Fantasy Football and School Report Cards: How Do We Measure Educational Progress? Who Do We Trust? Are Fantasy Football Metrics More Honest Than Tweed Self-Evaluations?

 

 

Look carefully, as the weekend approaches you will notice males under forty increasingly text messaging, jumping on and off their computers … are they preparing for the Sunday morning news programs, the Dow, checking the latest national polling results? No … they’re finalizing their fantasy football lineups.

 

We live in a world of winners and losers.

 

From sports to reality TV, everywhere we look everything gets a “score,” the world around us is competitive, from hotdog eating contests to rotisserie leagues.

 

The legislation that created mayoral control was looked upon with suspicion, but not opposition, reminds us of the congressional vote on going to war in Iraq.  We didn’t know the consequences, but, we all felt we should give the new mayors policy “a chance.”

 

Tweed has adopted a philosophy of

 

(1) leadership – grant the principal as much authority as legally possible,

 

(2) school choice, open as many small middle and high schools as space will allow, and of course, as many charter schools as the law allows,

 

(3) weighted student funding, with a “cheap” teacher bias, and

 

(4) accountability, defined as annual School Progress Reports with A – F grades.

 

What educational initiatives are at the top of the Tweed agenda?

 

In fact, the only two initiatives are School Inquiry Teams and Low-Inference Classroom Teacher Observations. Teachers may have heard of Inquiry Teams, but don’t know what they do, and, have never of the other.

 

Andy Wolf, in an op ed piece in the NY Sun writes

 

There will be those who disagree with me, but evidence suggests that a dispassionate analysis of these last six years shows a stunning lack of academic progress, even as we poured mind-boggling increases in taxpayer dollars into the school system.

 

He gets to the crux of the issue when he continues

 

Reform must take place in the classroom in the form of better instruction and curriculum, conveyed to students by well-trained and literate teachers, using teaching methods known and proven to be effective.

 

 Tweed simply decided to ignore the classroom, their “carrot/stick” approach does have the vigorous support of some scholars, but scholars who come from the business side, not the education side.

 

Year 2 of the School Report Card has created a vortex of criticism and serious questioning. The NY Times wonders about the arbitrariness of the underlying assumptions.

 

Under the radar the New York State Education Department (SED) is rolling out a growth model as the No Child Left Behind measurement in New York State. The growth model would have to be approved by the US Office of Education. The SED is holding open hearings around the State and will have a final plan by the end of October.

 

The Tweed Environment Surveys failed to ask teachers what they thought of the Chancellor … in June the teacher union conducted the survey, and not surprisingly, teachers gave Joel low grades.

 

In fact, if you used the rather complex fantasy football metrics to measure the performance of the Department of Education you would probably get results that would be much more acceptable by the public at large.

Armageddon: Al Shanker Saved the City in 1975, Did Joel Klein Learn Any Lessons? Will Hubris Defeat Compassion?

 

Is the nation’s financial system on the edge of the abyss?

 

Can the private side absorb the failing banks and financial institutions?

 

Are the House Republicans and McCain the Herbert Hoovers of 2008?

 

As the stock market opened today President Bush makes a 30 second speech to the nation?

 

In New York City Mayor Bloomberg asks all city agencies to make an immediate 2.5% budget cut and to plan for a five percent cut next year.

 

In the summer of 1975 I was a member of the UFT negotiating committee. We met with the Board of Ed committee every few days, agreed on a few issues, disagreed on most … it was an “ordinary” negotiations, until the waning days of August. Rumors spread that the city was in dire fiscal straits … was it a negotiating ploy?

 

Days before the opening of school “layoff” letters went out to over 10,000 teachers … all elementary school teacher was less then 5.5 years were laid off.  French teachers with fifteen years were laid off … For the third time in seven years the teacher union went on strike.

 

After a five day strike the union hammered out a contract that eliminated cluster teachers and shortened the school day a few days a week in elementary and middle schools. The City was still on the edge of total collapse.

 

Herman Badillo called for a default … all contracts would be voided.

