Obama proposes $5 billion to reform and improve teaching
From the White House:
The Obama Administration’s 2013 proposed budget includes a new $5 billion competitive program to challenge states and districts to work with teachers, unions, colleges of education and other stakeholders to comprehensively reform the field of teaching. The proposal touches on every phase of teaching from training and tenure to compensation and career opportunities.
Today, Education Secretary Arne Duncan will hold a town hall meeting with teachers to launch the RESPECT Project, a national conversation led by active classroom teachers working temporarily for the Department to help inform the administration’s proposal and the broader effort to reform teaching. RESPECT is an acronym that stands for Recognizing Educational Success, Professional Excellence and Collaborative Teaching.
“Our goal is to work with teachers and principals in rebuilding their profession and to elevate the teacher voice in federal, state and local education policy. Our larger goal is to make teaching not only America’s most important profession, but also America’s most respected profession,” Duncan said.
The administration’s proposal builds on the President’s State of the Union speech when he said: “Give [schools] the resources to keep good teachers on the job, and reward the best ones. In return, grant schools flexibility: To teach with creativity and passion; to stop teaching to the test; and to replace teachers who just aren’t helping kids learn. That’s a bargain worth making.”
Details of the program will be developed through budget negotiations with Congress and the competition process itself, but the proposal considers a broad range of reforms:
-Reforming teacher colleges and making them more selective.
-Creating new career ladders for teachers.
-Linking earnings more closely to performance rather than simply longevity or credentials.
-Compensating teachers for working in challenging learning environments.
-Making teacher salaries more competitive with other professions.
-Improving professional development and providing time for collaboration.
-Providing teachers with greater autonomy in exchange for greater accountability.
-Building evaluation systems based on multiple measures, not just test scores.
-Reforming tenure to raise the bar, protect good teachers, and promote accountability.
“This effort will require the entire educational sector — states, districts, unions, principals, schools of education — to change, and teachers have to lead the change,” Duncan said.
“We need to change society’s views of teaching – from the factory model of yesterday to the professional model of tomorrow – where teachers are revered as thinkers, leaders and nation-builders. No other profession carries a greater burden for securing our economic future. No other profession holds out more promise of opportunity to children and young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. And no other profession deserves more respect,” he said.
–From Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get Schooled blog
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83 comments Add your comment
carlosgvv
February 15th, 2012
4:27 pm
The latest in a long line of social experiments to bring black student test scores up to par with white ones. They just keep coming!!!!!
Elizabeth
February 15th, 2012
4:47 pm
Teachers don’t need ‘reforming”– but education , parents., and students do. Until the reformers get that, nothing else they do will change anything.
Mary Elizabeth
February 15th, 2012
4:53 pm
Bravo, President Obama and Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan. I am highlighting the following statements, from above, because I think that these statements reflect the same philosophy as do the Flemish schools, regarding teachers as the respected professionals who will most influence the success of educational delivery.
==============================================
(1) “This effort will require the entire educational sector — states, districts, unions, principals, schools of education — to change, and teachers have to lead the change,” Duncan said.
(2) “(T)he proposal considers a broad range of reforms, (including):
-Making teacher salaries more competitive with other professions.”
(3) “We need to change society’s views of teaching – from the factory model of yesterday to the professional model of tomorrow – where teachers are revered as thinkers, leaders and nation-builders. No other profession carries a greater burden for securing our economic future. No other profession holds out more promise of opportunity to children and young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. And no other profession deserves more respect,” he (Duncan) said.
(4) “Our goal is to work with teachers and principals in rebuilding their profession and to elevate the teacher voice in federal, state and local education policy. Our larger goal is to make teaching not only America’s most important profession, but also America’s most respected profession,” Duncan said.
3schoolkids
February 15th, 2012
4:55 pm
I think it’s great but am worried since reading “Details of the program will be developed through budget negotiations with Congress and the competition process itself.” This is political language for “let the fighting begin!”
Digger
February 15th, 2012
4:56 pm
Money down a black hole…no pun intended.
Old timer
February 15th, 2012
5:09 pm
The devil is in the details.
paulo977
February 15th, 2012
5:38 pm
Providing teachers with greater autonomy in exchange for greater accountability
_____________________________________________________
How will this be achieved ?
Teacher Reader
February 15th, 2012
5:51 pm
We do not need to make any more “investments” in education. Schools need to spend what they currently have well. This money is not what is needed. Teachers need to be able teach and get students to think. Stop teaching to tests, and make parents, students, teachers, and schools all equally accountable for student learning and achievement.
This money would be better spent paying down our ever increasing debt. We can’t afford this and it’s really not needed. We need the government out of our schools, so that they can teach our kids and help them to be life long learners.
