NCTAF News Digest:

A Weekly Digest of News Articles & Reports

Thursday, June 26, 2008

In this Issue:

--NCLB Watch

--Editorial: Better Qualified Teachers

--School District Freezes Hiring, But 791 More Teachers Needed

--Schools For Teachers Flunk Math

--State Pushes for Stricter Rules on Alternative Certification Teacher Programs

--Coalition Says Using a Culturally Based Education Model Could Help Close Achievement Gap

--School and Government Partnership Advocated

Greetings,

This is the NCTAF News Digest, a timely news service provided to our partner states, commissioners, and the education policy community. This Digest is for the personal educational use of the recipient. At publication time, all links were active. Some publications may require free registration. You may wish to bookmark links for future reference.

Editorial: Better Qualified Teachers

The New York Times; June 23, 2008

The United States has a long and dishonorable history of dumping the least-qualified teachers into schools that serve poor and minority students. This shameful practice has persisted nationally, despite the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, which required the states to place “highly qualified” teachers in every classroom. The picture has improved significantly, however, in New York City, where state law has abolished temporary licenses for uncertified teachers, raised standards in teacher preparation programs and spawned innovative strategies for recruiting better teachers. A new study by the nonpartisan National Bureau of Economic Research shows that the teacher qualification gap between poor and well-to-do schools in New York City narrowed considerably between 2000 and 2005. The qualification index took into account several factors, including certification, experience, the teacher’s SAT scores and the rank of the undergraduate college the teacher attended. In the poorest schools, the better-qualified teachers have driven modest improvements in student achievement. It may be that right now the city is doing as well as it can with the current applicant pool. And there is certainly more to teaching than SAT scores and other credentials. Still, the study shows that the city could substantially improve performance in fourth and fifth grade math by hiring more people with strong credentials.

Higher salaries have clearly played a role in strengthening the city’s teacher corps. But the state kicked off the quality movement when it prohibited the hiring of uncertified teachers and required lackluster training programs to shape up or shut down.These programs are indeed producing stronger teachers. But a large part of the improvement in New York is owed to two alternative certification routes: the Teaching Fellows program, which encourages mature professionals to enter teaching, and the national Teach for America organization, which places high-achieving college graduates in schools that are difficult to staff.  The New York example shows that the qualification gap could be closed in a relatively short period of time if the country made it a priority. By emulating the New York model, America could finally give its children the highly qualified teachers that they desperately need.

To view the full article, click here.

School District Freezes Hiring, But 791 More Teachers Needed
-Las Vegas Sun; June 25, 2008

Faced with the likelihood of cutting more than $100 million from its operating budget, the Clark County School District has frozen almost all hiring for the upcoming academic year, leaving it at least 791 teachers short for the school year that starts in August. The number could go up if teachers retire or find other jobs in the next few weeks. A decision on what to do about those vacancies won’t be made until the Legislature and the governor decide how the state will deal with the budget crisis. But the district figures that it may be forced to cut programs and services, and that would allow teachers who are on special assignment as literacy or technology specialists to be reassigned to classroom teacher positions. Additionally, specialists working with English language learners and gifted and talented students could also be reassigned. It is even possible, said Superintendent Walt Rulffes, that administrative personnel could be told to cover classroom assignments. Without the specialists, however, fewer students would get individualized help, and teachers wouldn’t have the same access to training and support for the latest classroom technology and instructional methods, said Bob McCord, associate professor of educational leadership at UNLV’s College of Education.

“That will certainly hurt the district and its students,” McCord said. “It’s a hard decision no one wants to make.” This isn’t the first time the state’s budget woes have forced the district to freeze hiring. In 2003, when the Legislature went into overtime after failing to approve a budget, then-Superintendent Carlos Garcia announced a freeze. Garcia said the district’s literacy and technology specialists, as well as teachers of gifted and talented classes, would be used to fill the vacancies. The freeze was lifted about a month later, after school funding was approved. At the time, some lawmakers decried Garcia’s move as a scare tactic. But there’s little question the latest hiring freeze is in response to very real problems.In a memo to all district employees Tuesday, Rulffes outlined what he described as “the gloomy background.” The district has trimmed about $60 million from its operating budget, with another $50 million to $70 million in cuts projected for the 2008-09 academic year. Additionally, the district could lose $133 million in state funding for the 2009-10 academic year. “I hope you will join me in working to find alternatives to the devastation this level of cuts would produce,” Rulffes wrote.

