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10/21/2009
Wisconsin should be screaming for accountability
National and state math scores came out last week. They weren’t anything to write home about. Matter of fact, I’d call them frickin’ dismal.
The Journal Sentinel headline writer had rose-colored glasses on: Wisconsin math test scores high, but racial gap is among highest. Well, you tell me.
Fourth-graders in Wisconsin posted the same average score - 244 - that they had two years ago, although the percentage of students deemed proficient or higher in math slid to 45% from 47%. The average score for eighth-graders rose slightly to 288 on a 500-point scale, with the proficiency rate rising as well, to 39%.
And that racial gap.
But the gap in achievement between whites and blacks in Wisconsin remained one of the largest in the nation. A 33-point spread separated the average scores for the state's white and black students in fourth grade. In eighth grade, the gap between scores posted by white and black students in Wisconsin was 40 points. That gap has persisted since 1992 for fourth-graders and 1990 for eighth-graders in Wisconsin. [Emphases are mine.]
(Here are the definitions for “proficient in math.”) Ok, 45% and 39% are better than the 1992 scoring – 24% proficient 4th graders and 27% proficient 8th graders. But surely today’s scores are not setting the world on fire and, at fewer than half proficient, we’re surely not educating kids to thrive and succeed in the workplace.
(Here’s the more accurate headline – from the Christian Science Monitor the same day: No improvement for fourth-graders on national math test. Geez. Don’t we have to start telling it like it really is?)
If you’re curious about how Wisconsin compared to other states, that’s here for 4th grade math scores and here for 8th graders. Wisconsin is solidly in the middle of the rankings.
So do we need reform? Absolutely. All of us should be screaming for it!
To the rescue rides Governor Doyle and his package of reforms.
[In addition to longer days and/or longer school years, Doyle’s] priorities for Wisconsin include overhauling student testing, making student test scores a factor in teacher evaluations, creating new data systems to track student and teacher performance, and changing the state aid funding formula so districts have more flexibility under caps limiting how many tax dollars they can collect.
Call it whatever you want, “school funding reform,” is the last several words of the sentence - all about finding more money to pay more employees more. The union chimes in predictably:
John Matthews, executive director of teachers union Madison Teachers Inc., said that extending the school day or academic year would require more teacher planning time within the school day and paid vacation time during the work year. "Teachers would like more time with kids, and I think it would be more productive," he said. [“thinks?”]
And here’s the deal – except to the union leadership, teacher pay simply doesn’t matter when it comes to student performance. If the community paid my 3rd grade teacher $10,000 more than what she was paid all those years ago, would that have made her teach better? Would it have made me any smarter or perform any better?
Even Ed Garvey’s not happy about it, though his ire stems from ardent opposition to a mayoral takeover of MPS, the governor cowtowing to D.C. in the process.
Doyle hints that Wisconsin will get a huge bundle of cash if Wisconsin will "demonstrate that (we) can put those "good ideas" into operation." I'm not making this up. He said that.
What "good ideas" has the Trifecta [Barrett, Doyle, Evers] come up with? Destroy the elected school board and put the mayor… in charge of schools…. [So] the Obama administration will back a Brink's truck up to Milwaukee's City Hall and dump the cash as a reward. Then they expect the tooth fairy to provide dental care for all students.
Reform is about three words. Accountability, accountability, accountability. None of it matters a twit without accountability. Test scores, portfolio evaluations – and yes, some teachers that don’t come back the next year. And who’s fighting accountability? Of course, you guessed it. Union leadership. Damn.
Update: Thomas Friedman is worried too.
...we need to understand that it is not only our financial system that needs a reboot and an upgrade, but also our public school system. Otherwise, the jobless recovery won’t be just a passing phase, but our future.
Jo Egelhoff, FoxPolitics.net
COMMENTS
I'm with you Jo. Accountability is the key. It seems to me that the teacher's union (and others) need to remember that their origin was to raise teacher compensation. There wasn't anything to do with competency. See here for a good discussion of this.
I don't think there is any rational argument that teachers in Wisconsin on balance are underpaid throughout their careers compared to equivalent professionals and on balance with the professional risks that are faced today. They've won the compensation they strive for. It is very difficult to measure teacher performance and in today's "no child left behind " world we focus on testing, testing, and more testing. Of course the devil is in the details but to paraphrase Potter Stewart "I can't precisely measure a competent teacher but I know one when I observe one".
dave allen (Wed Oct 21 07:00:26 2009)
Sorry to see these scores, but take heart folks ... look at the glass half full!
We're putting 10% more in to our schools next year and you know that every dollar is scrutinized so carefully that at least 9.5% of that will be spent on improving the QUALITY of the kids' education.
After all, every kid deserves a GREAT school, right?
With all that extra money going in to the system the scores are sure to be better in the next report - you just watch.