 

As the clock ticked toward default Al Shanker agreed to commit $150 million dollars of teacher pension money to buy city obligations … and bail out the city. Most teachers were opposed to the loan.

 

All the loans were repaid, with substantial interest … Al Shanker bailed out the City. Richard Kahlenberg chronicles the story in his excellent Shanker biography.

 

The New York City schools are at risk … if the economy continues to falter the fiscal impact on the City will be substantial … the impact on schools will be devastating

 

In spite of the impending drastic cuts the Chancellor continues with a policy … the refusal to place excess teachers into schools … the Absent Teacher Reserve Pool, now over 1,000 teachers … costs the Department many tens of millions of dollars.

 

The President of the Teacher Union, Randi Weingarten has made a proposal that will, in the short run, protect the classroom from cuts.

 

The Chancellor has rejected the union plan.

 

Klein’s entire tenure as Chancellor may depend on how he deals with the current crisis. Will he stand by his position … excess teachers who are not absorbed/rehired within a year will be placed on “unpaid leave,” effectively laying them off. …? Will he continue to defend his $85 million flawed ARIS computer scheme?  Will Mayor Bloomberg intervene?

 

These are perilous times … and history may remember Klein as a Chancellor who sank the school system.

 

Hubris is a harmful trait.

Should Ideology Drive Research? We Need a Public, Transparent Organization That Will Examine, Analyze and Evaluate Our School System …

 

 

A question hovering over schools is the racial/ethnic achievement gap question … why are Afro American students, especially males, lagging behind other students, and, what can we do about it?

 

The New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) sponsored a ”Closing the Gap” conference last fall with a range of national experts.

 

The question is not new, John Ogbu, a sociology professor, in a highly controversial study  pointed his finger at the black community.

 

The NYC DOE simply looks at schools, not students, and with their own disputed School Report Card, and tries to “measure” student progress from year to year. Critics claim the Report Card methodology is deeply flawed.

We must confront, research and answer any issues impacting on closing the achievement gap.

 

Does race/ethnicity of a teacher impact student achievement?

 

If it does, why is the number of Afro-American teachers in New York City declining? In a NY Sun article Elizabeth Green points to the sharp declines, with responses from the DOE and the union president.

 

The Tweed response to the achievement gap issue was to hire Harvard professor Roland Fryer to conduct a study of “incentives,” material rewards:  cell phone minutes and actual dollars for performance. Fryer is leaving his position in New York to take on larger role  … to run programs in New York, Chicago and Washington.

 

Dr. Fryer said the new institute would be able to identify what works so that educators across the country could prioritize their spending.

“We will have the willingness to try new things and be wrong — the type of humbleness to say, ‘I have no idea whether this will work, but I’m going to try,’ ” he said.

Can we trust researchers who are employed by a school system, and, whose research is not peer reviewed? Where do we draw the line between advocacy and research?

Yes, research and data should drive policy … unfortunately the Tweed ideologues believe the opposite … philosophy drives research, as long as it supports their ideology.

The Consortium on Chicago School Research has evaluated, analyzed and driven policy in Chicago school for twenty years. New York has recently embarked on the process, although it is in the early stages … and Joel Klein sits on the Board.

Roland Fryer is simply wrong … we have a pretty good idea of what works … we need a school district leader willing to implement proven policies, in a collaborative manner, with an outside organization analyzing the data in a public and transparent manner.

We’ve been experimenting on the poor and the powerless for too long.

Ouchi, Escher and School Governance: The CEO versus the School Leader Model …How do We Create an Accountable School system?

 

(Professor Ouchi is the Sanford and Betty Sigoloff Professor of Corporate Renewal at the UCLA Anderson School of Management, the author of Making Schools Work (2003) and the intellectual driver of the current mayoral control governance system in New York City, spoke at the Harvard Club on Wednesday, September 15th).

 

Dear Professor Ouchi:

 Listening to your remarks and reading the first chapter of your upcoming book reminded me of the M. C. Escher “Angels and Devils,” drawing: you see angels and I see devils.

