Teacher Beat - Education Week

Feds Offer Flexibility on Teacher-Evaluation Implementation

2013-06-19T16:01:09Z

Colleague Alyson Klein reports that the U.S. Department of Education will consider giving states an extra year to implement their new teacher-evaluation systems before putting the teeth into them.

As you probably know, instituting teacher-evaluation systems was one of the conditions of the waivers the department offered states in exchange for getting out of some requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act. States got about three years in all to complete the work: One year to pilot, the second year to implement, and the third to use for personnel decisions, such as tenure-granting or dismissal.

Under the new flexibility, states could have until 2016-17 to make this final step, though it will depend on when they were initially granted a waiver.

The policy shift seems a direct response to recent concerns about implementation of new academic-content standards, also a condition of the waivers, which will change what schools and students are tested on and the instruction teachers are expected to deliver.

First came Randi Weingarten of the American Federation of Teachers, who said there should be a moratorium on using the new tests for judging schools or teachers until new standards are well implemented.

Then, the Council of Chief State School Officers said it was interested in some transitional flexibility, but not a blanket moratorium.

In his letter Tuesday announcing the flexibility, Education Secretary Arne Duncan also was adamant that the new flexibility is "not a pause or moratorium." States will still have to complete rolling out their systems and training teachers.

If you're scratching your head by now, especially at officials' strict avoidance of the idea of a "pause," consider it a testament to the ferocious politics surrounding both new standards and teacher evaluation. Both have been very controversial with a lot of battling constituencies, and both are hitting schools all at once. Supporters, like Duncan, want to be seen as pushing forward, but they are also facing a lot of stressed-out educators.

Weingarten told me in an interview Tuesday that she was heartened that the administration seems to be listening to teachers' concerns. "There is no shame to a mid-course correction when you have ambitious goals, and you see you're not getting there in the time table you wanted," she said.

But, she cautioned, states now need to make good use of the extra time to get teachers and students ready.

"The worst thing would be for this to be seen as a delay or a pause," she said. "It is a period of time that has to be used for intense activity to get implementation right and have the supports teachers need, and the information that parents need, and kids need, so that they know what we're trying to do here."

There are a few other things worth noting here about this not-a-pause. For one, the federal accountability landscape is starting to grow increasingly complicated between the waivers, their varying content, and differing timelines. As the Huffington Post's Joy Resmovits' write-up makes clear, this action is not going to do much to assuage critics who already think the feds are way too involved in these decisions.

Second, it's worth considering many of the technical issues involved in integrating student achievement measures into teachers' evaluations, another requirement of the waivers. That's been difficult with existing tests, and the different properties of the exams that two consortia are devising to reflect the new standards raise some new issues.

- Stephen Sawchuk

Rounding Up Reactions to the NCTQ/U.S. News Ed. School Review

2013-06-18T18:27:00Z

Reaction is pouring in to the National Council on Teacher Quality's project, released today, to peer underneath the hood of teacher preparation. Let's dig in.

(You'll first want to read my Education Week story, which details all the context behind this massive undertaking, as well as the top-line findings.)

As expected, there's a lot of criticism of the project's methods.

From the University of Kansas' school of education Dean Rick Ginsberg: "NCTQ didn't visit with students, ask employers about the quality of those they hire, or gather any sort of impact data to substantiate their claims. Instead, they created some standards and somehow decided how each institution did or did not meet their requirements. If this were a research paper produced by a student, it would get a failing grade. To use this as a means of rating institutions is ridiculous."

From Gerardo Gonzalez, the dean of ed. school at Indiana University: "NCTQ studies have never been published in any peer-reviewed journal or by any other credible means of research dissemination. No research university or organization has ever endorsed NCTQ's methodology, nor can their studies be replicated by independent researchers. Peer review and replication of research studies are the means by which the scientific community verifies results, draws conclusions, and advances knowledge. Studies lacking any form of peer review and validation of results through replication lack scientific credibility."