Jeff (Wed Oct 21 07:45:01 2009)
"[v]ery difficult" Dave? - yet you say accountability is important (critical?) and I guess we just know a competent educator when we see one. So, how do we get those proficiency levels up? How do you suggest we prepare American kids (we're late already) for the 21st century?
Jo (Wed Oct 21 07:53:35 2009)
Real accountability rests with the parents of the children who are underperforming. Test scores and achievement in math and science require a partnership between school and home. It is likely the case that poor home performance is tied to the parent's former academic performance. To continually tie performance back to salaries and benefits for teachers misses the essence of the issue entirely. In order to ensure the best and brightest are teaching our children we need to compensate teachers at levels that compare to private for profit sector salaries for physicists, chemists, boilogists, mathematicians and scientists. Careers and salaries and benefits in education are not attractive to those in our society best equipped to teach.
Billie (Wed Oct 21 08:09:50 2009)
My husband is an excellent teacher, primarily because he was educated in the UK, and knows his subject front-to-back, inside out, top-to-bottom. He was shocked when he came to the US, and discovered the huge grade inflation here, and all the political correctness which takes the place of real knowledge.
Examples:
* "You're not teaching a subject; you're teaching kids"--what's THAT supposed to mean?
* A math teacher that boasts they "can do complicated equations, but can't add or subtract in their head" Hubby asked me, "How can that be? Don't they have to learn arithmetic first?", little realizing, how in the American system, it indeed could happen.
* Students that come into his class after one semester being taught by other teachers, that know little or nothing of what they should know in order to keep up with his own students.
In Britain, students are taught using an incremental approach, so his subject is not a mere one-year whiz course in high school. They spend up to 6 years starting at basics, and add a little more knowledge each year. Contrast this to our country, where kids are taught in "health" classes how to "write the perfect suicide note!" (No lie--hubby had kids come into his class, talking all about their previous "health" class!)
Nevertheless, hubby is not as high on the pay scale as some of the do-nothings, because they worked there longer. And he's had heat from the administration because he dares to keep a Bible on his desk.
He finds it difficult to work with people whose opinions of themselves are so inflated, they're out of touch with reality. I've seen these people too, and most, not all, truly believe they are better than the rest of the population, "because after all, nobody would learn ANYthing without a TEACHER."
All you have to do, if you ingest poison, is to the read the teachers' union publications, and it will work better than sticking your finger down your throat.
emily matthews (Wed Oct 21 08:54:25 2009)
Jo-----it seems that you stirred up a hornets nest today.
Emily is right in her comments. Curriculum must be carefully considered. Adding, subtracting, and estimating need to be taught, practiced, and drilled.
Reading and writing------take in the McGuffey museum in Ohio and see how teaching should be done.
Line by line----precept upon precept.
We need sweeping reform. We need to be BOLD and proud to return to basics. We need a concrete and sequential curriculum. No movies allowed. Read, read and then read some more. Learn to write a sentence.
Every extra curricular needs to be scrutinized for "cost per student". Decisions must be made as to which extra curricular offerings are cost effective and most beneficial.
Extra curricular offerings must be examined. What is the cost per student in different activities? How much does it cost to be in the band compared to taking an advanced math class? You would be surprised.
And now for the real stirring of the hornets nest-----
If a student takes gym class every day----it is as expensive as English class. Do we really reap benefits in gym class worthy of that cost?
How can we compare volleyball in gym class with reading Shakespeare? Do we really need a $65,000 teacher to play softball with the kids?
David (Wed Oct 21 09:58:34 2009)
When are you going to get off your selective finger pointing and begin searching for real solutions to real problems. Accountability yes! But let's be fair and pragmatic. Certainly unions can and do inhibit removal of poor performing teachers. But what about trying to teach students who cannot or, more prevalent, refuse to learn in spite of teachers' efforts.
Where's the parent(s)' accountability to instill motivation and self-discipline? Where's the accountability for politicians who try to cram every social problem imaginable into the agenda of schools detracting from the number of teaching hours in the academic day? Where's the accountability for community law enforcement that warehouses disruptive, rebellious kids in schools rather than deal with them running around town? Where's the accountability for various "educational programs" that continually pull kids from class for sports, arts, music, pop culture, etc. events? If you really prize cognitive achievement: hire and retain high quality teachers, give attractive compensation, restrict non-academic activity, require parents/guardians to collaborate in monitoring work habits and progress, and drop out those students who refuse to participate in their own education. Gee, this sounds much like how successful businesses operate. So why, not allow schools the same level playing field? Or do you prefer simply generating heat?
