- Posted by David on November 17, 2008
For a while, the fight over how to improve public schools seemed to be quieting down. During the presidential campaign, Republican and Democratic education advisers happily finished each other's sentences on such issues as expanding charter schools, recruiting better teachers and, in particular, rating schools by how much students improve.
Moving to the growth model for school assessment, by measuring each student's progress, seems to be the favorite education reform of the incoming Obama administration. Up till now, we have measured schools by comparing the average student score one year with the average for the previous year's students. It was like rating pumpkin farmers by comparing this year's crop with last year's rather than by how much growth they managed to coax out of each pumpkin.
The growth model appeals to parents because it focuses on each child. It gives researchers a clearer picture of what affects student achievement and what does not. Officials throughout the Washington area have joined the growth model (sometimes called "value-added") fan club. The next step would be to use the same data to see which teachers add the most value to their students each year.
Of course, as often happens in education, that lovely consensus is proving too good to be true, mostly because of the teacher issue. The bad news was delivered recently by Education Week reporter Stephen Sawchuk, who has been checking how the growth model was actually being received by state politicians. It turns out some legislators have been building trapdoors under the welcome mats. California banned in 2006 any use of student growth data in teacher evaluations or compensation decisions. New York last year prohibited the use of such data for tenure decisions for at least two years. Other states are staying away from anything that ties student success to a teacher's pay or job security.
Go ahead. Blame the teacher unions. They make no apology for their opposition to this approach. But they have good arguments. Congress will have to revise the No Child Left Behind law to install the growth model, and most support for the idea there extends only to rating schools, not teachers. Assessing instructors by how much their students improve seems reasonable to people like me who have never taken a psychometrics course, but nobody has sufficiently tested the statistical devices for doing that, and they might prove to be expensive.
I asked two National Education Association officials, Joel Packer, director of education policy and practice, and Bill Raabe, director of collective bargaining and member advocacy, why we couldn't test students in September and May, calculate how much they improved and use that information in deciding whether to keep particular teachers and how much to pay them. Raabe said that would only work if the distribution of students in classes was randomized. I understood his point but did not see why good teachers couldn't show some progress no matter what sort of students they have. Raabe and Packer sent me more quotes from experts who weren't any clearer.
People who have studied the public schools that have significantly raised the achievement levels of impoverished students tend to accept the idea that teachers' salaries and jobs must eventually be tied to classroom results. "Of course," said Andrew Rotherham, an education think tank founder, blogger and Virginia Board of Education member who, at 37, is likely to be a major player on this issue for years to come.
But Rotherham hastened to add that his state is going to take it slow. A poorly planned system to fire teachers based on growth data could bring lawsuits. "We are never going to get to where we need to go without more research," he said. Nancy S. Grasmick, Maryland state superintendent of schools, agreed. "The decisions we make to strengthen schools should not be made by speculation or unproven theory, but on data." President-elect Barack Obama is likely to nod when he hears that.
I asked Raabe and Packer about an alternative approach -- rating schools, not teachers, and replacing the principal if students do not improve. The NEA is not comfortable with that, either. Making the principal responsible for creating the conditions for student growth works only if the principal has the power to hire and fire staff, and that is a no-no for the association.
Could Obama broker a compromise? Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, told me that she wanted teachers to learn how to use growth data "and then see where we go from there." Would the unions agree to giving principals firing power in exchange for using not just tests but also the student work portfolios and public presentations that Raabe and Packer endorsed as authentic ways to judge how well kids have been taught?
Many Republican and Democratic policy experts want to try something like that. The growth model in some form will have its day, sooner or later.
But about those pumpkin farmers: It seems to me that the best measure of their work is not how much their big, orange vegetables grow but how well they stand up to my inexpert carving for Halloween and how many extra slices of pumpkin pie I eat on Thanksgiving.
The human equivalent to that kind of quality assessment is how well each school's students do in college, in jobs and in life. I don't think we have a growth model that measures that, but people are working on it.
Email: mathewsj@washpost.com
- Posted by David on November 10, 2008
The highest-rated middle school in New York City is a charter school of 280 students that shares the top floor of a historically struggling public school.
