New York State Website Tracks Educator Evaluation Progress
With the introduction this week of a new state-sponsored website that tracks each New York school districts progress on implementing teacher evaluation, Governor Andrew Cuomo once again puts the pressure on to get teacher evaluation implemented across the state.
The new website tracks progress in each district showing a checked box next to each of the steps a district completes. Steps include submitting a new teacher evaluation plan to the state education department and approval of the plan by the department.
In a statement, Governor Cuomo said “I hope the countless parents and advocates who have been demanding accountability in our schools will use www.nystudentsfirst.com to get involved in our efforts to put students first and reform our education system.”
Just a few months ago, New York State’s Education Commissioner threatened to withhold tens of millions in school improvement grants and Race to the Top funds from districts that were running up against a deadline by which they needed to submit a teacher evaluation plan.
Here in Massachusetts, progress on implementation of educator evaluation has been slow. In our Year One Race to the Top Progress Report that showed in the area of educator evaluation the State is not on track to meet the goals of Race to the Top, MBAE called for the state to make this its highest priority. It’s interesting to watch as New York does just that.
Is Massachusetts on Track to Meet Race to the Top Goals?
One year ago, Massachusetts was awarded a $250 million Race to the Top grant that required implementation of far-reaching and some controversial policies with the goal of completing the unfinished work of education reform – closing achievement gaps and raising student achievement to the levels demanded by our global economy. One year later, what has been accomplished? Are we meeting benchmarks and are we on track to deliver results? What has changed in Massachusetts classrooms?
The Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education is answering these critical questions. Year One, Race to the Top in Massachusetts: An Education Progress Report, finds that while the State has largely met its promises for Year One, its ability to meet the overall goals of the Race to the Top agenda will hinge on whether schools and districts fulfill their individual commitments to the state’s vision and whether the state has the capacity to assist districts in meeting this expectation. The report tracks progress on several key initiatives, including implementation of the Common Core State Standards and a new evaluation system for teachers and administrators, and outlines the successes and challenges of Massachusetts’ first year of Race to the Top.
Highlights of our findings include:
- Quality control needs to be strengthened. The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education must focus not only on whether districts meet goals and benchmarks, but more importantly on how well they do the job.
- Focusing on getting great teachers and great leaders in every school is the foundation of meeting every other Race to the Top goal. The state must prioritize the creation of a specialized corps of teachers and principals to turn around low performing schools.
- The state needs ongoing indicators throughout the school year to measure whether district implementationof the Common Core State Standards is actually occuring.
- In the area of using data systems to improve instruction, the state needs to make up for delays due to procurement and staffing. The focus should be on creating tools for teachers to analyze and use their students’ data.
This report was made possible with support from EMC Corporation and Associated Industries of Massachusetts.
Analysis of Teacher Policies in Springfield Public Schools
We spent the day in Springfield on Tuesday, October 11, for the release of a report by the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) on teacher policies in the Springfield Public Schools. Among the key findings were that improving the teacher evaluation system so that all teachers get feedback is critical, seniority rules are hurting new teacher recruitment, and the $127 million the district spends on compensation must be used more strategically.
The in-depth study, Teacher Quality Roadmap: Improving Policies and Practices in Springfield, was sponsored by the Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education (MBAE) and Springfield Business Leaders for Education. Designed as a tool to highlight what is and is not working in our local schools, the report identifies local and state legislative reforms that would facilitate district efforts to recruit and retain highly effective teachers.
Study findings include:
- Principal’s authority to build their own team and decide who teaches in their school buildings is limited. The district “force places” teachers into vacancies, instead of assignment by “mutual consent” of the principal and teacher that the placement is a good fit.
- Springfield’s leave package, at effectively 19.5 days, exceeds what is offered in comparable districts. In the 2009-2010 school year teachers were absent an average of 15 days, approximately one day every 2-1/2 weeks. Teacher absenteeism has been linked to learning losses for children.
- Springfield is revising its evaluation policies, largely due to new state regulations. Recent data shows that all but 0.6 percent of teachers evaluated received satisfactory or better ratings. Most problematic is that evaluations failed to factor in the most important measure of teachers’ effectiveness: their impact on student learning.
- As in most districts, the decision to award tenure is largely automatic with principals basing their decisions on the results of the current, weak evaluation tool where all teachers virtually are labeled satisfactory or exemplary.
- Salaries and lifetime earnings are lower in Springfield than in surrounding districts, making it difficult to attract highly effective teachers.
MBAE commissioned this study because having an effective teacher in every classroom is critical for improving student learning. Research has shown that teacher quality is the single most important school-controlled variable that influences student achievement. A 2002 study found that having a highly effective teacher throughout elementary school can substantially offset or even eliminate the disadvantage of low socio-economic background.
