Category Archives: Building Better Schools

Deficiencies in California’s Charter School Accountability

9/11/16 For a comprehensive view of the problems caused by regulatory gaps in California’s charter school accountability system, see the article by Carol Burris, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2016/09/09/how-messed-up-is-californias-charter-school-sector-you-wont-believe-how-much/ which is the first of four articles about charter school problems in California.

California, Pursuing a Build and Support Strategy, Makes Steady Gains in 2016 Smarter/Balanced State Tests

9/2/2016 The number of students reaching levels three and four on the Smarter/Balanced state tests climbed either 3 and 4 percent across the board in grades 3-8 and 11th in Language Arts and Math. http://caaspp.cde.ca.gov/sb2016/Search Levels three and four were set to predict success in 4yr college courses and for 2 year transfer students.

Of particular importance is the number of students in 11 grade meeting the 4yr standard in language arts–59% up from 56% last year. That is a very good result for California’s diverse student body comparable or higher than many other less diverse states. Since only about 35-40% of students attend or transfer to a four year college, the news is particularly positive in growing the pool of students who can choose to enroll in more advanced college work. Math scores were still low, but also gained 3% in 2016. Disparity among groups was still a major problem.

Two caveats: Using the numbers of students reaching levels three and four is not the only or even best way to measure student performance–average performance scores is fairer and more comprehensive and other additional indicators are being considered by the State Board of Education. Also, for example, using levels three and four doesn’t show how many schools and districts moved large numbers from level 1 to level 2 which also should be an important indicator and goal of our schools. More problematical is whether these tests alone measure school quality accurately. Secondly, much of the media coverage misunderstood or ignored what the levels actually mean and tended to state that any student not meeting “the standard” (levels 3 and 4) was essentially flunking. That is a gross misrepresentation of reality. No school, district, state, or country will ever be able to educate almost all of their students to that 4yr level or should they. Massachusetts, which scores as well as the highest performing nations in the world is able to get just over 50% of its students to those levels. So congratulations to teachers and educators for a job well done and for attending to the continuous improvement of California’s students.

National Conference of State Legislators Supports “Build and Support”

8/17/2016 A new report by the National Conference of State Legislatures supports a “build and support” approach. No Time to Lose: How to Build a World-Class Education System State by State http://www.ncsl.org/documents/educ/Edu_International_FinaI_V2.pdf  The document suggests that we model our strategies after high performing other countries and the best districts and states in the US. They especially recommend instructionally driven  improvement strategies,  enlightened teacher and leadership development efforts, early childhood education,  revitalized career and technical education paths to supplement the 4 yr college pathways, and comprehensive, not single shot strategies–all points made in this buildingbetterschools website. A quote from the report:

We are discovering what seems to work. Common elements are present in nearly every world-class education system, including a strong early education system, a reimagined and professionalized teacher workforce, robust career and technical education programs, and a comprehensive, aligned system of education.

Charter School Tipping Points: When about 15-25% of a District’s Students Attend Charters, the District Suffers Significantly

8/9/16 Another study, this time from Michigan, showing that proliferation of charter schools has harmed the remaining public schools. http://www.metrotimes.com/Blogs/archives/2016/07/18/study-the-proliferation-of-charter-schools-in-michigan-hurt-traditional-districts; http://www.education.msu.edu/epc/library/papers/documents/WP51-Which-Districts-Get-Into-Financial-Trouble-Arsen.pdf and an interview Jeff Bryant with an author: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2016/07/15/how-charter-schools-in-michigan-have-hurt-traditional-public-schools-new-research-finds/

Bryant’s quote from the interview: “We saw very significant and large impacts of charter penetration on district fund balances for different thresholds, whether there were 15, 20 or 25 percent of the students going to charter schools. That was really striking. At every one of those thresholds, the higher the charter penetration, the higher the adverse impact on district finances. They’re big jumps, and they’re all very significant statistically. What’s clear is that when the percentage gets up to the neighborhood of 20 percent or so, these are sizeable adverse impacts on district finances.”

Teacher Pay Falls Significantly Below Other Comparable Professionals

8/9/16 According to a new report by EPI: The teacher pay penalty is bigger than ever. In 2015, public school teachers’ weekly wages were 17.0 percent lower than those of comparable workers—compared with just 1.8 percent lower in 1994. http://www.epi.org/publication/the-teacher-pay-gap-is-wider-than-ever-teachers-pay-continues-to-fall-further-behind-pay-of-comparable-workers/

New Studies on the Failure of Market Reform

7/30/2016 William Mathis and Tina Trujillo have edited a massive compilation of the research demonstrating the severe problems with market-based reforms, Learning from the Federal Market-Based Reforms; Lessons for ESSA (2016) The book has twenty-eight chapters in five sections.

