I was really attracted to the idea of trying to shift the role of education in American culture, but how to do that? That money could create some schools here and there and buy small changes, but a culture shift is huge.

My idea is to use the $5 billion to create a prime-time reality show based on the importance of education. Not exactly sure what the premise would be, but I’d hire some big name reality show creators to figure that out.

My thinking is that TV is, right now, the way to enact swift cultural change. Reality shows like Trading Spaces, Queer Eye, Biggest Loser and fictional shows like Sex and the City have had subtle, permanent effects on how the nation sees their homes, their bodies, the people around them, and their lives in general. We talk about all kinds of things on blogs, and news media stories spread like wild fire, but they don’t have the lasting impact needed to change the nation.

Right.

I would use the $5 billion to kickstart a year-round school model that would give teachers a full planning day every Wednesday. If the realities of the cash wouldn’t go far enough, I could see starting with an early dismissal day every week.

The program on a large scale would cost quite a bit more than $5 billion, but private dollars to enrich the non-core Wednesday curricula with art, music, physical education and other activities would come. It would likely also be easier to use volunteers and other types of “not highly qualified” personnel (who are cheaper) during this time.

I choose Wednesdays because of research and anecdotal evidence that show that kids retain more at the beginning and end of study sessions and that shorter periods with some time to reflect lead to greater retention of material. I also think Wednesdays would force teachers and administrators to think of the planning days as work days rather than opportunities for long weekends, etc.

I think we can make great gains toward professionalizing teaching by acknowledging and valuing the importance of planning and evaluation and the time these activities necessitate. At present, attorneys bill hundreds of dollars an hour to prepare a case they will present in court, while effective teachers give up their unpaid personal time with their families to grade papers and plan lessons. We have to stop pretending that effective teaching can happen off-the-cuff.

Have a program to create teacher’s assistants. Not teaching assistants, but Teacher’s Assistants, that is administrative professionals who can perform all that paperwork and documentation that teachers spend hours upon hours doing.

One of the complaints that I see and hear all the time is that NCLB, other federal laws, state laws, local regulations, etc. create a huge mountain of paperwork that requires teachers to devote probably 3-5 hours a week of paperwork and even more at grade times.

So like lawyers have paralegals and executives have executive assistants, have a classification of job where professionals can help teachers with all the paperwork, allowing the teachers to focus on teaching. Some of hte jobs a Teacher’s Assistant would do include:

Recording grades from exams/homework/quizzes into the appropriate software.

Read, organize, classify and prioritize communications and where possible and appropriate, respond to communications from parents. For example, routine matters like “Please excuse my daughter early because she has a doctor’s appointment” don’t need to be handled by the teacher themselves.

Schedule volunteers who want to come to help in class.

Manage equipment/technology and resource needs for teachers based on lesson plans, i.e. calling the library or media center to get videos, etc.

Data compliance matters required by federal, state and local authorities–i.e. filling out reports, etc.

In most schools, you could have a Teacher Assistant for a group of 3-4 teachers, perhaps more, who could handle the administrative needs of teachers allowing the teachers to do what they should be doing–teaching.

I have always been a fan of building from the bottom up. Without a strong and sturdy base a house, a statue, and more importantly an education will crack and fall before it can reach its glory. I don’t think I can stress this enough, preK, pre-K, PreK. When I say pre-K I refer to programs where the teachers have been trained the same way elementary school teachers are, four year colleges, student teaching, and a whole lot of experience before they leap into the role of lead teaching. I’m talking about classrooms that have the materials to engage students in important fine motor, gross motor, and emergent literacy activities. I’m talking about the right early interventions for all students…at the appropriate cost (and the appropriate opportunity cost). Teachers must be trained in education, psychology, and how to interact with parents and guide parents to extending the lessons from classroom to home.

So what about the 5 billion? That goes into teacher training, paying teachers, resources for the classroom, and adjunct therapies. I know it’s not enough to fix every problem, but it should sure help prevent a lot of problems that might be encountered down the road. Instead of working to close that gap later the money can help prevent the gap.

