Monthly Archives: October 2009

ABCTE Serves Important Niche for Adults Switching to Teaching Career

For those who may not have paid close attention to the world of public education, the teaching career model has evolved before our eyes. While there are still those who take the traditional approach of entering the profession right out of education school and then spend 30 years in the classroom, their numbers are growing vastly smaller all the time. In that light, the New York Times has an interesting feature today on middle-aged adults switching careers to become a teacher. My first thought was: Switching careers? When I grow up and get to be a super-blogging astronaut, why would I ever change that? But apparently many people find that bringing their academic expertise, along with their life and career experience, into the classroom to be a fulfilling experience. High-quality teachers are especially needed in high-poverty neighborhoods and in subject areas with shortages (e.g., math, science, special education). Several groups are providing routes to certification (or licensure) that appeal to these career-changers. The New York Times story highlights well-known operators like the New Teacher Project and lesser-known players like the Virginia-based Career Switchers program. None, however, is closer to the hearts of my Education Policy Center friends than a fast-growing […]

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Colorado Making Gains in Math Achievement, Still a Long Ways to Go

For the last few years at least, Colorado students have been on an upward trend in their demonstrated math skills. Today the U.S. Department of Education released state-by-state scores for 4th and 8th grade math. NAEP scores are considered the gold standard for comparing academic success among states — especially in the subjects of math and reading. That’s why the test results are often referred to as “the nation’s report card.” In 2005, 39 percent of Colorado 4th graders rated as proficient in math — increasing slightly to 41 percent in 2007 and jumping to 45 percent in the latest results. For 8th graders over the same time span, proficiency rose from 32 percent to 37 and now to 40. A long ways to go, but still moving in right direction. While both scores remain above the national average, Colorado 4th graders also are beating the national trend on growth. (I wonder how close I am to being considered proficient on the 4th grade NAEP math test? Or the 8th grade test, for that matter?) While scores generally are flat nationwide, the Flypaper blog’s Mike Petrilli notes a bright spot in the nation’s capital. Petrilli says D.C.’s positive gains (though […]

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Just What You Get for Posting the "49th in K-12 Funding" Canard

I have a little secret I’d like to share. You want to know how to get under the skin of my Education Policy Center friend Ben DeGrow? It’s pretty easy. Just go online somewhere and repeat the canard that Colorado supposedly ranks 49th in K-12 education funding. He won’t be able to resist the chance to respond and slap you down. The latest example is yesterday from the state of Washington, where they are debating a ballot initiative much like our own Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights. So here’s what Seattle Times columnist Lynne Varner wrote: Colorado voters fell for promise of tax relief but the result was horrific. After the Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR) passed in 1992, the state dropped to 49th in funding for K-12 education…. [emphasis added] Very clever, Ms. Varner. At that point you pretty much had Ben cornered. Just one problem: Like a wounded animal that’s when he is most dangerous (you know, with his arsenal of facts and logic):

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Get Smart Schools, DU Team Up to Train Effective School Leaders

If we’re going to improve learning opportunities, especially for the poorest and neediest kids in our state, one of the most important things we can do is have strong and effective leadership at the school level. Principals need to be trained not only to be great instructional leaders but also to be more like entrepreneurial managers than compliant bureaucrats. Enter the partnership between Get Smart Schools and the University of Denver: Beginning in Spring, 2010, the University of Denver’s Daniels College of Business will incorporate its cutting edge MBA core curriculum with a specially-designed concentration in education, developed in cooperation with the Morgridge College of Education and GetSmartSchools, a non-profit organization designed to dramatically increase the number of high quality schools serving low-income students in Colorado’s Front Range. All elective courses will be specially designed to train future leaders of autonomous schools. Unlike traditional Principal preparation, this will give participants both the business and instructional expertise to manage and lead schools closing the academic achievement gap. Just as we need more high-quality alternative routes into the teaching profession, so we need more high-quality alternative routs into school leadership. Kudos to Get Smart Schools and the University of Denver. Maybe this […]

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Showdowns in Boulder, Greeley: Colorado Needs Professional Teachers

The Boulder Valley teachers union may be the only one in Colorado on the precipice of a strike. (And why? Perhaps some nostalgic university town vision of what a labor movement should look like?) But Boulder looks like it’s getting closer to having a little company. As Nancy Mitchell highlights in her latest story for Ed News Colorado, the clash between another teachers union and school district over limited funds has deepened: Greeley teachers this week overwhelmingly rejected the latest contract offer from the district, pushing to three the number of large school districts statewide with educators still working for last year’s pay.

