Businessweek takes a long and analytic look at The Gates Foundation and education.

It would be nice to think New York is the only state with this problem, but it’s not.  A lot of states have been using sleight of hand on tests and proficiency rates to make themselves look better than they are.   It’s part of the whole pathology in education governance around looking good rather than doing well.

You’re hearing a lot of excited chatter about how common standards will make this problem go away.   That’s wrong.  The same political and optical pressures will exert themselves in a new venue, which is why the governance and fidelity requirements around the new common core are the ballgame, not just how many states decide to adopt.

Lay primer on cut scores here (pdf).  You can see how (a) easy it is to get into mischief here and (b) how a new set of standards isn’t a cure by itself.

Even before the current downturn it was clear that the fiscal picture for schools was changing in some unfavorable ways.

That means the dreaded ‘p’ word, productivity, is now getting more attention in policy discussions.   It’s also why you absolutely don’t want to miss Paul Hill and The Commodore’s* new paper on this very question. (And if you haven’t read The Commodore’s book on education spending that’s a must-read, too).  They’re on the leading edge of one of the issues that will define the education debate for at least the next decade.

Vander Ark has some productivity ideas, too.

*I’m affiliated with CRPE.

Ron Matus is admirably still on the side deals story. Backstory via this link. Where’s the press elsewhere on this?  The durability question is enormous here.

I’ve been traveling a lot of Fridays and the queue is getting long.   I’ve got Whitmire, Wallerstein, and some others coming.  But today is another fishing W: Will Marshall.

Among other roles Will is the founder of the Progressive Policy Institute and blogs at Progressive Fix. I’m a PPI alum as are some other folks kicking around the education space today in classrooms, government, and NGOs/social ventures.   He’s also finishing up service on the D.C. Public Charter School Board where he was a consistent voice for quality and accountability.    A native of Norfolk with ties to Virginia’s Eastern Shore Will still gets out there when he can.  Here’s a nice stripped bass or ‘rockfish’ from the end of June.  Past fish porn via this link.

The primary problem -  from a strategic standpoint – with the proposed Obey cuts to the Obama Administration’s education priorities to pay for the edujobs bill was that by cutting Race to the Top House Appropriations Chairman David Obey (D-WI) instantly pulled governors and state education chiefs into the fight against him.  A lot of other groups jumped in but the bait and switch nature of the cuts to an ongoing competition made them untenable.  Substantively there are plenty of arguments against the cut and even the edujobs bill itself absent some additional reform but at this point this really isn’t about substance.

Realizing this problem, however, the new proposal being floated yesterday and today to break the logjam in the Senate (where the Obey proposal was a non-starter) would only cut money from the federal charter schools program and the Teacher Incentive Fund.   Although the amount of the proposed cuts in smaller ($200 million in total) the political risk for the reform community is just as high, if not higher.  Reformers are being tested politically.  But there will be fewer allies in the fight as not as many states and jurisdictions are touched by these funds.

Stay tuned.

At DCPS Susan Cheng is off to Harvard to be part of the inaugural class of the new joint Graduate School of Education, B-School, and Kennedy School leadership program.  She’s a standout and it’s an impressive class all around.  But that means DCPS needs to replace the irreplaceable and find a new central office coordinator.  If you think you’ve got the goods here’s a job description. Send your resume and info directly to Susan if you want to be considered.

Over at Civic Enterprises John Bridgeland needs an education specialist and chief of staff.  When he’s not helping address malaria in Africa, national service here in the states, and other worthy issues, John focuses on education including some path-breaking work on dropouts.  Civic is a fast-paced entrepreneurial organization with a great team.   To do this job you need education policy experience, project management experience, and the ability to interact with senior officials.   Send your materials or questions to Jessica Milano.

Nation article on higher ed takes a look at alignment and student support (pdf).  Features REEO, an interesting social venture focused on supporting non-traditional students and its founder.

Comments from Aspen Ideas.

Here’s your chance to build it via the Kauffman Foundation. Very cool competition initiative.

Two documents from the American Federation of Teachers meeting worth checking out are Bill Gates’ speech to the AFT in Seattle (pdf) and Randi Weingarten’s speech to the delegates (pdf). Close reading rewarded in different ways both speeches are very important in some subtle and not subtle ways.  Press clips here for local coverage and here for the invaluable Sawchuk.  Also, some video of the goings on around opposition to the Gates appearance.  It’s being circulated as a shame on Randi video by her detractors in the union but I don’t think that’s the takeaway at all, she comes off looking like the responsible ringmaster host trying to be gracious for an invited guest.

