2011: The Year in Education

With 2011 ticking down its final minutes, EducationWorld takes a look back at a momentous year in education. From historic summits and Washington rallies to volatile labor protests and debates on a total system overhaul, everyone agrees we need to improve schools, yet there is little consensus on how to do it.

Corporate Reform

Reform has been an educational buzzword for years, but in 2011 it took on new life. The term “corporate reform” bounced around as advocates on all sides of the debate promoted their agendas.

Corporate school reform proposals view education as a potential industry and promote privately managed charter schools, voucher programs and scholarships for private education. Other tenets of corporate school reform include contracting out schools and services, de-unionizing schools and implementing numerical benchmarking.

So do these types of reforms actually work? Chicago’s Renaissance 2010 plan, which privatized and de-unionized about 100 of the 600 schools in the district, failed to raise test scores or lower costs.

In Philadelphia this year, things began to look more promising. A partnership agreed to by officials at the district, city and state levels, along with two charter schools, led to a sizeable gift from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that “Under the compact, all four entities said they would work together to set common academic standards and then seek to expand schools that meet them and close those that do not – no matter if they are charters, regular district schools or some other variation. The project also is designed to reduce some of the tension between the city’s 80 charters and the district.”

Teacher Evaluations

Another hot topic in 2011 was teacher evaluation. Several proposed methods for determining teacher quality were discussed, including controversial “value-added measures” (VAM), which use test scores to track the growth of individual students and determine how much “value” a teacher has added. Although the research base has been deemed insufficient to support the use of VAM for high-stakes decisions about teachers, Stanford University’s Linda Darling-Hammond and other education researchers suggested evidence-based alternatives. The Washington Post published an edited version of their report, which explained:

“Teacher evaluation tools that have been found to be both predictive of student learning gains and productive for teacher learning include standards-based evaluation processes.  These include systems like National Board Certification and performance assessments for beginning teacher licensing as well as district and school-level instruments based on professional teaching standards. Effective systems have developed an integrated set of measures that show what teachers do and what happens as a result. These measures may include evidence of student work and learning, as well as evidence of teacher practices derived from observations, videotapes, artifacts, and even student surveys.”

Charter Schools

Charter schools, in exchange for results-based accountability, receive public money without having to follow some of the rules that apply to other public schools.

The jury is still out on their effectiveness, with uneven academic results emerging across various charter schools. Research published in 2011 suggests that factors making a difference include urban vs. suburban location, student demographics, whether the school is oversubscribed (has more applicants than available slots), and whether it uses a “No Excuses” approach.

Adding to the picture, a paper released this year by Harvard economist Roland Fryer found that five qualities made up about 50 percent of a charter school’s effectiveness. These include frequent teacher feedback, data-driven instruction, high-dosage tutoring, increased instructional time and a relentless focus on academic achievement. 

No Child Left Behind

The Department of Education, faced with the large number of schools that were not going to meet the requirements of NCLB, took drastic steps in 2011 to avoid labeling countless schools as “failing.” Those steps included the issuing of waivers that would allow districts to opt out of certain NCLB requirements. The DOE explained the move in a statement:

“The U.S. Department of Education is inviting each state educational agency (SEA) to request flexibility on behalf of itself, its local educational agencies, and schools, in order to better focus on improving student learning and increasing the quality of instruction. This voluntary opportunity will provide educators and state and local leaders with flexibility regarding specific requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) in exchange for rigorous and comprehensive state-developed plans designed to improve educational outcomes for all students, close achievement gaps, increase equity, and improve the quality of instruction.”

Matt Damon Weighs In

The summer 2011 Save Our Schools march in Washington, D.C., protested Obama administration education policies centered on standardized tests. Actor Matt Damon, whose mother is a teacher, was on hand to address the crowd. He minced no words, earning a lot of media coverage for an expletive-laced interview at the event. Here is some of what he said:

I don’t know where I would be today if my teachers’ job security was based on how I performed on some standardized test. If they had to spend most of their time desperately drilling us and less time encouraging creativity and original ideas; less time knowing who we were, seeing our strengths and helping us realize our talents.

The next time you’re feeling down, or exhausted, or unappreciated, or at the end of your rope; the next time you turn on the TV and see yourself called “overpaid;” the next time you encounter some simple-minded, punitive policy that’s been driven into your life by some corporate reformer who has literally never taught anyone anything, please know that there are millions of us behind you. You have an army of regular people standing right behind you, and our appreciation for what you do is so deeply felt.

Looking Forward

Without question, one of the most scrutinized educational efforts of 2012 will be the Race to the Top funding program. The $4.35 billion fund represents an unprecedented federal investment in reform. The initial grants are supporting eleven states and the District of Columbia in their efforts to implement comprehensive, coherent, statewide education reform across four key areas:

• Adopting standards and assessments that prepare students to succeed in college and the workplace;
• Building data systems that measure student growth and success, and inform teachers and principals about how to improve instruction;
• Recruiting, developing, rewarding and retaining effective teachers and principals, especially where they are needed most; and
• Turning around their lowest-performing schools.

Article by Jason Tomaszewski, EducationWorld Associate Editor
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