alan r. sadovnik, board of governors distinguished service professor of education, sociology and...
TRANSCRIPT
Alan R. Sadovnik, Board of Governors Distinguished Service Professor of Education, Sociology and Public
Affairs Co-director, Institute on Education Law and Policy and Newark Schools Research
Collaborative Rutgers University-Newark
Educator EvaluationResearch and Policy Issues
School Based Reforms: Education Equality Project
• Advocacy group focused on closing the achievement gap through grass-roots organizing efforts
• Mission is to:– Ensure an effective teacher in
every classroom– Empower parents– Create accountability– Make decisions around what is
best for students– Encourage parents and students
to demand more from schools, as well as from themselves
– Advocate against those that have preserved inequity
Joel Klein & Al Sharpton
Societal and Community Based Reforms
Addressing the Effects of Poverty
Geoffrey Canada
Harlem Children’s Zone
A Broader, Bolder Approach to Education
1) Continue to focus on school improvement efforts
2) Increase and improve quality of early childhood programs
3) Increase investment in health services4) Understand how students spend their time
outside of school
From: http://www.boldapproach.org/statement.html
Jean Anyon & Richard Rothstein
Pedro Noguera & Helen Ladd
Governor Christie’s Educational Reform Agenda
Mooney, J. (2011, Jan. 12). Gov. Christie’s state of the state puts education reform front and center. NJ Spotlight.
• Vouchers : NJ Opportunity Scholarship NJOSA• Cutting school spending• Merit Pay • Eliminating seniority and tenure• Expanding charter schools• Mayor Booker supports the expansion of charter schools and reforms in
teacher evaluation and seniority based layoffs. Prior to his first term he also supported vouchers. Since becoming mayor he has not publicly supported vouchers, but it is reported that he will testify in favor of NJOSA before the legislature
The Newark Context
• State-operated district since 1995• Governor Christie “delegates” local
control to Mayor Booker (August 2010)
• Governor Christie terminates Superintendent Janey’s contract (August 2010)
• Search for new superintendent underway
• Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, gives $100 million gift to improve public education in Newark (2010)
• Mayor raising $100 million in matching funds (2010-11)
• PENewark engages in community engagement project
• Legislature considers “Opportunity Scholarship Program” with Governor’s support
• Star Ledger leaks report recommending closing schools and opening new charter schools and district schools operated by “national” operators
Teacher Quality Reforms
• Value Added Models (VAM) for teacher evaluations, tenure and promotion, dismissal and merit pay
• Alternative Teacher and Administrator Education Programs (i.e. Teach for America (TFA); New Teacher Project (NTP); New Leaders for New Schools (NLNS); Teacher University (Uncommon Schools and KIPP Networks); On the job training (New Jersey Alternate Route; NYC Teaching Fellows; Cathie Black)
VAM: What does the research say?• The most rigorous study of performance-based teacher compensation ever
conducted shows that a nationally watched bonus-pay system had no overall impact on student achievement .
http://peabody.vanderbilt.edu/x12476.xml • Problems with the Use of Student Test Scores to Evaluate Teachershttp://epi.3cdn.net/724cd9a1eb91c40ff0_hwm6iij90.pdf • Neither Fair Nor Accurate: Wayne Au, Rethinking Schools http://www.rethinkingschools.org/archive/25_02/25_02_au.shtml Bruce Bakerhttp://schoolfinance101.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/teacher-
evaluation_general.pdf
Jesse Rothsteinhttp://nepc.colorado.edu/thinktank/review-learning-about-teaching
Problems with VAM (Au, 2010)• Year-to-Year Test Score Instability• Day-to-Day Score Instability • Nonrandom Student Assignments • Imprecise Measurement • Out-of-School Factors • Politics, Not Reality
AndClassroom composition and peer effects not easily
measured
The Gates Measures of Effective Teaching Project (MET)
• MET Findings:
• “In every grade and subject, a teacher’s past track record of value-added is among the strongest predictors of their students’ achievement gains in other classes and academic years.”
• “Teachers with high value-added on state tests tend to promote deeper conceptual understanding as well.”
• “Teachers have larger effects on math achievement than on achievement in reading or English Language Arts, at least as measured on state assessments.”
