On behalf of the Trustees and staff of The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, I want to thank all of you who participated in our Speaker Series event on education reform.
After the Speaker Series event, many of you asked the Foundation to keep the conversation going. As part of our long-term commitment to engaging the community on education reform, we have posted the video and transcript from the event here.
Today we are excited to add a new resource to the mix. To keep the conversation going, we asked five Atlanta leaders how they would answer the question we framed in our Speaker Series event: ”Winning the Race to the Top: What are the best reform strategies for K-12 education?” We are posting their answers in the blog entries below, and we invite you to add your voice to the mix.
Thank you for helping Georgia compete in the Race to the Top.
Penny McPhee
President, The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Winning the Race to the Top: What are the best reform strategies for K-12 education?
by Alisha Morgan
Georgia State House of Representative, District 39
The “Race to the Top” efforts are welcomed sign of a new era of expectations. We stand at intersection of opportunity and challenging the dysfunction of business as usual in Education. We have the opportunity to create and execute a vision for a well educated and prepared citizenry that is evidence of the best of who we are as a state and nation. The administration is challenging all of us to innovate, to think outside the box, and to try new things all in the name of educational excellence.
This is not about the states’ ability to get more money to employ the same old strategies and expect different results. In the words of Dr. Howard Fuller said it best, if we allow the same people [and strategies] who raced us to the bottom to lead us in the “Race to the Top”, we are guaranteed to see the same kind of results. For Georgia, we are relegated to bottom five in SAT scores, we don’t know the true number of dropouts in our state, and we will keep lying to some students because as Secretary Duncan has said, “we dumb down our tests”, thus providing an unrealistic picture of academic success among our students.
There are three things that must change if we are to ever see Georgia’s ascension to the top. The first is ensuring that every child in our state benefits from highly effective not just “qualified” teachers. Setting the priority for our state to create a working longitudinal data system that tracks a student and their teachers from the time they enter a Georgia public school to the time they leave. This empowers us to make better decisions based on data instead of what we hope will work for our students. It’s imperative no matter where a child lives or his socio-economic status that he or she obtains a world class education thanks to the quality teacher whose focus is their growth from year to year. Additionally, we should compensate those teachers based on student growth rather than years of service or number of degrees.
Secondly, we have to open up the options available to our families. The one-size fits all model simply no longer works. Whether it’s choice among traditional public schools, virtual schools, charters, magnets, or other programs, we owe it to Georgia’s families to provide a quality education that best meet the needs of the child. Parents know what’s best for their children and it’s time we do what’s best for the child and not necessarily what’s best for the institution.
Finally, we have to fortify our political will. We sometimes think that fixing the woes of Education can be addressed in a 20 year plan, except some of us forget that within those 20 years are generations of students whose futures are adversely affected the longer we take to act. It’s not only our moral obligation to give every child a quality education also a constitutional one. In educating our children, there are no “do-overs”, and “no try again next times’. We have to do this right the first time and with a sense of urgency. It’s time to abandon what we know is not working and embrace meaningful change. That also means loosening the grip of the status quo and opening our minds and creating policy that gives parents and families what they need to succeed.
We in education are in the business of transforming lives. To do that, we need real accountability and data, true options for parents and the political will among policy makers, special interest groups and parents to speak for the most important constituency, our children. We must seize this great opportunity and compete for the “Race to the Top”, against other states and other countries. In the end, not only will our students win, we all win.
Georgia State House of Representative, District 39
The “Race to the Top” efforts are welcomed sign of a new era of expectations. We stand at intersection of opportunity and challenging the dysfunction of business as usual in Education. We have the opportunity to create and execute a vision for a well educated and prepared citizenry that is evidence of the best of who we are as a state and nation. The administration is challenging all of us to innovate, to think outside the box, and to try new things all in the name of educational excellence.
This is not about the states’ ability to get more money to employ the same old strategies and expect different results. In the words of Dr. Howard Fuller said it best, if we allow the same people [and strategies] who raced us to the bottom to lead us in the “Race to the Top”, we are guaranteed to see the same kind of results. For Georgia, we are relegated to bottom five in SAT scores, we don’t know the true number of dropouts in our state, and we will keep lying to some students because as Secretary Duncan has said, “we dumb down our tests”, thus providing an unrealistic picture of academic success among our students.There are three things that must change if we are to ever see Georgia’s ascension to the top. The first is ensuring that every child in our state benefits from highly effective not just “qualified” teachers. Setting the priority for our state to create a working longitudinal data system that tracks a student and their teachers from the time they enter a Georgia public school to the time they leave. This empowers us to make better decisions based on data instead of what we hope will work for our students. It’s imperative no matter where a child lives or his socio-economic status that he or she obtains a world class education thanks to the quality teacher whose focus is their growth from year to year. Additionally, we should compensate those teachers based on student growth rather than years of service or number of degrees.