Atlanta Media Guy
February 15th, 2012
6:19 pm
Indeed T.R.! There is plenty of money being thrown at education right now. In most large school districts the school system is used for political favors and control of a very large pot of money! Also notice the word unions? Yes, let’s throw more money at the unions while we’re spending money we don’t have. After hearing about the fed in NC, who took a bag lunch brought from home away from a child and made her eat chicken nuggets provided by the school, it’s time we close up that Dept. of Education and let the states worry about it.
Arne Duncan…. ugh!
Brandy
February 15th, 2012
6:29 pm
a.) what chance does this budget have of passing?
b.) where is the $5 billion coming from, i.e. at the expense of what?
c.) would $500 billion be able to do everything proposed, because $5 billion sure doesn’t sound like enough…
I get trying to make US education more like that in Europe and Asia. Yes, their test scores “may” be higher. But, our education system is completely, 100% different.
First, we educate every single child in this country, no matter how disabled. Visit a Severe & Profound classroom. You will be amazed at how disabled some American students are–and they still count for AYP. No other country in the world does this. Many of the highest performing countries keep disabled students out of high schools, if not out of public schools completely.
Second, our schools are controlled at the local level (there are a few state run exceptions, e.g. New Orleans). Most European and Asian countries have nationalized education systems. Therefore, every student in those countries has the same materials, the same curriculum, and the same test. Every school is able to be funded equitably across these countries. None of that is true here in the United States. Every state creates its own test and definitions of what is passing. Every state has its own curriculum and some local districts have even created their own, different, curricula. Every state uses different materials, often varying from district to district, sometimes even from school to school.
Third, our schools have significant racial, ethnic, socio-economic, and religious diversity of students. Few (if any) other countries can match the diversity of American schools. Many of the highest performing European and Asian countries have little to no diversity.
Fourth, we are not a cradle-to-grave socialized government or economy. Our government does not pay for new parents to take 1 to 2 years off after giving birth or adopting. Our government provides neither universal preschool nor universal kindergarten–kindergarten is still not required in most states. Our government does not provide universal, socialized medicine. Our government does not have the capacity to ensure that every child is feed 3 square meals, every single day.
Fifth, we do not have a nationalized system of university education. University curricula is not standardized to the extent of most European and Asian countries. University admissions varies from school to school, which is extremely different from the university admissions processes in countries like France, England, Germany, and South Korea. University attendance is, largely, paid for by students and/or their families or employers with subsidies from the government (usually in the form of loans which must be repaid); yet, many European countries provide university education for little to no cost to students.
When we are able to eliminate all of these differences, we can attempt to compare our education system to that of European and Asian countries. Until then, let’s get over trying.
Unfunded pension
February 15th, 2012
6:40 pm
So where does the five billion go? What is the new federal rathole?
Jack
February 15th, 2012
6:50 pm
Obama will propose anything he thinks might get him re-elected.
Mahopinion
February 15th, 2012
7:01 pm
Over and over again, we’ve seen that throwing money in to a bottomless pit does no good.
Mary Elizabeth
February 15th, 2012
7:14 pm
CORRECTION: From my 4:53 post: “Flemish schools” should have been written, “Finnish schools.”
===============================================================
@Teacher Reader, 5:51 pm
AND
@ Atlanta Media Guy, 6:19 pm
Please listen to the following video clips, especially the second video, about Finland’s schools. You will see that the Finnish people spend proportionately much of their income on education, but they get results from their investment. One hundred years ago, Finland had a very poor economy, and now – after their deliberate investment in education – Finland’s economy is doing very well, as are its public schools.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8601207.stm
Mary Elizabeth
February 15th, 2012
7:21 pm
Brandy, some of your assumptions are wrong. Please listen to the video clips I just posted at 7:14 pm regarding Finland’s schools. They do educate all of their young and their schools have local autonomy, as well as a common philosophy on education throughout the country. I think we would be better to look for some ways we can emulate from their model, instead of ways we cannot.
Hurray!
February 15th, 2012
7:24 pm
” “Give [schools] the resources to keep good teachers on the job, and reward the best ones. In return, grant schools flexibility: To teach with creativity and passion; to stop teaching to the test; and to replace teachers who just aren’t helping kids learn. That’s a bargain worth making.”
Music to my ears.
Good ma
Lee
February 15th, 2012
7:49 pm
The first order of education in this country should be basic finance and economics. You know, the kind that teaches you cannot keep borrowing and spending money without consequences.
luckjoe
February 15th, 2012
7:52 pm
If you want to improve teaching get the federal government and teachers union out of the profession.
bilbo799
February 15th, 2012
8:00 pm
If you want to improve educational achievement in this country, the answer is simple, and it is not about money or taxing the rich or developing a new program: make PARENTS care about the educations of their children.