Understory: So the unelected government spoke to the AFT but not the elected one?  Secretary of Education Arne Duncan in Seattle for an event with Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) same time as the convention, but no appearance.  Slight or signal, or both?

Standing disc: The BMGF supports Bellwether.

Given the political stakes in D.C. with the upcoming election I figured the release of the latest round of test scores would occasion a free-for-all.  But so far pretty measured.

Just as last year’s scores shouldn’t have been a cause for loads of celebration, this year’s shouldn’t cause people to freak out – especially because elementary scores seem to be slightly down across the city, in charter and non-charter public schools.   And regardless the overall trends are in the right direction (as Michael Casserly points out in the paper released by DCPS today) and some ebbs and flows are par for the course.

Update: Longer WaPo look at this.   Here’s the paradox of all the data that is now available.  On the one hand it’s giving a lot more analytic bite to understanding school performance.  But on the other it’s creating a short-term perspective on ups and downs, like following a sports team in the playoffs.   Here the overall trends are going in the right direction — in a city where for too long students faced catastrophically long odds of success — and so a one-year dip should be examined but it’s not cause for alarm.

In terms of the politics here, obviously the stronger message for Fenty and Rhee in an election year would be uninterrupted upward movement.  But they can credibly point to the overall trends and cite a lot of progress  under Rhee and have a credible and powerful message on education and these scores don’t really change that.  To counter that narrative, City Council Chairman Gray, who is challenging Fenty, released a set of education proposals the other day.  WaPo ed board unpacks here.

Education Equality Project is going to announce a slate of new board members tomorrow morning, including John Legend, Margaret Spellings, Michelle Rhee, Deb Gist, Corey Booker, Phil Handy, Ben Austin, and others…Given the stakes and fluidity in the education debate today, as the Vice President might say, it’s a big…deal.

Update: Full roster of new board here.

Let’s face it, it’s a safe bet that the weather is nicer in Denver on most days than wherever you are.   Plus, there is a quirky and interesting charter school scene there.    The Denver School of Science and Technology, a school my colleague Mary Wells has done a lot of work with, needs a high school director (pdf). Cool opportunity for the right person.  And in Denver!

Some chatter about yesterday’s Times story on Teach For America. One can hold out hope that at some point reporters will actually parse the quality and explanatory leverage of research rather than piling studies up or simply equating them, but it’s a good bet Michael Winerip won’t be leading that charge.

But the important story buried in The Times that hasn’t gotten a lot of attention was the July 4 article about coming changes in the education programs at Rikers. Tim Lisante, quoted in the article, and Cami Anderson, the superintendent of District 79 in NYC, have been at this for a while and this reorganization is a big deal and big step forward.  If it’s done right it holds promise to improve the quality of schooling for students on Rikers and serve as a model.

Politico continues to own the edujobs story with a must-read today on the dynamics.

Sara Mead turned in some good stuff here on Eduwonk last week, now she’s launched her Ed Week blog:  Sara Mead’s Policy Notebook.

ERN’s Van Schoales with a zeitgeist piece worth checking out.  And NACSA’s* Greg Richmond with an important commentary on charter school governance.   *I’m on NACSA’s policy advisory board.

Education Pioneers is already succeeding at their core mission of bringing talent into the education field through summer fellowships for highly promising talent from graduate and professional schools.  I’m on their DC-area board but they operate in six other cities around the country and are growing.

They’re also launching a new initiative (being piloted this year in the San Francisco Bay Area), the Analyst Fellowship Program.  EP will recruit top analysts from the private sector for a 10 month fellowship with a leading education organization (school district, charter management organization, education nonprofit). The Analyst Fellows will provide these organizations with the analytic talent they need to make data-driven decisions to forward their mission.  The program is designed with the career path of young professionals in mind and provides them with introductory exposure and access to successful leaders, organizations, and reform initiatives in urban education. Ultimately, the goal is to increase the capacity needed to improve data practices in the education sector.

The new program launches at the end of August in the Bay Area. Education Pioneers has just reopened their application process because several organizations keep banging on their door for more analyst capacity – including Bellwether.

Know anyone who would be a great fit for this program? Tell them about it soon.  They’re only accepting resumes through July 16th. Click here to go straight to the application.

Been out of town but email works everywhere:

Good news piece in today’s WaPo about juvenile justice and education in DC. With a good word for Maya Angelou and the great work they’re doing.