Via the Orlando Sentinel, Florida State University Dean Marcy Driscoll: "It is not clear what information they actually used. I was hoping that these reports might provide some useful feedback for our teacher-preparation programs, but without more detailed scrutiny, my impression is that the accuracy of the reports is less than desirable."

The indefatigable Mikhail Zinshteyn at the Education Writers Association wraps up news stories with more local reaction.

And here are a few other groups' responses:

From the president of the American Federation of Teachers, Randi Weingarten: "It's disappointing that for something as important as strengthening teacher-preparation programs, NCTQ chose to use the gimmick of a four-star rating system without using professionally accepted standards, visiting any of the institutions, or talking with any of the graduates."

From the Council for Accreditation of Educator Preparation (the teacher-prep accrediting body): "Transparency is one of CAEP's hallmarks. In contrast to NCTQ, CAEP sets clear expectations for the use of evidence in its decisions and gives educator preparation providers the opportunity to respond before final decisions are made."

The American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education will be collecting from members reports of "inaccuracies, disputes, or questions" about their scores.

From Patricia Levesque, CEO of the Foundation for Excellence in Education, an advocacy group chaired by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush: "It is time we had a frank discussion about the state of teacher-preparation programs in our nation. These programs are the cornerstone of the teaching profession. And, far too many teachers entering the field are not prepared to tackle the practical challenges ahead."

And not to be outdone, the NCTQ, releases a set of video clips from schools that got good ratings on specific standards.

- Stephen Sawchuk

Spurred By Lawsuit, Fla. Tweaks Teacher-Evaluation Requirements

2013-06-17T17:10:50Z

Florida Gov. Rick Scott has signed into law a bill that, among other things, makes a significant change to the state's teacher-evaluation system, a move seemingly prompted by a National Education Association lawsuit.

The NEA lawsuit, filed in April, stated that districts, with state approval, were evaluating teachers based on the results of students they hadn't taught or in subjects they don't instruct. The new bill states that the student-achievement portion must be based on the results of the teacher's students.

"Common sense prevails in Florida," NEA President Dennis Van Roekel said in a statement. "This is a key victory for the ever-growing chorus calling foul on flawed tests and error-ridden assessment systems used to make decisions about students' and teachers' futures."

The new law doesn't address all of the factors that the NEA wanted to see fixed. For example, it doesn't address the issue of a teacher's subject assignment. It still isn't clear what measures would be used to evaluate teachers in "nontested" grades and subjects. And finally, it doesn't cancel out the last two years of evaluation results carried out under the previous evaluations.

So for now, the union will continue to pursue remedies through litigation.

- Stephen Sawchuk

Accreditor Clears 'Value Added' For Teacher Preparation

2013-06-11T15:49:00Z

UPDATED

Yesterday, it looked like the two national teachers' unions might not support a drive to require value-added measures, among other ways of looking at student learning growth, in the accreditation standards for teacher preparation being finalized this week.

The Council for Accreditation of Educator Preparation tapped a panel to put the new expectations together last year. A draft version had many controversial elements, such as a minimum bar for entry and a focus on student-achievement growth.

What a difference a night (full of lots of stiff drinks, one suspects) makes: The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and new draft language on the use of VAM, apparently brokered during the wee morning hours, has been signed off by panelists—including the unions.

The final language, by my read, maintains the expectation that programs incoporate data if states provide it. But decide for yourself. It reads:

"The provider documents that program completers contribute to an expected level of student-learning growth. Multiple measures shall include all available growth measures (including value-added measures, student-growth percentiles, and student learning objectives) required by the state for its teachers and available education preparation programs, other state-supported P-12 impact measures, and any other measures employed by the provider."

The agreement marks quite a shift in accreditation practices.

As Richard De Lisi, the dean of the graduate school of education at Rutgers University, in New Jersey, summed up: "It is a remarkable thing to say that a professional program is going to trace its graduates into the field. I don't think any other field does this to its graduates. It's absolutely pathbreaking."

Here's what the teachers' unions' representatives had to say about the new language.