Brandy
February 15th, 2012
8:07 pm
@Mary Elizabeth
From my research (I am not an expert, so I could still be wrong), Finland depends primarily upon mainstreaming with limited access to part-time specialized instruction and vocational instruction for the most disabled students. I can find no evidence that students in comas and students with only the old brain (I have encountered both types of students being educated here) are educated in Finland. They may be, they may not be, I’m not sure.
This would be difficult for many disabled children who are unable to feed themselves, regulate their bodily functions, and/or to toilet themselves. This certainly would be insufficient and inappropriate for children with IQs below 20 or who are unable to communicate. Both types of students are educated in this country until graduation from high school or aging out of the system (21). Is this true in Finland?
As far as I can tell, compulsory education in Finland is for 10 years, with a possibility to extend for 1 additional year for special needs students. Here, special education students can be educated until age 21.
see
http://www.european-agency.org/country-information/finland/national-overview/special-needs-education-within-the-education-system
http://www.oph.fi/english/education/special_educational_support
Also, as far as I can tell curriculum is nationalized in Finland. It is not here. National standards exist, but no state is required to follow them. Also, Finland seems to use one national exam (I believe at age 16, but I am not certain this is correct–anyone know the proper age?). This is different from the US which uses different tests in every state. The CRCT is not the same test as is given in New York, Texas, Florida, or California. It might not cover any of the same material. Some states use nationally standardized tests as part of determining AYP; but not all states do so (currently, Georgia does not). I cannot find information that confirms that Finnish special needs students are counted for the national exam. They may be, they may not be; but, they are obviously educated differently than here.
see
http://www.oph.fi/english
Note, that I don’t think that one system is better than the other. I actually think we can learn many things from Finland and other countries–even unsuccessful countries. I just think that we need to be realistic and admit that there is no comparison between the US education system and that of other countries. It is apples to tomatoes–they are both fruits, but otherwise, pretty darn different.
bilbo799
February 15th, 2012
8:09 pm
When mom came to the US, she spoke no English, had no money, and didn’t have a support system. She went to a “bad” school in an extremely poor, inner-city school district. She nonetheless got into a top state school (now known as a Public Ivy) and succeeded in her profession because she saw education and work as a way out of her situation. It had nothing to do with nice teachers or a shiny new building. It had everything to do with doing her homework and studying for tests so she could graduate at the top of her class.
Brandy
February 15th, 2012
8:17 pm
Also, in Finland, students receive free meals regardless of family income, free health care, free dental care, and housing, if necessary. This doesn’t happen in the US.
Special educational needs in Europa
ec.europa.eu/languages/documents/doc449_en.pdf
Now, Italy, Italy probably is the most comparable to the US in terms of Special Education. So, I’ll give you that one–not that you asked.
Hillbilly D
February 15th, 2012
8:30 pm
They’ve been throwing “more money” at it, since I was a kid. This is more of the same.
ScienceTeacher671
February 15th, 2012
9:08 pm
I agree with pretty much all of Brandy’s 6:29 pm post.
crankee_yankee
February 15th, 2012
9:15 pm
It is nothing more than an attempt to woo teachers for votes. I saw it with Sonny Purrdoo when he gave us $100 cards for supplies right before re-election. Disappeared once re-election was won.
Ed Johnson
February 15th, 2012
9:26 pm
“The Obama Administration’s 2013 proposed budget includes a new $5 billion competitive program…”
Yet another example that prompts me to want to flog myself for voting for Obama in 2008. Never would I have imagined his having such a penchant for competition, accountability, and such other abject poverties of thinking (APOTs) that comprise, in effect, a frontal assault on the sustainability of democratic ideals, let alone public education.
Brandy
February 15th, 2012
9:38 pm
Thanks, ScienceTeacher. I usually find your comments to be insightful.
Mary Elizabeth
February 15th, 2012
9:48 pm
@ Brandy, 8:07 pm
“I actually think we can learn many things from Finland and other countries–even unsuccessful countries.”
=================================================
I do not think we are necessarily in contention with one another. Remember I had said, “I think we would be better to look for some ways we can emulate (parts of) their model, instead of ways we cannot.”
Read this below regarding Finnish schools, for instance.
———————————————————————–
” ‘Whatever it takes’ is an attitude that drives not just Kirkkojarvi’s 30 teachers, but most of Finland’s 62,000 educators in 3,500 schools from Lapland to Turku—professionals selected from the top 10 percent of the nation’s graduates to earn a required master’s degree in education. Many schools are small enough so that teachers know every student. If one method fails, teachers consult with colleagues to try something else. They seem to relish the challenges. Nearly 30 percent of Finland’s children receive some kind of special help during their first nine years of school. The school where Louhivuori teaches served 240 first through ninth graders last year; and in contrast with Finland’s reputation for ethnic homogeneity, more than half of its 150 elementary-level students are immigrants—from Somalia, Iraq, Russia, Bangladesh, Estonia and Ethiopia, among other nations. “Children from wealthy families with lots of education can be taught by stupid teachers,” Louhivuori said, smiling. “We try to catch the weak students. It’s deep in our thinking.”