To view the full article, click here.

Schools for Teachers Flunk Math

-Associated Press; June 26, 2008

For kids to do better in math, their teachers might have to go back to school.

Elementary-school teachers are poorly prepared by education schools to teach math, finds a study being released Thursday by the National Council on Teacher Quality. Math relies heavily on cumulative knowledge, making the early years critical. The study by the nonpartisan research and advocacy group comes a few months after a federal panel reported that U.S. students have widespread difficulty with fractions, a problem that arises in elementary school and prevents kids from mastering more complicated topics like algebra later on. The report looked at 77 elementary education programs around the country, or roughly 5 percent of the institutions that offer undergraduate elementary teacher certification. It found the programs, within colleges and universities, spend too little time on elementary math topics. Author Julie Greenberg said education students should be taking courses that give them a deeper understanding of arithmetic and multiplication. She said the courses should explain how math concepts build upon each other and why certain ideas need to be emphasized in the classroom.

Teacher candidates know their multiplication tables, but "they don't come to us knowing why multiplication works the way it does," said Denise Mewborn, who heads the University of Georgia department of math and science education. The university was cited in the report for having an "exemplary program," while nine others met basic requirements. The rest offered too little math coursework or coursework that was considered weak, according to the report. The University of Georgia requires teacher candidates to take courses to help them understand concepts underlying elementary-school math, as well as math courses not designed for teachers. The report found significant differences in the number and kind of courses required by each education program. Education schools also are not being selective enough, the report stated. Most require applicants to take an admissions test, usually around their sophomore year of college. But the test, which typically includes reading, writing and math sections, is far too easy, according to the report. "Almost anyone can get in. Compared to the admissions standards found in other countries, American education schools set exceedingly low expectations for the mathematics knowledge that aspiring teachers must demonstrate," said the report.

To view the full article, click here.

To view the full report, click here.

State Pushes for Stricter Rules on Alternative Certification Teacher Programs

-The Dallas Morning News; June 22, 2008

Your child's teacher could be 30 years old and new to the classroom. If so, chances are she left behind another career and enrolled in an alternative certification program to become a teacher. It's possible she barely maintained a "C" average in college. Or that she received little training before her first day in the classroom. Now, a little-known state commission in Austin has become the stage for a political battle over whether Texas should impose standards on the increasingly popular alternative certification industry. The State Board for Educator Certification, or SBEC, which licenses teachers, is considering a new rule requiring alternative certification programs to accept only students who maintained a 2.5 grade-point average or better in college. So-called "alt-cert" teachers also would be required to go through a set amount of training hours before facing students in the classroom. The proposal is important because nearly one out of five public-school teachers in Texas – and roughly half of all new teachers each year – are products of alt-cert training programs. The numbers mirror a national trend.

Arrayed in favor of the new rules are state education officials, teachers colleges, teachers groups and most school district hiring officers. They say stricter state regulation will enhance teacher quality and improve public school student performance. Opponents include for-profit companies that run alt-cert programs, high-poverty urban school districts and rural school districts. The companies don't want to limit their customer base. The school districts have trouble attracting teachers and believe the expanded pool of job candidates that alt-cert programs produce is good for them. "There's a battle going on between people who think we should have high entrance requirements before people get into the classroom versus free-market people who think we should let anyone into the classroom and then look at their students' achievement and decide whether to keep them," said Ed Fuller, a University of Texas education professor. Alternative certification programs sprang up in the 1980s to compete with traditional university teacher training programs. They were intended to attract more job applicants for hard-to-fill subject areas such as math, science and bilingual education – areas for which universities are not producing enough teachers. For-profit companies, nonprofits, urban school districts and the Texas Education Agency's regional offices all run alt-cert programs. They charge students about $4,000 each. The growth of alt-cert teachers has been explosive. Denton-based iteachTexas, a for-profit company, offers training online. In just five years, it has become the largest producer of teachers in the state, according to SBEC figures. Almost 1,400 iteachTexas customers were certified last year.  "I want to make teaching accessible to everyone," said Diann Huber, iteachTexas director and a former University of North Texas education instructor.