"I think this absolutely strengthens this [standard] and gets at the issues I raised yesterday," said Becky Pringle, the National Education Association's panelist. "It moves us forward, and it captures the commission's mission and vision of taking ownership of the profession, student learning, and growth throughout the process."

Randi Weingarten of the American Federation of Teachers, said: "We embrace the new language, and I just want to say thank you for the back and forth and the listening. It's very important. This is the practitioners actually trying to figure out a way to have accountability, share responsibility for our profession. ... It creates a much stronger platform." (Whereupon she swept out of the room and relinquished her seat to a delegate, this matter apparently being the AFT's major concern.)

The agreement seems to pave the way forward to reaching an agreement on the overall set of standards, too.

"With this behind us, I think we can do it," said Camilla Benbow, the dean of Vanderbilt University's education school and the co-chair of the panel.

UPDATED, 1:30 p.m.: And indeed they did. The full panel just approved the new CAEP standards. (They still have to be approved by the accreditor's board this summer.) Education Week will have more analysis on this big development in teacher preparation in the days to come.

- Stephen Sawchuk

Teacher-Prep Accreditor Closer to New Standards; Some Issues In Flux

2013-06-11T03:56:00Z

The national teacher-preparation-accreditation body today inched closer to approving a new, tougher set of standards.

Today's meeting in Washington was the first of two days in which the commission tapped by the Council for Accreditation of Educator Preparation to craft the new standards will deliberate over their final form.

The proposed standards are quite complicated, but they are likely to shape much of what's going to happen in teacher preparation for years to come. (If you're new to this topic for the first time, here you can review some prior coverage of CAEP.)

In brief, the CAEP commission has proposed a set of five standards. They would include heavier attention to who is selected into teacher preparation; the design of the "clinical" or student-teaching portion of training; and the requirement that accredited programs produce teachers who boost student learning.

The commission also proposed eight criteria programs would have to report annually. The rationale here is that a lot can happen in the seven years between accreditation cycles, so an annual report would provide a dipstick to gauge shorter-term change.

In all, the proposal is a bit unusual in the higher-education universe, observers said.

"This is the most measured and evidence-heavy proposed accreditation process I've ever been privy to," Peter Ewell, the vice president at the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems, a research center that works to improve college efficiency, told the panel this morning. "You are being very gutsy."

Panelists spent much of the day reviewing public comment on the draft and wordsmithing the document to avoid misconceptions of the standards. But they also made some big decisions on key areas that have launched a lot of chatter among education faculty. Below are some highlights.

Selection Criteria

This is a hot-button topic, especially among those who fear that increasing selectivity will harm teacher diversity. But the subcommittee handling selection didn't waiver on its proposal to require programs to set minimum entry requirements for each cohort of entering candidates, including a minimum GPA and academic-assessment score.

The group went so far as to say that prospective teachers who have been out of school for some time (as in an alternative route) should have to submit adequate scores on an achievement test to enter a program. In an acknowledgement of the difficulty some providers will face with this requirement, though, CAEP will probably phase in the entry standard over several years.

This is a strong, and notable, position to take. Some teacher-preparation programs maintain what amounts to open-admissions policies, noted Mary Brabeck, the dean of New York University's education school and the chairwoman of the selection subcommittee. The proposed CAEP standard on selection essentially means such programs could not be accredited unless they revised those policies.

Student-Loan Default Rates

A proposal to require programs to detail what percent of teacher-candidates defaulted on their student loans evoked a lot of discussion. Several panelists felt it didn't really provide much insight into program quality. In the end, the consensus was that institutions should report this information, but individual programs should not be "dinged" for high default rates, given that factors including differences in demographics, student income, etc., fall outside of their control.

"Gold Standard" Accreditation

The commission got a chilly reception from the field for its proposal to highlight a small number of programs that go above and beyond on the five standards. Nevertheless, it appears the commission is holding firm to this initiative, though its name will probably change.