 As a career teacher and teacher union activist I have been involved in the range of reforms that have ebbed and flowed in New York City. In the mid nineties our school district team (superintendent, school board member, principal rep and moi) embarked upon our pilgrimage to Edmonton. We created a school-based budgeting system (the precursor of the current NYC Galaxy system), SBM teams at the school level and an SBM team at the district level with a dispute resolution process. An outside evaluation  gave our efforts high grades, yet, as far as the current NYC administration is concerned, all that preceded 2003 is erased from history.  

 

 

 I would agree that giving schools power over budget is essential – you argue principals must be given “real, meaningful accountability.”  This summer the Empowerment Network Leaders spent three days training under Peter Senge - I see a significant difference between management and leadership. Distributive leadership, the ability to create schools that are learning organizations, that are nimble and collaborative is a key to school success. We have a basic disagreement: you see the principal as the CEO, who may “consult” with constituencies. I see a team, lead by a principal, in which the entire school community is vested in the school improvement process..

 

 You establish a “straw man,” the evil, top-down, district office versus 1476 autonomous principals. The Chancellor’s District, the Rudy Crew creation, bundled the fifty or so lowest achieving schools in the City, originally elementary and middle schools, into a tightly supervised rigid model, with excellent results. Norm Fruchter’s  research, an in depth look at highly successful school districts reaches a different conclusion, he avers “…new forms of collaborative leadership in efforts to make the reform a collective responsibility rather than a leadership initiative.”  1476 “islands,” schools with “light touch” relationships with “support organizations” are adrift. District offices, schools, teachers, teacher unions, parents, advocacy organizations create a synergy, that, if properly lead, creates sustainable effective schools.

 

 You proffer that budget control in the pre-Tweed days was 6.1 % in New York City and changed to 85 % in the Tweed era. Nonsense!!!  In 2003 over 60% of the schools in NYC participated in the School Based Option Personnel and Transfer plan, giving schools total control over staffing, The union contract seniority transfer plan impacted the remaining 40%, but, the plan defined vacancies very narrowly.  For example, in my former district – 1500 teachers – each year between 15-20 positions were posted for seniority transfer, and about half of the those were in “exotic” areas (ex., Bilingual Mandarin Science). Yes, some districts were totally controlling, however to “paint” the entire City as top-down and oppressive is simply wrong.

 

 I had to smile when you extolled the Autonomy Zone. Most of the  schools in the AZ were dancing under the radar for years, many had worked closely with the Coalition of Essential Schools, had waivers from NYS Regents requirements (“portfolios and roundtable student evaluations”), and, under the leadership of Eric Nadelstern had fought both the City and the State to keep their waiver. The Performance Based Assessment Coalition was the antithesis of the administration. When Eric created the AZ schools flocked to escape Tweed.

 

 Unfortunately in the third and fourth year the AZ morphed into Empowerment and scaled up to 300 plus then 500 plus schools … and, in my view, lost their “unique” quality.

 

 You seem to see Total Student Load (TSL), that emerged from the Ted Sizer driven Coalition of Essential Schools, as a “magic bullet.” Schools have utilized block scheduling, in one iteration or another for decades. The Chancellor’s High School District, created cohorts of students, the Literacy Teacher, within each cohort, taught a double period of English, the advisory, and team taught in Social Studies and Science classes – a 30: 1 TSL for the “key” teacher. Thoughtful teams of supervisors and teachers create models that work best for the kids they teach. By the way, most school have abandoned the “humanities” (English/Social Studies)  and Math/Science blocks … content matters and student results were poor – asking a math teacher to teach math and science, in most schools, simply doesn’t work.

 

 Weighted Student Funding, what you call “weighted-student-formula budgeting” makes perfect sense, and the Edmonton model is simple and straightforward. The complex NYC model has a Robin Hood impact – some schools lose substantial sums while others gain. The teacher union strongly opposed the implementation and the plan is currently on hold. The core of the Tweed plan is “charging” teachers at “actual” rather than “average” salaries. A huge disincentive to hire senior teachers.

 

 Does school choice matter?

