Union Bashing in Favor of an Improbable Solution

This from WFPL:

While Rallying for Charter Schools,

Supporters Ask Unions to Stand Aside

Advocates for charter schools in Kentucky took their cause to Frankfort today.

A handful of organizations support charter schools. One of the most vocal has been the Black Alliance for Educational Opportunities or BAEO. Its national president, Kenneth Campbell, helped lead the rally for charter schools at the Capitol. And he told the crowd Kentucky’s education system doesn’t serve all students equally.

“You know children and families in Kentucky are in crisis, as they are in a lot of places across this country,” Campbell said. “And the one tool we have for turning this whole thing around is education. And it doesn’t work for too many of our children. So what we want is for the political leaders of Kentucky to take a stand on behalf of children.

Many lawmakers were on hand for the rally, which came after a march around the Capitol. Former Louisville mayoral candidate Hal Heiner—who chairs a group running ads in support of charter schools—spoke to a crowded Rotunda audience. So did state Rep. Brad Montell, who has repeatedly filed legislation to legalize charter schools.

Supporters of the legislation are telling opponents—largely teachers’ unions—to get out the way.

“Again I think the only thing that holds it up are people who are supporting institutions more than children and families,” said Campbell. “People who are supporting adult issues and their organized interest versus the interests of children. At the end of the day nobody can look at our performance and say that what we have right now is working for all kids. And if it’s not then we need to talk about being bold and taking action.”

House Speaker Greg Stumbo has signaled an openness to charter school legislation this session. And House Education Chairman Carl Rollins says he may allow a bill to be voted on in his committee.

But opponents of charter schools say education improvement isn’t a certainty with charters. They point to mismanagement of charter schools in other states, lackluster improvement and the draining of funds from other public schools as reasons not to support charters.

Are High Schools Preparing College-Ready Students?

There is a lot of interest in college-readiness these days from education policy types. They argue persuasively of the need for a substantial percentage of Americans to hold advanced degrees - if we are to maintain our economic position in the world.

Are high schools preparing college-ready students?

Each semester I ask my 150 students (college sophomores and juniors mostly; 21+ ACTs, so we're talking top third of high school grads) to briefly reflect on their own high school experiences writing on the topic - "Ready (or not) for College: How my high school (and I) prepared me for college."

As one might imagine, their opinions are very mixed. Assessing their own contribution to their education along side those of their high schools, my students report stories of great teaching and great apathy from the various faculties in the state. They are industrious. They are slackers. About half of them got a rude awakening on campus.

Many brag about their high schools and remember their toughest teachers as the ones who readied them. Others tell stories of how high school is one great big negotiation with teachers. No assignment is late, no grade is final, until the teacher surrenders and "gives" the student the grade they want. After basketball and football, it may well be the most popular sport in school. One gets the distinct impression that during high school, such rubber-spined enablers are among the students' favorites. Later on, they are derided for their permissiveness.

This is also a pretty good illustration of why student opinion of teaching should only be given a small part in any teacher evaluation. Focusing too much on student opinion is inappropriate as a goal since it will ultimately lower the standards of teachers who are trying to earn points with their students. "Ya need more time for that month-old assignment? No problem."

Here's one student's reflection on her highly-regarded high school.

This from Sarah (with permission):

My high school did not prepare me for college. Yes, it had state of the art equipment and had much money put into its development, but that does not mean that it will educate it students.

Many of the teacher’s were not concerned about the education of the students. Every subject and lesson was taught based on what was on the test. After the test, there was no real teaching.

I do remember having a few really good teachers who were very interactive and truly valued the learning process. Though these particular teachers were tough in their testing and grading, they actually taught me something of value.

Teaching to the test does not always have to be a bad thing. However, it does nothing good for students if you merely put things into their brain, like you throw trash into a garbage can, so it is there for them to dig through if they need to. Then, the test comes around, just like a trash truck, and takes all of that knowledge from you because, in a students mind, they will never need it again. And so, the information for the test has been taken away from the student forever.