Secondly, we have to open up the options available to our families. The one-size fits all model simply no longer works. Whether it’s choice among traditional public schools, virtual schools, charters, magnets, or other programs, we owe it to Georgia’s families to provide a quality education that best meet the needs of the child. Parents know what’s best for their children and it’s time we do what’s best for the child and not necessarily what’s best for the institution.
Finally, we have to fortify our political will. We sometimes think that fixing the woes of Education can be addressed in a 20 year plan, except some of us forget that within those 20 years are generations of students whose futures are adversely affected the longer we take to act. It’s not only our moral obligation to give every child a quality education also a constitutional one. In educating our children, there are no “do-overs”, and “no try again next times’. We have to do this right the first time and with a sense of urgency. It’s time to abandon what we know is not working and embrace meaningful change. That also means loosening the grip of the status quo and opening our minds and creating policy that gives parents and families what they need to succeed.
We in education are in the business of transforming lives. To do that, we need real accountability and data, true options for parents and the political will among policy makers, special interest groups and parents to speak for the most important constituency, our children. We must seize this great opportunity and compete for the “Race to the Top”, against other states and other countries. In the end, not only will our students win, we all win.
Winning the Race to the Top: What are the best reform strategies for K-12 education?
by Luma Mufleh
Founder of Fugees Family, Inc.
I grew up in the Middle East. My parents invested heavily in our education, sending us to the best schools. They sent us to British and American Schools, because they believed that British and American schools were the best in the world. I came to the U.S. believing that all the schools in the U.S. were exactly like my high school in Amman, Jordan: academically rigorous, athletically competitive, and a true community whose doors never closed.
When I started working with youth in the U.S., I was shocked at the state of our public schools. In the students, the teachers, and the administrators, I saw a lack of discipline, a lack of actual teaching, a lack of accountability, and overall a lack of pride. There was no sense of teamwork, or goals that everyone aspired to.
It is a disgrace that we are number 48, and a kid from a low-income family living in China is getting a better public education than a kid in Clarkston, Georgia. In our state, your zip code determines whether you will go to college. We have kids who graduate from high school reading on a 3rd grade level. We have honor students who can’t get above a 650 on the SAT. We have teachers who are passing the kids through, coaches using athletes who are failing their classes, and administrators who look the other way.
I have always believed that your team is as strong as your weakest player. Our school system is only as strong as our weakest schools. We need to take some drastic steps from the top down. We need schools that don’t close their doors: schools with innovative, engaging, high-quality academic and athletic after-school and summer programming available to all, to provide the academic and social support that low-income kids need.
There are several educational reforms that have been implemented across the country that work; there is no need to reinvent the wheel. The time has come for us to stop talking and start taking action, starting with our weakest schools. We need to bring in the strongest principals and most dynamic teachers. We need to create an atmosphere where learning is esteemed, and hold the kids accountable to high standards.
I would:
1. Fire all the superintendents and principals. They can reapply for their old jobs if they want them. If they have been working in the system more than 15 years, need not reapply.
2. Put teachers on a rotation, every 3 years every teacher moves to a different school in a different zip code.
3. Develop partnerships with community organizations that can supplement school activities in afterschool hours, weekends, and summer time.
4. Develop a system where students realize that going to school is a privilege. Kids who don’t want to learn can be placed in an alternative track. Three strikes and you’re out.
5. Set higher standards for graduation. Make sure that students have adequate reading and writing skills before graduation from high school.
Founder of Fugees Family, Inc.
I grew up in the Middle East. My parents invested heavily in our education, sending us to the best schools. They sent us to British and American Schools, because they believed that British and American schools were the best in the world. I came to the U.S. believing that all the schools in the U.S. were exactly like my high school in Amman, Jordan: academically rigorous, athletically competitive, and a true community whose doors never closed.When I started working with youth in the U.S., I was shocked at the state of our public schools. In the students, the teachers, and the administrators, I saw a lack of discipline, a lack of actual teaching, a lack of accountability, and overall a lack of pride. There was no sense of teamwork, or goals that everyone aspired to.
