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US Education UpdateIssue 4, October 2000 Contents
Cincinnati, one of the largest cities in Ohio, is the first school district to adopt a pay plan that holds teachers accountable for their performance and pays them accordingly. (There are 44,000 pupils in its school district.) Unlike some teacher compensation plans being tested in other states, the Cincinnati model does not link teachers' pay to students' test performance. Teachers will be required to meet teaching goals set out by the school district. The new Cincinnati Teacher Evaluation and Compensation System evaluates teachers on 16 standards using a four level rubric that defines expected performance at each level. Their performance then determines their career and salary advancement through five levels: apprentice, novice, career, advanced, and accomplished. Teachers will not be able to remain in the apprentice or novice categories for more than two or five years, respectively, without risking termination of their contract. Cincinnati hopes to see a corresponding rise in student achievement. Little opposition was expected as representatives of the teachers' union , along with a team of district administrators and outside consultants, developed the pay plan. The Cincinnati school board had approved the plan earlier in the year and formal approval was required by members of the Cincinnati Federation of Teachers. The union, whose members number 3,200, voted 72% in favour to approve the plan in mid-September. It replaces the existing pay system which links teachers' salary to the length of service and additional educational degrees, regardless of whether the degree relates to the field they are certified to teach. The plan was tested during the last academic year in 10 district schools where about 40 teachers have completed their evaluations. A preliminary review for the school district by Allan Odden's Consortium for Policy Research (Odden is the University of Wisconsin-Madison education professor who helped design the system) has found ''no fatal flaws'' in the plan but no conclusions as to improved student performance can be drawn yet. According to the Assistant Superintendent, Kathleen Ware, the new plan wouldn't immediately increase the district's salaries budget as funds would be redistributed rather than increased. However, future budgets would require additional monies for teachers' salaries. The plan will be fully implemented in the 2002-03 school year. Further information
New Study on Early Childhood Education The National Research
Council (NRC) has issued a report on early-childhood programmes which
is the result of new research showing that young children are more capable
learners than previously believed. The report calls for more specialised
and updated training for teachers of 2 to 5 year olds. It also suggests
that, while music, arts and crafts are important, the curriculum should
focus on reading mathematics, and science. This has raised concerns with
some early-childhood educators who feel that the increasing emphasis on
testing and accountability should not be used at this early stage to make
decisions about a child's academic ability. However, it is generally agreed
that quality teacher training is essential and high priority should go
to funding preschool programmes for children at highest risk of failing
at school thus offsetting the need for funding remedial classes in later
years. The report, Eager to Learn: Educating Our Preschoolers, can be read online at: www.nap.edu/books/0309068363/html/
Improving Teaching: States Provide Examples of Best Practice Mentors Business/Community
Partnerships For example: The Los Angeles Educational
Partnership (LAEP) offers a host of programmes to encourage teaching and
school improvement. Initiatives such as the Learning Community Program
and Urban Learning Centers involve teachers, parents and the community
in establishing goals for schools and examining their management, curriculum
and measures to ensure student well-being. In an effort to improve science
education, Target Science promotes collaboration between elementary and
secondary teachers using resources from industry and the community.In
addition, the SMART catalogue (Science/Math Advancement and Resources
for Teachers) has been published and is available on-line. LAEP Teacher
Networks provide a forum for thousands of teachers to exchange ideas and
host professional development workshops and conferences including training
in technology. Finally, a programme known as Principal for a Day, allows
executives from business and the entertainment industries the opportunity
to shadow a school principal for one day. A continuing relationship between
the school and the representative is encouraged. Boston Plan for Excellence in Public Schools works with Boston Public Schools to introduce a programme of "whole school change". All 132 of the city's public schools are now involved in some area of reform. The schools are divided into four cohorts with the original participating schools (originally known as "21st Century Schools") now called "Cohort 1 Schools". Boston has introduced the Formative Data Management Tool (FDMT). This database is a collection of student data which enables teachers to track performance trends in groups of students and therefore intervene earlier to help students when necessary. For further information: www.bpe.org/ New Visions for Public Schools in New York supports over 30 "New Visions Schools" with programmes to improve school libraries, create and support small public schools, and improve mathematics and literacy teaching. A number of collaborations with the community/business exist such as Chase Active Learning. This programme, supported by the Chase Manhattan Foundation, provides funding to provide technical assistance for teachers and to promote school projects which are related to "real life" issues. For further information: www.publiceducation.org/lef/newyork.htm
New Report on Teachers' Use of Technology The National Center for Education Statistics has released a report, currently only available online, on the use of technology for instructional purposes in the classroom. The report examines the availability of technology, training for teachers, and obstacles teachers face in using it effectively as a teaching tool. Based on research carried out in 1999 the key findings include:
