Politics K-12

Inside the Beltway ESEA Renewal Tour, Round 2

2009-11-20T21:41:43Z

English-language learners, students in special education, and homeless students took center stage in the U.S. Department of Education's second "stakeholders" forum, held here in Washington today. These events are intended to help lay the groundwork for reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.

This one attracted a much smaller and more subdued crowd than the first stakeholders' forum here, which featured a big speech on reauthorization from Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. Still, there was some interesting discussion on how the new, yet-to-be-named version of the law might do a better job measuring the achievement of these special populations than does its current version, the No Child Left Behind Act.

The event kicked off with a panel of witnesses, including Kris Gutierrez, a professor at the University of Colorado in Boulder, who studies English-language learners. She suggested that schools track what happens to ELLs after they leave the classroom. And she said those students need to be assessed for continued progress.

Patricia Popp, a representative from the Virginia Education Program for Homeless Children and Youth, noted that support staff for homeless kids often are the first folks laid off during an economic downturn. She suggested that Congress make sure it provides adequate funding for homeless kids through the federal McKinney-Vento program, which finances support services for that population.

During the question period, Jane West, a lobbyist at the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education in Washington, noted that both the ESEA and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act are up for reauthorization at the same time. She suggested that, rather than aligning the two laws, Congress consider actually merging them. One of the panelists, Dr. Judith Moening, who directs special education for the North East Independent School District outside San Antonio, Texas, seconded that motion.

And Deborah Ziegler, a lobbyist for the Council for Exceptional Children, which advocates for students in special education, said she hoped that special education teachers would be eligible for alternative pay, something the administration has been pushing hard through the stimulus program's Race to the Top Fund and other initiatives and is expected to champion in reauthorization.

On the big question ... still no on-the-record clues about the timing of ESEA reauthorization.

An Olympic Pitch for Race to the Top

2009-11-20T14:39:10Z

Read deep into the final regulations for Race to the Top, and you'll see an outline of how the Education Department plans to judge states' applications.

There's the 500-point grading scale, of course.

But for the finalists, there's one last step: Fly to Washington, bring your five best people, and give us one last sales pitch.

Kinda like the Olympics! Remember when Chicago brought in the Obamas, and even Oprah, to make the case to the Olympic Committee in Copenhagen? Course, it didn't turn out as Chicago had hoped.

For Race to the Top, it's an interesting twist on the judging process that's akin to the college interview. You've done the application, gotten those high SAT scores and grades, but now it's time to see what you're really made of.

What's also interesting is the department says, in the regulations, that it will put videos of the oral arguments online, or at least make a transcript available.

The regulations also specifically ban consultants from the group of five people that can make the pitch. Certainly, though, governors and chief state school officers will likely make the trip. But will states also bring any Oprah-like celebrities? We'll have to stay tuned.

Stimulus Jobs Claims Raise Eyebrows at Hill Hearing

2009-11-19T17:42:06Z

Media reports about inaccurate estimates of just how many jobs have been saved or created under the federal economic stimulus law came back to bite Obama administration officials testifying before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee this morning.

The hearing, which continues this afternoon, has been very partisan, with Republicans questioning the administration's estimate of 640,000 jobs created or saved under the stimulus program, and Democrats saying that, without the stimulus, the economy would be in even worse shape than it is now.

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., the top GOP member of the committee, went so far as to call the administration's estimates "propaganda."

Deputy Secretary of Education Anthony Wilder Miller, the department's money and management guru, is among the administration folks testifying before the committee. He told lawmakers that the agency was able to get almost $67 billion out the door relatively quickly, in part because it already had systems in place for much of that money, including funds allocated through formulas for special education and the Title I program, which serves disadvantaged students.

Miller said the department has done significant outreach to grant recipients and held biweekly webinars explaining the stimulus reporting requirements. And he said the department will put together a document detailing what it's learned so far in implementing the stimulus.

But Republicans questioned the 300,000 education jobs reported created or saved so far. Issa said many of those jobs were "simply transfers to pay for teachers," and that states spent the money elsewhere. He also implied that the public sector isn't the greatest place for job creation. "School teachers are important, federal workers are important, but that's really where this has gone," he said, rather than the private sector. And Rep. Michael R. Turner, R-Ohio, noted that states and districts are going to face a funding cliff as soon as the stimulus money runs out.