It is a disgrace that we are number 48, and a kid from a low-income family living in China is getting a better public education than a kid in Clarkston, Georgia. In our state, your zip code determines whether you will go to college. We have kids who graduate from high school reading on a 3rd grade level. We have honor students who can’t get above a 650 on the SAT. We have teachers who are passing the kids through, coaches using athletes who are failing their classes, and administrators who look the other way.
I have always believed that your team is as strong as your weakest player. Our school system is only as strong as our weakest schools. We need to take some drastic steps from the top down. We need schools that don’t close their doors: schools with innovative, engaging, high-quality academic and athletic after-school and summer programming available to all, to provide the academic and social support that low-income kids need.
There are several educational reforms that have been implemented across the country that work; there is no need to reinvent the wheel. The time has come for us to stop talking and start taking action, starting with our weakest schools. We need to bring in the strongest principals and most dynamic teachers. We need to create an atmosphere where learning is esteemed, and hold the kids accountable to high standards.
I would:
1. Fire all the superintendents and principals. They can reapply for their old jobs if they want them. If they have been working in the system more than 15 years, need not reapply.
2. Put teachers on a rotation, every 3 years every teacher moves to a different school in a different zip code.
3. Develop partnerships with community organizations that can supplement school activities in afterschool hours, weekends, and summer time.
4. Develop a system where students realize that going to school is a privilege. Kids who don’t want to learn can be placed in an alternative track. Three strikes and you’re out.
5. Set higher standards for graduation. Make sure that students have adequate reading and writing skills before graduation from high school.
Winning the Race to the Top: What are the best reform strategies for K-12 education?
by Patty Pflum
Executive Director, Communities In Schools of Atlanta
I have spent most of my adult live working with Communities In Schools, interacting with young people who are struggling in school. As a result, my thoughts on education reform come more from my heart than from policy development or research.
At the core of everything we do at Communities In Schools is a commitment to the importance of personal relationships…that every young person needs and deserves a one-on-one, caring relationship with an adult. It may, thus, seem ironic that the key strategy area outlined by Race to the Top that first caught my attention was the need for better data systems.
Someone, somewhere, keeps lists of the students who are in foster care, those young people who are coming out of the juvenile justice system, and the kids who are living in homeless shelters. We know these young people are very likely to drop out of school without extra supports; yet we still have difficulty identifying these students so they can be connected to services at their school. We cannot help these young people in special need if we cannot quickly identify them.
Building trusting relationships with young people takes time and persistence. Perhaps most frustrating for our staff people is trying to support the families who move frequently from school to school, or district to district. The young people in these families may not be on any agency’s list, but their success in school is threatened with every transition. More sophisticated and accessible data systems would allow people in the schools to track students’ particular needs and offer support in a more holistic way.
Second, as we design our education reforms, I hope we remember to listen to our young people and include them in the process of finding solutions. For three decades, I have had the opportunity to sit in sessions with students who are struggling in school and listened to their suggestions for how to improve their educational experience.
Always first on their list is getting rid of the teachers who “…are just collecting a paycheck” and finding more teachers who will demonstrate that they feel responsible for every student’s success.
Young people also tell me they are hungering for more opportunities to take responsibility for the quality of their school and to provide leadership in their communities. They want a consistent, rationale structure of rules and expectations. They like clean, well-equipped facilities with all the bells and whistles, but they would never trade a beautiful facility for a sense of belonging when they enter the building.
Last, I hope that the leaders who are shaping our reform strategies recognize the key roles of parents, businesses, civic groups, faith groups, public and private social service agencies and other nonprofits. I believe there still exists too much separation between schools and the rest of the community. Part of the responsibility for this divide belongs to the schools themselves…those schools who make parents feel unwelcome, who treat volunteers and outside agencies as hassles rather than supports…who want to dictate solutions to the rest of the community. An equal part, however, of the responsibility for this divide falls on the shoulders of the rest of the community…those people who have decided they can discard thousands of young people along the way because “they’re not our children.” Any truly effective education reform is going to require new ways of partnering that unify and integrate the resources available across many sectors of our community. The schools cannot do it by themselves.
Executive Director, Communities In Schools of Atlanta
I have spent most of my adult live working with Communities In Schools, interacting with young people who are struggling in school. As a result, my thoughts on education reform come more from my heart than from policy development or research. At the core of everything we do at Communities In Schools is a commitment to the importance of personal relationships…that every young person needs and deserves a one-on-one, caring relationship with an adult. It may, thus, seem ironic that the key strategy area outlined by Race to the Top that first caught my attention was the need for better data systems.
