took remedial classes, as did 27 percent of graduates in Lynnfield and Needham. "This is a statewide problem," said Linda M. Noonan, managing director of the Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education, a nonprofit group that supports tougher educational standards to create a better workforce. "There's something systemic that we're not doing to get these kids ready to do college-level work." High school administrators said they welcomed the new information, and pledged to use it to make the high school diploma a true sign of readiness for college. "If you're a good district, this is information you want," said Paul Schlichtman, who coordinates research, testing, and assessment for the Lowell schools, where about half of graduates who went on to a state college or university in Massachusetts took remedial classes. "Your high school diploma needs to be a credential for a two- and four-year school, and it's something that we take very seriously."

To read the full article, click here.