Other Resources:
Human Capital in the Boston Public Schools: Rethinking How to Attract, Develop and Retain Effective Teachers
MBAE Featured in Report from Institute for a Competitive Workforce
A report out today from the Institute for a Competitive Workforce (ICW) says that business must get more involved in education reform if we want to achieve the dramatic change that is needed to ensure that every child gets a quality education. The report, Partnership Is a Two-Way Street: What It Takes for Business to Help Drive School Reform, by Frederick M. Hess and Whitney Downs of the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), uses the work of the Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education as an example of the leadership role that business can play.
Specifically, the authors examined the pivotal role that MBAE played in the state’s adoption of the Common Core State Standards. A rigorous, independent study commissioned by MBAE provided the critical information that was lacking in the debate over the standards. It gave the business community the data it needed to determine whether the Common Core would advance their education goals and deserved support. The adoption of the standards was key to the state’s winning of the Race to the Top competition.
MBAE’s core work of improving public schools by influencing state policy is driven by the business community’s commitment that students graduate prepared for success in college, career and citizenship. The leadership role that we have taken has helped the state achieve dramatic gains in education. But our work is far from done.
Although Massachusetts leads the country in many measures of student achievement, we continue to face chronic racial and socio-economic achievement gaps and unacceptable high school drop out college completion rates. Employers play a pivotal role in bringing about the change that is needed to address these significant challenges, providing a unique perspective on how to drive improvement and get results. The business community is also a primary stakeholder in a quality education system. If Massachusetts companies are to compete and win in a worldwide economy, they will need a well-educated workforce.
The authors of the report point out that while volunteer tutoring and college scholarships are beneficial, this kind of involvement does not bring about the kind of systemic change that is needed.
“American K–12 schooling is in need of major improvements, and business can play a valuable role in retooling school systems for the new century,” says coauthor Hess. “Business can provide the leverage, expertise, and leadership that will help educators and public officials make tough decisions and take hard steps they might not take on their own.”
For a good summary of the report including key lessons learned, read Hess’s Education Week blog post today. For more background on why ICW commissioned the report, check out ICW’s blog.
Top MA High Schools Preparing Students for College and Career
In a Washington Post ranking of public high schools that most effectively prepare students for college, the schools ranked #1 and #2 in Massachusetts were both charter schools. Sturgis Charter Public School in Hyannis came in first in Massachusetts and fourth in the Northeast region. MATCH Charter Public High School in Boston ranked second in the state and seventh in the region overall. Four Massachusetts charter schools ranked in the top eight high schools in the state.
The rankings were determined using a simple formula — divide the number of Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate or other college-level tests a school gave in 2010 by the number of graduating seniors. According to the Post’s Jay Matthews who conducts the ranking, the rating can reveal the level of a high school’s commitment to preparing average students for college.
This is a strong showing for the charter public schools (considering they make up a very small percentage of high schools in the state) and another argument for raising the cap. Charter schools consistently set high standards for even the most disadvantaged students. All schools must follow suit.
Preparing students for college is a critical goal. A report from the New England Journal of Higher Education projects that 68% of all jobs in Massachusetts will require a postsecondary education by 2018. Yet, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education reports that more than 1/3 of students entering Massachusetts public colleges have to take at least one remedial course in college. Those students have a significantly greater likelihood of not completing an associate’s or bachelor’s degree.
There is a lot that schools should be doing to ensure that students graduate prepared for success in college and career. One thing all high schools should do is make MassCore, the work and college readiness curriculum, a minimum graduation requirement. All students should have access to rigorous coursework.
Boston Renaissance Inspires
MBAE Board Members and staff were treated to an inspiring tour of the Boston Renaissance Charter Public School recently that reminded me of why it is so critical to extend these unique educational opportunities to more students and their families.
The largest public elementary school in Boston, Renaissance offers a high quality education to 1,100 pre-kindergarten to 6th grade students. Ninety-six percent of Renaissance students are African American and Latino and more than 70% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch. It ranks seventh out of 82 elementary schools in Boston, many of which are one quarter its size.
The School’s success is the result of a combination of factors that define many of the state’s best charter public schools. A dynamic school superintendent leads a deeply committed staff that brings innovative new resources and programs to the school. Staff focuses on academic achievement but also on student confidence and character. Its full service approach to learning includes an on-site vision, dental and health center that helps to break down barriers to learning that exist for too many disadvantaged students. Instructional technology programs, led by a former teacher from Tech Boston Academy (the school recently made famous by a visit from President Obama), are a central focus of the school and lead to better preparedness for the 21st century economy. Visual and performing arts are an integral part of each student’s school day, encouraging students to develop their minds and bodies. A beautiful new facility and campus provide the environment for serious learning.