The transformation of the Finns’ education system began some 40 years ago as the key propellent of the country’s economic recovery plan. Educators had little idea it was so successful until 2000, when the first results from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), a standardized test given to 15-year-olds in more than 40 global venues, revealed Finnish youth to be the best young readers in the world. Three years later, they led in math. By 2006, Finland was first out of 57 countries (and a few cities) in science. In the 2009 PISA scores released last year, the nation came in second in science, third in reading and sixth in math among nearly half a million students worldwide. “I’m still surprised,” said Arjariita Heikkinen, principal of a Helsinki comprehensive school. ‘I didn’t realize we were that good.’ ”
Link: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/people-places/Why-Are-Finlands-Schools-Successful.html
—————————————————————————
And the following, from Wikipedia, informs more about Finland’s schools:
“The Finnish education system is an egalitarian system, with no tuition fees and with free meals served to full-time students. The present Finnish education system consists of well-funded and carefully thought out daycare programs (for babies and toddlers) and a one-year ‘pre-school’ (or kindergarten for six-year olds); a nine-year compulsory basic comprehensive school (starting at age seven and ending at the age of sixteen); post-compulsory secondary general academic and vocational education; higher education (University and Polytechnical); and adult (lifelong, continuing) education. The Nordic strategy for achieving equality and excellence in education has been based on constructing a publicly funded comprehensive school system without selecting, tracking, or streaming students during their common basic education.[1] Part of the strategy has been to spread the school network so that pupils have a school near their homes whenever possible or, if this is not feasible, e.g. in rural areas, to provide free transportation to more widely dispersed schools. Inclusive special education within the classroom and instructional efforts to minimize low achievement are also typical of Nordic educational systems.[1]”
—————————————————————–
I am only recently becoming informed about Finnish schools and mainly because of this blog. One blogger had told me that what I had been attempting when I was an educational leader and teacher, in terms of caring for the individual needs of students, was similar to what the Finnish had been doing in their schools. That perked my interest.
About those children who are severely handicapped whom you mention – I do not know how the Finnish school system deals with those exceptional situations.
I do like the idea of a relaxed learning environment that is not based on so much competition as we value here. I believe that teachers are a unique type of human being who find fulfillment in helping others to succeed. I believe that if teachers are shown how to individualize to each child’s needs and that, if they are given the resources to accomplish that end, competition is not needed. Teachers have innate internal drive to excel; they do not have to have the threat of competition to want to serve others to the best of their abilities. At least, that has always been my inclination, and that has been a dominant characteristic in most of the other teachers with whom I have worked, in the course of my 35 year teaching career.
=========================================
Finally, readers may want to read this paragraph about competition in education from the same link that I provided above:
“In the United States, which has muddled along in the middle for the past decade, government officials have attempted to introduce marketplace competition into public schools. In recent years, a group of Wall Street financiers and philanthropists such as Bill Gates have put money behind private-sector ideas, such as vouchers, data-driven curriculum and charter schools, which have doubled in number in the past decade. President Obama, too, has apparently bet on competition. His Race to the Top initiative invites states to compete for federal dollars using tests and other methods to measure teachers, a philosophy that would not fly in Finland. ‘I think, in fact, teachers would tear off their shirts,’ said Timo Heikkinen, a Helsinki principal with 24 years of teaching experience. ‘If you only measure the statistics, you miss the human aspect.’ ”
=======================================
I do not believe education in America will fare better with education as a business model. We will change the very heart of what makes a great teacher, if we change from a public education model to a private business model for education, which is based on competition. A public education model that is based on excellence, as well as individualizing instruction, is the essence of what we can learn from Finland’s school system, from my perspective.
Mary Elizabeth
February 15th, 2012
10:05 pm
Brandy, 8:07
I am not aware of how the Finnish schools handle the very handicapped children whom you mention.
You may be interested in this information from the link provided below:
“Whatever it takes” is an attitude that drives not just Kirkkojarvi’s 30 teachers, but most of Finland’s 62,000 educators in 3,500 schools from Lapland to Turku—professionals selected from the top 10 percent of the nation’s graduates to earn a required master’s degree in education. Many schools are small enough so that teachers know every student. If one method fails, teachers consult with colleagues to try something else. They seem to relish the challenges. Nearly 30 percent of Finland’s children receive some kind of special help during their first nine years of school. The school where Louhivuori teaches served 240 first through ninth graders last year; and in contrast with Finland’s reputation for ethnic homogeneity, more than half of its 150 elementary-level students are immigrants—from Somalia, Iraq, Russia, Bangladesh, Estonia and Ethiopia, among other nations.