LA's King-Drew Magnet
High School History of King-Drew How the School is
run King-Drew's campus is small (built on a one-acre city block) which means, amongst other things, that it does not have a football field. The Principal believes that, possibly as a result of that, only 30% of the student population is male. The students all spend time shadowing at Drew University (located almost next door to the school). The students observe all aspects of the teaching hospital's work - consultations, operations, laboratory testing etc. The school curriculum is also intended to cover a range of non-science/medicine subjects including, for example, entrepreneurial skills where the students are involved in selling radios (at a fair price) to Bangladesh. The school has strict code, the basis of which is that all those in the school should show respect for each other and for parents and visitors. There is a zero-tolerance policy for fights and vandalism and huge (and successful) efforts are made to keep the school clean and safe. The school has not experienced any of the violence (including gang fights) which is comparatively common in neighbouring schools. Students have a uniform; and staff are required to sign up to a dress code which includes the wearing of shirts and ties for men, no ear-rings (for men) and the wearing of stockings (tights) by the women if they are in skirts or dresses. Women are permitted to wear trousers. No jeans or tennis shoes (sneakers/trainers) are allowed - though tennis shoes can be worn if a teacher has injured his/her foot. The funding for the
school was intended for desegregation but in practice that result has
not been achieved. Royal Visitor: On 2 November HRH The Duke of York will visit the school. Back-to-Basics Approach in Literacy in LA's Inner-City Elementary Schools 1. The Inglewood area of LA is virtually all Latino/African American. It is a poor area where workers are often unskilled, homes are rented and the majority of children at elementary (infant/primary school) level are entitled to free school breakfast and lunch. This is also an area where schools have in recent years been performing towards the top of California's Academic Performance Index. 2. The high-achievers are those schools which have adopted a three-pronged strategy - a focus on basic literacy, regular testing and an emphasis on teacher training. In addition, the most successful schools in the area have moved away from bilingual education and the concept of social promotion - moving a child up to the next grade even though his/her academic ability is not yet at that level. 3. The reading programme in these schools is tightly scripted - teachers will usually be at the same point (the same page even) as colleagues teaching the same grade on any one day. This means that problems can be spotted quickly and it is also intended to allow peers to assist more easily. 4. The schools are adopting a similar approach in teaching mathematics - so far with apparently similar success. 5. Alongside these reforms, much has been done to make schools safe environments with active encouragement of school uniforms. The latter being partly in response to LA's violent gang culture where colours and clothes (especially head gear) denotes affiliation; and partly because of the difficulties caused by the cost and competitiveness of high-fashion labels for children. A full report on the above items, or further information, can be obtained from Judith Grant at judith.grant@worldnet.att.net
Plans for Meeting Future College/University Costs Most states now have some sort of savings programme to help people pay for/put money aside for their children's college costs. The key points are:
Volunteering at the University of Maryland The University of Maryland (UMd) is one of many colleges across the USA to have introduced service-learning into a range of courses. Put simply, this means that students do some form of community service linked to their academic work. The learning part of service-learning is intended to contribute to credits in the same way as, say, a library assignment. Service-learning play is mandatory where it is part of a course. However, students may choose not to take courses which contain service-learning. All these courses follow the PARE model - preparation, action, reflection and evaluation. UMd believes that service-learning can form part of almost any course. For example, one French literature course involves the study of articles in the French press about homelessness. The students are then required to work at the local homeless shelter, e.g. in food preparation. They are also required to find out about homelessness - why people find themselves in that situation, what causes young people to leave home etc. The students must then do a course paper on what they have discovered through their work at the shelter. Here they have to be able to demonstrate that they can use the day-to-day language of the French newspapers - a kind of social analysis in the language of Le Monde rather than Flaubert. An essential aspect of service-learning at UMd is reciprocity - the agencies to which the students are sent must derive benefits too. In other words the student workers are expected to make a positive contribution (to add value) in such a way that the agencies' work benefits from an additional source of help - whether this is help with basic needs like food preparation or something more skilled such as stress management. In addition, the University also runs an active community service unit which brokers voluntary activities. The unit distributes a monthly newsletter and hosts a community service fair each term to encourage students to get involved in voluntary work. A full report on this visit can be obtained from Judith Grant at judith.grant@worldnet.att.net
Education: The Presidential Debate Education is high on the campaigning agenda of the two candidates for the United States Presidency. With the election in early November, this issue of the Update attaches a report on the candidates' differing views on education (please see the attached Word document PresidentialDebate.doc). Previous issues of the Education Update are available on the British Council's USA website.
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