• “Student perceptions of a given teacher’s strengths and weaknesses are consistent across the different groups of students they teach. Students seem to know effective teaching when they experience it.”
Rothstein on MET (1)• While the report’s conclusion that teachers who perform well
on one measure “tend to” do well on the other is technically correct, the tendency is shockingly weak.
• The report’s main conclusion, that “a teacher’s past track record of value-added is among the strongest predictors of their students’ achievement gains in other classes and academic years” (p. 6), is not supported by the underlying analysis. To evaluate this claim, one would have to compare the strength of several plausible predictors (including, for example, the classroom practice scores still being assigned). Yet this study examines only the student perception surveys, and few would expect these to be among the strongest measures of teacher effectiveness.
Rothstein on MET (2)• The design of the MET study—in particular, its focus on
data collected in settings where those data are not being used to guide decisions—places sharp limits on its ability to inform policy. Many of the most pressing concerns about high-stakes, test-based teacher accountability are closely tied to what is known as Campbell’s Law: “The more any quantitative social indicator is used for social decision-making, the more subject it will be to corruption pressures and the more apt it will be to distort and corrupt the social processes it is intended to monitor.” The properties of the MET measures would likely be different if they were being used for high-stakes decisions, as teachers, students, and administrators would target the measures in order to achieve desired outcomes.
Teacher experience: What does the research say?
• Why teaching experience really matters • http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/guest-
bloggers/why-teaching-experience-really.html • Bruce Baker, The circular logic of "quality based layoffs" • http://schoolfinance101.wordpress.com/2010/12/06/the-
circular-logic-of-quality-based-layoff-arguments/ • Test scores can't prove whether teacher experience matters • http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/guest-
bloggers/test-scores-cant-prove-whether.html
Alternative Teacher and Principal EducationWhat does the research say?
No conclusive evidence that alternative produces better student outcomes than traditional teacher education
No other profession permits new practitioners to enter without training and licensure
Although university based teacher education needs improvement, there is no evidence to suggest that Alternative programs provide better preparation.
(See Darling-Hammond, Labaree)
The Possibilities of School Reform: Effective School and District Level Practices
• Put all children—not just some—in a demanding high school core curriculum.
• Teachers matter—make sure they are high quality and supported.
• Focus on improving low-performing schools.• Motivate more students and prepare more
students for higher education.• Principals matter—focus on effective leadership.• Focus on instructional time.Source: www.edtrust.org
The Limits of School Reform
• Problems associated with replication and “scaling up” for both district and charter schools
• Failure to address outside school factors (community, peer group, health and environmental factors)
• Failure to address economic factors (labor force and wage issues)
• Often perpetuates a simplistic “No Excuses” ideology of school improvement
Based upon the evidence, successful school improvement will require…
• Systemic reform aimed at both the school, student, community, economic and societal levels, which includes:
At the school level:
– Equity school finance reform– Equitable distribution of high quality teachers and principals– School level reforms based on research based findings on
effective schools and comprehensive school reform– District level reform best on research based best practices of
successful urban districts (i.e Charlotte and Austin)
At the student, community, economic and societal levels
• Address student and family health, environmental, and social-psychological needs
• Implement research based best practices family involvement programs (i.e. Comer; Epstein)
• Implement research based best practices gang prevention programs
• Link school reform to community and economic development• Develop urban revitalization programs• Promote school level economic integration through affordable
housing programs and magnet school choice programs• Address pernicious effects of poverty through social and economic
policies
Conclusion
• More sociological research is needed to inform educational policy.
• The focus on reducing the achievement gap in NCLB should not be eliminated.
• Emphasis on equal opportunities to learn need to be included in all reforms.
• Emphasis on building capacity of schools and districts in need of improvement must be included in all reforms.
• Emphasis on factors outside schools, including poverty, community and neighborhood variables, need to be included in all reforms.
Sadovnik, A.R., O’Day, J; Borhnstedt, G., & Borman, K. (eds.) (2008). No Child Left Behind and the Reduction of the Achievement Gap: Sociological Perspectives on Federal Educational Policy. New York: Routledge.