  • The Foundations of Market-Based Reforms;
  • Test-Based Sanctions: What the Evidence Says
  • False Promises
  • Effective and Equitable Reforms
  • Lessons for the Every Student Succeeds Act

The research and examples in the book are further support for many of the claims and research provided in this website.

7/30/2016 Mercedes Schneider’s book on the failures of the schools choice movement is now available in paperback. School Choice; The End of Public Education (2016)

To quote from an announcement of the book: Proponents of market-driven education reform view vouchers and charters as superior to local-board-run, community-based public schools. However, the author of this timely volume argues that there is no clear research supporting this view. In fact, she claims there is increasing evidence of charter mismanagement–with public funding all-too-often being squandered while public schools are being closed or consolidated. Tracing the origins of vouchers and charters in the United States, this book examines the push to ”globally compete” with education systems in countries such as China and Finland. It documents issues important to the school choice debate, including the impoverishment of public schools to support privatized schools, the abandonment of long-held principles of public education, questionable disciplinary practices, and community disruption. School Choice: The End of Public Education? is essential reading for anyone seeking a deeper understanding of the past and future of public education in America.https://www.amazon.com/School-Choice-End-Public-Education/dp/080775725X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1468030602&sr=1-1 This book makes a similar case for the problems of schools choice as my articles.

7/30/2016. Further support for the failure of for-profit educational efforts has just been thoroughly documented in Samuel Abrams 2016 book, Education and the Commercial Mindset. He tells the instructive story of Edison, founded on the belief that public schools were so inefficient that applying the best business practices would save enough money to allow both high profits and high performance if private companies managed them. Chris Whittle, the super-salesman of Channel One fame (in return for TV’s schools agreed to have their students watch a slickly produced news show with commercials–Channel One eventually went belly-up due to negative evaluations and educator resistance), convinced foundations and the investment community to sink hundreds of millions of dollars in such a private management scheme. In the 1990’s the company took off with a bang, hired high-profile executives, and secured contracts to manage schools in such places as Philadelphia and Baltimore.

Contrary to promises the company produced no better and, in many cases, worse results than comparable public schools, alienated the communities they were in, narrowed the curriculum for test preparation, and couldn’t even keep order in many of their schools. Losses forced the company  to keep borrowing to stay alive. This did not stop Edison from providing top salaries and perks for its executives and spending large amounts on advertising and marketing. Edison eventually lost all but a few of its management contracts. By 2013 after being taken private, the remnant which had been reduced to a shell was sold for a pittance. Investors along the way lost most of their investment. The book also describes a similar fate for other Educational Management Organizations (EMOs) especially the on-line virtual academies referred to above in the Article. He also gives chapter and verse on the rise and fall of for-profit schools in Sweden as mentioned above.

Abrams argues that such a demise was inevitable. He quotes economic researchers who claim that  privatizing some services are easily monitored such as school busing or constructing buildings. Other services, however, where there is a mismatch of information or clout, run into difficulty in assuring quality service. Clients or contracting government entities in privatized prisons, elderly homes, or especially schools don’t have the power of correction or expertise to tell if the private company is cutting corners to increase returns or executive pay or if the service such as education students are receiving is worthwhile.

Abrams also provides a chapter on the non-profit Charter Management Organizations (CMOs) especially KIPP schools. As stated above, he finds that some are very good and others are spotty. He contends that even the best cannot be scaled because they rely on large foundation support, teachers who are unsustainably over-worked (and leave at much higher rates than the public school counterparts), and students and parents who are willing to endure a harsh “no excuses” management style. He also confirms the point I raised that CMOs can control who they accept,  many don’t backfill when underperforming students drop-out leaving a smaller, higher achieving remnant, benefit from a more committed student body and their parents which makes comparisons difficult, and since they live or die by test-scores narrow the curriculum and spend inordinate amounts of time on test-preparation which harms children later in high-school and college.

Finally, he shows how Finland took a different path. They raised teacher pay, improved teacher training and autonomy, used sampling strategies for test assessment instead of wide-spread testing, and provided a broad liberal arts education. Unlike Sweden, whose PISA results declined substantially after adopting privatization measures, Finland improved from mediocre results to become one of the top countries in the PISA assessments.

Paul Tough Writes an Important Book

Rating:

The theory behind the “no excuse” philosophy currently used in many schools especially charters is forcefully challenged by Paul Tough in his 2016 book, Helping Students Achieve: What Works and Why and his article in the Atlantic “How Kids Learn Resilience.”  Tough asserts that frequent punishment doesn’t work in helping the most severely traumatized students but engagement in a welcoming atmosphere and a hands-on curriculum does. He cites research which demonstrates that one of the arguments for suspension of acting out students—that even if they are not helped the remaining students will be benefitted—turns out to be false.

