Comparing Canada and the U.S. on Education

flag-1040547_1280A 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.

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Tougher Florida School Grade Standards Proposed

examination-154709_1280Commissioner Stewart’s school grade proposal is calculated differently, but its results are similar to those earned last year.  Now John Padget, the Vice Chairman of the State Board of Education, is proposing tougher standards.

We need to think about this. The SBE meets January 6th to consider the school grade alternatives.   We want  students to meet proficiency standards, but the legislature needs to make it possible.  How does the public make that happen?

We need to understand what a school grade really means–and does not mean.  We have to ask if school grades motivate school districts,  teachers and staff to do more.  Good intentions are necessary but often insufficient.  What else is required to improve learning?  How do we make the system work for all children?

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Paula Dockery Nails It!

legislation1In a Tampa Bay Times article, LWV Florida board member Paula Dockery lists her legislative priorities for 2016.  Extracted from the list are the following education priorities:

 

• Properly fund our traditional public schools for instructional costs and facility building, maintenance and repair before funding nonpublic assets.

• Drastically reduce the standardized testing in our schools and stop the practice of using test results for high-stakes purposes.

• Return the education commissioner to an elected position and member of the Cabinet by passing the joint resolution sponsored by state Rep. Debbie Mayfield, R-Vero Beach, and state Sen. Rene Garcia, R-Hialeah.

• Fully fund our colleges and universities to accommodate growth and facility needs.
If the legislature met these goals, perhaps the push to privatize our schools would diminish.

 

Florida Citizens for Strong Schools Lawsuit Moves Forward

justiceWhile Circuit Court Judge Reynolds denied a request for a summary judgment to halt the voucher and tax credit scholarship programs, the Citizens for Strong Schools case continues.  The judge ruled that the attorneys for the case did not show harm to the defendants due to vouchers and tax credit scholarships for private schools, but argument could be made when the case comes to trial in March, 2016.

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Congress Passes New Federal ESEA Bill

legislation1We 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.

 

Two More Florida School Choice Bills

 

Twolegislation1 more education bills have been filed.  One extends Personal Learning Accounts for students with disabilities to cover school choice options among other things.  The other revises accountability for schools and teachers.

Remember that this blog tracks 2016 bills.  Go to the top of the Home Page and click on the Legislative Updates banner.  It is the third one following Education Team Updates.

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Best and Brightest Teachers Bonus Needs Study

teacher-590109_1280Efforts 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

Congress Conference Committee Resolving Differences on Education Bill

dmbtestYou can watch the conference committee in action yesterday and today.  The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) looks  to be headed for passage.  The bill is now called: S. 1177  Every Child Achieves Act.  Basically, the bill will strip the punitive aspects of Race to the  Top such as teacher evaluations based on test scores and take overs of struggling schools.  Annual testing, however, remains.

While Common Core may not be mandated, most states already have developed tests to measure the standards or are using the two national tests.

The brief discussion of testing acknowledged concern about over the impact of testing and will encourage states to enact limits.  The committee members, however, stated that federal testing requirements were not the problem.  The problem was the use of test scores for accountability.  The authority for how test scores will be used is returned to the states.  This does not mean that currently mandated accountability systems for grading teachers, schools, and districts are gone.  They just are not federally mandated.

Remember that the Florida legislature stated that its tests were not the problem, the problem was over testing in the districts.  Districts state that the amount of testing is due to the requirements to use scores for teacher evaluations.  Florida’s 2016 legislative session could be interesting.  Annual testing will not disappear.  How scores are used could change.

I watched today.   Some amendments were approved by both the House and Senate committee members that are of particular interest were approved:

Rep. Thompson:  Study Title I funding formulas

Sen. Enzi: Study early childhood program overlap

Rep. Bonamici: Include arts and interdisciplinary course content in Title IV STEM programs

Sen. Bennett:  Place caps on the amount of testing time required

There were a few other amendments related to teacher training for the appropriate use of student data and extending dual enrollment for ELL students.

 

 

 

Massachusetts: Charter Lawsuit Will Not Fix the Achievement Gap

Boston Public Library

Boston Public Library

Some Massachusetts students compete with the best other countries can offer  In order to understand why I turned to a Watchdog.org article in which a spokesman for the Massachusetts Department of Education described its system.  Then, I dug some more.

Massachusetts adopted high standards in 1993.  They resisted much of Florida’s accountability system, but students do test annually.  It is how Massachusetts does and does not use test scores that is interesting.  The demographics of the state’s population are also telling.  The lawsuit is pointless.  Get to know more about Massachusetts….

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NAEP 2015: Should we worry or celebrate?

dmbtestYes, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) average scores are slightly down overall in 2015 from 2013.  The grade four reading scores did go up from 217 in 2002 to 221 in 2015.  This is a one point increase from 2007  Average eighth grade math and reading as well as fourth grade math scores declined.

  • Math grade four scores dropped one point and grade eight dropped 3 points.
  • Reading grade four was the same and grade eight dropped two points.

Do changes of a point or two have any significance?  Not really.  It is comforting when scores tend to rise, but they often fluctuate some.  It is more meaningful to look at scores over time.  This is a very revealing exercise.

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