 

 We don’t know … the proliferation of hundreds and hundreds of small secondary schools, with “exotic” titles is certainly not “user friendly.” The curriculum in New York is established by the State – and while themes can be embeded within courses all students must complete the same Regents examinations. Is school “success,” or lack thereof  tied to the ability of the entering classes and the number of Special Education and English Language Learners?  A number of studies are under way …

 

 Are small schools “the answer”?

 

 The Gates dollars during the “grow out” of the small schools has created impressvie data, can it be sustained? In the first years small schools clearly did not accept appropriate numbers of Special Education and ELL youngsters … as small schools “scale up” to accepting these populations will the data erode?  Many small schools have “credit recovery” programs geared to students who have failed subjects. Are these defensible? SAT scores are dropping  and college drop-outs rates among NYC high school graduates are appalling.

 

 What is most distressing about the current “devils” leading the NYC school system is the lack of transparency. Controlling information and controlling data is self-aggrandizing and harmful to students. Much of the criticism of Tweed stems from this attitude. One would think that Sol Stern, a conservative observer of the education scene, a resident scholar at the Manhattan Insitute, would be a supporter of Tweed, alas, he is sharp and thoughtful critic.

 

 Every week some organization or other holds a forum and/or issues a report, all of which, to some extent, are critical of the current governance structure. Among the harshest critics are the legislators who will decide its future.

 

 I have faith in the legislative process, and in Madison

  Ambition must be made to counteract ambition. The interest of the man must be connected with the constitutional rights of the place. It may be a reflection on human nature, that such devices should be necessary to control the abuses of government. But what is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself.

 I support a “synergistic system,” a governance system that supports building strong school cultures: school leaders, teachers, all stakeholders, a true learning organization, and I shy away from the corporate, CEO principal model.

 

 Your talk was thoughtful and I look forward to reading, and commenting on your writings.

The Conundrum of PS 8: Is It “Failing,” or “Proficent,” or Does It Meet All NCLB Requirements?

The Department of Education is about to release the Report Cards for elementary and middle school reflecting the 07-08 school year.

 

PS 8 is a popular elementary school in District 13 in Brooklyn with a rapidly increasing enrollment as parents seek it out.

 

The press has already reported that the school will receive a grade of “F.” Jim Dwyer, a NY Times columnist muses over how a burgeoning, highly regarded school can suddenly become a failing school, and, the well regarded principal admits he doesn’t understand the rating process.

 

In the detailed New York State Accountability Report, that complies with the Federal No School Left Behind (NCLB) Law, the school is “in good standing” in all the many categories.

 

In January, 2008 a reviewer employed by the Department of Education spent two days in PS 8 conducting a School Quality Review, reviewing school data, talking at length with parents, teachers, administrators, kids, and observing lessons. The reviewer gave the school an overall grade of proficient, with a well-developed in one of the five categories.

 

The School Report Card metric relies on “student progress,” 55% of the grade measures “growth,” i.e., increases in ELA and Math test scores over the previous year. 30% of the grade is based on “student performance,” i.e., test scores, and the remaining 15% on “environment,” a combination of parent/teacher surveys, attendance and safety.

 

 Schools are compared with schools in their “peer horizon,” forty schools with similar demographics, twenty above and twenty below the target school. All this is converted to a numerical score, all scores are placed in numerical order, and the Department sets arbitrary cutoffs for each letter grade.

 

The DOE Accountability Tsar, Jim Leibman, knew better before he drank the koolaid. In 2003, before he joined Tweed he wrote

 

“High-stakes testing turned out to be an unreliable measure of the performance of individuals or institutions,” Mr. Liebman and his co-author, Charles F. Sabel, wrote in The New York University Review of Law and Social Change. “It often created perverse incentives — to teach to the test, or to exclude from the testing pool the students most in need of help.”

 

Now, of course, Jim prays at the alter of school accountability: we measure schools, we don’t measure kids.

 

They forget: one man invents, the other circumvents.

 

The principal of PS 8 has learned his lesson: from now until those two ELA testing days in January its test prep, and more test prep … and after that its Math test prep until the spring Math testing days.