For their part, Democrats have largely defended the stimulus law and its impact, while making it clear that it's important for taxpayers and Congress to get accurate jobs data. But not all Democrats are without criticism of how the program has gone. Earlier this week, Rep. David R. Obey, D-Wisc., the Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, lambasted the Obama administration for fuzzy stimulus math.

Urbanite Duncan Continues Rural Outreach

2009-11-18T21:16:34Z

Education Secretary Arne Duncan, whose education experience is firmly planted in urban ground, is continuing to reach out to rural folks to figure out how the reforms he's pushing will play out in the farther reaches of the country.

Nine rural superintendents, from Michigan, Texas, West Virginia, California, Mississippi, Kansas, South Dakota, Wyoming, and Arizona, gave him an earful during a more than hour-long chat with him yesterday.

The Rural Nine, first and foremost, said they were thrilled to get to hear straight from department officials about plans for turnaround schools and for reauthorizing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. And, they were pleased they got to help educate Duncan on how schools work, and how reform might play out, in rural America.

As I talked with a few of them after their meetings, it was clear that one of their key messages was this: The four turnaround models the department is pushing won't work for many rural school districts. Even the most flexible one, the transformation model, would be impossible for some that face tremendous recruiting challenges, since it calls for replacing the principal of a failing school.

"There's just no way we can bring in a new principal," said Beatriz Ramirez, who is both the superintendent and the principal of Raisin City School District in California, a K-8 one-school district serving 280 students in rural Fresno County. Instead, she said the focus for turnarounds in rural districts can be on professional development and using technology to bridge divides.

Tupelo Public School District Superintendent Randy R. Shaver said that, at a minimum, the department needs to focus on using incentives to recruit principals to underserved areas, including his district in rural Mississippi.

The Rural Nine also said they made clear that Duncan's preference for awarding federal funding through competitive grants, over formulas, will put rural schools at a disadvantage.

"Many of us are the superintendents and also have other jobs too," said Lyn Guy, the superintendent of Monroe County Schools in West Virginia, noting that many rural superintendents also are principals, or business officials. "We have our hands full."

The $650 million Investing in Innovation, or i3, grants for school districts really aren't even on the superintendents' radar screens--even though there's a specific competitive preference for projects that address the needs of rural schools.

Mark Bielang, the superintendent of the Paw Paw Public Schools, in southwestern Michigan, added: "Many of us simply do not have the capacity to spend all of this time applying for grants."

Obey Rails on Administration's Stimulus Reporting

2009-11-17T17:09:32Z

Rep. David R. Obey, the Democratic chairman of the House Appropriations Committee and a major architect of the stimulus law, ranted and raved yesterday in this statement about inaccurate reporting on Recovery.gov.

"Credibility counts in government and stupid mistakes like this undermine it," Obey said. "Whether the numbers are good news or bad news, I want the honest numbers and I want them now."

Obey may have been thinking about reports like this recent ABC news account, which found that the Obama administration scaled back their estimate - by 60,000 - of how many jobs were created under the stimulus because apparently some of the numbers weren't realistic.

Media reports like that are likely to make it that much tougher to show that the stimulus is accomplishing its goals, including in the area of education redesign. And they could also hurt Democrats in swing districts who voted in favor of the stimulus, which got virtually no Republican support. That may be why Obey, who is often considered a partisan Democrat, used such harsh rhetoric in taking the Obama administration to task.

A Conversation with ED's Thelma Melendez

2009-11-16T17:17:42Z

Thelma Melendez, the U.S. Department of Education's assistant secretary for elementary and secondary education, hasn't made any headlines since taking this key K-12 job in the Obama Administration.

And in a 40-minute interview I had with her late last week, she wouldn't reveal much insight into how she might influence the department's policy, or what role she'll have in the reauthorization of No Child Left Behind.

Instead, she told me why she lets others do the talking--at least for now.

As the former superintendent of California's Pomona Unified School District, she said, "If I said something I was accountable for it."