AYPF has a channel on YouTube, check it out.

Justin Cohen says Bill Ferguson could be the hottest education reformer in Maryland if he wins his primary.  He is making education reform a part of his platform in a city where that hasn’t always been a way up.  Worth watching to see how ingrained change is becoming in the Clipper City.

A special Washington Monthly report zeroes in on the high school drop-out crisis and efforts to address it. The articles on New York, which has made significant progress in raising graduation rates and closing “drop-out factory” schools, but which also faces some real unsolved challenges, and Portland, where efforts to improve graduation rates have gone nowhere–despite a student population that appears less challenging than those of many urban districts–are particularly interesting. Given administration and Congressional signals that high school graduation and college and career readiness will be a major focus of ESEA reauthorization, these articles are particularly timely.

–Sara Mead

A new report from the Southern Education Foundation focuses in on children living in extreme poverty–those from families with incomes of less than half of the poverty line, or $11,000 for a family of 4. 5.7 million American children–or 7.9% of people under age 18–live in extreme poverty. And the numbers are getting worse in the current economic downturn. Troubling news, and relevant to the reform conversation.

This report also draws particular attention to the challenges facing rural communities, where some of the highest rates of extreme child poverty are found–particularly in the South. Rural schools don’t get a lot of attention in education reform debates, which tend to focus on urban school districts. But many disadvantaged and minority children live in rural communities and attend rural schools that are failing them just as badly as their urban peers. We need to make sure we don’t ignore the unique challenges and reforms needed in these schools and the students they serve when we talk about education reform.

Sidenote: The SEF report cites a 2001 documentary, LaLee’s Kin, about extreme poverty and educational failure in the rural South. In a year when education documentaries are getting a lot of attention, I’d really like to see this one. But it doesn’t seem to be available on DVD. If anyone has any ideas for how it might be viewed, please e-mail me at myfirstnameATbellwethereducation.org).

Stephen Sawchuck, covering the AFT convention live from Seattle, offers highlights and analysis of Randi Weingarten’s convention speech, which you can read in full here.

There’s been a lot of attention focused on Weingarten lately, as some statements and positions she’s taken have created cracks in the reformist union leader image she’s cultivated over the years, and I’m sure this speech will be carefully parsed and critiqued–but not by me right now. I have only two very small and tangential comments:

In the speech, Weingarten says a lot of things that mischaracterize both reformers and the reform agenda. But she does have one criticism of reformers that is absolutely, dead-on accurate: Too many really don’t recognize or care about the critical importance of good curriculum. AFT does, and this is an issue that they have done really admirable work on, and where reformers could and should learn from their example. Cue Robert Pondiscio.

Second, it’s a bit jarring  to read the speech and keep hitting the references to higher education faculty, nurses, even lifeguards–other groups of workers that AFT represents (and is actively building its base by organizing) besides public school teachers–Something people often forget when thinking/talking/writing about AFT. But why no mention of childcare workers?

–Sara Mead

He claims he’s been in Georgia, advising on their education system. But has Rick Hess really been in South Africa this whole time, moonlighting as a Spanish soccer star? CRPE’s Robin Lake points out the striking resemblance between Hess and Spain’s Carles Puyol…

Rick Hess

Carles Puyol

Seriously, Rick: You should think about growing out those bangs.

UPDATE: Some enterprising soul created this Hess-Puyol mashup:

Introducing Carlick Hesyol, AEI's newest striker.

–Sara Mead

Over at the Hechinger blog, Sarah Garland has a thoughtful post investigating the incredible anger parents and community members often express about school closures–Even when the schools in question are demonstrably horrible paces for children. Garland does an excellent job laying out the issue and some of the historical reasons that these closures often draw particular opposition from leaders in the African American community.

Unfortunately, anger at school closures is an issue I’ve gotten to experience myself this year, as the PCSB has moved to cull some low-performing schools from our portfolio. It’s also one of the biggest pieces of evidence I see against free-marketeers who argue that parent choice alone is sufficient to ensure school quality. Point to any truly abysmal, even unsafe, school  slated for closure, and you can find parents fighting desperately to keep the school open. That shouldn’t surprise anyone–even the worst schools can work for some children, school closures are highly disruptive for children and families, and some families have been failed by public schools for so long that their expectations are dismally low–but it doesn’t mean those schools have any business staying in operation.