Dennis (Wed Oct 21 09:59:41 2009)
I prefer accountability. Successful private and public sector work depends on accountability. Show me at what different levels or times it exists in public schools. I'm all ears. Simply hiring the best teachers or paying them whatever you want to pay them does not assure results. Yes, many outside factors exist - which is one reason I (think I) mentioned the option of a portfolio approach. But the difficulty or complexity of the challenge should not preclude reaching the goal. It is (hopefully) the expertise of educators to gauge progress of learners. What about educators? Is the education community working hard enough to achieve the reforms you mention Dennis? Is it everyone's responsibility? Of course. Specifically, whose (plural) responsibility is it to lead on reforms? Really lead? To insist on results? What is the education community doing to implement effective accountability regimens in schools and in communities? Show me - I'm all ears.
Jo (Wed Oct 21 10:12:15 2009)
Pay is definitely not to be used to get better people. It is clear that in the banking and mortgage business that overall pay does definitely not secure a great and successful outcome.
Mike (Wed Oct 21 11:26:37 2009)
Jo,
The devil is indeed in the details. Some of the preceding comments hint at the politicization that infects our society. For example I do not think the Chinese worry about whether humans evolved. They teach the scientific facts. We on the other hand eliminate much the intellectual rigor that is required to be successful in part because of issues such as evolution. We also require our schools to perform many social service functions that are absent in other societies. I'm not saying this is bad, it simply is another focus and cost. Finally (for now) we treat school as a socialization process whereby extracurricular activities take precedence over academic activities in the eyes of many.
When was the last time for example a thousand people showed up for the academic team playoff instead of a football game? Despite all the failings remember one thing from a study done recently (can't find the reference). Inner city kids performed as well as or better than their wealthier suburban peers on math when two things happened. The first was they stayed in school for part of the summer and the second was they were subject to higher expectations and attention. One study hypothesized that if US students simply spent as much time at school as the Chinese we'd do as well as they do in math. Imagine that, forget all the other stuff and just don't have such a long Summer vacation and all the other breaks!
dave allen (Wed Oct 21 11:45:33 2009)
I know the news item of which you speak Dave. Just recently. Can't take time now to find. The points you are driving home reflect on the importance of academic rigor. All of America needs a new attitude - we must be accountable to our kids - many of whom are getting an inadequate education in America. Again I mention Tom Friedman's article from today.
Jo (Wed Oct 21 11:59:15 2009)
How timely, having returned home from the School Board meeting, learning of the 4.2% pay increase, simply because the adjoining districts received a similar increase an Administration/Board officials simply through the towel in, acquiescing to the pay increases. Assuming collective bargaining agreements, aided by Gov. Doyle and the Democratic leadership's abolition of economic hardship factors in bargaining agreements, had stacked the deck against the taxpayer(say District)- they quit, they quit trying. OMG. This clearly illustrates the pathetic situation taxpayers find themselves when bargaining (a loose definition)with Public Employee Unions-we are screwed. Thank you Wm Shakespeare.
Collective agreements, I can't bring myself to say bargaining., have not won a single financial case in my recollection. Please, could someone show one meaningful instance of the taxpayer coming out ahead..
On top of the 4.2% pay increase came a discussion over the 10 days sick leave automatically awarded the starting teacher, no matter the length of service, one day is adequate, coupled with the ability to turn, the 5 days of emergency leave, normally used for a death or family emergency, into days off for a pregnancy leave, all benefits paid.
And as a taxpayer, all you can do at these meetings is sit and listen. Quite frankly, unless some of this changes and changes soon, I would not be surprised if a taxpayer rebellion arose from these poorly negotiated benefits.
When will it stop, how long can folks who would not expect one of these benefits to come in their employ, stand by and agree to these awards?
Richard Parins (Wed Oct 21 22:02:47 2009)
How timely, having returned home from the School Board meeting, learning of the 4.2% pay increase, simply because the adjoining districts received a similar increase an Administration/Board officials simply through the towel in, acquiescing to the pay increases. Assuming collective bargaining agreements, aided by Gov. Doyle and the Democratic leadership's abolition of economic hardship factors in bargaining agreements, had stacked the deck against the taxpayer(say District)- they quit, they quit trying. OMG. This clearly illustrates the pathetic situation taxpayers find themselves when bargaining (a loose definition)with Public Employee Unions-we are screwed. Thank you Wm Shakespeare.
Collective agreements, I can't bring myself to say bargaining., have not won a single financial case in my recollection. Please, could someone show one meaningful instance of the taxpayer coming out ahead..
On top of the 4.2% pay increase came a discussion over the 10 days sick leave automatically awarded the starting teacher, no matter the length of service, one day is adequate, coupled with the ability to turn, the 5 days of emergency leave, normally used for a death or family emergency, into days off for a pregnancy leave, all benefits paid.
And as a taxpayer, all you can do at these meetings is sit and listen. Quite frankly, unless some of this changes and changes soon, I would not be surprised if a taxpayer rebellion arose from these poorly negotiated benefits.
When will it stop, how long can folks who would not expect one of these benefits to come in their employ, stand by and agree to these awards?
Richard Parins (Wed Oct 21 22:19:09 2009)
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