This is how my high school worked. And, for the most part, everyone was okay with this method. I learned nothing from this system because my parents raised me to be critical thinker. When I was told something in school, I not only remembered it, but I thought about what it meant and made connections to other things I had learned.

I did most of my own preparation for college. I took ACT preparation classes and bought many ACT preparation books to get the best information on how to prepare. If there were any content, such as pre-calculus, that I did not understand, I would go and seek out the answers. There was not someone standing beside me telling me all of the right answers; I had to seek them for myself.

While in my senior year of high school, I decided to actually attend college classes instead of taking all of my classes at my school. I learned more in two semesters than I had throughout all of high school. The coursework was rigorous and complicated, but I set a goal and worked extremely hard to excel in everything that I did.

While most people were hanging out with their friends and going out to different places, I did all of my homework, studied, and spent time with my friends if there was time left over. Taking a full college course load while in high school is not easy, but it is manageable.

In the end, though my high school did not appear to prepare me well for college, I am glad that I had my high school experience there. If I had gone to another high school, I may not have learned the necessity of critical thinking or the difference between a good teacher and a not-as-good teacher. I also would have never known how much more difficult college really is.

Though I may have prepared myself better for college on my own, high school prepared me for the real world where you must seek out the knowledge and answers you truly want on your own.

State now bearing cost of poor tax policy

This from the Herald-Leader:

With interest rates at historic lows, this is an opportune time for universities to tackle a backlog of maintenance and building needs.

Except Kentucky cannot afford to issue bonds to protect taxpayers' investments in the state's campuses. Kentucky cannot afford to take advantage of any opportunities and is barely carrying out some of its basic obligations to protect the public.

Gov. Steve Beshear described the budget that he proposed last week as "inadequate," which is an understatement. Instead of investing for the future, Kentucky will be making more cuts.

As the economy picks up, it hurts to think about how much better positioned the state would be to capitalize on the upturn if a succession of governors and legislatures had not ducked tax reform.

Twenty years ago, the late Gov. Wallace Wilkinson called for broadening the tax base by taxing services. Numerous studies have highlighted exemptions and loopholes that should be closed. It still hasn't happened.

At the beginning of his second and last term, Beshear is launching a tax reform effort that could have proposals ready for a special legislative session late this year.

If this budget doesn't sell Kentuckians on tax reform, nothing will...

Teen moms clueless about how they got pregnant

This from TeenTribune:

A new government study suggests a lot of teenage girls are clueless about their chances of getting pregnant.

In a survey of thousands of teenage mothers who had unintended pregnancies, about a third who didn't use birth control said the reason was they didn't believe they could pregnant.

Why they thought that isn't clear. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey didn't ask teens to explain.

But other researchers have talked to teen moms who believed they couldn't get pregnant the first time they had sex, didn't think they could get pregnant at that time of the month or thought they were sterile.

"This report underscores how much misperception, ambivalence and magical thinking put teens at risk for unintended pregnancy," said Bill Albert, a spokesman for the Washington, D.C.-based National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy.

Other studies have asked teens about their contraception use and beliefs about pregnancy. But the CDC report released Thursday is the first to focus on teens who didn't want to get pregnant but did.

The researchers interviewed nearly 5,000 teenage girls in 19 states who gave birth after unplanned pregnancies in 2004 through 2008. The survey was done through mailed questionnaires with telephone follow-up.

About half of the girls in the survey said they were not using any birth control when they got pregnant. That's higher than surveys of teens in general, which have found that fewer than 20 percent said they didn't use contraception the last time they had sex...

Is It Fair to Use Erasure Analysis to Expose Erasure Parties ?

One former Atlanta Area Superintendent doesn't think so 

Former Superintendent Wilson: "I have a decision to make 

based on how we finish this conversation 

and where I go from here. 

And remember, I'm the old guy. 

