Can Teacher Training Help Memphis Schools? By Patricia Hawke

In the state of Tennessee Memphis Schools are lagging behind. With 80-81% of Tennessee’s 4th grade students performing on grade level in both math and reading, the children in Memphis Schools are well behind in the 63-66% range. Dropout rates also plague Tennessee’s largest district. 32.5% of students will drop out of Memphis Schools before graduating.

When the “No Child Left Behind Act” (NCLBA) was signed into law in 2002, every school in the nation became accountable for reaching a minimal level of competency. In 2004 the Tennessee Department of Education labeled 148 of Memphis Schools failures by those standards.

To address these concerns Memphis Schools have focused on math and literacy initiatives, adoptions of new textbooks, and better teacher training. In Memphis Schools, where 71% of students qualify for free or reduced lunches, the impact of teacher development in raising test scores is critical. How much influence teachers have on student achievement, and the quality of those professionals working in struggling schools, has been a topic of debate in Memphis Schools for years.

A recent $10 million federal grant with the Peabody Center for Education Policy may help clarify some of these issues. Memphis Schools could eventually benefit, or change course, depending on the finding of trials to be funded by the grant. The five-year grant will investigate the correlation between significantly increased teacher pay and student achievement. That means a difference of several thousand versus several hundred dollars per year.

How well do Memphis Schools pay their teachers? Well, that depends. When adjusted for cost of living Memphis Schools look pretty good. Scholastic’s Instructor Magazine recently put Memphis Schools in their Top 5 list for cities where teacher pay goes the furthest. The thing is, no one is really sure how important that is. What will it mean for Memphis Schools if the grant finds little correlation between teacher pay and student achievement? It could mean teachers just aren’t motivated by money. It might mean that home environment trumps schools environment. Or it could mean something else all together.

Meanwhile, Memphis Schools are trying to improve their standing by creating better community involvement and reassessing educational goals and outcomes. Ultimately, educators and administrator make daily decisions without full knowledge of areas like teachers incentives. Maybe more studies like this one will start to bridge the gap between what we think and what we know about education in Memphis Schools and in general.

Resource: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=155229&ca=Education

How Will Does The Year Round Calendar Affect Raleigh Schools? By Patricia Hawke

Raleigh Schools, in the Wake County district of North Carolina, have been praised for doing a lot of things right. This is especially true in the area of diversity. In 2000 the Raleigh Schools’ goal has been to limit the number of students receiving reduced lunches to 40% per school. Many studies have shown that large amounts of poverty negatively affect all students, and Raleigh Schools were praised for this racially blind method of ensuring diversity. Organizations as diverse as the Civil Rights Project at Harvard University, the Bush administration and many educational organizations commended the move.

That’s not to stay that Raleigh Schools have not had some struggles. 30 of the 143 Raleigh Schools currently exceed the 40% goal. Still, most board members and educators have been pleased with the results. Another initiative, which has garnered both praise and criticism, may put the diversity gains of Raleigh Schools at risk.

Back in 1989 Raleigh Schools first implemented voluntary year round schools. Year round schools make better use of facilities, and help students retain more knowledge by giving many shorter 3-week breaks as opposed to the traditional summer vacation. Mainly affluent families signed up for those voluntary schools, as childcare is hard to come by during those 3-week breaks for financially strapped working families. The Raleigh Schools’ Board responded by assigning specific neighborhoods to each year round school, and involuntarily assigning children to schools. Here’s the problem.

Some parents don’t want their children bussed to schools on the year round calendar, in neighborhoods where they were not comfortable socially, or that were too far from their homes. Recently, those parents of Raleigh Schools won a court ruling that requires parental consent to send children to year round and modified calendar schools. While parents may see this as a win, civil rights advocates and Raleigh Schools’ educators in favor of diversity are very concerned.

African American community leaders, including Raleigh School Board vice chairman Rosa Gill, are urging parents to consent to keep their children in the year round school to strengthen both diversity and academic strength. Many of the children opting out of the year round school option do so because their parents say that they don’t fit into that more affluent environment. On the reverse side, some better-off families want to opt out in order to attend traditional or more desirable schools as well. Either scenario threatens the balance of diversity for which Raleigh Schools have received great acclaim.

Do parents know what’s best, or are they unintentionally contributing to academic struggles at Raleigh Schools? The court has ruled, and the nation will watch Raleigh Schools closely for the outcome.

Resource: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=156454&ca=Education

Will Grading Principal Improve Pittsburgh Schools? By Patricia Hawke

Pittsburgh Schools have not shown significant improvement as measured by the Annual Yearly Progress (AYP) assessment. Due to the district’s inability to show improvements mandated by the No Child Left Behind Act for 4 consecutive years, Pittsburgh Schools were required to make significant changes in the 2006-2007 school year. Those changes included closing 22 schools, opening accelerated learning academies, and adding more k-8 schools.

Superintendent Mark Roosevelt felt the “slow improvement” of Pittsburgh Schools also required some other big changes, starting at the top. Pittsburgh Schools will institute a district wide administrator training and management plan called the Pittsburgh Urban Leadership System for Excellence (PULSE). PULSE will require greater support for new principals, enhanced training for potential administrators, and tougher standards on principal evaluations. But the most notable component is the plan to eliminate annual step increases, and institute a pay for performance plan, for all Pittsburgh Schools’ principals.

Pittsburgh Schools applied for an $8.9 million federal grant to fund the program, and anticipate a response in June of this year. If the grant is approved, the traditional step increases Pittsburgh Principals are used to will be replaced by a $2000 increase in base pay. That would be tied to progress in meeting 28 performance-based goals. The other part of the incentive would include bonuses of up to $10,000 for demonstrated academic growth among students. This would position Pittsburgh Schools’ principals to make much more than with the step increase system.

Pittsburgh Schools initiated the pay for performance plan last year with the principals of the eight new accelerated learning academies. However, it is too soon to tell how much the students have benefited in that short period of time. Pittsburgh Schools have shown very small, very slow, improvement in meeting the AYP targets. Overall advances of 3% in 5th grade math and a record 9% in 8th grade reading do little to put Pittsburgh Schools where they need to be.

Is the pay for performance plan the answer? A rating scale using “rudimentary”, “emerging”, “proficient” and “accomplished” will be used in areas of academics, community relations and academic success. Pittsburgh Schools is one of many urban districts to grapple with the issues of meeting rising academic standards. The question of offering both administrators and teachers merit pay has bee a hot topic between unions and academic observers for decades. While the issue of bonus pay for performance has not often been used with Pittsburgh Schools’ teachers, if it is successful with the principals, teachers may not be far behind.

Will it work? Opponents have suggested that the academic world operates differently than the corporate one, and that incentives won’t work. Others insist that the lack of performance-based pay is one of the biggest problems with Pittsburgh Schools and public education as a whole. Stay tuned. Grading principals may be the most notable reform Pittsburgh Schools institute this year.

Resource: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=156449&ca=Education