What Does Average Joe Know?

Focusing on education policy both in my job and as a student, I think that I understand the party lines of the punditry and interest groups better than the opinions of the general public. It's (sadly) so much simpler to follow news articles and blogged arguments than talk to the man on the street about the latest goings on at the Department of Ed.

That's why I found the Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup Poll of The Public's Attitudes Toward the Public Schools so fascinating. The majority (59%) of survey respondents say they know "Very Little" or "Nothing At All" about NCLB. Interestingly, this statistic drops only slightly among public school parents (54%. NB: According to the methodology, this doesn't appear to be statistically significant). Finally, while the percent of respondents who report they "Don't know enough to say" how they feel about the law has fallen considerably over the past 2 years (from 69% in 2003 to 45% today), I think we can safely surmise that a large portion of "typical Americans" still are relatively uninformed about the policy that drives so much change in our schools.

Since education is generally considered a high-priority domestic policy concern, I wonder what this says about the public's policy knowledge in general? And by these numbers, a not-insignificant portion of people say they know "very little or nothing" about the law but still manage to have an opinion about it. Interesting stuff.

PS. For those in need of a pundit fix: brief commentaries on the data from Rick Hess, Richard Riley, and others.

To Reform or Not to Reform...Is that really the question?

No Child Left Behind has inspired reactions ranging from outright opposition and legal action (see here and here) to states passively aggressively refusing to comply. The latter approach, (see here) is being practiced in Seattle (and I have a sneaking suspicion that Seattle is not the only city reacting this way).

Mike Antonucci, education researcher and blogger, comments on the article's bigger meaning; "I believe this is the default position of any bureaucracy as large as America's public school system. The people who want reform institute it without federal insistence. The people who don't want reform won't institute it no matter who insists. If forced to reform, they will undermine it."

So then, are all attemps at federal reform pointless?

Maybe we just need a different approach...

Eduwonk's Andrew Rotherham might have the answer...

Background: An article about an alternative way to winning the war inIraq, author Andrew Krepinevich advocates for protecting civilians and setting up "safe havens" instead of attempting to kill the guerillas or "insurgents". Basically Krepinevich's point is by securing safe havens, true "buy-in" is created in the cities and neighborhoods, which in turn acts as a catalyst to empower the residents, which then simulataneously de-empowers the guerillas. An end result, is a changed community, without the hostility and resistant that would have occurred from just killing isolated "insurgents".

Rotherham equates this approach to education. He states;

Isn't this basically the same strategy that education reformers should pursue in the cities? Instead of just supporting often isolated politicians who are constantly under attack or fighting hopeless guerilla warfare inside bureaucracies, establishing some [safe havens] in big cities, winning victories, and establishing some proof points (and in the process expanding opportunities for disadvantaged kids) seems like a more promising strategy. Opening new schools would certainly be part of such an effort but also leveraging successful initiatives like Teach For America, The New Teacher Project, New Leaders for New Schools, the Broad Residents, etc...to drive broader change and win hearts and minds.

Just some food for thought as classes begin...

Focus on HBCUs

Earlier in the month, the New York Times’ Freedman wrote about startlingly low graduation rates at some Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Reprinted here, the article reports that HBCUs have 6-year graduation rate of 38%, which lags slightly behind the 40% 6-year graduation rate of Black students at all other institutions. Freedman argues that the low graduation rate in HBCUs amounts to “a little noticed crisis” in institutions that educate a disproportionate number of the nation’s Black college students (1 in 10 Black college students attends an HBCU).

Two thoughts come to mind. First is that, despite Freedman’s designation of “crisis,” the difference between overall graduation rates of 38 and 40 percent is not huge. What is significant and deserves attention is the national gap in 6-year graduation rates by race (Asian, 63%, White 57%, Hispanic 45%, Black 38%, Native American, 37% in 2002). Second, HBCUs have been historically marginalized and lag behind other institutions in terms of resources, so the fact that their outcomes are nearly on par with other institutions could be seen to mean that they’re actually doing more with less.