I have nothing to lose. 

I really want to be part of helping make this good.

But I can go wherever I need to go."

State Investigator Mathers: "What do you mean by that?"

Wilson: "I'm not going to give you any threats. 

But let me tell you, I can get there."

One can only be thankful that he didn't threaten her or use "Gestapo tactics."

This from WTSB-TV Atlanta:
James Wilson, a well-known former superintendent in Greater Atlanta's Cobb and Fulton County school systems, was caught on tape bullying and threatening a state education official during that state's investigation of wide-spread cheating on state exams.

The issue was Georgia's use of "erasure analysis" to spot cheaters (many of whom later admitted to attending "erasure parties"). It was erasure analysis that revealed test administration anomolies suggestive of misconduct in Atlanta and Dougherty County schools. Wilson had been hired to defend the county schools and was caught on tape threatening the career of the governor's lead official looking into the scandal. He suggested she would "pay dearly" if she couldn't make things right. The message sounded a lot like back off, or else.

This from Dan Rather:

In just 30 years, Finland transformed its school system from one that was mediocre and inequitable, to one that consistently produces some of the world's best students, while virtually eliminating an achievement gap. And they do it without standardized testing.. Dan Rather Reports.

C-J Editorial: Charter school mirage

This from the Courier-Journal:

Like an unwelcome relative at family gatherings, the push for charter schools has returned to Kentucky.

Politically, it needs to be taken seriously. Charter schools have had support in the past in the state Senate, and Senate President David Williams supported them during his unsuccessful Republican campaign for governor last year. Previous bids to authorize charter schools have died in the House, but there are some high-stakes issues confronting the General Assembly — expanded gambling, tax reform, a bid to create a state university in Pikeville, painful budget cuts — that could prompt game-changing bargains. Gov. Steve Beshear, who has seemed open to charter schools, can’t be counted on as a last line of defense.

But charter schools should not be approached as a political matter — or even as a financial one. (Some education officials and advocates argue that Kentucky must create charter schools in order to win Race to the Top federal dollars, but that actually is not a requirement.)

Charter schools are offered as an educational remedy. They are chartered by states, receive public money (and often funds from private foundations) and are technically public schools that cannot charge tuition and must offer open enrollment on a space available basis. But they are largely organized outside the daily operational control of state and local officials. In return, they agree to be held accountable for meeting results specified in the charter.

That has sounded good to some parents in other states, but the single most important consideration is that charter schools overall do not do as well as traditional public schools — even though charter schools generally can boot out children who don’t perform well.

A national assessment of charter schools in 2009 by the Center for Research on Education Outcomes at Stanford University found that only 17 percent of charter schools reported academic gains that were notably superior to those of traditional public schools, 37 percent showed gains that were worse, and 46 percent of charter schools showed no significant difference.

Moreover, they are simply not needed in Kentucky. Like charter schools, site-based management councils, under the KERA education reform, can make decisions for each school that supersede a school board’s authority. For all the hand-wringing, public schools in Jefferson County and statewide have been making significant progress in national rankings without charter schools.

And, at a time of cutbacks, this is no time to divert money from public schools.

Nationally, the charter school movement often has an anti-union ideological component. But in Kentucky, that would be creating a clash with unionized teachers that doesn’t exist now. Jefferson County teachers, to take one example, have agreed to modify significant traditional seniority-based processes on teacher assignments, particularly at persistently low-achieving schools.

Everyone wants to make Kentucky’s schools better. Charter schools are the wrong way to do it.

Justices Decline to Weigh Prayers at School Board Meetings

This from the School Law Blog: http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/school_law/2012/01

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to take up the issue of prayers at school board meetings.

The justices declined to hear the appeal of a school board in Delaware, which had its practice of reciting prayers before its public board meetings struck down by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit, in Philadelphia.

Prayers before school board meetings are commonplace in the United States, though certainly not universal.

