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Announcement
Carnegie Launches a Knowledge Network: What We Know About Value Added The goal of the Carnegie Knowledge Network is to synthesize emerging knowledge on the rapidly changing landscape of teacher evaluation policy and practice in the United States and to provide an environment for conversation around the toughest challenges. The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching has assembled a panel of leading technical experts to work toward a consensus on what is and is not known about value-added measures for teacher evaluation. The Foundation selected individuals who have expertise in statistics and economics, without vested interests in particular value-added modeling strategies, and whose previous research, taken together, represents a range of views on this topic. The website's initial content includes a first set of knowledge briefs in the What We Know Series on Value-Added Methods and Applications. The site now includes the following briefs:
Carnegie followed a rigorous process for developing the briefs. To identify topics for investigation and to ensure that the work was grounded in critical problems of practice, the Foundation posed pressing questions on teacher evaluation to a wide range of stakeholders. The Foundation engaged a User Panel composed of K-12 field leaders directly involved in developing and implementing teacher evaluation systems. We did this to assure relevance to their needs and accessibility for their use. Visit the Carnegie Knowledge Network at www.carnegieknowledgenetwork. _________ This Carnegie Knowledge Network is funded by the Institute of Education Sciences at the U.S. Department of Education. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not represent views of the Institute or the U.S. Department of Education. Founded by Andrew Carnegie in 1905 and chartered by an Act of Congress in 1906, the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching is an independent policy and research center based in Stanford, CA. For more information, visit our website at www.carnegiefoundation.org |
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SOME STATES WILL CALL THE ROLL ON SCHOOL REFORM
(Reuters) - Voters in several states will weigh in next month on some of the most contentious issues in public education, including teacher tenure, charter schools and merit pay for teachers, as a national fight over education reform hits the ballot box. The campaigns have been fierce and often nasty. In one corner: proponents of dramatically overhauling public education, including several of America's wealthiest families, led by Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Wal-Mart heir Alice Walton. They seek to inject more free-market forces into the education system by requiring schools to compete for students and teachers to compete for pay raises. In the opposite corner: Teachers unions and their allies, on the left, who say the reformers' proposals would strip resources from the public schools without boosting student achievement.
(Reuters) - Voters in several states will weigh in next month on some of the most contentious issues in public education, including teacher tenure, charter schools and merit pay for teachers, as a national fight over education reform hits the ballot box. The campaigns have been fierce and often nasty. In one corner: proponents of dramatically overhauling public education, including several of America's wealthiest families, led by Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Wal-Mart heir Alice Walton. They seek to inject more free-market forces into the education system by requiring schools to compete for students and teachers to compete for pay raises. In the opposite corner: Teachers unions and their allies, on the left, who say the reformers' proposals would strip resources from the public schools without boosting student achievement.
HIGHLY EFFECTIVE PRINCIPALS RAISE STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT
A new study found that the effect of highly effective principals on student achievement is equivalent to two to seven months of additional learning each school year, while ineffective principals negatively impact achievement by a comparable amount. In addition, the relationship between higher teacher turnover and lower average "value added" in a given grade is stronger as principal quality increases. The article is in the Huffington Post.
A new study found that the effect of highly effective principals on student achievement is equivalent to two to seven months of additional learning each school year, while ineffective principals negatively impact achievement by a comparable amount. In addition, the relationship between higher teacher turnover and lower average "value added" in a given grade is stronger as principal quality increases. The article is in the Huffington Post.
SHOULD STATE EDUCATION CHIEFS BE ELECTED?
Some 13 states currently make their top education official subject to a popular vote. And in virtually every one of those states, there are critics who ask why such an office should be so deeply involved in politics. The article is from Stateline.
Some 13 states currently make their top education official subject to a popular vote. And in virtually every one of those states, there are critics who ask why such an office should be so deeply involved in politics. The article is from Stateline.
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MOOCS FOR CREDIT
Coursera, the largest provider of massive open online courses (MOOCs), has entered into a contract to license several of the courses it has built with its university partners to Antioch University, which would offer versions of the MOOCs for credit as part of a bachelor’s degree program. The deal represents one of the first instances of a third-party institution buying permission to incorporate a MOOC into its curriculum -- and awarding credit for the MOOC -- in an effort to lower the full cost of a degree for students. It is also a first step for Coursera and its partners toward developing a revenue stream from licensing its courses. The article is inInside Higher Ed.