Now, however, she said she feels a bit like a vice principal--who has to represent and answer to a principal (or Secretary Arne Duncan) and a superintendent (President Obama). "I feel a deep sense of responsibility that what I say needs to be in line with what needs to be said."

What Melendez did talk about in the interview is her background, and what she's doing to adjust to her new job. She's in charge of 200 staff, billions of dollars in federal funding, and will eventually assume responsibility for the programmatic parts of Race to the Top. She's reading, traveling, and attending meetings (and has been so busy that she, who hails from southern California, hadn't, as of last week, had time to find a winter coat.) She's called and picked the brains of several of her predecessors, looking for insight.

It was a long road from California to Washington. During the interview, she retraced her steps, from her struggles to learn to read as an English-language learner to the low expectations that confronted her when she wanted to attend college. After getting her education degree, she rose through the ranks from teacher to principal to superintendent. These experiences mean she can relate to a lot of the education world out there.

It will be interesting to see just how important she becomes in the administration's strategy to reauthorize ESEA. She is not part of the close-knit Capitol Hill club, nor did she work with Duncan in Chicago, as many in the department did. Certainly, she is articulate and passionate about helping all students, and about those in her past who made a difference. If she can inject that passion as she talks about policy, and get the rank-and-file educators to relate to her, then she'll be a real asset during reauthorization.

Newt Gingrich, the NCLB Broker?

2009-11-13T20:55:59Z

In Baltimore today, former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich, the ultra-liberal Rev. Al Sharpton, and the Obama Administration's Education Secretary, Arne Duncan, continued their education reform road show. They visited three of the city's schools--a KIPP school, a regular old public school, and a neighborhood charter school--all serving mostly disadvantaged students, but all with state proficiency rates of more than 80 percent.

Most interesting, it seemed to me, is that the still-influential Gingrich pledged that his support of education reform will not end when the road show is over.

Speaking at the Hampstead Hill Academy, a neighborhood charter school, he said he will work with the Obama Administration to help reauthorize No Child Left Behind. Work on that is supposed to begin in earnest early next year.

Gingrich, who is publicly pondering a run for president in 2012, could be an important power-broker as the Obama Administration looks for bi-partisan support for its education reform agenda (which pretty much looks like Race to the Top.)

But is Gingrich optimistic that NCLB can be reauthorized next year, and what will it take to bring his Republican colleagues in Congress along for the ride? I asked him this during today's press conference at the end of their school visits.

He wouldn't address the timing, but did acknowledge: "I think it's going to be difficult because of the bitterness in the House." That reflects the deep partisan divides that have gripped the House as it considers sweeping legislation, like health care.

Nonetheless, he pledged to do whatever he could to help find common ground in the House and Senate. And he added that his impression from President Obama is that the issue of education--more than any other, including health care--is one in which the administration would like to move forward in a bi-partisan way.

Some States Disappointed by Proposed Funding Levels in RttT

2009-11-13T20:12:15Z

If you haven't read Michele's thoughtful story on the final Race to the Top rules, you should do so immediately. She mentions that the Education Department has set "non-binding" spending levels for how big each winning state's grant might be. The levels are based on the number of school-age children in the state. For instance, just four states, California, Florida, New York, and Texas, are eligible for the biggest grants, ranging from $350 million to $750 million each.

Not surprisingly, it sounds like some states are less than thrilled about the size of their possible awards.

Take Colorado, for instance. The state would only be eligible for up to $175 million if the department, indeed, uses these ranges. Colorado is likely to submit a grant proposal much larger than that, according to this Denver Post story, and let the department decide whether to scale it back. And it sounds like Colorado officials are holding out hope that they may get more money if a few of the bigger states aren't picked. Since the amounts are non-binding they may have a shot. On the other hand, I'm sure the department floated those numbers for a reason.

When I was out in Colorado reporting this story, some folks mentioned they thought they'd be eligible for more money, around the $350 million level. The state has been pouring enormous energy into its application, and I have to wonder if its process might have been have different if officials had known they may only be eligible for half of what they were expecting.

Indiana officials also seem pretty ticked off. Tony Bennett, the superintendent for public instruction in Indiana, put out a statement yesterday that made it clear he thinks there may be better ways to figure out who gets how much.