The Delaware case involved the 8,400-student Indian River school district, which has had prayers at its board meetings since its founding in 1969, court papers say. In 2004, the district formalized its board meeting prayer policy, which calls for board members to rotate in leading a prayer or moment of silence to "solemnify" formal meetings. The policy says prayers may be sectarian or non-sectarian, "in the name of a Supreme Being, Jehovah, Jesus Christ, Buddha, Allah," or any other entity.

Court papers say that, in practice, prayers have almost always been Christian.

Two families challenged the board prayers as a violation of the First Amendment's prohibition against government establishment of religion. A federal district court upheld the practice. But in its Aug. 5 decision, the 3rd Circuit court panel said the board's policy and practices cannot be squared with the establishment clause.

The 3rd Circuit court said the key question was whether the school board's meetings and prayers were closer to the legislative prayers upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in the 1983 case of Marsh v. Chambers, or more like other school events in which the high court's cases have limited school-sponsored prayers.

Winters Credits Winters for State Leap in Quality Counts

Now Will the Legislature Fund SB1?

This from the Murray Ledger:

First District Sen. Ken Winters says he is thrilled that Kentucky has risen to 14th in the nation for work on academic standards, the teaching profession and many other variables in public education.

The newly-released rankings in “Education Week,” a national publication that focuses on P-12 education, last year ranked Kentucky 34th in reports tracking key education indicators that grade states on policy efforts to improve education in the primary and secondary level in an article titled, “Quality Counts,” according to a news release from Gov. Steve Beshear’s office.

Beshear said Kentucky can take pride in the standings.

“Kentucky continues to show measureable progress in education, and the rankings provided in ‘Quality Counts’ recognize the hard work of teachers, administrators, parents and community members,” Beshear said.

The Kentucky General Assembly’s approval of Senate Bill 1 in 2009, spearheaded by Winters and some of his colleagues, was particularly cited as part of the reason for the new ranking. Kentucky Education Commissioner Terry Holliday said much of the impetus for the ranking is due to Senate Bill 1.

“That legislation set us on a course to become a leader nationwide, and with the support of Gov. Beshear, legislators, teachers, administrators and parents, Kentucky’s work in school accountability, teacher training, college/career readiness and stronger academic standards is moving us in the right direction,” Holliday said.

Winters, R-Murray, said he was happy to play his part in the most important change in Kentucky since the Kentucky Education Reform Act in the 1990s.

“I am very excited about the movement on the national scene about how people perceive our educational program in Kentucky,” Winters said late last week. “I noticed the commissioner gave credit to Senate Bill 1 which I was the principal sponsor of in 2009. If you look at the statistical scores on the items that really bring us to the forefront its the standards, assessment and accountability. That’s the whole basis for Senate Bill 1. A lot of people recognize that as something substantial, and I rejoice along with the department of education and all of the general assembly that had a role in passing that bill.”

Category: Stupid Policies That Make Public Schools Look Bad

This from WTSP News, Tampa Bay:

A mother plans to change policies at a Brevard County public school after her son was suspended for a hug.

When Nick Martinez, 14, received his suspension for a public display of affection at Southwest Middle School in Palm Bay, his mom wanted to know why.
"I wanted to know if he had touched her inappropriately? Did she report it? Did she say anything about it? It was a mutual hug," said Nancy Crescente, the boy's mother.

Nick said he quickly hugged the girl, who he called his best friend, between classes. The principal saw it and hauled them off to the dean for an in-school suspension. Even the principal told WKMG Local 6 that the hug was innocent.
Crescente said she was livid after both students were punished.

"First of all, we are a Hispanic cultural family and hugging is part of who we are," she said.

The school has a strict no hugging policy and is the only school in the district where hugging is not allowed. Under the policy, there is no difference between an unwanted hug, like sexual harassment, and a hug between friends.

"A lot of friends are hugging. I just happened to be the one caught doing it," said Martinez.