Read more: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/people-places/Why-Are-Finlands-Schools-
Successful.html#ixzz1mVeRWvjv
————————————————–
As you and I both had stated, America’s school systems can learn from those of other nations, at least from those parts of what other nations have accomplished, with excellence. I am a supporter of individualized instruction and of addressing the individual needs of students, as is done in Finland. I have found that that approach to helping each child learn and develop has been very successful. I, also, support Finland’s public education model, and their focus on a relaxed learning environment.
Mary Elizabeth
February 15th, 2012
10:11 pm
@ Brandy, 8:07
I have made a couple of attempts to respond to your post, but without success. It may be that the link I provided is not workable.
Nevertheless, I will say simply that I like the focus on individual student need in the Finnish model as well as a relaxed, collaborative working environment among teachers.
catlady
February 15th, 2012
10:14 pm
I truly don’t think it is the TEACHERS who need reforming.
TW
February 15th, 2012
10:15 pm
But if we educate Georgians, they won’t vote republican anymore
Old Physics Teacher
February 15th, 2012
10:38 pm
Call me cynical or whatever; I’m a realist. No one ever really wants input from “teachers.” They all say that, but that’s not what they mean. They want input from administrators, because administrators talk the same language as politicians. Their statements aren’t “lies,” they’re “statements not meant to be factual.” Administrators will say whatever a politician wants them to say because the politician will make sure the administrator gets to keep his/her job. Teachers are blunt: “Sally, that’s not the right answer. Open your textbook to page 48 and read the first paragraph.” When some researcher, defined as a person with an ulterior objective looking for facts to back their position and will continue to look until they find it, produces a document that fits some politician’s addenda, the administrator will roll over and do whatever the politician wants so they can keep their job. Who cares about the teacher – not the common administrator. They got out of teaching because it was too tough for them. A teacher would say, “Mr Representative, your idea is bogus because fact 1, fact 2, and fact 3. Therefore your premise is fallacious. I won’t do it!” No politician wants to hear, “You’re wrong! Try again!” Therefore they systematically exclude teachers.
Oh, there are times where a politician actually asks for input from teachers. They sit there politely and listen and ignore us. They don’t do anything but what they wanted to in the first place, but occasionally, they do listen to us. It’s in a separate meeting from when they actually do education business. Writing them and talking to them has the same effect as talking to a brick wall. The best thing we can do is work to get them voted out of office.
Old Physics Teacher
February 15th, 2012
10:49 pm
Science Teacher and Brandy,
You guys also forgot to mention a few other facts: We have citizens with more BA, BS, MS, and Ph D degrees than any time in the past of this nation. We also have produced more high school grads than at any time. Our Universities, who we used to mimic in high school, are inundated with applications from top students in those “higher ranking” countries. And our “schools are failing?” REALLY?
In epistemology, that is called a cognitive disconnect. In politics, when the facts don’t fit your preconceived beliefs, ignore the facts and make up ones to fit your position. And if you say it long enough and loud enough, the people will believe it. Boy, have the politicians put one over on the citizens of the USA!
AnonMom
February 15th, 2012
11:09 pm
I heard today that we are spending, just in Dekalb, $35 per hour, per teacher, per subject, for 3 months to CREATE CURRICULUM for Race to the Top, being funded by Federal taxpayer dollars — that’s approximately $1 million just per subject (arts, math, social studies, etc.) — this is due by March. Then the teachers get paid to train on the new curriculum over the summer. This is billions of taxpayer money on RTTT that could be spent directly on kids if we were to just adopt one of the top 5 curriculums, in toto, from elsewhere in the country. I stand by my belief that we are using the “call” of “fixing” education by trying to spend more and more money so that the “powers” in charge can gift it to “friends and family” at all sorts of levels. If we really wanted to actually educate the youngsters, we’d get the feds out of it, return the funding to the states, put the money back into the classrooms, bottom up and absolutely require the states to utilize only one of the top five working curriculums and not allow them to use the money for “favors” and “pocket lining”.. then, perhaps, we’d see some progress.
d
February 15th, 2012
11:30 pm
AnonMom – your calculations are way over the top. There are two or threeteachers per course (history, psychology, geography, etc in Social Studies, for example)….. we are not paying every teacher in the county this money…. working on this….. DeKalb’s RTTT money is only about $26 Million total, not billions.
Brandy
February 15th, 2012
11:44 pm
@ Old Physics Teacher, Amen, Brother! (erh, Sister?)