 

Some scholars are discussing other methods, more nuanced methods of measuring schools (see “Are Failing Schools Failing?”). Maybe, just maybe, the reauthorization of NCLB will lead to a better metric.

 

Think back: Your favorite class, your favorite teacher … that teacher/class that motivated you and made you what you are … it’s wasn’t the test prep class?  really?

 

Mais où sont les neiges d’antan?

Yes Virginia, There Used To Be Unionized Teachers: McCain/Obama and the Battle for the Survival of Teacher Unions.

 

Once upon a time there were over a million auto workers who belonged to the United Auto Worker (UAW) union. High paying jobs with excellent benefits.

 

The CEOs of the “Big Three” (General Motors, Ford and Chrysler) believed Americans would never buy Japanese cars … they fought against CAFE standards (required higher gas mileage), built larger vehicles, SUVs and trucks, low gas mileage but higher per unit profits, and generally ignored calls for “clean” cars, alternative fuels and “green” cars.

 

The UAW proffered, “we build cars, we don’t design them,” and lobbied along with the CEOs to prevent changes in law. The result: UAW retiree pensions and heath plans are in serious jeopardy, and, “Big Three” may not survive.

 

The unionized auto worker is rapidly becoming an extinct species.

 

Too frequently I hear a teacher scree:

 

“If my principal would leave me alone so I can teach …”

 

“If these kids cared I could really teach …”

 

“If parents gave a damn maybe the kids would learn something …”

 

Shirking reasonability by blaming principals or kids or parents is a path that will lead to the demise of public schools and public school unions.

 

We cannot blame principals or the school system: we must create learning organizations, collaborative institutions in which all the stakeholders, principals, teachers, support personnel and parents can create a synergy, a force that educates kids. And, yes, we have to measure our own effectiveness.

 

While the troglodytes squirm the new American Federation Teachers president Randi Weingarten is engaging these core issues.

 

* Teacher compensation: Should student achievement be linked to teacher compensation? and, if so, how? In Denver the teacher union has agreed to continue a complex plan. In New York City, schools just completed the first year of a union negotiated school-wide bonus plan.

 

* Tenure: Should tenure safeguards be tied to pupil achievement? In Washinton DC  the teacher union is in the midst of negotiations, should they trade off tenure protections for large salary increases tied to student achievement benchmarks?

 

* No Child Left Behind: On the national scene NCLB must be reauthorized during the next legislative session, should the AFT oppose the law, or, “fix” the law, and, if so, how? Currently there is a substantial disconnect between school leadership and classroom teachers around NCLB.

 

The approaching presidential election pits a blatantly anti-union candidate, McCain, with a pro-voucher agenda versus a pro-union candidate Obama, with a complex, nuanced educational plan.

Will teachers fully engage in supporting, and electing Obama?

 

These are perilous times for unions: will teacher unions be nimble, will they be able to engage and become core players in the remolding of our national education agenda, or, will they simply oppose from the outside and yearn for the past?

 

Auto worker unions chose a path that lead to their demise, can teacher unions challenge the complex issues and become part of the solution, rather than part of the problem?

 

Their very future depends upon it.

Lawrence Harvey, Gwen Verdon and the Dark Knight: Truth Imitates Fiction in New York City

Scenario 1: A hockey mom mayor from an obscure Alaskan city attacks the power structure, runs for governor and is elected, later, selected for Vice President, and, when President dies suddenly becomes President. Lawrence Harvey (Manchurian Candidate) plays the role of the candidate.

 

Scenario 2: A short, Jewish lawyer, famous for “taking on” the rich and powerful, heads the school system in Gotham, fights the enemies of truth and justice, runs for Mayor, wins, and working with the “Dark Knight” fights the evil forces, played by a thinned down Danny DeVito.

 

Scenario 3: The Mets win the World Series, the Jets the Super Bowl and the Knicks become NBA Champs … DailyKos exposes that all the team members signed a pact with the devil (see Gwen Verdon in Damn Yankees).