School closures are going to become increasingly important in the coming years. Under RTT, new SIG regs and the eventual reauthorization of ESEA, we’ll likely see more districts consider closure as an option for chronically low performers (and there are good arguments why they should).

Moreover, the intense fiscal pressure school districts are going to face in the coming years are going to force more of them, particularly in declining population areas, to “right size,” closing underenrolled schools and those that are too small cost-effectively educate kids–as we’ve already seen Michelle Rhee in D.C., Robert Bobb in Detroit, and John Covington in Kansas City begin to do. These changes are going to be incredibly wrenching, brutal, controversial–but in many cases necessary. Understanding the sources of parent and community anger is the first step in developing better ways to communicate and dispel that anger to work with parents to move their children from horrible schools to better ones.

Addendum: A Washington Post editorial today supports the PCSB’s efforts to close low performing schools.

–guestblogger Sara Mead

Achievement First is moving into Rhode Island!  And they’re looking for a great leader for their first Ocean State school. If you fit that description, and are interested in being part of this great CMO and the dramatic reform work going on in Rhode Island, check out the description here.

As a policy analyst working on charter school issues for about a decade, I’ve written a lot about the importance of quality charter school authorizing for ensuring the quality of charter schools. Over the past year, I’ve had the opportunity to live the implications of that analysis, as a member of the District of Columbia Public Charter School Board, which authorizes charter schools in Washington, D.C. I’ve learned a lot–thanks in large part to our dedicated and incredibly knowledgeable PCSB staff, as well as my wise and committed PCSB colleagues–and that learning has pressed me to think hard about some assumptions I once had (more on that later). But most of all, it’s reaffirmed my belief that quality charter school authorizing is extremely important–particularly in a city, like D.C., where nearly 40% of our students attend charter schools–but also really complicated to get right.

That’s why I was excited to see this new Education Next article by the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation’s Checker Finn and Terry Ryan (writing with journalist Michael Lafferty) offering an admirably frank telling of the Fordham Foundation’s work authorizing charter schools in Ohio. After Ohio passed a law–with Fordham’s support and encouragement–enabling nonprofit organizations to become authorizers, the folks at Fordham, which had a long record of supporting charters, decided to put their money where their mouth was by becoming an authorizer. And I mean money where their mouth was literally–as the article notes, Fordham spent nearly 3 times as much on quality authorizing from their own organizational resources as they received in authorizing fees from schools. In a relatively brief piece, Ryan, Finn, and Lafferty detail many of the challenges facing charter schools authorizers in Ohio and many other states: inequitable resources for charter schools; lack of funding for quality authorizing; lack of curricular or financial expertise on the part of many smaller, community-based charter operators; lack of support infrastructure for small, stand-alone schools; challenges of figuring out how much support/intervention an authorizer can/should appropriately offer struggling schools. Although we’re fortunate not to have some of these problems–or not to have them to the same extent–in D.C., I identified with a lot of the issues the authors address.

This is must-reading for anyone interested in charter school issues–and authorizing in particular–as I expect their longer book about their experiences will be when it comes out this summer. Especial kudos to the authors for offering an honestly “warts and all” picture and resisting the temptation to sweep disappointments and failures under the rug.

–guestblogger Sara Mead

Beneath the top-line stories and debate about the edujobs bill, there’s another interesting story going on regarding some unique restrictions the bill would place on Texas’ use of edujobs funds. Jenny Cohen and eduflack (aka Patrick Riccards) have the goods.

–Sara Mead

Public Innovators has a good round-up on the strengths and weaknesses of the social innovation fund one year in.

National Journal’s hosting a rip-roaring debate on edujobs. Ariela Rozman’s takedown of those who criticize reforms as unproven, even while standing in the way of their implementation and evaluation, is particular must-reading.

–Sara Mead

Creative Commons Board Chair Esther Wojcicki and the Joan Ganz Cooney Center‘s Michael Levine have an interesting piece up at Huffington Post looking at the potential of technology to help improve early literacy instruction and outcomes. Conversations about using technology to improve productivity in education tend to focus on older students–virtual high schools and so forth–but there are some really interesting technology* applications going on in the early literacy arena. I’m personally particularly interested in the potential of technology to help home-based child care providers–a group that’s often overlooked in early childhood policy debates even though they care for a lot of children, including some of the most disadvantaged children–improve the quality of early literacy and cognitive supports they provide youngsters in their care.

*disc: Bellwether Education Partners works with Wireless Generation.

–guestblogger Sara Mead