Outcomes Measures

And then we come to a possible sticking point. The draft standard on outcomes specified that preparation should use multiple measures in determining their effect. Among them, the draft, as currently written, says that programs must use "value added" measures (VAM) if that data is available, among the mix.

Becky Pringle, representing the National Education Association, felt that value-added should be an example of evidence programs can submit, but not a requirement, even if a state produces such data.

"We want to be very clear that we wanted this tied to student learning and growth, but we don't want our institutions of higher ed to chase things that have been put in place that are not serving our kids or our teachers," she said. "I don't want us to build on top of things that were not done well."

Her position stood in contrast to most panelists', who were in favor of leaving the requirement stand. In fact, possibly the strongest defense of VAM came from Rick Ginsberg, the dean of the ed. school at the University of Kansas. Though he doesn't love the trend towards VAM, Ginsberg argued that it was unfair to subject it to a higher standard of validity and reliability than other ways of measuring student growth.

"I'm no fan. But having said that, almost every measure we use is lousy," he said. " ... We're holding VAM up to a level of scrutiny we hold nothing else up to."

Near the end of the day, though, Randi Weingarten of the American Federation of Teachers expressed an interest in revisiting the topic.

If you're thinking, "It's like negotiated rulemaking all over again!", you might be right. Last year's attempt by the U.S. Department of Education to get the field to agree to new federal accountability rules for teacher preparation fell apart largely over debate about VAM.

Will the unions dig in over this issue come Tuesday or not? Stay tuned.

- Stephen Sawchuk

NEA Director Appointed to Suburban D.C. School Board

2013-06-07T16:27:00Z

The Prince George's County public schools, a 124,000-student district that abuts the District of Columbia, has a new school board chairman familiar to the national education scene: He's Segun Eubanks, the director of teacher quality for the 3-million member National Education Association.

Mr. Eubanks has two children in the Maryland district. He'll keep his NEA job while chairing the board; the position began June 1.

Prince George's County encompasses urban and suburban areas. It's well known for being among the wealthiest predominately black communities in the United States, despite having pockets of poverty. And this has led to a growing class-based gap: As Ovetta Wiggins of The Washington Post has reported, middle-class families have been enrolling their children in private schools, rather than the district's schools, because of their less-than-stellar reputation.

Dissatisfaction with the county's schools and the school board's squabbles recently led to new state legislation, signed into law in April, that established a brand-new governance structure in the district. The history here is pretty complicated, but traditionally, where schools were concerened, the county executive didn't do much more than sign off on the district's budget.

The new system isn't quite mayoral control, but it does nod in that direction: Now, the county executive gets to appoint the district CEO and three members of the school board. One more is appointed by the county council; nine other board members remain elected.

Eubanks gained attention as a member on an advisory commission on education excellence set up by Rushern L. Baker III, the current county executive.

Now for the interesting part. The teachers' union in Prince George's County is an NEA affiliate, which means that Eubanks will be helping to set policies that affect his own employer's members. Apparently, though, the appointment was given the blessing from the higher-ups at both the NEA and Prince George's.

"I discussed it clearly internally with my own people, because I wasn't going to take on a role like this without talking to them about what those optics look like," Eubanks told me. "And I made it clear [to the executive] that there could be times and places where there could be real or perceived conflicts of interest, and I'd have to recuse myself."

So far, "I've been very pleasantly surprised and warmed by the reaction from the school district, my union folks, my community folks, and the other members on the board," he said. "To date, the only place I've heard criticism is in the comments section of the newspaper." (Given the state of public discourse these days, he will probably have to get used to that last bit, unfortunately.)

Eubanks has kept a reasonably low profile at NEA national. But it's worth noting that he has helped stretch the union's usual orthodoxies in places. As a member on a 2012 federal rule-making panel, for example, Eubanks was one of the few negotiators who sought to bridge two very divided factions—those that were for and those that were against outcomes-based ways of assessing teacher preparation. His shop at the NEA is also engaged in a number of efforts worth watching, such as helping to design better systems for preparing new teachers.