The Washington Monthly made a point along these lines earlier this week, as an aside to their newly devised college rankings. HBCUs actually graduate higher percentages of students than you'd expect, given the mostly socio-economically disadvantaged students they serve. Predicted rate is calculated using multiple regression on national data, and it’s an interesting concept. Full blog entry here.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the signing of the first Presidential executive order on HBCUs, and from September 11-14, the President’s Board of Advisors on HBCUs will be hosting a conference here in DC. Since HBCUs serve a considerable proportion of Black college students, they are a prime target for efforts towards higher ed equity. Will the proceedings get media attention, or is this interest in HBCUs just a blip on the higher ed screen?

More on the history of HBCUs at the United Negro College Fund website.

Just starting out...

We are a group of education policy students at The George Washington University who are attempting to create dialogue, policy ideas, and build community amongst us. We come from diverse education experiences. We are teachers, policymakers, parents, activists, and researchers. While we may all come from different backgrounds, we are united under a common belief in the importance of education in our society and in our world.

Socrates wrote, "Education is the kindling of a flame; not the filling of a vessel". We intend this edublog to be a place where we can come together to fuel our curiosity, to learn a little more about the topics that interest us, and to engage in meaningful conversation together about education policy. It is not our intent for this site to be the end of our search for knowledge, but rather the beginning. A kindled flame.

A Revolution Brewing?

The number of states in outright rebellion against NCLB is growing from 3 to 8….and dissatisfaction with the law is widespread….see here

Agree to Disagree?…Apparently Not

The Washington Post article explores a scientist’s decision to publish an article supporting intelligent design. What was interesting was how the science community reacted and behaved.

College Ready?

ACT scores and national surveys are revealing that the incoming freshman class may be not be academically prepared for the college life. See here and here

Some Interesting Education Articles...

HIGHER BAR TRIPPING SCHOOLS

HOW TO WORK THE SYSTEM TO GET YOUR KIDS A GOOD EDUCATION

TEACHERS SPEND BIG TO SUPPLY WHAT SCHOOLS DON'T

TEACHERS TEACHING CLOSE TO HOME MAY DISADVANTAGE URBAN SCHOOLS

TEACHER TURNOVER COULD COST U.S. $5 BILLION ANNUALLY

The Most Unpopular School Subject

Job Opp: Substitute Teaching

The District and the Consortium of Universities is looking forsubstitutes for the classrooms from which the teachers will be drawn.Ifyou know someone who is interested in such work this fall and spring,please have them go to the website

questions on consortium-please email mfreund@gwu.edu

Being Set Up to Fail?

As the school year come upon us, one third of the District of Columbia's schools will have new principals. (see here)
While the high number of turnover is a concern, I was more struck by Superintendent Janey's quote defending his new principals by stating, "I think they know precisely what is expected of them".

In my opinion, when it comes to successful schools, the issue is not if our principals know what is expected of them, but do they know how to put expectations into action. Knowing what is expected and knowing how to implement, manage, and lead staff and children towards educational success are two totally different animals. Which then begs the question: How do you train your school leaders to be successful implementers?

Apparently, the ed schools have not been doing that very well. According to Arthur Levine, President of Columbia Teacher's College, in his report on education administration programs, found most of these programs to be in poor quality with a lack of high calibur student body. He suggests that a practical and professional business school like approach (with something similar to an MBA) would be more helpful to train future principals and administrators than the current format of obtaining a doctorate (Ed.D). The study also cited that principals felt that they were not prepared to be successful at their jobs.

So, the upcoming year for DCPS makes me a little nervous. (Although I am slightly comforted that they did hire some of their new principals from other districts and from great alternative certification orgs. like New Leaders for New Schools,) While I have faith in our Superintendent, I fear that the good intentions of putting "support systems" in place for new principals will fall through as the school year gets hectic and resources become more scarce. Our newbies in DCPS may be looking at an incredibly difficult year, which if Arthur Levine is right, is not really their fault.