Free pre-K can have so many hidden benefits. In a world without free pre-K for all the lucky can pay their way into a strong base for the children…and many of those still have the luxury of a stay at home parent or an excellent nanny and team of babysitters. What about those who can’t afford either? Well chances are the parents have to work, and without a quality day care or babysitter the children end up at the hands of someone who lets the child watch tv all day, doesn’t stimulate vocabulary, and worst of all a situation where neglect and abuse can filter in to a child’s life way to young. Pre-K can fix that. The parent who must work to feed the child can work guild free knowing that his or her baby is being taken care of emotionally, physically, and educationally.

I know I’m biased by my experiences in the world of pre-K, I don’t claim otherwise. But I truly believe with my heart and soul that $5 billion can help impact the lives of children all over America and end a vicious cycle, starting at the beginning with pre-K.

Pick middle schools in neighborhoods with the worst high school dropout rates and place counselors at those schools to specifically focus on students with low attendance. I envision these counselors as connectors to community services and a hub for family outreach. Yes, they won’t be able to solve all of the issues confronting students, but by intervening early and advocating for services for this group of high-risk students, I believe they would be able to provide many with the extra support or guidance they need to get into the classroom more often, learn more, and stick with education at least through high school, if not beyond.

Schools need to learn to tell their own stories better, not just on a local level, but on a state and national level. There are so many great things going on in our schools, but the stories we hear are too often the negative ones.
Schools need to not only share their data, but share positive classroom achievements, examples of excellent teaching, examples of creativity in the classroom, and individual stories. When you go to a school’s website, you should see photos and stories of what that school is about. When you go to the state’s website, you should see stories of what that state’s schools are about, not just data. That doesn’t take much money–but it takes re-orienting the focus.

Now to the suggestions:
1. $1 billion dollar innovation and incentive fund to schools for reform. No dictates or strings attached.
“One size” does not fit all, and individual schools or districts often know what is needed. Encourage innovation, creativity and risk-taking to rethink “what works” through this program.

2. A federal push for a master teacher program. Teachers can work 20-30 years in the field with no room for advancement. A first year teacher and a 25 year teacher are basically at the same “level”–which doesn’t create incentive to stay in the field. Create a tiered teaching system–with beginning teachers, mid-range, and master teachers. Beginning teachers apprentice with master teachers, and have more support (rather than being put in the worst classes with the most students or the most difficult schools). Scaffold their entry into the profession so that we retain more teachers.

3. Require student teachers to study with more than one teacher at more than one school. In most states, student teachers work with one teacher for a semester. By having them experience different schools and working with different lead teachers, they will have a much more practical and varied set of skills upon which to draw for their own teaching. This would create more realistic expectations for student teachers also, before they enter the field.

4. $1 billion to support innovative principal leadership programs around the country. School leaders have an incredible power to lead change on their campuses. The money should go to already existing programs to support their efforts.

5. $1 billion towards incentives for schools to reduce the teaching load. High school and middle school are often where you begin to see the disconnect for students–yet teachers have loads of 150 students and up. How can you personalize what you do, and offer individual support to each student with that many students passing through the classroom each day?
Teachers need more time within the work day for professional learning.

5. 1/2 billion –Incentives to encourage schools to hire trained paraprofessionals, not just for administrative staff, but to “groups” of teachers as well, to assist with tasks like copying, entering grades into the computer, bulletin boards, making appointments, and clerical tasks, so that teacher’s time can be spent on teaching or preparing lessons or observing other teachers or keeping up with information in their field.

6. $1/2 billion Start a federal campaign to include students in school reform. They are the end users but are rarely included. Encourage states to include students on their State Boards of education, school boards to include a student representative on their school board, principals to include students on their planning committees, and federally, include student panels and ask for student feedback as policies are reviewed.

7. A focus on globalization and global projects that is open-minded, uses technology to bridge differences and build relationships, and that isn’t fear-based. (Less restrictive policies at the federal level on internet use, for example). Again, this could be more of a federal and state priority, rather than something that required funding. Students exist in a very different world than we did. Their classrooms should look and feel different than ours did because the world is a much more connected place.

I see many similar things mentioned throughout the comments, and the irony is–we know many things that “work” with students. And yet we don’t elevate those things or focus priority on them.

And I think so many of the changes needed begin with respect — respect for students and respect for teachers. If we don’t have that respect, then no amount of money poured into education will make any difference.