I have discussed this with friends and relatives before. If our schools really are so horrid, even our universities as some reformers would like us to believe, then why do foreign students come here in droves every year? And not just to ivy league schools, either. I know Southern Polytechnic has a large foreign-national population, for example. Obviously, they see something they like in our system. I wish I could remember the source, but I am almost certain I read a few weeks ago that we have too many scientists in many fields in this country. I know we rarely have enough jobs to equal the number of PhDs each year.
@Mary Elizabeth, I think your heart is definitely in the right place. But, look thoroughly at what the Obama Administration is proposing. Is it more competition or less? It seems like more competition to me. I completely agree that competition and a business model is bad for education. In fact, I think the move towards the commercialization of American education since at least the 1970s may in fact be part of any current problem. Please look into some of the links I provided. I know I learned much from them! My favorite aspect of Finnish education? Their teachers are unionized and have tenure for life–and the teachers don’t understand our obsession with test scores. Re: special education students, It may seem like a small population, but special education (which is actually slightly down in enrollment right now) tends to be between 5 and 10% of the public school population, here. In Georgia, the percentage trends slightly higher. That’s a pretty large number.
@AnonMom, I completely agree! There is some amazing curricula out there, already created, tested, and found to be effective. Why not run with it? I suggest anyone with an interest in this look at the publicly available curriculum used in Fairfax, VA, one of the highest achieving districts in the nation. It is wonderful. Maryland’s curriculum is so-so, but they have the best standards I have ever seen. When I write plans for students here in Georgia, I look back to my experiences with Maryland standards because Georgia’s are so broad and lacking they fail to provide sufficient guidance. Smithsonian also has a wealth of curricula available that is beyond wonderful. I have used it myself, and, boy, let me tell you, best free resource ever!
Janet
February 15th, 2012
11:52 pm
While I think that every individual in every profession can improve themselves and the quality of their work, I don’t think it’s the teachers who need reforming. This seems like another attempt by the governement to pretend to fix something, but they can’t because they are not allowed to openly admitt what the real problem is… BAD PARENTING. So this is their multi ((B))illion dollar band-aid.
Anonmom
February 15th, 2012
11:59 pm
d: your calculations are way over the top. There are two or threeteachers per course (history, psychology, geography, etc in Social Studies, for example)….. we are not paying every teacher in the county this money…. working on this….. DeKalb’s RTTT money is only about $26 Million total, not billions.
I’m not saying Dekalb is billions — if Dekalb is getting this much then nationally, we are spending billions for creating curriculum… I think it’s unnecessary — there is excellent curriculum already out there. How are my calculations way off? Why do we need new curriculum? Why can’t we use curriculum that is already in use in Massachusetts or in Iowa?
Truth in Moderation
February 16th, 2012
1:32 am
RED FLAG! VERY BAD NEWS!
Good teachers will be laid off. Compliant teachers satisfied to teach a dumbed down curriculum will keep their job. It sounds like Obama is ready to roll out the electronic portfolios for student/teacher monitoring/assessment. Development for these have been in the works since the 90’s! This will be a digital school-to-work profile that will follow you to your grave. Eventually, it will be YOUR ONLY RESUME! This type of document already exists in China.
“Linking earnings more closely to performance rather than simply longevity or credentials.”
“-Providing teachers with greater autonomy in exchange for greater accountability.
-Building evaluation systems based on multiple measures, not just test scores.”
Iserbyt documents the development of this agenda in THE DELIBERATE DUMBING DOWN OF AMERICA.
FREE! http://www.deliberatedumbingdown.com/MomsPDFs/DDDoA.sml.pdf
“COMING SOON TO A SCHOOL NEAR YOU: FORCED LABOR” BY PAUL MULSHINE, COLUMNIST, was published in the November 29, 1998 issue of the Newark, New Jersey Star-Ledger. Excerpts from Mulshine’s article follow:
Imagine a state that uses its school system not to produce independent-minded, broadly educated citizens, but compliant workers trained to behave. A state where, in their early teens, children are forced to make a lifelong decision from 14 government-sanctioned career possibilities with such depressing titles as “waste management,” “administrative services” and “manufacturing, installation and repair.” A state where students in the government schools are forced to spend one day a week toiling in menial labor.
The old Soviet Union? China?
Nope. New Jersey.
I wish I were making this up. But I’m not. This is a fair summation—minus the jar-
gon—of the School-to-Work program that the state is planning to impose on us next year. You can veiw it on the Internet at http://www.state.nj.us/njded/proposed/standards/stass2.htm. See for yourself.”
p. 427
Truth in Moderation
February 16th, 2012
1:56 am
Check out digital portfolio assessments for Race to the Top:
Innovation and Technology in Assessment: Comments MS PowerPoint (3.55M)
http://www2.ed.gov/programs/racetothetop-assessment/input-meetings.html
TFA will run the schools now
February 16th, 2012
4:26 am
Having worked in some Dekalb middle schools, teachers are locked into a script and a strict calendar that makes it more like being an automaton than being a teacher. It was awful and completely turned me off of teaching for that district. If they are spending millions of dollars to McDonaldize education then I hate to see what kind of teachers will be attracted to stay there.