The Prince George's County school board's top two priorities are boosting student achievement and improving parent and community engagement, he said. Among other things, it will look at options like expanding access to AP classes and board-certified teachers, and to try to improve community support and engagement in the schools.

"A majority of the people I know in my middle-income bracket send their kids to private schools," said Eubanks. "Too many of these families have lost faith in the system."

Photo Credit: NEA/Kevin Lock

- Stephen Sawchuk

Report Examines Big-City Teacher-Pension Woes

2013-06-06T10:40:00Z

The financial health of three school districts facing significant teacher-pension liabilities varies greatly based on the choices lawmakers have made to deal with the debts, according to a newly released report from the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a right-leaning think tank.

The study projects how the pension costs in the three districts—Philadelphia, Milwaukee, and Cleveland, Ohio—will fare financially through 2020. And the three scenarios are very different.

In Milwaukee, savings have been effected because of the controversial 2011 Act 10, which removed retiree health benefits from the scope of collective bargaining and required teachers pay half of their annual pension contribution; in Cleveland, legislative changes have raised employee contributions and reduced benefits, but those alterations will be felt primarily by new employees; and in Philadelphia, which is in big trouble because of uncertainties about whether the state will continue to help pay some of its share. Under a worst-case scenario, pensions could account for 13 percent of Philadelphia's budget by 2020, the report says,

In all, the report estimates that per-pupil retirement costs will rise by just $64 in Milwaukee, actually fall by $107 in Cleveland, and will skyrocket by $752 to $1,923 in Philadelphia.

Fordham's report comes just days after I filed a similar story on this very topic. In the St. Louis school district, I report, declines in student enrollment plus an increase in pension costs means that retirement benefits amount to 10 percent of the budget. The situation has hastened some of the district's cost-cutting measures, and fights over whether and how to restructure pensions are looming.

In all, the report looks at the various tradeoffs that accompany changes to pensions, something I've written about in several other places. And states have made lots of changes recently, but as in Cleveland, politics have put a lot of that burden on new teachers.

Given Fordham's ideological bent, it's probably no surprise that the think tank is generally in favor of shifting towards "defined-benefit" or "hybrid" plans over traditional pensions.

The report was supported by the Joyce Foundation, which underwrites coverage of state teacher-quality policymaking in Education Week. (The newspaper maintains sole editorial control over underwritten content.)

- Stephen Sawchuk

Cleveland Teachers' Contract Revamps Pay Schedule

2013-06-05T17:43:00Z

By guest blogger Alyssa Morones

Cleveland took one step closer toward implementing its Cleveland Plan for Transforming Schools on May 31, when teachers voted to approve a new three-year contract with the district, 2,414 to 968.

The contract with the Cleveland Teachers Union earlier in May was approved by the school board with a unanimous vote on May 14.

In an interview with the Cleveland Sun News, CTU President David Quolke said that this vote "once again highlights that Cleveland teachers and educators are willing to lead school reform efforts in Cleveland."

The Cleveland Plan, proposed in February 2012 by Mayor Frank G. Jackson, was originally criticized by the teachers' union. But eventually the union was consulted on the details, and the collaboration later won praise from Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, the CTU's parent. The contract carries over aspects of the plan that needed to be bargained.

The biggest change the contract will bring about is a revamped "differentiated compensation" salary system. While there will still be a 15-step pay system, teachers' placements will depend on their performance, specialized qualifications, and duties instead of years of service and college degrees or courses. In doing so, it moves closer to AFT districts such as Pittsburgh, Baltimore, and Newark that also have shifted away from traditional salary scales.

Teacher layoffs and recalls will now give more weight to performance and qualifications than to seniority. The contract also includes changes to teacher evaluations required by state law and contained in the Cleveland Plan.

Teachers, nurses, and counselors also will receive an additional $14 million dollars over the next three years. A four percent pay increase for the 2013-14 school year will acknowledge the additional time teachers have already been putting in meeting with families and collaborating with colleagues. There will be no increase the second year, but salaries would again increase by one percent during the 2015-16 school year.