The two institutions of learning could not be more different in substance and style. Yet they peacefully coexist as a shining example of New York's shared-campus concept.
"We're trying to do what's best for our kids and not worry about how the school is doing down the street," said Joseph Negron, principal of KIPP Infinity Charter School in the three-story school building on Harlem's west side.
Shared-school campuses are becoming common across the country as urban districts work to provide varied programs in cities where real estate costs have soared.
It's a plan Denver Public Schools hopes to replicate on a small scale next year.
Proponents say shared campuses can increase the number of academic offerings, develop appropriate school sizes and more effectively use building space.
In New York, KIPP Infinity's students wear uniforms, walk in single file and remain in school until 5 p.m. The walls are adorned with murals of classic book covers and inspirational messages.
A doorway serves as the boundary between KIPP (Knowledge Is Power Program) and the rest of I.S. 195 Roberto Clemente School — a 630-student middle school.
I.S. 195's hallways have barren walls painted uniformly yellow, and its students are gone from the building by 3 p.m. Seven years ago, I.S. 195 was considered among the worst schools in the city, with some of the lowest scores in New York. Because of its poor performance, the school's programs were changed four years ago. This year, it earned a B grade on the city's progress report.
"I don't see (KIPP) as competition," said Rosarie Jean, principal of I.S. 195. "It's children first. We have the same goal to educate children and prepare them for the 21st century. How we go about it is different."
DPS still in planning stage
Despite the success of New York's shared-campus system, Denver's idea to model the plan concerns community members who worry about the effects on existing programs.
Thursday, DPS officials will recommend placing new school programs — including charter schools — in under-enrolled Denver middle and high schools.
"As with anything new, until people actually see it, it's hard to visualize what it will be like," said DPS Superintendent Michael Bennet. "It's going to be incumbent on us to execute well."
In New York, shared-school campuses have become a way of life. Of the city's 1,500 schools, about 600 are shared campuses.
"When I have buildings that are half-empty and an opportunity to place a school in there that may create different opportunities for kids in that community . . . that's what we do," said New York schools Chancellor Joel Klein.
"Sure, you get some noise," he said. "Overwhelmingly, it's working. People made the adjustments, looked for the opportunities. That's what will happen in Denver as well."
Denver school officials have examined New York's and Chicago's shared schools, hosted school administrators from those cities, and hired a former New York charter school principal to help DPS build its program.
And they've paid particular attention to New York's system of co-location, including the city's process of defining a building's footprint, separating schools and getting principals to work together.
"People in the school don't
Natalie Kaiser, 7, left, of the New York Center for Autism Charter School, joins teacher Audra Gibson-Brown's writing class at P.S. 50 in east Harlem. The schools have a collaborative relationship, with students working in one another's classes. (Hyoung Chang | The Denver Post)
own the building," Klein said. "The people who own the building are my 1.1 million children, who are entitled to an equitable crack at a great education."
Graduation rates have improved and dropout rates have declined in New York schools. Critics question whether the moves caused improved achievement, but there is no question students are more engaged.
5 floors, 5 successful schools
A good example of a successful shared campus is at the former Morris High School, which was a large, comprehensive high school in the south Bronx with 2,000 students and a graduation rate of between 25 percent and 35 percent.
Now, the Morris Educational Campus has a school program on each of its five floors: violin and dance; English- language learners; and others that concentrate on math, science and art.
"Has it worked?" said Wade Fuller, principal of the School of Excellence on the fourth floor. "Clearly in this building the answer is this has been a resounding success."
Now, the five schools of about 300 students each graduate between 59 percent and 85 percent of their students in four years. Each school received either an A or B grade on the city's latest progress report card.
On a recent day just before 8 a.m., teenagers flocked into the 111-year-old building, passing through metal detectors and converging into the cafeteria for the only time of day when they commingle with students from other schools.
"It's a good school," said sophomore Rahmel Hunter, 15, who attends Bronx Leadership Academy II High School because of its focus on math. "There's not a lot of jerks or fighting. If there were more kids, there would be more chaos."