Coursera, the largest provider of massive open online courses (MOOCs), has entered into a contract to license several of the courses it has built with its university partners to Antioch University, which would offer versions of the MOOCs for credit as part of a bachelor’s degree program. The deal represents one of the first instances of a third-party institution buying permission to incorporate a MOOC into its curriculum -- and awarding credit for the MOOC -- in an effort to lower the full cost of a degree for students. It is also a first step for Coursera and its partners toward developing a revenue stream from licensing its courses. The article is inInside Higher Ed.
TEXAS A&M LAUNCHES FAR-REACHING PLAN TO RAISE RETENTION AND GRADUATION RATES
Texas A&M University will unveil an ambitious plan here on Monday to fix a leaky educational pipeline by monitoring students from the time they enter kindergarten until they graduate from college. The program, which it calls EmpowerU, is the result of a year-long brainstorming process among leaders of the sprawling system's 11 diverse campuses. It started with a sobering look at the number of students who fail to graduate and the economic toll that takes on the state. "One of the first things we had to do was admit the problem," said Elaine Mendoza, the system regent who helped lead the effort. The article is in The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Texas A&M University will unveil an ambitious plan here on Monday to fix a leaky educational pipeline by monitoring students from the time they enter kindergarten until they graduate from college. The program, which it calls EmpowerU, is the result of a year-long brainstorming process among leaders of the sprawling system's 11 diverse campuses. It started with a sobering look at the number of students who fail to graduate and the economic toll that takes on the state. "One of the first things we had to do was admit the problem," said Elaine Mendoza, the system regent who helped lead the effort. The article is in The Chronicle of Higher Education.
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TOWARD IMPROVING CONTINUOUSLY
A new report from the Forum for Investment in Youth and the Wallace Foundation offers a how-to guide for the development of quality improvement systems (QIS) in afterschool settings. Identifying quality as a priority is an important first step, but addressing it in a systemic way is complicated and requires research, planning, consensus-building, resource development, managing new processes, and redefining old relationships. The guide aims to help those who are working to create better, more coordinated afterschool programming through a QIS, or to further develop existing efforts. It explains what constitutes an effective QIS, describes tasks involved in building one, and offers examples and resources from communities whose work is forging a trail for others. The guide is premised on the model of "continuous improvement": the idea that organizations should regularly take stock of themselves against a standard; develop plans to improve based on what they have learned; carry out those plans; and begin the cycle over again, so that the quality of their work is always improving. Experience shows that afterschool programs – and the children and youth they serve – benefit enormously when programs agree to a common definition of quality and embrace continuous improvement.
TURNING SCHOOLS AROUND: MYTH OR REALITY?
We must advocate for high levels of learning for all children, write Stu Silberman in Education Week’s Public Engagement blog, because when people believe all students can learn at high levels, achievement escalates.
REPORT: HOW RECENT EDUCATION REFORMS UNDERMINE LOCAL SCHOOL GOVERNANCE
A new report from the National Education Policy Center concludes that the concept of local control has all but disappeared from discussions of education policy. The authors define local control as "the power of communities, made up of individuals bound together by common geography, resources, problems, and interests, to collectively determine the policies that govern their lives." In education, this has typically been elected school boards and their constituents. However, NCLB and subsequent federal policy has forced a surrender of local control, with localities accountable to state and federal officials. This information is from the PEN NewsBlast.
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BEGINNING TEACHER INDUCTION: WHAT THE DATA TELL US
Richard Ingersoll writes in Phil Delta Kappan: Since the advent of public schools, education commentators and reformers have perennially called attention to the challenges encountered by newcomers to school teaching. Although elementary and secondary teaching involves intensive interaction with youngsters, the work of teachers is done largely in isolation from colleagues. This isolation can be especially difficult for newcomers, who, upon accepting a position in a school, are frequently left to succeed or fail on their own within the confines of their classrooms—often likened to a “lost at sea” or “sink or swim” experience. Other commentators go further, arguing that beginners tend to end up in the most challenging and difficult classroom and school assignments, akin to a “trial by fire.” Indeed, some have assailed teaching as an occupation that “cannibalizes its young.” These are the very kinds of issues and problems that effective employee entry, orientation, and support programs—widely known as induction—seek to address. Teaching, however, has traditionally not had the kind of induction programs for new entrants common to many skilled blue- and white-collar occupations and characteristic of many traditional professions.
UNION NEGOTIATIONS OVER EVALUATION SYSTEM STALLED
The Los Angeles Unified School District is seeking the assistance of California’s Public Employee Relations Board mediator in order to break the impasse in its negotiations with the United Teachers Los Angeles, the LA Daily News reports. The current round of negotiations is about the development of a new teacher evaluation system which must take into account student achievement metrics such as test scores. The district is operating under a time constraint, as it has until December 4th of this year to devise the new system. Earlier this year the district was found to be using a review process that was in violation of the 40-year-old Stull Act which requires that some measure of how well students are learning the material mandated by the state curriculum play a part in how teachers are evaluated. In 1999, in an amendment co-sponsored by current mayor of Los Angeles Antonio Villaraigosa, specifically named the state-mandated standardized test scores to be used at as that measure. The article is from EducationNews.org.
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FIVE REASONS COLLEGE ENROLLMENTS MAY BE DROPPING
Parents who are desperately trying to get their children into a top school may not believe this: U.S. higher education enrollments this fall might be lower - perhaps significantly so at some institutions - than they were a year ago. Official national data won't be published for some time. Yet state by state, enrollments appear to be down, mostly at community colleges and at some four-year schools as well. The article is in the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
TEACHING, STRESS, ADJUNCTS
Full-time faculty members at four-year colleges are spending less time on teaching than they used to, according to a national study being released today by the Higher Education Research Institute at the University of California at Los Angeles. Because the comparative data are for full-time faculty only, it is not clear if this trend is because more courses are being taught by part-timers, because more sections have been canceled due to budget cuts, or for other reasons. The article is in Inside Higher Ed.
COLLEGE PRICE HIKES MORE MODEST
The sticker price of in-state tuition at four-year public universities climbed about $400 this fall, an increase of nearly 5 percent that brought the average to $8,655. That's a modest increase compared to recent years but still painful for families with stagnant incomes after a prolonged economic slump. Room-and-board charges grew by a comparable amount, raising the full cost for students living on campus to $17,860. The latest annual figures from the College Board, out Wednesday, show only about one-third of full-time students pay that published price. The article is in Education Week.
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AN ENROLLMENT EXPERIMENT GROUNDED IN “GRIT”
In the fast-changing realm of higher education, “grit” is becoming a red-hot word. Maybe you call it resilience, determination, or perseverance. Srikant Vasan defines it as “being able to get over obstacles as they appear in your path, to stand up when you’ve been punched down, to set a long-term vision and a goal for yourself, and be able to keep those in mind.” How might colleges effectively measure—and promote—those kinds of noncognitive skills and habits among students? Mr. Vasan hopes to provide an answer. He is the founder and president of Portmont College, a new, low-cost associate-degree program created by Mount St. Mary’s College, in Los Angeles, and the MyCollege Foundation, which is financed by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The article is in The Chronicle of Higher Education.
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TEACHING STUDENTS FINANCIAL LITERACY
Students appear to know so little about the repercussions of the loans they take out, in fact, that some universities are starting to require them to undergo financial-literacy training. The first statewide plan to curb student-loan defaults, announced with great fanfare by the State University of New York system, consists not of making more direct grants available or providing tuition discounts, but almost entirely of helping students better understand the debt they’re getting into. It’s not altogether altruistic. Universities and colleges are being judged on their average loan debt and default rates, and stress about finances can derail students and cause them to drop out at a time when funding of public higher education is increasingly tied to its success at producing graduates. The article is from the Hechinger Report.
A NEW ONLINE ASSOCIATE’S DEGREE
The latest model-busting higher education program comes from a novel partnership between a nonprofit college and a nonprofit organization, helped by a push (and some money) from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. This new venture is designed to provide online associate degrees to students who have more "grit" than traditional academic credentials. The program is a partnership between MyCollege Foundation, a nonprofit that received $3 million from the Gates Foundation as part of a program of grants for developing "breakthrough" learning models, and Mount St. Mary’s College, a Roman Catholic institution in Los Angeles with a focus on serving low-income and Latino students. The article is in Inside Higher Ed.
COMMUNITY COLLEGES CANNOT BE OVERLOOKED IN AMERICA’S QUEST FOR NEW SCIENTISTS
The United States needs to grow and diversify its science and engineering work force to be competitive in the new global economy — and community colleges play an increasingly important role in this process. More than 50 percent of lower-income and racial-minority students, and 40 percent of all students, start off at community colleges. However, not many students enter community colleges thinking they will become scientists, engineers or mathematicians. Only about 10 percent even consider this pathway. And the majority of those will pursue a different field as their studies progress. The article is in The New York Times.
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SURVEYS PROBE GENERATIONAL ATTITUDES OF TEACHING FORCE
A new survey points to differences in how teachers with fewer than 10 years of experience—who now make up more than half the teaching force—view aspects of their profession, compared with their veteran peers. The new-majority teachers were generally more receptive to the accountability movement and its implications for teacher policy, but they also hold some traditional opinions on working conditions. The post is from Education Week’s Teacher Beat blog.
ACT SHOWS FEW N.C. STUDENTS READY FOR COLLEGE
Seniors across North Carolina have a lot of work to do, especially in science, to be ready for college, results of the first-ever statewide ACT testing show. Just less than one in eight of last year's juniors, or 12.8%, met the benchmark scores considered a predictor of college success in English, math, reading, and science. Last year, the state started requiring all 11th graders to take the exam. The article is in the Charlotte Observer.
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RETHINK COLLEGE
For a room full of academics talking about the future of higher education, the conversation was surprisingly blunt. Time Magazine gathered more than 100 college presidents and other experts from across the U.S. to talk about the biggest problems facing higher education, which U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan summed up for the room as “high prices, low completion rates, and too little accountability.”
PERFORMING UNDER PRESSURE
State lawmakers increasingly want to tie public funding of higher education to colleges' performance. But measuring sticks that reflect the differences between institutions and who they serve are hard to find. HCM Strategists and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation are trying to fill that gap with a series of new research papers and issue briefs. The campaign, dubbed “Context for Success,” attempts to give policymakers and colleges tools to better judge what works in higher education. The article is in Inside Higher Ed.
FINANCES BLEEDING CAL STATE SYSTEM DRY
Cal State is being bled dry. Few super-rich donors write big checks to Cal State, foundation money is scarce, and so are research funds, because the mission of these campuses is teaching. That's why, confronted with Sacramento's slash-and-burn actions, CSU has had to raise tuition fees, cut enrollment and shrink programs. Tuition has quadrupled in the past decade. As a result, a recent report from the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California points out, the percentage of high school graduates enrolling in Cal State is declining, even though more of these students meet university entrance standards. The article is in the San Francisco Chronicle.
PRIVATE COLLEGES BOOM AS CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITIES FALTER
California's public higher education crisis has a flip side: swelling enrollment, expanding faculty, and state-of-the-art construction at the state's private colleges and universities. With five years of funding cuts causing stumbles in the state's public higher education systems, California students are increasingly turning to private institutions, as well as out-of-state schools, to get their degrees. California independent colleges report big upticks in enrollment of both freshmen and transferring students disillusioned with spiraling tuition for fewer classes at California State University, University of California, and community colleges. Universities in neighboring states also say they're seeing more interest from California students than ever before. The article is from the Associated Press.
CAN AN ONLINE DEGREE REALLY HELP YOU GET A JOB?
The University of Phoenix, the largest for-profit school in the country, has been around since 1976. It has 328,000 students currently enrolled and an estimated 700,000 alumni. It offers more than 100 degree programs at the associate, bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral levels. As of 2010 it had more than 8,000 recruiters on staff. But until very recently it had no career-counseling service for its graduating students. That’s finally changed with the school’s new “Let’s Get to Work” initiative announced late last month: a series of online tools designed to help students figure out early on what jobs might be good for them, what employers in those fields are looking for and what skills students need to get the job. The article is in Time Magazine.
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THE BENEFITS OF EVIDENCE-BASED OBSERVATIONS
Peter DeWitt writes in Education Week’s Common Ground blog: It sounds like common sense. Shouldn't all observations be evidence based? Is this a passing fad using new vocabulary? Or is this a new focus for principals and teachers? The stakes are high and our focus has to be clear. We need evidence that our students are learning and state tests are not the way to do that. However, teacher observations and the conversations that take place before and after are important to that process because they can have a positive effect on student learning.
COMPETENCY-BASED SCHOOLS EMBRACE DIGITAL LEARNING
The move to competency-based education—also known as proficency-, standards-, and performance-based education—by Lindsay Unified and other districts will likely give them a head start in preparing for the new demands of the Common Core State Standards, experts point out, and in their ability to use technology more effectively to personalize learning. The article is in Education Week.
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