The new contract adds 100 more minutes each week of teach contact with students, sets smaller class size goals, and puts teacher hiring and assignment in the hands of school-based teams, among other changes.

- Stephen Sawchuk

Differing Viewpoints on Teacher Preparation Reflected in New Bills

2013-05-31T19:54:00Z

Last week, federal lawmakers reintroduced a pair of bills relating to teacher-preparation programs and accountability, in what gives an interesting glimpse into what debates on this topic are likely to feature in the coming weeks and months.

The first bill, known as the GREAT Act, was introduced May 23 in the House by Reps. Jared Polis (D-Colo.) and Tom Petri (R-Wis.), and in the Senate by Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.). Find previous EdWeek summaries of the bill here and here.

The bill, crafted with help from the New Schools Venture Fund, would support training "academies" both inside and outside of traditional higher education institutions. But the idea is clearly modeled on the latter, like the Relay Graduate School of Education or Match Teacher Residency. (Think of these academies a bit like the ed. school equivalent of charters.) The bill would free academies from the regulatory structure of higher-education based programs, but require the programs to grant credentials only to candidates who show they can boost student achievement before graduating.

The second bill, known as the Educator Preparation Reform Act, introduced the same day, is sponsored by Rep. Mike Honda (D-Calif.) and Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) It's supported mainly by groups representing higher education institutions, including the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, the American Association of Universities, and the American Council on Education. I sketched out the parameters of that bill here.

The legislation would support the existing Teacher Quality Partnerships initiative—which supports higher-ed. based teacher-preparation programs—make changes to the rules governing the federal accountability requirements for teacher prep, and give programs an option of using a performance assessment to show candidates are ready for the classroom.

It is not difficult to see in these two pieces of legislation the outlines in Washington of two competing—and very different—visions of how the feds should be involved in teacher preparation.

The first comes out of a philosophy of "disruptive innovation," or freeing up teacher preparation from things like Carnegie units and faculty research requirements and tenure; the second, an approach of working within the existing structures and policies of teacher education. The first is supported by advocacy groups and organizations typically lumped in the so-called "education reform" camp; the second by groups that have tended to be skeptical of such efforts.

While this may all seem rather esoteric, the reintroduction on these measures matters partly because they give an indication of the contours of the debates on the Higher Education Act, which is up for renewal. (Neither of the proposals is likely to move on its own; typically, measures of this sort are attached to larger pieces of legislation like HEA.)

- Stephen Sawchuk

Iowa Bill Creates Teacher Career-Ladder Program

2013-05-23T21:44:00Z

Iowa teachers will have the opportunity to assume new roles as "model," "mentor," and "lead" teachers, along with additional pay, under a bill passed May 22 and headed to the Governor's desk for signature.

This piece of legislation is a long time coming. It has been a major priority of Gov. Terry Branstad for several years, and is something of a feather in the cap for departing schools chief Jason Glass, who had a big hand in shaping it. (Glass will return to head up the Eagle County, Colo., district where he previously held two different positions.)

In brief, the bill creates a fund that would help districts institute, or come up with their own alternative versions, of a career path for teachers. Funds would pay for salary supplements, release time for the teachers who take the new positions, and longer school-year contracts for them.

Through a review process at each school, districts would designate "model," "mentor" and "lead" teachers; the positions come with extra pay (up to $10,000 annually for lead teachers) and some new responsibilities, such as serving as the head of an instructional team or evaluating peers.

The positions were influenced in part by similar systems in Singapore and other international countries. But it's also worth noting that Glass, while in his first stint in Eagle County, helped implement a similar professional-development and -pay program in schools there.

Among other teacher-related actions, the bill also:

• Raises the base teacher salary to $33,500.
• Authorizes a teacher-preparation program at two teacher colleges that would include a yearlong student-teaching experience.
• Creates a council to study and make recommendations on a statewide teacher-evaluation system.