"Honestly, I didn't know because I didn't think hugging was a bad thing. I didn't know you could get suspended for it," he added.

Hat tip to Justin: Hugging and Other Crimes Against Humanity

Why Kentucky School Funding Is A Huge Concern

For This Year And The Future

This from the Prichard Blog:

Over at Prich, Susan has been putting some scale to the school funding shortfall. While in Frankfort there are no signs of hope.

For the past four years declines in state and local revenues for Kentucky schools were largely offset by federal dollars. That relief is now a thing of the past.

[W]e know that the trend for this year and beyond will be decline unless state leaders step up in the current legislative session. We also know those funding losses will pose a grave danger to Kentucky's bold commitment to ensure that all students graduate from high school with the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in higher education and in the job markets of the future...

[L]ooking to the current year and the future, we know our schools are now working with a federal decline and a state increase that is nowhere near enough to make up those losses. We also have reason to worry about local funding. The newest report on state revenue says that July to December state property tax collections in 2011 dropped more than 9% from the 2010 level. If local tax receipts show a similar trend, the results could be disastrous. It's too early to know that will happen, but definitely time to be very concerned that it might.

Review Finds Studies of Charter Schools Flawed, Problematic

This from State EdWatch:

Most studies of charter schools use unsophisticated methods and are flawed in ways that prevent researchers from accurately gauging those institutions' impact on student achievement, a new review concludes.

And while researchers have options for collecting more accurate information about charter school performance, they also face obstacles along the way—some of them related to the unwillingness among states and schools to provide crucial data, the analysis finds.

A meta-analysis of charter school studies revealed that about 75 percent of them do not meet rigorous research standards because they don't account for the differences in academic background and academic histories of students attending charters, when comparing them with those attending traditional public schools, according to the review, published in the renowned journal Science. Those studies typically fail to "disentangle school quality from the preexisting achievement level," or student self-selection of schools, the article says.

The article was written by Julian R. Betts, a professor of economics at the University of California, San Diego, and Richard C. Atkinson, a former president of the University of California system who also once served as director of the National Science Foundation.

High-quality research on charters is nonetheless beginning to emerge, they say. Much of it is coming from charters that have so many applicants that they must use lotteries for admission. Because getting in or not getting in is based on chance, the students who fail to secure a spot represent a sound "control" group necessary for a study, Betts and Atkinson say.

The relatively small number of lottery-based studies of charter schools have generally shown that they either outperform or perform at the same level as traditional public schools, according to the authors. But those studies cover only a small fraction—about 2 percent—of charter schools nationally.

Of course, many education advocates and scholars have long been frustrated by the paucity of rigorous research across the spectrum of school policy—not just with charters. (See my colleague Debbie Viadero's exceptional reporting on this.) The shortage of research is sometimes attributed to the difficulty of arranging high-quality, sustained studies of student populations in school settings...

Pro Charter Group meets with C-J Editors

UK Prof Wayne Lewis tells C-J Editors 
that poor kids are "sentenced" to bad schools

This from The Courier-Journal:

Former Louisville mayoral candidate Hal Heiner is leading a campaign to allow charter schools to be established in Kentucky.

Heiner has formed a nonprofit organization, Kentuckians Advocating Reform in Education, to push the General Assembly to allow for charter schools. Among its efforts is a $120,000 ad campaign on television and radio.

The former Metro Council member said his advocacy was born of concern about the Jefferson County Public School system’s dropout rate, as well as other education issues frequently raised when he ran unsuccessfully for mayor in 2010.

Charter schools take different forms in each state, but they typically are operated with public funds by groups independent of local school systems. They do not have to abide by the same regulations as public schools, allowing for more hours in the school day, more class days and greater flexibility in instruction...

A bill authorizing charter schools passed the state Senate last year, but the House has not taken up such proposals. Rep. Carl Rollins, a Midway Democrat and chairman of the House Education Committee, said that, while he opposes charter schools, he’s considering bringing a bill sponsored by Rep. Brad Montell, R-Shelbyville, to the committee this session.

