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January 12, 2012

More States Improved Their Standards

Filed under: Public education,Report Summary — Jim Hull @ 12:05 pm

This morning, Education Week (EdWeek) released its annual special report Quality Counts 2012, which included its annual State of the States report card. For the fourth year running, Maryland earned top honors with a B plus while the nation as a whole once again received a C. The report card shows that states have been taking steps to improve their standards, assessments, and accountability systems: 20 states improved their grades in this area since it was last reported in 2010. Mainly, the improvement was due to 19 earning perfect marks in the Standards subcategory. On the other hand, states remained stagnant in their teacher policies, where most states earned grades similar or lower than the ones they received in 2010.

Here are some of the key findings from this year’s report card:

Summative Grades

How did the nation as a whole and each individual state perform across all policy and performance areas?

  • Overall, the nation received a grade of a C across all policy and performance areas, which remained the same as a year ago.
  • Maryland earned the highest grade (B plus) for the fourth consecutive year, followed by New York, Massachusetts, and Virginia, who all earned a B.
    • The vast majority of states (41) earned grades between a C minus and a C plus.
    • No states received an F. South Dakota earned a D plus.

Chance for Success

What are the odds that the average child who grows up in a particular state will do as well as the average child in the top-ranked state, at each stage of his or her educational life? (these stages are: the early childhood years, participation and performance in formal education, and educational attainment and workforce outcomes during adulthood)

  • Massachusetts ranked first for the fifth consecutive year by being the only state to receive an A, while once again New Hampshire and New Jersey each received an A minus. 
    • This means that children in Massachusetts have the best chance of achieving positive life outcomes.
  • On the other hand, children in Nevada, New Mexico, and Mississippi have the least chance of achieving positive life outcomes by earning a D and D pluses, respectively.
  • The nation as a whole earned a C plus.

K-12 Achievement

How do states compare on the academic achievement of their students in elementary through high school?

  • Overall, our nation’s schools improved from a D plus to a C minus in the academic preparation of school children.
    • The grade is based on the academic status and growth over time in math and reading scores, narrowing of poverty-based achievement gaps, as well as high school graduation rates and the performance on the advanced placement test.
  • Once again, Massachusetts received the highest grade with a B. Maryland and New Jersey scored slightly lower, but still earned B’s. 
  • Louisiana, West Virginia, Mississippi, and the District of Columbia all received failing marks, just as they did a year ago.

Transition and Alignment

How do states compare on implementing various education policies to better coordinate the connections between K-12 schooling and other segments of the education pipeline, such as early-childhood education, college readiness, and links to the world of work?

  • Arkansas, Maryland, Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia are leaders in ensuring students are ready to move up the education ladder, earning A’s for their policy work in this area.
  • In contrast, six states earned D’s, while Nebraska earned an F, as it did last year.
  • Although the nation as a whole earned just a C plus, 33 states have defined college readiness, which is an increase of 13 states since 2009. 

 

School Finance

How much do states spend on their schools? Is the spending distributed equitably?

  • Although no state received an A, seven states received B minuses for adequately funding their schools.
    • On the other hand, four states — Idaho, South Dakota, Nevada, and North Carolina –received grades of D or D minus. No state received a failing grade.
  • As a whole, the nation received a C on funding education. However, on average, the nation spends more money on wealthier school districts than poorer districts nationwide.
    • Just six states spent as much or more on their poorer districts as on their wealthier counterparts. 




December 13, 2011

Adding Time Is No Guarantee for Success But…

Filed under: International Comparisons,Public education,school organization — Jim Hull @ 3:05 pm

I’m always very appreciative of the Washington Post highlighting one of my reports. And the same is true for my latest report Time in School which was the focus of a post in the Washington Post’s blog The Answer Sheet. The Answer Sheet provided readers with a detailed overview of the main findings of the report that most U.S. schools are not required to provide fewer hours of instruction than schools in most other countries, even countries that traditionally outperform the U.S.

However, I am concerned about the overly simplistic interpretation of my report that time does not matter. Yes, the data shows that simply adding more instructional time will not automatically improve student achievement. What gets lost is that adding time can be an effective tool to improve student achievement especially for students from low-income families.

Keep in mind, though, that the time must be used wisely. There must be a specific purpose for increasing the time students are in school whether it is to use ti to provide more content or for extra help so students are given more opportunity to grasp the content they are already expected to know. Simply providing students the same content with the same instruction over a longer period of time is not likely improve student achievement.

If your district is considering expanding learning time they should ask: How do we want our students to benefit from more learning time? And how would the extra time be used to improve student achievement? Without answers to these questions, simply expanding learning time is unlikely to improve student achievement. On the flip side, providing additional instruction to students who need it could help those students overcome some of the challenges they encounter outside of school. – Jim Hull





November 30, 2011

Assessing Virtual Schools

Filed under: Public education,technology — Tags: , — Mandy @ 3:46 pm

Traditionally, Americans have learned academic (and social) skills within the brick and mortar walls of a schoolhouse, but a recent push for alternatives to conventional schools have boosted the number of students who attend full-time public virtual schools. Over the weekend, Lyndsey Layton and Emma Brown took a thorough look at virtual schools in their Washington Post article, Virtual Schools Are Multiplying, but Some Question Their Educational Value.  The article raised some concerns I thought were worth considering.