- Stephen Sawchuk

Is Performance Pay Back on the Front Burner?

2013-05-23T15:10:00Z

There must be something in the water: Performance pay, after going through a fallow period following a 2010 study that found few effects on student learning, all of a sudden seems back on policymakers' radar screens.

To be fair, some of the new plans, like this New York one to pay $60,000 over four years to certain math and science teachers, are really gussied-up professional-development and induction programs: New York recipients would helping mentor and train their colleagues.

In the same vein, Nevada's former schools superintendent, Jim Guthrie, has presented a provocative plan to pay 2,000 teachers in the state the eye-popping salary of $200,000, according to Las Vegas Sun reporter Paul Takahashi. Such teachers, as in New York, would be expected to share their teaching practices with colleagues.

This one seems a lot less likely to become actual policy anytime soon, Takahashi reports, because there isn't a good measure for identifying which teachers would be eligible for the huge bonuses and some lawmakers want to invest in other costly programs, such as preschool.

A Michigan legislative panel, on the other hand, took a step May 22 toward making teacher performance the "primary" factor in teacher compensation, and also would base the performance measure "primarily" on student-achievement growth. "Primary" and "primarily" are the key words here, since it means that more than half the evaluation would be based on student achievement, a higher figure than anywhere else in the nation.

The Michigan proposal is interesting for another reason: It would allow districts to factor in advanced degrees only if the degree was earned in the content area, for secondary teachers, and in elementary education, for grade school teachers. This is likely to be opposed by many of the state's teacher colleges (master's degrees are often granted in leadership or curriculum, for instance) but it is somewhat more in line with research on teacher credentials.

- Stephen Sawchuk

New York Announces Teacher-Bonus, -Mentoring Program in Science and Math

2013-05-21T18:42:00Z

About 250 math and science teachers in New York will be eligible for $15,000 in extra pay in exchange for mentoring new colleagues under a newly announced New York program.

Unveiled May 20 by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, the program will pay each participating secondary math and science teacher a total of $60,000 over four years. They will be trained in State University of New York education schools on how to mentor novices and teacher-candidates.

Interested teachers must submit applications in order to be chosen. To be eligible, such teachers also have to have at least four years of experience, spend the bulk of their time teaching math and science, and earn a "highly effective" score on their 2012-13 teacher evaluation, the Albany Democrat and Chronicle reports.

The $11 million initiative was included in the state's 2013-14 budget.

At first, the "Master Teacher Program" will be limited to teachers in the regions of North County, Mid-Hudson, and central and western New York, but it's supposed to go statewide in 2014-15.

- Stephen Sawchuk

Chicago Union Leader Wins Second Term

2013-05-20T16:06:00Z

The president of the Chicago Teachers Union, Karen Lewis, has won a second three-year term, with about 80 percent of the vote in her favor. Vice President Jesse Sharkey was also re-elected.

Lewis defeated Tanya Saunders-Wolffe, a school counselor. Wolffe hails from a different group within the union that has accused Lewis' Caucus of Rank-and-File Educators of not getting enough concessions out of the district during last September's seven-day teacher strike.

The strike ultimately did win teachers pay raises and additional flexibility on provisions regarding assignment and "recalls." Among the strike's subtexts was the imminent closing of dozens of schools, which the union under Lewis' leadership has gone on to vigorously oppose.

One of the reasons this situation bears watching is because of how the rise of Lewis and CORE have had reverberations throughout the American Federation of Teachers, CTU's parent union.

AFT has played the card of being the more accommodating of the two national teachers' unions with respect to national policy movements, such as teacher evaluations based partly on student achievement. But Lewis has shown that outright resistance and opposition can work in some contexts, too, and that has proved to be an attractive option for some.

Opposition groups modeled on CORE have sprung up in the AFT's affiliates in New York City and Newark, among other places. And they seem to be having an effect on AFT, which has taken a much more strident tone on standardized testing and school closures lately.