Isn’t September in an election year wonderful?

 

The Hydra, Joel and Mike, hisses and rises to strike at the poor, defenseless public.

 

Actually the public may be organizing to strike back.

 

In spite of two public referendums, and numerous declamations that he has no interest in a third term, he is “playing” with all of us. Almost, except for Mike and his posse, everyone, works for  a living, has a real job that pays for health insurance, rent/mortgage, food and is able to put away something for the future. Mike and his posse have limitless resources and enjoy playing the game, moving around the average guy like pawns on a chess board.

 

The People Have Spoken Coalition, headed by Norman Siegal, is challenging the anti-term limit folk. Interestingly, Ronald Lauder, who crafted the original term limit campaign is about to air TV commercials spanking the City Council.

 

According to informal polls about two-thirds of the Council indicate they support the removal of term limits, but, the public strongly supports keeping term limits.

 

Will the Council members stand up to the public for another four years in office, or go with the sentiment of the ordinary folk?

 

Joel, the other head of the hydra, seems voracious: US Secty of Education, Mayor, Chancellor, he gobbled up each and every big time job. And. as the clock ticks on the sunset of Mayoral Control Mike and his media attack all opponents.

 

Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum issued a Report that supports Mayoral Control, with some tweaks. The NY Daily News, in an editorial attacked poor Betsy.

 

First to surface with that terrible idea was Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum, who last week produced a sham of a document that purported to support mayoral control while calling for its abolition.

 

The forces are forming, Bill DiBlasio, in a NY Sun editorial  takes on the question of role of the parents and the public in public schools.

Predestination or free will? Will the rich and powerful manipulate and prevail, or, will the poor folk rise up …

 

Of course if the Mets stay in the race and the Jets beat the Patriots next Sunday maybe that third scenario will begin to look more attractive.

The Siamese Twins: Mayoral Control and Term Limits: The Enigmatic Beginning of the School Year

 

As the last full school year, maybe, of the Bloomberg administration begins the dailies are filled with politics, not education.

 

The Mayor has time and time again reiterated his aversion to seeking a third term, even if term limits were lifted, until a few weeks ago. Like Claude Rains in Casablanca (“gambling, gambling on these premises..”), Mike mumbles, “..the City Council extending terms limits … really?” Of course the media reports he has been quietly, or, maybe not so quietly, meeting with the editors of the “big three” (Times, Post and the New), feeling out the editors re a run for a third term.

 

New York City voters placed two term limits on citywide offices and the City Council in 1993, and the voters rejected attempts to nullify the legislation in 1996.

 

Supporters of extending term limits point to a 1961 Court of Appeals decision in Buffalo, the Buffalo City Council extended their own terms, rejecting a voter referendum establishing term limits decades earlier.

 

Some argue the Buffalo decision is precedent, others claim the current situation is different. If the City Council extends their terms and that of the Mayor their decision would be challenged, and, the 2009 election would be thrown into turmoil.

 

Simultaneously the Mayor is beginning his campaign to make the 2002 mayoral control law permanent, with a range of opinions from the ed policy makers. Aside from the bully pulpit he has formed a 501 (c) 4, a not-for-profit called MASS (Mayoral Accountability for School Success), headed by Geoffrey Canada, creator of the Harlem Empowerment Zone, and, a charter school operator, Calvin Butts III, the pastor of the Abyssinian Baptist Church and Sister Paulette Monaco Executive Director of Good Shepherd Services, an organization that work with at risk youth, with $20 million in the bank.

 

The power brokers have been cagey, Assembly Speaker Silver supports mayoral control with tweaks, whatever that means.  Bloomberg has threatened that weakening of mayoral control is the killing of mayoral control.

 

The Mayor has not been too successful in negotiating with other powerful entities, the west side stadium, congestion pricing and the bid for the 2012 Olympics.

 

As the months pass and the Scylla and Charybdis of mayoral control and term limits hover over the city we will edge toward endgame. Mayoral control sunsets on June 30, 2009, will the mayor negotiate to create a “win-win” or risk it all … how did Casablanca end?