Tough’s previous book How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity and the Hidden Power of Character (2012) underscored the importance of non-cognitive skills such as perseverance, self-control, conscientiousness, and optimism especially for the low-income students who now comprise more than half of K-12 students in the US.

His first major point is that educators shouldn’t necessarily try to teach these attributes directly, but they should arise from student’s continuous work in an engaging classroom atmosphere with an active curriculum. He further adds that schools shouldn’t be testing for these traits, but examining the high-performances which will be generated by students’ presence in such classrooms.

High levels of continued toxic stress among many poorer children caused by growing up suffering abuse, neglect, or family dysfunctions such as substance abuse or an incarcerated parent hampers learning by creating strong physiological driven feelings of incompetence, alienation, and inability to persevere. While half of our children do not experience any of these circumstances, many of the rest in lower-income areas endure multiple instances of these traumatic circumstances. These students account for the bulk of school problems.

Quoting from the book: On an emotional level, chronic early stress—what many researchers now call toxic stress—can make it difficult for children to moderate their responses to disappointments and provocations. Small setbacks feel like crushing defeats; tiny slights turn into serious confrontations. In school, a highly sensitive stress-response system constantly on the lookout for threats can produce patterns of behavior that are self-defeating: fighting, talking back, acting up in class, and also, more subtly, going through each day perpetually wary of connection with peers and resistant to outreach from teachers and other adults….growing up in a chaotic and unstable environment—and experiencing the chronic elevated stress that such an environment produces—disrupts the development of . . .executive functions. . .which include working memory, self-regulation, and cognitive flexibility. . .underpinning non-cognitive abilities like resilience and perseverance.

Tough quotes estimates that about 15-20% of students in schools with high levels of poverty suffer from multiple causes of stress at home and act out in school. Another large group suffers similar levels but withdraws and refuses to engage.

Tough found that while there is a group of teachers who constantly produce high cognitive results in their classrooms, there is another group, which although producing lower academic gains than the first group, create the atmosphere that counteracts toxic trauma so that their students subsequently succeed at higher rates in other classes and later in life. The first group gets recognition; the second is usually neglected.

How do they do it? The know how to avoid escalation of student’s acting out; they build a supportive calm and engaging classroom; and their curriculum and instruction emphasizes deeper learning and active participation.

He then examines several programs which have been effective in developing the building blocks which support the growth of the non-cognitive traits which allow learning to progress— overall an important piece of work

BBS Talking Points

BBS Talking Points

Under each talking point is a tweet sized comment with a link to the appropriate article either stand-alone or headed by a bullet. If you like the tweet, please retweet it to your followers or networks.

