LWVeducation
Where is our teacher?
Teach for America is shrinking. Not only is the number of applications going down, but placements are declining. Mercedes Schneider reports that the 5,800 TFA members were reduced to 4,100 last year. Given that there were 20,000 fewer applicants in 2016 than in 2013, TFA will have to make some organizational changes.
The President of TFA, Elisa Beard provides some interesting quotes.
Districts state that budgets are inadequate to meet all student needs. Children in poverty and the high rate of homelessness require more funding to provide tutoring, time and behavioral support. However, the defense argues:
Which states get it right? Not Florida. It was one of eight states that received an overall grade of ‘F’ when its grades were averaged across the categories studied. The Network for Public Education rated states based on six criteria.
For each category, I combined the percentages of A, B and C grades received across states. I was surprised at the results. Relatively few states (11) use test scores to punish students and teachers, but Florida is one of those that do. You can see the combined percentages (think of them as passing scores) at the end of each of the criteria.
Last week the Alachua County school board faced some harsh realities. The teacher shortage has hit home. We now have long term substitutes for positions we cannot fill. Board members attended the Rally in Tally to support our schools and teachers. They announced that 4,000 people were there.
Perhaps the most hopeful moment at the board meeting came when a parent, Kanh-Lien Banko spoke.
I saw a bit of trivia in the Tampa Bay Times the other day. It made me laugh or cry, not sure which, at life’s absurdities.
Based on VAM achievement gain scores only, 32 teachers in 18 districts had highly effective evaluations and 5 districts had elementary teachers who consistently earned unsatisfactory ratings over 4 years. Such small numbers can only mean that VAM scores are worthless.
There are 175,006 teachers in Florida. Could it just possibly be that VAM scores reflect which students are assigned to a teacher rather than which teacher is assigned to a class? It does not take high level critical thinking to answer this question.
The Florida legislature could come up with a better evaluation system. Almost any one of the options would be better if laced with a little common sense.
A reader sent this thoughtful article by Ben Levin. I was pleased because I too have been musing about Canada’s high ranking on the international PISA test. Canada significantly out performs the U.S. in math, science and reading.
I looked for reasons–Canada has a strict immigration policy based on skill levels of applicants. Canada has a lower poverty rate. These things are true, but according to Politico, if you use scores only from white U.S. citizens, Canada still outperforms the U.S. fifteen year old students. To make it to the top of the score scale, the U.S. can only use schools with less than ten percent enrolled from families living in poverty. Even in those schools, math scores would only be ranked 8th, but reading and science would be second to Shanghai.
Florida paid to get its own PISA scores. The results were surprisingly low. Our students were well below the U.S. average PISA scores in science and math and just average in reading. As a leading proponent for school reform, this is not good news for Florida.
The U.S. has the largest income gap in the world. Depending upon how it is measured, however, basic living conditions for the poor in the U.S. are not worse than in other developed countries. Yet, PISA scores have gone up in many countries, ours remain stagnant.
In the following article, Ben Levin compares U.S. and Canadian educational systems and finds some similarities and four very real differences. Perhaps we can learn from our northern neighbors. How uneven is the funding for U.S. schools? How uneven is the quality? This has to be a serious concern. There are lawsuits over equity and funding all over the U.S., and yes, in Florida.
The Florida Education Association (FEA) filed a complaint against the Best and Brightest bonus plan. The complaint was filed with the US Equal Opportunity Employment Commission and the Florida Commission on Human Relations. This is the $10,000 bonus for teachers with high SAT and/or ACT scores who received highly effective ratings. Well, not exactly. First year teachers were exempt from the teacher evaluation rating. Not enough money was allocated to cover the $10,000 cost per qualified teacher.
We posted several analyses of the updated Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Current legislation, called the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), is on its way to the President’s desk. No Child Left Behind Act and Race to the Top are gone. What remains are annual testing requirements and support for charter schools. Responsibility for most education accountability reverts to the states. Thus, each state can determine how test scores are used for teacher evaluation, school grades and the Common Core.
States are required to identify schools with under performing students and help fix them. What this means is unclear. For a good analysis, see Education Week. Many provisions are subject to different interpretations. One thing is clear, citizens need to turn to their state legislatures to make reasonable, valid decisions about how test scores are used. Continued policies that force districts and teachers to focus instruction on ‘passing the test’ can be changed, if the voters insist.
Efforts to reward highly effective teachers are understandable. An expression comes to mind, however, about a road to….being paved with good intentions. We need to know where the road leads. The Tampa Bay Times published an article this morning that delineates flaws with the teacher bonus selection process. Of the state’s 172,000 teachers, Forty-two percent of Florida’s teachers earned ‘highly effective’ ratings in 2014; of these 5,200 qualified for bonuses of $8,500 each. Some who appeared to be qualified were left out. No one received the $10,000 initially promised. The amount of money the legislature allocated did not cover the cost. We should know where the money went. There may be unintended consequences. This program needs fixing.Continue reading
Is there hope that the testing craze may have peaked? Finally, a reputable study has reported that tests are overwhelming public schools. Teachers, students and parents have been saying so for several years. Their voices have reached the top. Today, the Council on Great City Schools released its preliminary report of a survey of testing practices. President Obama also says there is too much testing. Read the fine print. What is really being said?
Here are some findings from the Great City Schools report: