Educationally Sound

Hopefully you are aware of the Race to the Top grant program which the federal government has developed as a carrot to induce states to modify their laws to reform education. Both states and school districts are being induced to modify legislation and contracts to provide for changes in teacher certification, promotion, pay and termination. I’m not going into details however I have provided a link here to the federal program plan and the goals set forth by NYSED for New York.

Most states have applied for the grant money being offered. They have agreed to take necessary steps to inform their education systems appropriately. Here’s a summary of some of the points and reforms included in the plan.

• New rules for closing nonperforming schools, including terminating principals and 50% of the staff, converting them to charter schools, etc.

• A substantial focus on student improvement as the criteria for teacher certification, promotion, compensation, and termination. Use of merit pay to reward teacher performance.

• More incremental assessments and data being made available at the district and state level. (This data will be the basis for the assessments discussed above.)

See the links above for more of the many aspects of the plan.

I am a bit concerned about this plan.

Remember, I have worked much of my career outside the education field as an attorney in corporate America–I am absolutely aware of the differences between education and other professions. I also agree that reform is needed to improve education. I am not sure, however, that using student improvement as a significant factor, (which may mean more than 50%) can be fairly implemented. I believe it will ultimately come down to administrative discretion which is clearly not the intent of the program.

Here’s why…

Let’s look at this scenario. A teacher has five classes, all of which are either inclusion classes or unmotivated students. This teacher is given every learning disabled or at risk student her district can possibly fit into her schedule because of her ability to work with these types of kids. (This sounds very familiar, right?) The goal for most of these kids to get out of school–They don’t plan to go to college, they don’t care about their grades, and are generally unprepared and unmotivated. They come to school on an empty stomach, have been up all night, have little family support, etc.

Other teachers, however, have classes consisting of entirely general education students who are college bound and motivated. They have family support and much different prior skills and experiences. Although this teacher may use fewer “tools and tricks” with these kids, they are striving as they are intrinsically interested and desire to succeed.

Don’t we see our schools set up like this? How can we compare the results of the first teacher with that of the second? We cannot…So here is how I see it playing out.

The administrators looks at the results of the first teacher and seeing all of the work he/she has put in to the program makes an exception—note to file saying that her results are ok because of these factors. As soon as that happens, and I think it will as it has to because it is the truth—that administrator is going to have a much more difficult time disciplining, adjusting compensation or terminating anyone else who is remotely in the same boat or situation. All of the teachers with at risk kids are off the hook? Let’s look at the teachers with the stronger students—There will be a myriad of arguments as to why a teacher’s results can be distinguished—(Ex..I don’t have a smart board—she does; I have a collaborating teacher who teaches part of the time; My subject is tougher than hers; I am being targeted because of my age or salary, etc…) The list will be as long as the lawyers can make it. We will see a new niche of litigation and negotiation over these issues which will result in real administrative problems.

In essence, I see this system evolving into one of administrative discretion—various interpretations of situations and data which create new problems and costs of money and time for everyone. Teachers and administrators will be papering our files to protect our agendas or jobs, at the expense of time with students.

The only way this can work in my view is to have totally heterogeneous classes. Most schools use some degree of tracking and select students best suited for their teachers. Changing that is not necessarily good for kids!

In the states’ race to the bank, I wonder if they are really thinking about any of this. Unlike business, teachers cannot choose their customers, the product they are selling, the time they have to do so, the price, or the resourses they have to sell it. We are given a more homogeneous than heterogeneous group of students, told the curriculum, told the grade to be achieved, given limited time and resources, and often times asked to motivate students who come from worlds totally uninterested in our product!

I am anxious to see how this can work. What do you think?

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Tags: school reform