Test-and-Punish Has Not Produced Results but Build-and-Support Has

  1. Conventional reforms such as test-and-punish (e.g., high-stakes, test-based teacher and school evaluations) and privatization through market-driven competition have not produced results. Since 2009, when the harshest “reforms” were implemented, NAEP scores have been flat or down. http://www.buildingbetterschools.com/have-high-stakes-testing-and-privatization-been-effective-2    
    • Since 2009, when the harshest “reforms” were implemented for schools, national scores have been flat or down. http://ow.ly/Z2rN303kxn2
    • High-stakes, test-based evaluations, privatization, & market-driven competition have not produced higher performance. http://ow.ly/iaLk303dhzd
  2. Performance improved substantially in states and districts such as Massachusetts, Long Beach Unified, and Garden Grove. They avoided punitive “reform” measures and instead pursued a build-and-support strategy. http://www.buildingbetterschools.com/have-high-stakes-testing-and-privatization-been-effective-2/
    • Big gains in states and districts which avoided punitive “reform” measures & instead     pursued build-and-support ways. http://ow.ly/iaLk303dhzd
    • The state of Mass. & the districts of Long Beach & Garden Grove exemplify successful build-and-support strategies. http://ow.ly/iaLk303dhzd
  3. Newark, NJ, and Union City, NJ, offer a perfect example of the contrast between “build and support” and “test and punish”. Newark forcefully pursued a flashy, conventional test and punish and choice reform package. The results were minimal, morale plummeted, segregation increased, and communities were devastated. Union City followed a build-and-support strategy. Results were spectacular and the district is now a leader in the nation of districts which substantially beat the socio-economic odds. http://www.buildingbetterschools.com/have-high-stakes-testing-and-privatization-been-effective-2/
    • Newark schools adopted test & punish & choice. Miserable results. Union City adopted build & support. Huge success. http://ow.ly/iaLk303dhzd
  4. Build-and-support strategies include adequate funding; implementing a broad liberal arts curriculum; placing instructional improvement as the main driver for increasing student performance; engaging teachers, parents, and communities; building school capacity and teamwork to foster continuous improvement of curriculum and instruction; initiating comprehensive human development programs; and shifting district administration and leadership from compliance to support. http://www.buildingbetterschools.com/have-high-stakes-testing-and-privatization-been-effective-2/
    • Build & support includes adequate funding, making instruction central, & engaging teachers through team building. http://ow.ly/iaLk303dhzd
  5. . Build-and-support districts and states primarily use accountability measures to feedback useful information on school improvement efforts and minimize their use for high-stakes personnel and school closure decisions. These districts and states examine test-score data but as only one measure (and one of the weakest) of quality and growth. http://www.buildingbetterschools.com/have-high-stakes-testing-and-privatization-been-effective-2/
    • Successful districts use accountability to assist improvement efforts & minimize their use in evaluation decisions. http://ow.ly/iaLk303dhzd
  6. In the public debate about school improvement, we rarely step back to consider a crucial underlying question: What do we want for our children? There is a tendency among reformers to view job preparation as the primary goal of education, ignoring the vital role schools play in promoting democracy and developing well-rounded individuals. Obviously, career readiness is important, but we should adopt two other central goals in educating young people: to spur their active civic participation and to enable them to lead full lives made rich by learning. All three of these goals are equally valid. http://www.buildingbetterschools.com/the-three-goals-of-public-education/
    • Schools’ goals should include civic participation & maximizing student potential in addition to job preparation. http://ow.ly/YWaE303l23g
  7. Test-and-punish strategies and choice, competition, and large-scale charter expansion measures are based on several faulty assumptions: accountability pressure produces results, test scores alone are the best way of measuring school or teacher performance, high-stakes teacher and school evaluation is accurate and improves achievement, turnaround strategies and portfolio districts work, and massive charter school expansion improves overall performance.http://www.buildingbetterschools.com/why-have-conventional-school-reforms-failed/
    • Test-and-punish strategies & large-scale charter expansion measures are based on several faulty assumptions. http://ow.ly/O99U303kxNk
  8. Conventional reform nostrums such as using Teach for America’s raw recruits, using incentive schemes such as merit pay, holding students back based on test scores, and using technology to replace teachers have also been shown to produce little or negative results. See http://www.buildingbetterschools.com/four-nostrums-of-conventional-school-reform/
    • Using TFA’s raw recruits, merit pay, student retention, & hoping technology will replace teachers have been a bust http://ow.ly/38U7303kyav
  9. . Conventional reforms aim at the wrong leverage points, such as external accountability and governance change, when they should use drivers that develop the internal capacity of schools and districts to improve. http://www.buildingbetterschools.com/why-have-conventional-school-reforms-failed/
    • Top-down accountability & governance change are far less effective than building the capacity of schools to improve http://ow.ly/O99U303kxNk
  10. Conventional reforms such as test-and-punish and large-scale charter expansion not only fail to produce improved performance but they cause considerable collateral damage to schools, teachers, students, and communities.  http://www.buildingbetterschools.com/have-high-stakes-testing-and-privatization-been-effective-2/
    • Test-and-punish measures fail to produce results & cause considerable collateral damage to schools and communities. http://ow.ly/iaLk303dhzd
  11. A MetLife survey found that in the face of ill-conceived reforms and political and societal censure, the percentage of teachers who were “very satisfied” dropped dramatically from 62% in 2008 to 39% in 2012. http://www.buildingbetterschools.com/four-nostrums-of-conventional-school-reform/
    • Enduring ill-conceived reforms, surveyed teachers who were “ very satisfied” fell from 62% in 2008 to 39% in 2012  http://ow.ly/38U7303kyav
  12. Instead of a pursuing broader goals for students—job preparation, civic participation, and reaching individual potential—conventional reforms have narrowed instruction at the expense of deeper learning by focusing only on math and reading scores. High-stakes accountability has encouraged extensive test preparation, gaming the system, and disincentives for teachers to collaborate. http://www.buildingbetterschools.com/why-have-conventional-school-reforms-failed/
    • Conventional reforms narrowed instruction at the expense of deeper learning focusing only on math and reading scores http://ow.ly/O99U303kxNkHigh-stakes accountability encouraged extensive test preparation, gaming & disincentives for teachers to collaborate http://ow.ly/O99U303kxNk
  13. Many schools in the US need to improve—we fare badly in international comparisons, but the conventional reform program is not the right remedy. Successful, world-class educational institutions follow a Build- and-Support approach and eschew high-stakes Test-and-Punish and privatization and market-based competition strategies. http://www.buildingbetterschools.com/have-high-stakes-testing-and-privatization-been-effective-2
    • World-class educational institutions eschew high-stakes accountability, privatization & market-based strategies. http://ow.ly/iaLk303dhzd
    • Many US schools must improve, but test & punish & market-based reforms aren’t the right remedy; build & support is. http://ow.ly/iaLk303dhzd
  14. The teacher pay penalty is bigger than ever. In 2015, public school teachers’ weekly wages were 17.0 percent lower than those of comparable workers—compared with just 1.8 percent lower in 1994. http://www.epi.org/publication/the-teacher-pay-gap-is-wider-than-ever-teachers-pay-continues-to-fall-further-behind-pay-of-comparable-workers/
    • Teachers’ pay is falling further behind what other professionals earn & stands 17%  behind comparable workers now. http://ow.ly/fNx2303l7lN