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Bolstering the Case for Jeb Bush's Florida Education Reform Success

Last year I told you about the remarkable education reform success story in Florida. The elements of this success can be traced to a comprehensive set of policy changes made while Jeb Bush was governor, including: School accountability Student accountability Private school choice Scientific-based literacy instruction Alternative teacher certification In a comprehensive article for the Summer 2009 edition of Education Next, Matt Ladner and Dan Lips explain exactly what Florida did to make dramatic gains on 4th grade national test scores. Perhaps more importantly, they take on critiques from those who say the scores are misleading because of social promotion policies or can somehow be attributed to other education initiatives voters approved: universal preschool and class size reduction. Check out the article.

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In Denver Area? Learn Sign Language at Rocky Mountain Deaf School

Interested in learning American Sign Language (ASL), but not exactly sure where to get started? Our friends at the Rocky Mountain Deaf School (RMDS) (just around the corner from my friends at the Independence Institute) wanted me to let you know about this opportunity that you’ll appreciate. RMDS is offering an ASL class for adults and children, starting next Monday, October 12, at 6 PM. The way the class is structured families can come together to learn. The one-hour class, led by experienced teachers Jeff Beatty and Valerie Sharer, will repeat every Monday for a total of six weeks. Costs are as follows:

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Let's Make Vocational Programs a Bigger Slice of School Choice Menu

You probably assume a prolific blogging prodigy like myself eventually will head to a prestigious 4-year university — maybe even with Doogie Howser-like potential. But what if when I turn 16 some day my heart is set on a career as a plumber or a chef? You wouldn’t deny me that, would you? Writing for the America’s Future Foundation, Liam Julian of the Hoover Institution says we could take a big bite out of our high school dropout problem by engaging more students in vocational education programs — particularly those that integrate academics directly with students’ career aspirations, providing greater relevance to many teens (H/T Heritage Insider): Imagine a 17-year-old who does not want to attend college (or at least not right away); who finds parsing Macbeth maddeningly immaterial; who yearns to learn a practical skill and put it to use; who feels his personal strengths are being ignored and wasted; who is annoyed by his school’s lackluster teachers, classroom chaos, and general atmosphere of indifference. Too often, such a pupil has no other options. He has no educational choice.

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New Study: Teacher Performance Pay Helps Students in India Learn

I don’t know a lot about India, except that a whole lot of people live there and my parents love the food (Me? I’ll stick with hot dogs and mac & cheese). But then yesterday I found this story about a study of India’s education system (PDF): We find that the teacher performance pay program was highly effective in improving student learning. At the end of two years of the program, students in incentive schools performed significantly better than those in comparison schools by 0.28 and 0.16 standard deviations (SD) in math and language tests respectively….

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Sign of Hopeful Political Shift as Families Rally for D.C. School Choice

Some day I might grow up to be cynical about education politics, but for now I see a big glimmer of hope. What do I mean? Look at yesterday’s Wall Street Journal: Low-income families in the District of Columbia got some encouraging words yesterday from an unlikely source. Illinois Senator Richard Durbin signaled that he may be open to reauthorizing the Opportunity Scholarship Program, a school voucher program that allows 1,700 disadvantaged kids to opt out of lousy D.C. public schools and attend a private school. “I have to work with my colleagues if this is going to be reauthorized, which it might be,” said Mr. Durbin at an appropriations hearing Tuesday morning. He also said that he had visited one of the participating private schools and understood that “many students are getting a good education from the program.” This could be the sign of a big turnaround for the influential Democratic senator, whom I have rightly critiqued in the past. At the Flypaper blog, Andy Smarick says Durbin’s statement “was a major step in the right direction”, and wonders if the D.C. 6’s dramatic sit-in a few weeks ago had an impact.

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