I would have believed Obama the first go round but his support of Arne Duncan’s unilateral firing of teachers in Rhode Island and the insanity that is Race to the Top has left me cold. Obama needs to spend more time with real teachers and less time with his former basketball teammate.
d
February 16th, 2012
5:22 am
@Anonmom, one other thing, we’re not rewriting curriculum as part of this process. I will say the Georgia Performance Standards have been given high marks in most areas…. I think the state did fall down some on actually training teachers to teach them, though. That being said, why, if a goal is local control, would we want to look at curricula from other states? When the rubber hits the road, the teachers have to teach it and the students actually have to do their part and learn it, regardless of which curriculum is being taught.
Brandy
February 16th, 2012
7:52 am
@d, take a hard look at the standards used in other states, particularly in the highest performing states. I was shocked going from Maryland’s thorough and well-crafted standards to Georgia’s too broad ones. Teachers here in Georgia repeatedly point out how little our standards reflect what is required to pass the CRCT and graduation exam. Not so in many other states.
Also, since when did local control mean having to reinvent the wheel? I use a local mechanic, but I don’t expect him to build a new engine for my car, from scratch, with completely new materials, in a completely new way. Would you? If school district/state A has exceptional curriculum and standards (all in the public domain), why not borrow it and tweak it for the needs of Georgia students? For example, school district/state A probably doesn’t teach Georgia history, so we would simply work that into their curriculum.
Many Teachers Do Need Reforming
February 16th, 2012
7:59 am
Catlady claims that only students and parents need reforming, never a teacher.
Teachers aren’t saints, catlady. The Norcross GA special education teacher beat an autistic child 18 times in the classroom and was caught on tape the same day complaining that her boyfriend’s p&nis is too small. Reform needed here? I think so.
The monsteas at Miramonte who fed sp%rm to kids need reforming and a firing squad.
your constant meowing that teachers are puuuuurrrrfect is not just tiresome, catlady, it shows you have no judgement in the classroom. When you cannot objectively look at each situation and each individual as an individual you leave behind your claim that you can be a good teacher. Good teachers can distinguish the behabiors of an individual and make sound judgements. You do not belong in a classroom, catlady. You cannot be trusted.
V for Vendetta
February 16th, 2012
8:03 am
Old Physics Teacher,
Well said. Well said.
Atlanta Media Guy
February 16th, 2012
8:18 am
Hey folks, How many people live in Finland and how many live in the US. I love it how everyone wants to be like a country that has a fraction of the people living there than the US. Can we do things on a grand scale? Hell yes! However, we have to take out the corruption, fraud and the waste of dollars that every school system seems to do because of political favors etc….
You folks who think government is everything, please think again. If you think healthcare is messed up now, just wait until next year when the majority of the bill we had to pass before it was written, is implemented. Government is usually not a very good solution, most likely it creates the problem.
Mary Elizabeth
February 16th, 2012
9:06 am
Brandy, 11:44 pm, Feb. 15
“I completely agree that competition and a business model is bad for education>”
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Good morning, Brandy. I will certainly read your links on the Finnish schools because I am very impressed with what the Finns have accomplished in educational delivery, not only for the benefit of so many of their students but for their overall economic growth – because of the value and emphasis they have placed on education.
However, this morning – before too many get diverted to the new info on the front page of the AJC, as well on the next thread here, that “Charters lag behind traditional schools” – I want to mention just a few things about President Obama’s Race to the Top plan and the Finnish educational model, as well as a final word about charter schools.
As I had mentioned earlier, I believe that targeting instruction to individual needs is the only way that teachers will be able to see students reach their full potential.
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@ d, 5: 22 am, also, who wrote:
“. . .teachers have to teach it (Georgia Performance Standards) and the students actually have to do their part and learn it.”
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Based on my background for more than a quarter of a century of teaching students and monitoring, schoolwide, grades 1 – 8, thousands of students, I know that we must teach students where they are functioning and where “they come to us.” So, even, if the standards in Georgia are excellent, and they are, but we insist on teaching every child the same standardized curriculum without adjustment to the individual student’s instructional level, half or more of Georgia’s students will continue to fail. (We have seen this played out in the past, especially a few years back when DeKalb County mandated that every math student be taught algebra in 8th grade, whatever his functioning level in math was at the time. I could foretell that at least half of those 8th grade students would fail by the year’s end and they did.)