15. Evaluations of the main conventional reform policies show nonexistent or trivial results and often cause substantial harm to school capacity, teacher morale, and the health of communities. Build-and-Support measures demonstrate results several multiples higher. They improve engagement and morale instead of causing collateral damage.  http://www.buildingbetterschools.com/have-high-stakes-testing-and-privatization-been-effective-2

  • Conventional reform policies show nonexistent or trivial results and often cause substantial harm to schools.  http://ow.ly/iaLk303dhzd
  • Build-and-support measures perform several multiples higher than conventional reforms with no collateral damage.  http://ow.ly/iaLk303dhzd

High-Stakes Teacher Evaluation Based on Test Scores Is a Bad Idea

  1. Making firing the lowest performing teachers based on test scores the center of reform efforts has not worked. That approach also detracts from efforts to raise the performance of all teachers. http://www.buildingbetterschools.com/teacher-and-school-evaluations-are-based-on-test-scores-3/
    • A central plank in the reform agenda is firing the lowest performing teachers using test scores. It hasn’t worked. http://ow.ly/lUHd303kAGi
  2. Current measures of teacher performance based on student test scores, including value-added measures (VAMs), are unreliable and result in misidentification of teachers. . http://www.buildingbetterschools.com/teacher-and-school-evaluations-are-based-on-test-scores-3/
    • Measures of teacher performance based on test scores are unreliable & result in misidentification of teachers. http://ow.ly/lUHd303kAGi
  3. Relying on multiple classroom visits by principals to correct the deficiencies in test-based teacher evaluation has proven problematical. A more productive use of a principal’s time would be in building effective teams and organizing the school as a learning institution. http://www.buildingbetterschools.com/teacher-and-school-evaluations-are-based-on-test-scores-3/
    • Using classroom visits by principals to correct the deficiencies in test-based teacher evaluation has not worked. http://ow.ly/lUHd303kAGi
    • Building effective teams & organizing the school as a learning institution are the best use of a principal’s time. http://ow.ly/lUHd303kAGi
  4. Teachers only account for about 10% of school performance. To single them out as those primarily responsible for low-performance is unfair. Out-of-school measures such as socio-economic levels and parenting affect student learning much more. In-school measures such as leadership by principal, curriculum, adequacy of resources, and wraparound services are also important determinants of student achievement. These measures often get neglected in the exclusive attention given to teachers. http://www.buildingbetterschools.com/teacher-and-school-evaluations-are-based-on-test-scores-3/
    • Teachers account for 10% of school quality; labeling them as primarily responsible for low-performance is unfair. http://ow.ly/lUHd303kAGi
  5. Incompetent teachers should be let go if, and only if, credible and fair methods are used. Personnel changes must be part of a broader push for instructional improvement efforts to raise the performance of all personnel. These efforts will produce much higher effects on student achievement. http://www.buildingbetterschools.com/teacher-and-school-evaluations-are-based-on-test-scores-3/
    • Incompetent teachers should be let go if credible & fair methods are used & embedded in broader efforts to improve. http://ow.ly/lUHd303kAGi
  6. Many “reformers” are now shifting from approaches emphasizing “fire the worst teachers” strategies to approaches stressing the improvement of all teachers through team-building, focusing on instruction, providing helpful structures and information for continuous improvement, and enhancing site leadership. http://www.buildingbetterschools.com/teacher-and-school-evaluations-are-based-on-test-scores-3/
    • Many reformers are shifting from emphasizing “fire the worst teachers” to stressing the improvement of all teachers.  http://ow.ly/lUHd303kAGi