According to the article, virtual schools account for a whopping 250,000 students spanning across 30 states.  Much of Layton and Brown’s attention is concentrated on the country’s “largest provider of full-time public virtual schools,” K12 Inc., which is equal in size to one of America’s most populous school districts and is headed by former Goldman and Sachs banker, Ronald J. Packard. 

Packard and other virtual school entrepreneurs recognize that, for many students, (such as “high achievers, strugglers, dropouts, teenage parents and victims of bullying”), local schools aren’t always the best option.  These students may benefit from being homeschooled, and virtual schools are designed to enhance the homeschooling experience.  But as this option continues to gain speed, critics are becoming more and more apprehensive.

Much of their apprehension stems from the fact that there is “no real evidence one way or another” of virtual schools’ effectiveness in educating students, according to Tom Loveless, a Brookings Institution scholar.  Along these same lines, the Department of Education agreed that “there wasn’t enough research to draw conclusions.” 

The lack of data the article brings up is worrisome, but the data the article does cite is even more worrisome. For instance, on the same state tests that traditional public schools are required to take, virtual schools tend to perform worse. According to the article, overall, only a third of these schools met No Child Left Behind’s achievement goals. K12’s oldest cyber school, Agora, has never met federal achievement rates.  Even when looking at other student outcomes such as graduation rates, virtual schools do not compare well to traditional public schools. For example, K12’s Colorado Virtual Academy has a graduation rate of 12 percent, compared with 72 percent statewide, and K12’s Ohio Virtual Academy has a 30 percent graduation rate compared with a state average of 78 percent. 

Supporters point out that virtual schools appeal mostly to students who were already struggling in traditional schools and that this should be taken into account, which it should.  In fact, two-thirds of Agora students are from low-income families.  Yet, Aimee Saunders, a former K12 virtual teacher, points out that “students who normally would struggle because of their home environment” are now put in their home to learn. 

Critics also have expressed uncertainty about the cost of these schools.  Layton and Brown question how “to pay for a school that floats in cyberspace when funding formulas are rooted in the geography of property taxes.”  Checker Finn, president of the Fordham Institute and former board member of K12 Inc., echoes this perplexity as he wonders why these schools, which cost less than traditional public schools to operate, are charging the taxpayer the same amount. 

Despite criticism and lack of positive data, virtual schools are spreading quickly and legislatures around the country are lifting state laws that once restricted them.  The article quotes Saunders, the former Agora teacher, as saying “Virtual schools provide an important new option for families and should be forgiven for missteps.”  But when it comes to children, do we really have time for missteps?– Mandy Newport





November 9, 2011

Response: Are Teachers Overpaid?

Filed under: funding,Public education,teachers — Tags: , — Mandy @ 10:31 am

Last week, The Heritage Foundation’s Jason Richwine and Andrew Biggs addressed why they feel that teachers are overpaid. Since teachers are more likely to hold another job to pay the bills than any other profession in America (according to a study conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS study), I disagree.  

Below you’ll find some of my responses to Richwine and Biggs:

 “A teacher who receives a given salary for nine months of work is clearly better compensated than someone who earns the same salary for a full year’s work.”

  • Response: The Organization for Economic and Cooperative Development (OECD) found that American teachers spend more hours per year working than do teachers in any other country (Education at a Glance 2011 - OECD).  On paper, teachers work about 7.5 hour days with 30 minute lunch breaks, teach for 180 days, and work for 195 days. However, the reality is that teachers have homework. According to the BLS study, 79 % of American public school teachers begin their workday at 7am and 51% conduct another full day’s worth of work over the weekend. Teachers get 10 weeks off in the summer, in addition to holiday breaks, but this time is often used for professional development workshops, setting up classrooms, adjusting to a change in assignment or grade level, and once again, planning.

“After full accounting, benefits for teachers are shown to be significantly more generous than those paid to employees of large private-sector establishments.”

  • Response: Comparing benefits is complex since each state handles (each district as a matter of fact) perks very differently. However, the report did not take these differences into consideration when comparing private and teacher benefits.

“Public school teachers earn less in wages…than non-teachers with the same level of education….The wage gap disappears when both groups are matched on cognitive ability rather than on years of education.”

  • Response: Just as in business, where the ability to communicate and network is as valuable as academic ability, effective teachers have abilities that go beyond the SAT scores used by this report. However, testing out this theory would require increasing, not decreasing, teacher salaries. Research into shortages of STEM teachers, for instance, shows that students with higher SAT scores and GPAs head into the higher-paying, private sector jobs available.