So, from that background, I believe in testing students, but testing them for diagnostic purposes, so that instruction can be targeted to their individual instructional levels, at point in time. When testing becomes an end simply to identify poorly performing teachers and poorly performing schools, without further analysis as to why they are failing, and what unique situations are causing their poor results, then the school’s atmosphere becomes one simply of threat and competition, and everyone in the school is harmed, including students who do not learn well in a “threat-filled” environment. Competition and threat to succeed may be the proper emphasis for the business world, but education is not of the business world nor should it ever become so. Education, ultimately, should be about enlightment. (I have not seen a great deal of enlightenment in the business world, to be rather blunt.)
So, you can see that I combine perspectives in my thinking regarding education’s best way into the future, and that is also how I also see Obama’s Race To the Top Plan. I do not think Obama’s plan comes from Arne Duncan, alone. I think that President Obama believes in it as he believes in charter schools. President Obama has stated that he saw the benefit of charter schools to Chicago when he lived there. I support charter schools that work in harmony with local districts and that are monitored in their progress by those districts. I am a supporter of the President’s vision for America and his vision for the world, and I have followed his thoughts closely over the years. I believe he is an intelligent man who has an egalitarian world vision. That I support fully. I believe he sees in much complexity, so that if you reread my very first post at 4:53 pm, you will read statements from Arne Duncan, released from the White House, that show their goal is to create an environment in America in which teachers are afforded tremendous respect (as in Finland). When that happens, education will improve here because our national priorities will be right. I will give the President the benefit of the doubt regarding too much competition in Race to The Top, because I notice that he has already adjusted the testing criteria somewhat, to make it more diagnostic in nature than threatening. If the competition is for excellence, rather than for threats of job security in a heavy handed way, I could live with that because, after all, this is America, not Finland, and our national mindset that emphasizes competition, instead of collaboration, will not change overnight. I think the President and Secretary Duncan have great respect for teachers, overall, as well as for the value of education to society. President Obama well knows that both he and the First Lady have reached the heights that they have reached in world status because of their respective educational backgrounds, of quality.
About charter school movement in Georgia. I have written much urging legislators not to vote for HR 1162. I have tried to explain to citizens why I believe as I do. There are different kinds of charter schools, and citizens must be wary of those not connected to the overall educational delivery within public school districts. If parents believe that their School Boards are corrupt or arrogant, then parents must make a concentrated effort to vote those individuals out of office and place on their School Board those members who are responsive, with wisdom, to the public. But the public must not think that there are easy answers in educational delivery. Charter schools could, if not handled wisely, do more harm in the long run than benefit, especially if they are seen to be “the answer” to education. If the end up, even inadvertently, dismantling traditional public education, they are not helpful. I think it quite ironic that just when technological advancement has aided us to the point whereby traditional public schools can place student data, of many years standing, on computers for quick analysis by public schools teachers, and just when we are arriving at the point whereby we know the value of training teachers to teach to individual needs of students, that our traditional public schools are being threatened by those with a heavy-handed competition agenda which could break up school systems into isolated charter schools. Many isolated charter schools will not have cohesion with one another in fostering continuity of student growth over many years. Ours is a mobile society. We need that cohesion and continuity among traditional public schools and school systems in Georgia. We should use Race to the Top to better train teachers in how to individualize instruction, and how to use test data to teach creatively and precisely, in a relaxed, collaborative, non-threatening school environment. Thereby, is the combination of the best of the elements of Finland’s educational model and our own Race to the Top model that, combined, can help to create educational excellence for America, into our future. We must not change hastily. We must envision what we must be about in public edcuational delivery, long-ranged.
Some may enjoy reading the story of Cyndie and how she was helped, by her 5th grade science teacher to increase 2 or 3 years in her reading skills, to be able to function with her classmates on grade level. It is an inspiring story. See below.
http://maryelizabethsings.wordpress.com/2012/02/11/cyndies-story/
Frankie
February 16th, 2012
10:00 am
there is nothing inthe report that says teachers need to be reformed….it says teaching needs to be reformed which speaks to the curriculumn and teaching to a test.
There are bad teachers and good teachers and the good teachers need to be rewarded and compensated and the bad ones wither need to be gone or re-educated. Just like some of you.
I have not heard not one suggestion from the republican group about how to improve education in america…
republicans have no problem spending trillions of dollars on war an oil rights but squak at 5 bilion to go towards the start of increasing education in america…
Ed Johnson
February 16th, 2012
10:44 am
@Mary Elizabeth,
Kindly allow one correction to your otherwise highly informative post:
It’s Obama’s “Race to the Top Competition,” not “Obama’s Race to the Top Plan.”
Obama says RTTT is a competition, and obviously it is a competition.
So please “see,” if you will, the destructive consequences to come to the sustainability of democratic ideals, let alone public education.