Boston Renaissance and other charter schools provide valuable opportunities to students from the most vulnerable neighborhoods. The flexibility with which charter schools operate has allowed them to challenge old ways of doing things and develop new pathways for success. The legislature and the Governor should be applauded for passing An Act Relative to the Achievement Gap last year which raised the cap on the number of charter schools operating in the state’s poorest performing districts. Yet, with the recent Board of Elementary and Secondary Education approval of 16 new charter schools many of the new seats will soon be filled. What happens to the thousands of students who didn’t get a spot? Many of them will remain trapped in underperforming schools.
A visit to Boston Renaissance Charter Public School reminds one of the critical impact that a valuable educational opportunity can have on a young person’s life. MBAE supports making these opportunities available to more children through high quality charters and to all children through excellent public schools of all kinds.
New Report: Poor Education Can Prevent Entry to Military
We have long known that an inadequate education prevents far too many young people in this country from getting into college and attaining a job with decent pay. A surprising new study finds it also blocks another critical pathway to the middle class, the military.
A new report from the Education Trust dispels the myth that the military will take any high school graduate (or GED holder) who wants to enlist. In fact, in Shut Out of the Military, the first-ever public analysis of the Army’s Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB), Ed Trust finds that more than one in five young people interested in enlisting do not meet the minimum eligibility standard required for the Army (as measured by the Armed Forces Qualification Test, comprised of four academic subtests of the ASVAB).
Once again, we find that minority students are disproportionately impacted. Ed Trust found that 29 percent of Hispanic Army applicants and 39 percent of African Americans were found ineligible. Furthermore, when minority candidates did gain entry into the armed services, they achieved lower scores on average than their white peers. These ratings exclude them from higher level educational, training, and advancement opportunities provided by the Army.
In Massachusetts, the news is particularly grim. The report shows that Massachusetts is number one in percent of Hispanic applicants ineligible for enlistment at 40.5%. 35.2 percent of African American applicants in Massachusetts were deemed ineligible compared to 15.2 percent of white applicants. Overall, 19.6 percent of the 5301 applicants from Massachusetts were considered ineligible for enlistment.
This report provides further evidence of the staggering achievement gap we face in Massachusetts and the opportunities it is robbing from our most vulnerable populations.
Why Are Massachusetts Schools so Cash Strapped?
This morning, MBAE issued School Funding Reality: A Bargain Not Kept, our report on school funding and spending trends in Massachusetts. We did the study to look at how the foundation budget was working and found that the explosive growth in the cost of school employee health insurance has crowded out funding for other portions of school budgets that directly impact students such as spending on books and other classroom materials as well as teacher training.
Education funding has increased by $5 billion since the Massachusetts Education Reform Act of 1993, school districts all over the state are laying off teachers and cutting back on book purchases, teacher training, library services and athletics. Our members wanted to find out why and this report answers the question.
The study found that school employee health benefits are eating up school budgets. From fiscal year 2000 to fiscal year 2007, state education aid (known as Chapter 70) rose by $700 million per year; over that same period school spending on employee benefits rose by $1 billion per year.
In contrast, spending on classroom teachers, teacher professional development, and purchases of books, software, and other educational materials – areas of the budget that have a significant impact on student learning – when adjusted for inflation has actually been falling since 2000. Spending on instructional materials fell by 11.3% per year from 2000 to 2007.
There is almost no increase in the number of teachers and no improvement in average class size despite an almost $5 billion increase in total school spending since the Foundation Budget formula went into effect in 1996. After 11 years of education reform, the student/teacher ratio was significantly less favorable in 2007 than it had been a decade earlier.
The report also found that spending between Massachusetts school districts has not been made equal, a central goal of the Act. The neediest districts are the farthest below the state spending goal and have the lowest growth in spending. At only 2.3% per year from 2007 to 2010, their per pupil spending growth was a full percentage point less than the wealthiest suburban districts (3.4%).
The report comes at a critical time. Massachusetts faces an unprecedented education funding crisis as the slow recovery of state revenues and a concurrent drop in municipal income are compounded by the impending end of federal stimulus funding. The immediate need for financial efficiency and a recent resurgence of education reform efforts makes this an opportune time to reexamine the school finance system and evaluate what changes are needed to achieve its goals – delivering high quality public education to all students.
The Boston Foundation provided funding for this work and released the report as part of its Understanding Boston series at a forum this morning. MBAE Executive Director Linda Noonan and Board members Michael Widmer and Joseph Esposito joined MBAE co-Founder and Secretary of Education Paul Reville for a panel discussion. The research for this report was conducted by Ed Moscovitch of Cape Ann Economics and the Bay State Reading Institute. Ed worked with MBAE to establish the original foundation budget.