“I think it dilutes our focus,” Rollins said of charter schools. “I know we need to improve a lot of our schools, but at the same time I don’t think competition — starting new schools from scratch to compete with our public schools — is the way to solve the problem.”

Rollins said he’s considering bringing the bill up because of the longstanding support for charter schools among legislative Republicans and the Obama administration, and he thinks it’s worth debating.

“It doesn’t hurt to have a discussion and talk about it,” he said...

Heiner said he prefers only nonprofit organizations being granted charters and for the schools to be targeted to high-poverty communities. Parents would have to apply for their children to attend the schools, and a lottery would determine who gets in if applications exceed available spots, he said.

Religious groups would not be eligible to apply for charters, Burgan said...

Heiner said he is KARE’s largest contributor, and the other members are “Kentucky individuals.” Asked for a list of donors, Heiner said he’d consult with them to see if they want their names to be made public...

Educators who cheat on tests could face criminal charges

This from H-L:

The Senate Education Committee unanimously passed a bill to make it a crime for educators to cheat on any state tests. The measure now goes to the full Senate.

Senate Bill 64 would make it unlawful for educators to allow students to see test questions prior to the test, copy any test booklets, provide guidance or answer keys during the test, or correct student answers afterwards.

Any charges could be reported to a prosecuting attorney or the attorney general for investigation. Punishment would include fines of up to $1,000 and an investigation by the Education Professional Standards Board.

The bill comes in the wake of a cheating scandal in Perry County in 2010 on the ACT test. Recently, the standards board suspended the educational certificates of two employees implicated in the matter.

Cheating is already against state education rules, but there are no criminal charges attached.

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2012/01/13/2025994/educators-who-cheat-on-tests-could.html#wgt=rcntnews#storylink=cpy

Standards board takes action against Perry county educators in ACT investigation

This from the Hazard Herald:

The Education Professional Standards Board this week suspended educational certificates for two employees of the Perry County School District in response to an investigation that turned up allegedly compromised ACT tests in 2009 and 2010.

The ACT organization, which provides college entrance exams to high school students in Kentucky and other states, confirmed to the Herald in October 2010 that officials had cancelled test scores for several students at Perry County Central, and later at Buckhorn High School, after an investigation concluded that answers on some of the tests had been altered and did not reflect “the students’ own independent work.”

ACT forwarded the results of their investigation to the Kentucky Department of Education and the Education Professional Standards Board (EPSB), the latter of which opened cases on five employees of the district. Two of those cases were closed with a suspension of certification on Monday, January 9.

According to documents obtained by the Herald this week through an open records request, Jonathan Jett, who at the time served as the district’s assessment coordinator, was “responsible for test security in the district,” and “should have been aware that ACT scores for certain student groups appeared to be inconsistent with their abilities.”

An agreed order was issued during the EPSB’s meeting on Monday, noting punitive measures against Jett and his certification in Kentucky.

“Although Jett maintains his innocence with regard to the specific allegation,” the order reads, “he acknowledges that the evidence regarding the reported charges is such that, if presented at a hearing of this matter, could result in a finding that he is in violation of KRS 161-120 and 16 KAR 1:020, the Professional Code of Ethics for Kentucky School Certified Personnel.”

Two of the three educational certificates Jett holds were suspended as a part of the order. One listed as a “Professional Certificate For Instructional Leadership–School Superintendent” was suspended for 12 months beginning July 1, 2011 and ending July 1, 2012, while a “Professional Certificate For Director Of Special Education” was suspended for 18 months beginning July 1, 2011.

According to Alicia Sneed, director of legal services for the EPSB, Jett additionally holds a teaching certificate which will not be affected “since the allegations in the case were in reference to his positions as District Assessment Coordinator and Director of Special Education.”

