Biden on Merit Pay, NCLB
If you're curious about where vice presidential prospect Joe Biden stands on education issues, Michele McNeil reports about his statements on merit pay and per-K, and I explain his regret over voting for NCLB.
August 2008 Archives
August 24, 2008
August 22, 2008
Polls Find NCLB is Unpopular, But Accountability Isn't
Phi Delta Kappa and Education Next offer side-by-side comparisons of the American public's opinion of NCLB.
PDK found that 16 percent of the public wants to "extend the law without change." Ed Next says that 21 percent want to "renew the law as is" and another 29 percent want "minimal changes." PDK's survey reports that 42 percent want to change the law "significantly," and Education Next said that 27 percent want "major changes." (Education Next provides a sample of teachers and found they are far more likely to dislike NCLB than the general public. Here's one teacher's opinion about the law.)
One reason for the differences is the options given to the respondents. PDK offered respondents the chance to say "don't know;" Education Next didn't. Ed Next gave the option of small changes; PKD didn't. Another reason may be PDK's sample, which doesn't look much like America, as Sherman Dorn points out.
But also look closely at the questions. PDK asked for an opinion of the "No Child Left Behind Act" with no description of what the law does. Ed Next described how NCLB requires states to set standards, assess students to see if they're making progress, and intervene in schools where students aren't meeting goals. People seem to like the law more when they know what it does.
This doesn't show that No Child Left Behind is "the most tainted brand in America," as Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., has said repeatedly in the past six months. But it does suggest that standards and accountability are popular ideas, even if NCLB isn't.
PROGRAMMING NOTE: Posting on this blog will be light next week. As Michele McNeil announced on Wednesday, she and I will be at the Democratic National Convention. We'll have a backpack full of equipment so we can take video, Twitter, and blog. You can follow us by signing at Ed Week's twitter feed or through Campaign K-12.
August 20, 2008
Accountability Changes Schools, But Teachers Have Final Say
NCLB's accountability measures are changing the way schools meet the needs of students, especially minorities, according to researchers.
"NCLB provides new incentives for schools to improve these students' performance, and it seems like schools are doing so," David Figlio of Northwestern University wrote in yesterday's chat on edweek.org.
But the overall impact of federal and state accountability systems depends on the leadership of the principal and the individual choices of teachers, according to research published today.
In one study of 245 elementary schools in California, Melissa Henne and Heeju Jang of the University of California, Berkeley, found that the achievement gap between whites and Hispanics narrowed in schools where principals focused on improving instruction.
But another study by RAND Corp. researchers suggest that teachers are the final arbiter over how much influence the accountability measures have. Based on surveys of teachers in three states, the team led by RAND's Laura Hamilton found "large amount of within-school variance" of teachers' instructional efforts, even in districts that had aggressive responses to accountability systems.
Both of the studies are included in a new book published by Policy Analysis for California Education at UC Berkeley. You can read both studies and an introduction by PACE's Bruce Fuller at this page.
AFTERTHOUGHT: Bloggers, bloggers everywhere. In the edweek.org chat, Sherman Dorn asked the first question and Diane Ravitch of Bridging Differences added her own later. Figlio's partner in answering questions was the anonymous and provocative eduwonkette. Soon, we'll take over the world.
August 19, 2008
Back from Vacation With Bits of News to Report
Contrary to my assertion that there was "nothing happening," I came back from vacation to find newsy tidbits in my inbox and on my RSS feed. None of them were better than a day at the beach, but they're worth listing here.
Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings gave seven states the ability to offer tutoring one year before school choice for schools failing to make AYP. I'm guessing that civil right activists are unhappy that Alabama is one of them.
Spellings also created the National Technical Advisory Council, which will evaluate states' accountability systems. The panel includes the usual potpourri of researchers, practitioners, and business folks. It also includes Education Sector's Kevin Carey—the main voice of The Quick and the Ed. Does this mean bloggers are going to get a seat at the table in the future?
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., and others introduced the Time for Innovation Matters in Education Act—or TIME Act. We knew that was coming.
Tom Loveless responds to the criticism of his report on how high-achieving students are faring under NCLB. (Link via Flypaper.)
A new Education Next poll finds that NCLB is increasingly unpopular. Half of those surveyed support an NCLB reauthorization with no or small changes. That's down from 57 percent in 2007. The law is especially unpopular among teachers. Three-quarters of them say the law should be "completely overhauled" or scrapped. In an online commentary for Education Week, Richard Whitmire looks into a crystal ball and predicts that a McCain administration is more likely to give teachers what they want on NCLB than an Obama administration. Given how complicated and counterintuitive the politics of NCLB is (see here and here), he may be right.
August 01, 2008
With Nothing Happening, Blogger Goes to the Beach
The New York Times editorial board lauds the stand that civil rights groups have taken against a bill to halt NCLB's accountability. (Perhaps they saw this.)
Reading the editorial, I realized: One of the most important things that happened to NCLB this year was an effort to stop something from happening. Kind of hard to keep a blog going under those circumstances.
I'm giving up. For the next two weeks at least. I'm headed off on vacation. The blog will be up and running again on Aug. 18. (You can get the next item delivered to your e-mail box. See the sign up, at right.)
I'm headed to the beach in the hometown of Rep. Peter Hoekstra. On most mornings, I'll sneak out of the cottage while the rest of my family sleeps. I won't be thinking about AYP or SES. I'll be asking myself: Do I pedal or do I paddle?
In the evening, there will be no question of where all of us will be. See below.
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