To view the full article, click here.

Coalition Says Using a Culturally Based Education Model Could Help Close Achievement Gap

-Diverse: Issues in Higher Education; June 26, 2008

Teachers must be sensitive and inclusive to all students’ cultural backgrounds, educators and advocacy organizations said during a congressional briefing on Capitol Hill Wednesday.The briefing, “Culturally Based Teaching: A Model for Student Success, ” provided educators and student advocates with the opportunity to share their views and provide federal policymakers with first-hand accounts on how using a culturally based education model will empower students and help close the achievement gap. The teaching model encourages quality instructional practices rooted in cultural and linguistically relevant contexts. During the briefing, many of the panelists agreed that educators and advocacy organizations must provide statistical data and other information to encourage lawmakers to support and fund the cultural-based teaching model. The event sponsor, Campaign for High School Equity (CHSE), acts as a diverse coalition of national organizations representing communities of color that believe high schools should prepare every student for graduation, college, work and life.

Dr. Sheryl Denbo, executive director of the Mid-Atlantic Equity Center, which works with educators to close the achievement gap among students in Mid-Atlantic states including Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia, said students who feel that their culture is validated in school will be more likely to participate and take an active role in advancing their education. “We’re not asking for something that’s just for Latino students, we’re not asking for something that’s just for African-American students [and] we’re not asking for something that’s just for working-class students,” Denbo said. “We’re looking for something that’s for everyone.” Dr. Willard Sakiestewa Gilbert, president of the National Indian Education Association (NIEA), shared NIEA’s research on the impact of culturally based curricula in public schools and communities. “These approaches include recognizing and utilizing native languages as a first or second language that can incorporate traditional cultural characteristics and involve teaching strategies that are harmonious with the native culture knowledge and contemporary ways of knowing and learning,” said Gilbert in an earlier statement.

To view the full article, click here.

School and Government Partnership Advocated

-The Miami Herald; June 23, 2008

Municipal governments and public school districts must work together to improve student achievement, Miami-Dade Schools Superintendent Rudy Crew and Miami Mayor Manny Diaz told civic leaders from across the country Sunday. ''We can't get at these children -- we can't get at their communities, we can't get at the derivative of their pain -- if we don't link our arms and create a much different architecture than we currently have,'' Crew said. Crew and Diaz were among four panelists who discussed improving graduation rates at the U.S. Conference of Mayors, held at the Hotel Inter-Continental Miami. They touted the success of the educational compact signed in 2005 between the city and the school district. ''The compact has a list of goals that the city and the school system have committed themselves to,'' Diaz said, noting that many of the goals had been accomplished. Crew pointed to Elevate Miami, a joint initiative designed to develop students' social and civic skills. For example, if third-graders within the city of Miami are well-mannered -- and if they come to school dressed appropriately and ready to learn -- they are rewarded with new laptop computers at the end of the school year.

''These aren't dumb children,'' Crew said. ``These aren't children that don't have the capacity to learn. These are children who don't know how to function socially.'' Later, other panelists shared strategies for improving student achievement. Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin said she spends Saturdays mentoring teenagers. She has organized job fairs and career fairs, she said, and even exchanges text messages with her students. Franklin's office has focused on workforce development by creating professional training programs and summer jobs for teenagers, she said. She has also raised private funds to help underprivileged students pay for college. ''The public schools were really not prepared to work with students in the transition from high school to college, so lots of young people didn't see the value in the diploma,'' Franklin said. ``They didn't know what they would do next.'' Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, another panelist, stressed the importance of collaboration. ''By getting a process in place and getting the community together -- the nonprofits, the community leaders, the civic leaders -- and really allowing them to participate, their sense of ownership becomes very powerful,'' he said. ``You end up with a better plan.''

To view the full article, click here.