Additional probationary conditions were also attached to the order, including one that bars Jett from supervising the administration of tests required by state statute or by the Kentucky Department of Education.

A second case was closed on Monday against Rebecca Dobson, a certified teacher at Perry Central who, according to the agreed order in her case, was serving as the testing accommodations coordinator at the time ACT alleged the tests were altered. The order also noted that her fingerprints were allegedly found on the answer sheets, according to the original complaint made by ACT.

Dobson also maintained her innocence, according to the documentation, but agreed to the order which suspends her teaching certification for a period of six months beginning September 3, 2011 and ending on February 3, 2012, after which her certificate will be reinstated under a probationary period of five years. Conditions of that probation include that Dobson provide proof that she completed 12 hours of ethics training and that she not be allowed to participate in any testing mandated by state law or by the Kentucky Department of Education.


Perry County Superintendent John Paul Amis noted on Wednesday that Jett’s suspension will not affect his current job as the district’s maintenance and transportation director, and that Dobson is currently on an unrelated leave and isn’t scheduled to return until next month.

He added that the suspensions levied by the EPSB were unfortunate because it appeared that both Jett and Dobson were punished simply by virtue of their supervisory positions, and that to his knowledge there has never been a specific allegation or evidence presented that either had anything to do with physically altering the test’s answer sheets.

“It’s my understanding the only reason the standards board has taken any action against any individuals is due to negligence, because of the positions they held, and not willful negligence, just negligence, that these people never willingly, knowingly participated in anything improper, but due to the positions that they held some disciplinary action was taken against them,” Amis said.

In Jett’s case, Amis noted, he was never in contact with the answer sheets at any time during their administration, and in Dobson’s case, it would be natural for someone administering the test to have their fingerprints on the booklets.

“I’m sure if they checked, there would be numerous fingerprints on them, because somebody has to hand them out and somebody has to take them up, and somebody has to inventory them and seal them up,” he said. “That wouldn’t be evidence of guilt on anybody’s part.”

Amis said he has reviewed the evidence contained in the ACT report several times, and while it does seem that some manipulation of the tests may have taken place, it has been frustrating that no one has been able to pinpoint any specific individual as the person who physically altered the students’ answers.

“When you look at the evidence of some of these answer sheets … the evidence is pretty compelling that some of those could have been manipulated,” he said. “But again, a lot of people don’t realize how in-depth ACT’s investigation was.”

That investigation, he noted, included forensic elements such as fingerprint and handwriting analysis. And despite that inquiry and another completed by district officials on the local level, “they could still never determine an individual who actually went in and changed any of the answers, (or) manipulated those answer sheets in any way.”

And that has been a point of frustration, he added. “We would have dealt with an individual severely if we could ever have determined exactly who it was.”

“It’s unfortunate,” Amis continued, “that you’ve got people that their names are now going to be made public and may be some action taken against them with their certifications when they’ve never been accused of actually doing anything improper.”

Three other cases are currently pending, the details of which are not being released. Alicia Sneed with the EPSB explained that those files will also become public record once the cases are closed. She did not note a time frame as to when that may happen.

Superintendent Amis also declined to release any specifics in those remaining cases, but said he understands that like the two that were closed this week, those individuals were named because of their positions and not because of any specific allegations or evidence against them.

In the original ACT complaint, tests were also alleged to have been compromised at the county’s other public high school at Buckhorn, though Sneed declined to comment if there are any plans to open separate investigations in regard to those allegations.

Amis did say, however, that he received a letter from ACT several months ago that the agency was not pursuing anything with Buckhorn, and that he doesn’t expect any further investigation into those allegations.

Few States Cite Full Plans for Carrying Out Standards

This from Education Week:

Forty-six states and the District of Columbia have adopted a common set of academic standards, but only seven have fully developed plans to put the standards into practice in three key areas, according to a study released today.

The EPE Research Center, operated by Editorial Projects in Education, which publishes Education Week, teamed up with Education First, a Seattle-based education policy and consulting group, on a survey of states’ plans to implement the Common Core State Standards.