Photo: Karen Lewis, president of the Chicago Teachers Union, pauses at a rally during last September's teachers strike as union members chant their support for her leadership. (Charles Rex Arbogast/AP-File)

- Stephen Sawchuk

Delaware Raises Teacher-Prep Admissions Requirement

2013-05-17T16:40:00Z

Delaware lawmakers have passed a bill that would raise admissions standards for entry into the state's teacher-preparation programs, among other changes. Gov. Jack Markell, a Democrat, is expected to sign it.

The bill would require prospective teachers to hold a grade point average of at least 3.0, or a GPA in the top 50th percentile for coursework completed during the most recent two years of education, whether in high school or college. Alternatively, they could achieve a minimum score on a standardized test normed to the general college-bound population. (Many teacher exams are set at the secondary level for content knowledge.)

There's a bit of flexibility built in: Preparation programs could waive these admissions requirements for up to 10 percent of the students admitted.

The bill also would require candidates to pass a performance-based assessment before being granted their initial, three-year teaching license; require teacher-preparation programs to report on the performance of their graduates; and require them to assess their candidates on an ongoing basis using a system aligned to the statewide teacher-evaluation system.

As I wrote for a recent Education Week story, raising entry standards for teacher preparation is controversial partly because of fears that such requirements will harm the ability to recruit minority candidates who are already in short supply in K-12 education.

You may wonder how Delaware's new requirements stack up to other states. Surprisingly, there's no public database that lists what states' entry-requirements are: States guard this stuff like it's the last of the Easter candy.

Here, compiled partly from National Council on Teacher Quality records and partly from our own research, are state minimum grade point averages for admissions into undergraduate teaching programs. (The list doesn't include basic-skills tests or any requirements set at the institutional level.)

It's not a comprehensive list, so if you have a minute, please leave your own state's policies, with citation, in the comments field, so we can get the full picture.

Alabama: 2.5
Arkansas: 2.5
Connecticut: 2.7 (can be waived)
Florida: 2.5
Georgia 2.5
Kentucky: requires cumulative GPA of 2.75 or a 3.0 GPA for last 30 hours of credit completed
Michigan: requires a "C average"
Mississippi: 2.75 for premajor coursework, 3.0 for each cohort
Missouri: 2.75
New Jersey: 2.5
Oklahoma: 3.0 (can waive out with passage of a test)
Pennsylvania: 3.0 in prior coursework, or 2.8 with qualifying scores on a test
South Carolina: 2.5, but program directors can go as low as 2.25
Tennessee: 2.5
Texas: 2.5, but candidates must also pass an exam normed to the college-going population
Wisconsin: 2.5, but programs can accept 10 percent of candidates that do not pass basic-skills tests

- Stephen Sawchuk

Tennessee to Offer Teacher-Transfer Bonuses

2013-05-16T16:17:00Z

The Tennessee education department last week announced plans to offer financial bonuses to teachers with top evaluation scores who work in low-performing "priority schools."

Using its share of federal School Improvement Grant funds, the state will give $7,000 signing bonuses to teachers from nonpriority schools who transfer, and agree to stay for two years, in the priority schools. It will also give $5,000 retention bonuses to high-performing teachers already working in such schools.

The state has 83 priority schools, defined as the lowest-performing 5 percent in the state. Most of them are located in the Memphis district.

Nationally, low-performing schools have tended to have teachers with weaker credentials and less experience. Rectifying that imbalance has long proved to be a particularly difficult policy challenge to solve. We'll be watching with interest to see what happens in the Tennessee schools that get an infusion of new teachers.

The idea hasn't gotten an enthusiastic reception from everyone, though. The president of the teachers' union in Memphis said that the plan wouldn't help improve academic achievement unless larger social-support programs accompanied it, earning a rebuke from the education commissioner, Kevin Huffman.

As always, the topic of making pay contingent on performance is a tricky one. And The Tennessean reports that the plan is just one part of a larger proposal to move away from traditional salary scales based on credentials and experience, a shift unions have traditionally opposed.

- Stephen Sawchuk