The five Morris Campus principals have developed a close bond, meeting on Fridays to hash over issues about space.
"It's like we have an arranged marriage, and we all bought a used house and moved in together," said Elyse Doti, principal of Bronx Leadership Academy II on the second floor.
The most fractious issue is when each school can use the cafeteria for lunch. They rotate the schedule every year so one school doesn't get stuck with the least desirable slots of 10:30 and 12:45.
"It's working," said Charles Osewalt, principal of Morris Academy for Collaborative Studies. "The key is to make sure everyone feels it's fair."
The principals also share successful instructional practices and act as counselors for one another.
"If I'm having a hard day, Elyse will be there for me," said Tanya John, principal of the High School for Violin and Dance. "Before I go to the district, I'll call my other principals."
Critiques and compliments
On a recent weekday, boys and girls basketball tryouts were in the fifth-floor gym, where flags representing each school hung from the rafters. One flag for Morris Campus hung over center court.
"For us it works academically, but not so much athletically," said Julio Lopez, who teaches at the High School for Violin and Dance and is the Morris Bulldogs girls basketball coach. "I don't think they have as much pride as if it were one school."
Owusu Gyarkye, a math teacher at the School for Excellence who is originally from Ghana, taught at the former high school and said he has seen how the new configuration is working.
"Students weren't coming to class, only 40 percent passed the math test," he said. "Now every day you see the students and know where they are. Ninety-five percent passed the math test last year. Nobody likes change. The old system wasn't helping our kids."
Sharing kids' experiences
Across the city in east Harlem, P.S. 50 has been sharing a campus for three years with a small charter school for kids severely affected by autism.
The schools have developed a collaborative relationship, with students working inside each other's classrooms.
Seventh-graders from P.S. 50 take a 10-week peer mentoring course with students at the New York Center for Autism Charter School.
At least two high-functioning charter school students are included in P.S. 50 classes every week.
The result is that typical kids get an understanding of autism, and kids with autism get peer modeling, said P.S. 50 principal Rebekah Marler.
"It's cool learning and being a mentor," said seventh-grader Antonio Peña, 12, who wants to become a neuro surgeon specializing in autism. "My cousin has autism. When she wants to hit something, I'd like to know how to work with that."
Three times a week, 7-year-old Natalie Kaiser and 7-year-old Jake Soper, who both have autism, leave their individualized charter school for 20 minutes of reading in Audra Gibson- Brown's second-grade classroom.
On a recent day, Natalie walked into class and was met with hugs from her classmates.
She sat down on a rug with the rest of the children to listen to Gibson- Brown read. A charter school teacher sat close by, watching Natalie's every move to quickly correct the girl if she began to lose focus.
"Our kids have developed relationships with them," Gibson-Brown said. "It's also good for my kids because they are a little different, and it's good to be exposed to that."
Under Klein, the city has closed or is in the process of phasing out more than 80 schools. Klein said to make a district thrive is to halt failing programs.
"That's a core piece of accountability," Klein said. "Which is more painful, a school with 23 percent graduation rate that is failing the kids or the transformation you have to go through to more than double that rate? It's not even a close question."
In Denver, the district last year set up a performance framework to analyze the yearly progress of schools.
If a school is failing or is perpetually under-enrolled, several steps will be employed to fix it. One of those could be shutting it down, said Superintendent Bennet.
"It becomes one of our tools," he said. "Our preferred path is to improve our schools across the district."
Last week, seven schools throughout Denver that are being eyed for shared campuses held meetings in which parents, teachers and students asked why they would have to share their buildings with other schools.
They worried about whether the new schools would harm or undercut the current program.
New York Chancellor Klein said he's heard the complaints before. The district has faced lawsuits, marches and interventions from politicians.
But those voices typically have quieted after successful programs move in and children improve.
"The way people come on board is they understand what their options are and the framework," Klein said. "They say, 'I can sit here and curse the darkness, or I can light a candle.'
"And people are lighting candles."
Jeremy P. Meyer: 303-954-1367 or jpmeyer@denverpost.com
Denver studies NYC model of under-used facilities giving space to new programs
By Jeremy P. Meyer
The Denver Post