It found that “a handful of states are particularly far along” in their plans to transform the common standards into practice, but “most states ... still have a long way to go” before they have blueprints to take the standards from paper to practice.

“Whether the pace and quality of state planning efforts will be strong enough to ensure a smooth transition to the [standards] remains an open question,” the report says...

States that reported having plans in any of those areas were asked to characterize them as complete or in development.

[S]even states — Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, and West Virginia—said they had completed plans in all three of those areas, 18 reported no completed plans in any of them...

Infographic: Growth in educational management organizations shows no signs of slowing

This from HechingerEd Blog:

Report cards for teachers: Are they fair?

This from the HechingerEd Blog:

A new study underwritten by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (which is among the funders of The Hechinger Report) tackles the question of whether the new teacher evaluation systems going into effect in school districts across the country are accurate and reliable in identifying which teachers are good and which are not. The researchers found that the new evaluation systems are likely to be more reliable than the methods used in the past. But they are not perfect.

The study argues that current teacher evaluation systems are broken, suggesting, as many critics have in the past, that the problem with the old approach was its failure to distinguish among the great, the mediocre and the bad: More than 90 percent of teachers were labeled as satisfactory, even in school districts where student achievement and graduation rates were abysmal. Under the old system, principals usually conducted one classroom observation per teacher every few years, marking off things on a checklist, like whether students were behaving and goals were displayed on the chalkboard.

Advocates for a new system of measuring teachers—with usually more than one classroom observation a year, plus standardized test scores that measure how much a teacher’s students improve academically, plus other measures like student survey results—say it is more consistent and precise. This new system is being promoted as more dependable in telling districts which teachers are great, which need help to get better, and, most controversially, which need to be let go...

New National Standards Address Sexuality Education for All Grades

This from Curriculum Matters:

A new set of standards outlines the minimum that students should learn about their sexuality from their earliest years in school until they leave high school.

The standards, developed over the last few years by dozens of health and education experts, say that by the end of 2nd grade, students should be able to use the proper name for body parts, including male and female anatomy. By the end of 5th grade, they should be able to define sexual abuse and harassment. By the end of high school, they should be able to describe common symptoms of and treatments for sexually transmitted diseases including HIV, according to the standards released today with the backing of four national health education groups.

Three groups—Advocates for Youth, Answer, and the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States—led creation of the standards. At the time the project was conceived, the hope was that federal spending on abstinence-only sexual education would eventually be extinguished (which isn't yet the case ) and something would be needed to teach sexuality, comprehensively. Still, despite the federal government's continued support for abstinence-only sex education programs in schools, a growing number of states are opting to go beyond abstinence-only and take a more-comprehensive approach to sex education in public schools. For example, many Texas schools have shifted away from an abstinence-only approach.

A 2007 congressionally mandated study found no statistically significant beneficial effect on the sexual behavior of young people participating in abstinence-based programs...

Pa. Teachers Agree to Work for Free

This from Teaching Now:

Teachers in Pennsylvania's Chester Upland School District have agreed to continue working even though the district can no longer afford to pay them, reports The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Chester Upland has been in turmoil for some time. Last summer, the state passed massive budget cuts that forced the district to decrease its operating budget by $18 million, according to the Delaware County Daily Times. The district laid off 40 percent of its professional staff and half of its unionized support staff, states the Inquirer, and in some schools, class sizes now average more than 40 students. The acting superintendent, Levi Wingard, was laid off as well on Dec. 31. In a letter posted on the district's website, Wingard writes:

We now face a very challenging financial crisis. We are currently unable to fund the district's payroll expenses after January 4, 2012. However, I assure you that the members of the school board and the district administration are doing everything possible to identify a solution. We are working cooperatively with the labor unions, the Delaware County Superintendents, the Delaware County Intermediate Unit and the Pennsylvania Department of Education...