"I am disappointed in the USDOE's choice to set target amounts for specific states, capping the funding for states regardless of their approach and commitment to reform. It's my belief that America's students would benefit more from Race to the Top if the quality, aggressiveness, and comprehensiveness of states' reform plans determine the funding amount," Bennett wrote.

Race to the Top Reaction: Lots of Questions

2009-11-12T23:41:49Z

A sampling of reaction from around the blogsphere on today's release of final Race to the Top regulations:

Eduflack guesses that 4 or 5 states will win grants in Round 1 (heavily weighted toward the Gates states), with a dozen or so in Round 2.

Over at Flypaper, the very quotable Andy Smarick points out the absence of any mention of union contracts in the final regs, and laments the reform bar is now a little bit lower than it was in the first draft.

Neal McClusky at Cato@Liberty opines that these regs don't actually do anything.

The always fiesty Jeanne Allen of the Center on Education Reform has perhaps one of my favorite Race to the Top tweets: @JeanneAllen Feeling dumped by Arne, who prefers the popular girl to the 1 with brains. RTT guidelines-u look & sound good = you win

And last but not least, edweek.org's finest weigh in.

District Dossier's Lesli Maxwell raises the issue that even though California is home to hundreds of districts, just getting six of the biggest on board could be huge.

Teacher Beat's Stephen Sawchuk points out how important definitions will be. Just how much is a "significant part" of something?

Sean Cavanagh over at Curriculum Matters duly notes that big coalitions of states will mean more when it comes to common standards than having a small coalition of states band together.

Catherine Gewertz at High School Connections connects the dots between Race to the Top and high school reform.

Will Obama Have to Approve Race to the Top Winners?

2009-11-12T14:36:02Z

With the Race to the Top final rules set to come out today, the major media outlets (from the Wall Street Journal to The Washington Post) all covered the news with different flair.

What's interesting in the New York Times' piece by Sam Dillon is that White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel is the lead quote:

"Even after all the comments, the rules are as comprehensive and demanding as before, they haven't changed," said Rahm Emanuel, Mr. Obama's chief of staff, in an interview. "We're seeking reforms, so we haven't backed off anything."

The fact that the White House chief of staff (surely a busy guy) is talking about the release of final regulations to a competitive grant program shows just how important Race to the Top is to the Obama administration. If you'll remember, President Obama appeared in July at the kick-off of the competition, when the proposed regulations were announced. And he appeared in Wisconsin last week to further drum up excitement in it. What's more, the President, himself, approved the data-firewall absolute, which potentially made big, Democratic states such as California and New York ineligible.

So, will Obama have a say in—or at least have to approve—who wins?

Race to the Top Director Joanne Weiss told me the scores from each application will be ranked in order, and funded in that order until the money runs out. Of course, she said, Education Secretary Arne Duncan will have the final say, but will have to make a strong case if he deviates from the rankings. (The winning and losing applications, and the scores, will be made public.)

So, when I had Duncan on the phone yesterday as I was reporting my story, I asked him if he would have to run the winners past Obama.

There were a couple beats of dead silence on the phone line.

Then a simple "No."

Sneak Peek at Race to the Top Final Regs

2009-11-12T02:30:38Z

The U.S. Department of Education will unveil final rules for the $4 billion competition tomorrow, but until then, get the skinny at edweek.org.

For Harlem Children's Zone, Love But Not Money

2009-11-10T18:50:02Z

Two big-name Obama administration officials, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and Melody Barnes, a top White House education adviser, will be speaking at the Harlem Children's Zone conference in New York.

The speeches will almost certainly showcase the Obama administration's budget proposal to create a Promise Neighborhoods program, which would dole out grants to community organizations to replicate the highly regarded Children's Zone. (You can read all about the Harlem's Children's Zone in this story).

The proposal seems like a nod to folks who argue that wrap-around social services, such as health care, pre-kindergarten programs, college counseling, and parent outreach, are an essential part of boosting student achievement. The administration's participation in the event, and its budget proposal, would be a sign that President Barack Obama and Duncan agree. (A recent study seems to suggest very promising findings for the program.)