“Reducing teacher compensation…could be put toward classroom materials…”

  • Response: According to last year’s study by the National School Supply and Equipment Association (NSSEA), “public school teachers in the United States spend more than $1.33 billion on school supplies and instructional materials” (NSSEA – Publications: Industry Reports). On average, teachers spend $552 on supplies per year (currently less with the suffering economy), assuming that the average PTA is spending $936 per class. Teacher spending can actually triple in cases where the PTA does not spend as much.  As someone who worked at a school (that didn’t have paper for a period of time) and at a teacher resource store, I have witnessed teachers not even think twice about paying out of pocket to compensate for a lack of resources. Reducing teacher salaries would decrease classroom supplies, since teachers are often the ones that pay for them.

In conclusion, America has grown more and more focused on international tests that compare our students to those of other industrialized countries. We are inspired by these countries’ high math scores, work ethic, and use of technology.  This inspiration has spurred reforms such as holding our teachers more accountable, but we have yet to be inspired by their treatment of teachers. According to the OECD’s study, teachers in other industrialized countries make an average of 117% more than American public school teachers and, in Korea, teachers make a whopping 221% more.

If we even have to address whether our teachers are being overpaid, we have failed (at the perception of what the job is and should be) and are far from where we need to be. –Mandy Newport





November 4, 2011

The not-so-good news second– NAEP reading

Filed under: Achievement Gaps,Middle school,NAEP,Public education,Report Summary — Jim Hull @ 11:02 am

Earlier this week, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) released the results of the 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in reading for 4th and 8th graders.

Overall, there was little or no change from the 2009 scores. However, achievement at both levels has consistently been on the rise since 1992. During this same time period, the Black/White achievement gap narrowed at both the 4th and 8th grades. Although there has been some gains in reading over the past two decades, those gaisn pale in comparison to the the gains being made in math.

The findings

Fourth Grade State Level

  • At the state level, public school students’ scale scores were higher in 2011 than 2009 in four states (Alabama, Hawaii, Maryland, and Massachusetts).
    • Two states saw decreases in their scores (Missouri and South Dakota).
  • The percent of students reaching the Proficient level in 2011 ranged from 19 percent in the District of Columbia to 50 percent in Massachusetts.
    • Three states (Louisiana, Maryland, and Pennsylvania) significantly increased the percent of their public school students reaching the Proficient level from 2009 to 2011.
  • Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Virginia achieved the highest scale scores, while the District of Columbia, Alaska, Louisiana, Mississippi, and New Mexico earned the lowest scale scores.
  • When it came to educating minority students, Black students who attended Department of Defense schools (DoDEA) scored higher than Black students in any other state or jurisdiction. DoDEA schools, along with Maryland, did the same for their Hispanic students.

Fourth Grade National Level

  • Nationally, scores did not increase between 2009 and 2011. As a matter of fact, scores have remained unchanged since 2007.
    • However, since the first year of NAEP in 1992, scale scores in reading have increased by nearly a half a year’s worth of learning (4 points). 
  • The percent of fourth-graders scoring at or above NAEP’s proficient level has increased slightly since 1992 (29 percent in 1992 vs. 34 percent in 2011).
    • Moreover, the percent of fourth-graders scoring below NAEP’s basic level has decreased slightly from 38 percent in 1992 to 33 percent in 2011.
  • Since 2009, achievement gaps have remained relatively unchanged, because there was no significant change in performance for White, Black, or Hispanic students.
    • The Black/White achievement gap was 26 points while the Hispanic/White gap was 24 points.
    • However, since 1992 the Black/White achievement gap has decreased from 32 points to 25 points, which has reduced the gap by about 20 percent. 

Eighth Grade State Level

  • At the eighth grade level, 10 states (Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Idaho, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, North Carolina, and Rhode Island) improved their scores from 2009 to 2011. No state had a decline in scores. 
  • Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Jersey obtained the highest scores, followed by Vermont, Montana, New Hampshire, and DoDEA schools. On the other hand, Alabama, California, the District of Columbia and West Virginia lagged furthest behind.
  • Just as in the fourth grade, eighth graders in DoDEA schools outperformed Black students in all other states/jurisdictions. DoDEA schools also had the highest-scoring Hispanic students.

Eighth Grade National Level

  • Nationally, scores increased by one point from 2009 to 2011 and have increased by five points since 1992.
  • The percent of students reaching NAEP’s proficient level has increased from 29 percent in 1992 to 34 percent in 2011. The percent scoring below NAEP’s basic level decreased from 31 percent to 24 during the same time period.
  • As at the fourth grade level, the Black/White achievement gap remained statistically unchanged between 2009 and 2011, although Black students increased their score by three points.
    • But between 1992 and 2011, the gap has narrowed by five points.
  • On the other hand, the Hispanic/White narrowed by two points between 2009 and 2011 and by four points since 1992.

For more information on NAEP, check out the Center’s report The Proficiency Debate: A guide to NAEP achievement levels. – Jim Hull

NAEP Reading Report

http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/pdf/main2011/2012457.pdf





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