Charter Schools Are Not the Key to Improving Education

  1. Charter schools are not the key to improving education. There are some excellent charters and some terrible ones, but most offer an education no better than their public school counterparts. Too much emphasis on charters detracts from improving non-charter public schools—and in many cases causes harm to the remaining schools and communities. http://www.buildingbetterschools.com/charter-schools-are-not-the-key-to-improving-public-education/
    • Charters aren’t the key to improving education. Some excel, some lag but most are no better than other schools. http://ow.ly/YaY8303cdYq
    • Overemphasizing charter schools detracts from improving the remaining public schools & often causes them harm. http://ow.ly/YaY8303cdYq
  2. When charters enroll more than about 20% of a district’s students, a tipping point occurs causing substantial harm to the district. http://www.buildingbetterschools.com/charter-schools-are-not-the-key-to-improving-public-education/
    • If about 20% of a district’s students enroll in charters, a tipping point occurs causing substantial district harm. http://ow.ly/YaY8303cdYq
  3. About 6% of students attend 6,500 charter schools. Many states have drastically cut funds for the other 94% of students attending regular public schools, diverting education dollars to the small number of students attending charters. http://www.buildingbetterschools.com/charter-schools-are-not-the-key-to-improving-public-education/
    • States have severely cut funds to the 94% of students at regular public schools while increasing funds to charters. http://ow.ly/YaY8303cdYq
  4. Only about one-quarter of charter schools score better than non-charter public schools, one-quarter score worse, and most score the same—even assuming test scores are the best measure of quality. http://www.buildingbetterschools.com/charter-schools-are-not-the-key-to-improving-public-education/
    • About 25% of charter schools score better than non-charter public schools, 25% score worse, & most score the same.  http://ow.ly/YaY8303cdYq
  5. Charter schools should be scoring much higher than regular public schools. They have the built-in advantage of more motivated parents and a more supportive peer group of students associated with more motivated parents. Magnet public schools in Los Angeles, which also benefit from more highly motivated students and parents, significantly outscore charter schools. http://www.buildingbetterschools.com/charter-schools-are-not-the-key-to-improving-public-education/
    • Charters should score higher than public schools. They have the advantage of more motivated parents and students. http://ow.ly/YaY8303cdYq
  6. Many charter schools have artificially raised test scores by being extremely selective in who they admit, by eliminating low-scoring students, and by not back-filling empty slots. It is not unusual for a beginning class of 100 students to fall to 30 students a few grades later. The charter school then unfairly touts the scores of this more rarified group compared to regular school students. Public schools must take all comers and can’t refuse to fill a vacancy. http://www.buildingbetterschools.com/charter-schools-are-not-the-key-to-improving-public-education/
    • Charters artificially raise scores by selective admissions, eliminating low-scoring students & not back-filling.  http://ow.ly/YaY8303cdYq
  7. Studies have shown that a focus on market-based competition—instead of school improvement—often causes educational harm. Many charters concentrate too heavily on the test scores needed to attract and hold students to the detriment of deeper learning. Many spend inordinate amount of funds on marketing the school and paying their top administrators large salaries. http://www.buildingbetterschools.com/charter-schools-are-not-the-key-to-improving-public-education/
    • Market-based competition often harms schools by forcing heavy marketing costs & a focus on raising test scores. http://ow.ly/YaY8303cdYq
  8. Charter schools have increased segregation and, when coupled with the closing of a neighborhood public school, cause substantial harm to the local community. http://www.buildingbetterschools.com/charter-schools-are-not-the-key-to-improving-public-education/
    • Charters have increased segregation & when paired with closing a neighborhood public school harm the community.  http://ow.ly/YaY8303cdYq
  9. Charter schools can drain funds from the remaining public schools. If too many charter schools are opened, it can cause major financial problems for the local public school district.  http://www.buildingbetterschools.com/charter-schools-are-not-the-key-to-improving-public-education/
    • If too many charters are opened, it can cause major financial problems for the local public school district. http://ow.ly/YaY8303cdYq
  10. Most states have weak financial accountability for charter schools causing rampant fraud, embezzlement, and misappropriation of public funds. Most low-performing charter schools are never closed. Charter advocates estimate that over 1,000 low-performing charter schools out of the 6,500 existing charter schools should be closed. http://www.buildingbetterschools.com/charter-schools-are-not-the-key-to-improving-public-education/
  11. Many states have offered charter schools sweetheart deals in which they profit greatly or convert public funds to private use. http://www.buildingbetterschools.com/charter-schools-are-not-the-key-to-improving-public-education/
    • Many states have offered charter schools sweetheart deals in which they profit greatly or convert public funds to private use. http://ow.ly/YaY8303cdYq
  12. Many charter schools have created a harsh, no-excuses educational program with a prison-like atmosphere that harms children. http://www.buildingbetterschools.com/charter-schools-are-not-the-key-to-improving-public-education/
    • Many charter schools use a harsh, no-excuses educational program with a prison-like atmosphere that harms children. http://ow.ly/YaY8303cdYq
  13. Many charter schools concentrate on producing high test scores to the detriment of deeper learning. Charter school students fare poorly when other measures of quality are used and when they get to high school or college. http://www.buildingbetterschools.com/charter-schools-are-not-the-key-to-improving-public-education/
    • Many charters so focus on high test scores that deeper learning is neglected & their students fare poorly in college http://ow.ly/YaY8303cdYq
  14. The charter school movement is based in part on an erroneous theory that public schools cannot work because they are monopolies and private institutions can work because of competition and choice. This theory ignores the many public school examples of success. To debunk this private-choice theory, private school scores, when adjusted for the socio-economics, are actually worse than public school scores. http://www.buildingbetterschools.com/charter-schools-are-not-the-key-to-improving-public-education/
    • Contrary to conventional wisdom private school scores, are worse than public school scores for comparable students. http://ow.ly/YaY8303cdYq
  15. Virtual charters have been a disaster—on average students lose about a year’s worth of instruction in them. http://ow.ly/YaY8303cdYq
    • Virtual charters have been a disaster—on average students lose about a year’s worth of instruction in them. http://ow.ly/YaY8303cdYq
  16. For-profit charter schools should be forbidden. For non-profit charters, states should enact financial and performance accountability and transparency comparable to that of public schools. http://www.buildingbetterschools.com/charter-schools-are-not-the-key-to-improving-public-education/
    • For-profit charters should be forbidden–too much chance of diverting public funds and getting off mission. http://ow.ly/YaY8303cdYq
    • Non-profit charters should be held to the same financial &performance accountability as public schools. http://ow.ly/YaY8303cdYq
  17. Vouchers do not improve student performance. They also drain funds from public schools (in part by providing public funds to some families who were previously paying private school tuition and in part by diverting funds from public schools). Finally, vouchers may support religious or other schools that have highly questionable curriculums. http://www.buildingbetterschools.com/charter-schools-are-not-the-key-to-improving-public-education/
  18. Charters claim to give parents a choice, but often the one choice not available to parents is to concentrate on improving their existing public school. http://ow.ly/YaY8303cdYq
    • Charters claim to give parents a choice, but often no choice is offered to improve their existing public school. http://ow.ly/YaY8303cdYq
  19. Charters should revert to their original mission—clusters of excellence, which along with the best non-charter public schools should be beacons for all. http://www.buildingbetterschools.com/charter-schools-are-not-the-key-to-improving-public-education/
    • Charters should revert to their original mission—being beacons of excellence along with our best public schools. http://ow.ly/YaY8303cdYq

 

Privatization Forces Have Hijacked the Reform Movement

  1. Anti-public school forces have used harsh reform rhetoric demonizing teachers and schools to justify huge cuts in public education, eliminate teacher protections, and enact punitive reform policies in such states as Louisiana, Indiana, Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, and Pennsylvania. http://www.buildingbetterschools.com/reformers-allowed-their-rhetoric-to-be-hijacked/
    • Anti-public school forces used harsh reform rhetoric demonizing teachers to justify huge cuts to our schools. http://ow.ly/xojE303cYwp
  2. Some charter-school advocates have successfully convinced governors or mayors to close large numbers of public schools have them converted to charters. This has happened in cities such as Chicago, Detroit, and Philadelphia. In New Orleans, just about the whole public school district was eliminated. These closures have not improved educational performance. They have resulted in two-tiered, segregated school systems and devastated local communities. http://www.buildingbetterschools.com/reformers-allowed-their-rhetoric-to-be-hijacked/
    • Reformers have convinced some politicians to close large numbers of public schools and convert them to charters. http://ow.ly/xojE303cYwp
  3. Many conventional reform advocates have shifted from a severe reform agenda. They now promote a more balanced approach concentrating on supporting instructional improvement, team building, adequate funding, charter accountability and transparency, improving site leadership, and progressive personnel policies. Some are now seeking cooperative efforts with  Build-and-Support advocates. http://ow.ly/xojE303cYwp
    • Many conventional reform advocates have shifted from a severe reform agenda to a more build and support approach. http://ow.ly/xojE303cYwp

Components of Build-and-Support

  1. Components of the Build-and-Support approach include a broad based liberal arts curriculum, engaging and active instruction, team building and collaboration around teaching curriculum and instruction, district leadership, and adequate funding. http://ow.ly/dhMd303d0t4
    • Build-and-support includes engaging liberal arts, school team building, supportive leadership & and adequate funding http://ow.ly/dhMd303d0t4
  2. The Common Core Standards for English Language Arts and Mathematics hold the promise of improving curriculum and instruction and encouraging deeper learning. The standards are consistent with what our most knowledgeable teachers and researchers have been advocating for years. Similar standards have been produced for Science (NGSS), and History-Social Science. http://www.buildingbetterschools.com/provide-an-engaging-broad-based-liberal-arts-curriculum/
    Common Core Standards are consistent with what our best teachers and researchers have been advocating for years http://ow.ly/niQ8303deiH

    Similar standards & frameworks explicating them have been produced for Science (NGSS), and History-Social Science. http://ow.ly/niQ8303deiH