But I think it's pretty interesting that while the administration clearly supports programs like the Harlem Children's Zone, that's not where it's investing the big bucks. Obama slated the Promise Neighborhood Program for just $10 million in his fiscal year 2010 budget proposal.

By contrast, the Teacher Incentive Fund, which allocates grants to districts to create or bolster performance-pay programs, was slated for $517 million, a whopping $420 million increase over fiscal 2009. And that was on top of $200 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

So, purely on the dollars, it looks like the administration has a lot more faith in merit-pay programs (which some education organizations don't love) than it does in wrap-around social services (which ed orgs often push for) when it comes to what will boost student achievement.

Stabilization Fund Reporting Requirements, Round Two

2009-11-09T21:21:35Z

The U.S. Department of Education today specified the kind of data and information that states will need to submit if they want to get a piece of the second—and final—round of State Fiscal Stabilization Fund money. Back in April, the department alerted governors that this guidance would be coming.

States will need to meet a total of 35 reporting requirements, including 32 "indicators" and three that will require some kind of a description. Eight of the criteria can be addressed using already existing data. And 14 of the indicators require a "yes" or "no" response.

The criteria address each of the four assurances that Congress wanted to states to work on as a condition of getting stimulus funding, including teacher quality and distribution, standards and assessments, state data systems, and turning around low-performing schools.

The turnaround section has the most requirements—13—and all but one of them are looking for new information. That seems to fit with the stepped-up federal role in helping states and districts figure out how to turn around low-performing that were a hallmark of the guidance on the School Improvement grants, slated to go out this fiscal year.

On the turnaround front, the department wants to get growth-related data, including the average statewide school gain for all kids and the average statewide school gain for the subgroups measured under the No Child Left Behind Act (such as English-Language Learners and students in special education).

And, building on the emphasis of high school reform, the department wants to know from states seeking SFSF just how many secondary schools are eligible for—but don't get—Title I money, and have persistently low student achievement. The department also is asking for a lot of charter data from those states, including the number of charters they have operating and the number and identity of charters that have closed in the last five years.

Not surprisingly, given all the emphasis on teacher quality, the department is also asking for a lot of information on teachers and teacher evaluation, including whether teacher evaluation systems take into account student achievement outcomes or student growth data. The feds also want to know about the systems used to evaluate and promote principals, and determine their compensation.

And, if a district's teachers receive performance ratings through an evaluation system, the department is interested in whether the number and percentage of teachers rated at each performance rating or level is publicly reported for each school in the district.

The department is also asking for:

*Four-year graduation rate data, broken up by subgroup.

*Number and percentage of high school grads that enroll in an institution of higher education within 16 months of receiving their diploma.

*Whether the states share with math and reading teachers just how much of an impact they've had on their students' assessment scores.

A full list of the requirements (called the Notice of Final Requirements) is available now for viewing in the Federal Register. The final application will go live on the department's Web site Thursday, and it will include a timeline for when the money will become available. But if you want to take a look at an advance draft of that application, it's already up on the department's Web site.

A Bigger Focus on STEM for Race to the Top?

2009-11-09T20:45:35Z

From guest blogger Debbie Viadero

Word slipped out at today's meeting of the National Board for Education Sciences that the final regulations for the Race to the Top program, which are due to be published any day now, will include a big focus on science, technology, engineering, and math or STEM subjects.

That could be a change from the draft guidelines for the $4 billion grant program, which were released in July and indicated states would be given extra points (or a "competitive preference") for addressing STEM. The question is whether the new regulations would elevate STEM even further. A previous post in this space discussed, in fact, how important STEM is to President Obama.

The talk of the emphasis on science and math came in a question innocently posed by the newest member of the the Institute of Education Sciences board, which was created in 2001 to advise the department's primary research arm. A department official lent credence to the notion, saying "I don't think that's been announced yet." No further details were shared.

Arne Duncan Part of Last-Minute Health Care Push

2009-11-09T17:51:41Z

Rick Hess, over at the American Enterprise Institute's Blog, asks an excellent question:

"Why Is the Secretary of Education Lobbying on the Healthcare Bill?"