LWVeducation
Researchers at Stanford University have published a new study comparing public school vs. school choice privatization systems. Public schools that focus on equity win hands down.
The data suggest that the education sector is better served by a public investment approach that serves each and every child than by a market-based competition approach that creates winners…..and losers.
It is worth taking a minute to see how and why.
Rep. David Simmons, the chair of the Florida Senate Appropriations sub committee on Education wants a serious look at way to reduce over testing. What is over testing? Is it all the prep testing that goes on prior to the state tests? On the other hand, is it too many redundant state or national tests e.g. requiring students to sit the FSA and the SAT if they are going to college? Or, is it requiring students to take a state test like the FSA every year? There is another way to look at over testing. Perhaps it is a way to avoid looking for solutions.
The Tampa Bay Times reported that a bi-partisan panel of legislators voiced support for teacher pay raises and less testing in schools. Even more surprising was the opinion that all there should be more equity in school accountability for public schools, charter schools and private schools. This has been a major issue in the League of Women Voters arguments that all schools that receive state funding directly or indirectly through tax credit vouchers should meet the same testing and accountability standards.
Who is supporting public schools? Is there a war brewing?
Suppose you are a really good teacher and can prove it. You notice that a neighboring district has a pay for performance plan where high quality teachers with less experience earn more money than average teachers with more experience. Would you change districts? In today‘s Gainesville Sun, a local economist, Dave Denslow, summarized a study by Barbara Biasi, a Stanford graduate student, who compared school districts in Wisconsin that used a ‘pay for performance plan‘ with districts that did not. The result?
We can continue to feed information to the public about the destructive impact of ill thought out school choice policies. There is a danger, however, that we are simply preaching to the choir. Those who should be aware may not be tuned in.
Our strategies to increase awareness must be more diverse. What would prompt your neighbor, colleague, fellow parent to tune in?
It is logical that busy people preoccupied with families and jobs will respond to calls for action if they recognize the urgency and the possibility for a positive impact.
I am working on a set of ‘headlines’ and slogans that communicate the immediacy of the need to preserve our public schools. What do we value about our public schools? What are the threats to public education? Which solutions do we propose?
Can we come up with short, single sentences that encapsulate a need or something you value. Then we can refer people to more in depth analyses and ways to respond.
Let’s see:
OR
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You get the idea. Send me your captions and communication strategies. We will hone them and use them to target issues. We will discuss these at the League’s Orlando leadership conference in January.
Senate President Joe Negron has announced his Education Committee members. They appear to share a broader spectrum of interests than those in the Florida House. The Senate Education Committee Chair will be Sen. Dorothy Hukill, a Republican from Volusia County. Volusia supports public schools and has relatively few charter schools.
The Florida School Board Association (FSBA) is shifting ground on third grade student retention criteria. Such issues make me think about ability grouping in general. Are we going overboard?
Are we putting huge pressure on kids not only to ‘get to grade level’ but also to be ‘gifted’ or ‘highly gifted’? Do all children feel like they have a FSA proficiency level painted on their T-shirts? This is an age old issue of grouping and tracking vs. diverse ability classrooms where children have different strengths and weaknesses regardless of “I.Q.” as measured by a test?
The FSBA wants more evidence than a single test score to determine student achievement. Fair enough, but there is more to think about! In a newly adopted platform, the FSBA calls for three revisions to current practice in retaining third graders:
Just when you think change is possible, you discover that the battle for testing reform continues unabated. California is piloting new science assessments based on the Next Generation Science Standards. The State wants to administer a pilot of the new assessments rather than the older version.
Could this be the end of the test-and-punish era? FairTest has come up with a ‘system of systems‘ designed to incorporate inquiry and project based learning as well as more traditional assessments. It may not be able to turn a sows’ ear into a silk purse, but this is the direction states need to go.
The Florida State Board of Education met in Tampa on Friday. They have higher targets for the percentage of students meeting FSA academic standards on their minds. Much higher.
High goals are good. Even better would be support to meet those goals. It is all about school leadership claim some Board members.