    California has produced subject-matter frameworks explicating the promising Common Core and other standards. http://ow.ly/niQ8303deiH

  3. The secret of successful implementation of the ambitious Common Core is to divorce these educationally sound standards from high-stakes accountability schemes and provide both time and resources for translating the standards into successful classroom and district practices. States such as California have pursued this path. http://www.buildingbetterschools.com/provide-an-engaging-broad-based-liberal-arts-curriculum/
  4. Implementing these standards and the frameworks based on them could be the needed catalyst for building teams, fostering collaboration, and creating the capacity for continuous improvement at each school. http://www.buildingbetterschools.com/provide-an-engaging-broad-based-liberal-arts-curriculum/
    • Implementing standards could be the catalyst for building teams and the capacity for continuous school improvement. http://ow.ly/niQ8303deiH
  5. Standards aren’t a curriculum. States and districts need to develop frameworks and scope and sequences to assist in translating standards into a workable curriculum, effective instructional materials, and, successful professional learning. http://www.buildingbetterschools.com/provide-an-engaging-broad-based-liberal-arts-curriculum/
    • Translating standards into effective practice requires a workable curriculum, materials, & professional learning. http://ow.ly/niQ8303deiH
  6. Teaching is not a trivial pursuit. According to one formulation by Danielson, high-level instruction is a combination of proficiency in delivering content, using best practices, creating safe and effective learning environments, managing classrooms, engaging students, producing learning by all students, and being able to work with other staff and develop professionally. Good teachers become effective in each of these domains. http://www.buildingbetterschools.com/provide-high-quality-instruction/
  7. At a school, building effective teams that continually try to improve staff performance is the most powerful method of increasing student performance. Individual efforts such as self-study are important, but team efforts such as discussing how to ameliorate deficiencies in the school program or encouraging peer classroom visits with debriefings are even more powerful. http://www.buildingbetterschools.com/build-teams-and-focus-on-continuous-improvement/
    • Building effective school teams that continually try to improve is the best method of increasing student performance http://ow.ly/V25c303dgou
  8. Contrary to much “reform” rhetoric, money to pay for build and support efforts makes a difference. http://www.buildingbetterschools.com/provide-adequate-school-funding/
    • Contrary to much “reform” rhetoric, money to pay for build and support efforts makes a difference. http://ow.ly/xkxa303dgWY
  9. Districts play a crucial role in creating the supportive structure for continuous improvement. Improving leadership by principals, creating opportunities for teacher leadership, establishing structures, providing time for collaboration, developing effective systems for gathering useful information, building progressive human resources systems, designing wraparound services with other local agencies, and engaging teachers, administrators, students, parents, and community members in joint improvement efforts. http://www.buildingbetterschools.com/lessons-learned-from-successful-districts/
    • Districts play a crucial role in creating the supportive structure for continuous improvement. http://ow.ly/NpkI303dgNx
  10. Successful districts demonstrate how build and support works. http://www.buildingbetterschools.com/lessons-learned-from-successful-districts/
  11. Models of exemplary build and support districts. http://www.buildingbetterschools.com/exemplary-models/

The California Context

  1. California, following Massachusetts’s approach, is implementing a build-and-support strategy with increased funding and a strong liberal arts curriculum as envisioned by the Common Core Standards, other applicable standards, and the frameworks explicating them. California is also giving responsibility to local districts, designing accountability to assist improving instruction, enacting multiple measures for accountability, and encouraging engagement and collaboration. http://www.buildingbetterschools.com/ca-policymakers-and-educators-shift-from-test-punish-to-build-support/
  2. California has differed somewhat from the Common Core Standards. It has combined its English language arts (ELA) standards with its English language development (ELD) standards to accommodate the large number of English language learners. It wants to not only maximize the number of students prepared for four-year colleges but also to increase the number of students in rigorous career-tech pathways—a way to truly implement the “college and career” language in the standards.  http://www.buildingbetterschools.com/ca-policymakers-and-educators-shift-from-test-punish-to-build-support/CA’s ELA/ELD framework combines both sets of standards to accommodate its large number of English language learners http://ow.ly/hGFv303dhqo

    Maximize students prepared for 4yr colleges but also assure that the rest qualify for rigorous career-tech pathways http://ow.ly/hGFv303dhqo

Join Bill Honig’s BBS Forum!

This website is the result of my seventy-year romance with education—first as
a student and then in a variety of roles in education: teacher,
administrator, policymaker, elected official, professor, and educational
entrepreneur. My perspective and beliefs about what we should and should not
be doing to improve our schools have been forged from experiences and study
during my long career. Building Better Schools is a place where the supporting ideas, research, and exemplary models of Build-and-Support are available and kept fresh. I invite you to join the conversation!

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