Someone, somewhere, keeps lists of the students who are in foster care, those young people who are coming out of the juvenile justice system, and the kids who are living in homeless shelters. We know these young people are very likely to drop out of school without extra supports; yet we still have difficulty identifying these students so they can be connected to services at their school. We cannot help these young people in special need if we cannot quickly identify them.
Building trusting relationships with young people takes time and persistence. Perhaps most frustrating for our staff people is trying to support the families who move frequently from school to school, or district to district. The young people in these families may not be on any agency’s list, but their success in school is threatened with every transition. More sophisticated and accessible data systems would allow people in the schools to track students’ particular needs and offer support in a more holistic way.
Second, as we design our education reforms, I hope we remember to listen to our young people and include them in the process of finding solutions. For three decades, I have had the opportunity to sit in sessions with students who are struggling in school and listened to their suggestions for how to improve their educational experience.
Always first on their list is getting rid of the teachers who “…are just collecting a paycheck” and finding more teachers who will demonstrate that they feel responsible for every student’s success.
Young people also tell me they are hungering for more opportunities to take responsibility for the quality of their school and to provide leadership in their communities. They want a consistent, rationale structure of rules and expectations. They like clean, well-equipped facilities with all the bells and whistles, but they would never trade a beautiful facility for a sense of belonging when they enter the building.
Last, I hope that the leaders who are shaping our reform strategies recognize the key roles of parents, businesses, civic groups, faith groups, public and private social service agencies and other nonprofits. I believe there still exists too much separation between schools and the rest of the community. Part of the responsibility for this divide belongs to the schools themselves…those schools who make parents feel unwelcome, who treat volunteers and outside agencies as hassles rather than supports…who want to dictate solutions to the rest of the community. An equal part, however, of the responsibility for this divide falls on the shoulders of the rest of the community…those people who have decided they can discard thousands of young people along the way because “they’re not our children.” Any truly effective education reform is going to require new ways of partnering that unify and integrate the resources available across many sectors of our community. The schools cannot do it by themselves.
Winning the Race to the Top: What are the best reform strategies for K-12 education?
by Pat Willis
Executive Director, Voices for Georgia’s Children
Two strategies are necessary for children to win the race to the top: start early and embrace the needs of the whole child.
The “race to the top” may be planned by policy makers, coached by educational leaders, and delivered by teachers, but it will be won by children. With children as the starting point of our aspirations, we have much of the research we need to support their success. So let us begin by acting on what we already know.
First, we must commit to doing whatever it takes to ensure that all children are reading well by third grade. We know that if children are not reading well by third grade, their chances of graduating from high school plummet. Do we know how to ensure that children read by third grade? Yes. We engage them as early as possible in high quality learning and developmental opportunities – at home with parents, in child care with caregivers, in pre-K programs for three and four year olds. When children enter kindergarten and first grade with learning deficiencies, we deploy curricula and small group instruction, even one-on-one, that have demonstrated success through research. We have the knowledge of how to succeed with young children; we must add our commitment that every child will be reading well as they enter fourth grade.
Children win if they graduate and are able to support themselves, contribute to their communities, and participate as citizens. We have considerable data that tell us which children are likely to win the race and which are not. We know that children who are retained in a grade for 2 or 3 years are not likely to graduate; that only 40% of girls who get pregnant ever finish high school, that our prisons are full of young people who never graduated and that less than half of our children who age out of the foster care system earned a high school degree. Most of these children are already known to one or more state agencies – Juvenile Justice, Family and Children Services, Mental Health, Community Health – as well as our public schools.
When children are young, as young as 3 and 4 and certainly as elementary school students, the risk factors for poor school performance and failure to get a diploma are obvious. If these factors had physical descriptors as disabilities, we would, by law, develop an Individual Education Program (IEP), to ensure we were meeting their special needs. We should embrace the same commitment to children whose socio-economic environments put them at a disadvantage. By engaging the entire team of caseworkers, teachers, probation officers, pastors, guardians, and other adults responsible for the child’s well being, we can address the needs of the whole child in an IESP (Individual Education and Social Program).
What might an IESP look like? In addition to a school component, it would include supports from outside the school to expand the child’s relationships in the community and his opportunities for personal development. Tutors and mentors from the community, after-school programs, sports, and summer programs that can keep children off the streets, build their social skills, involve them in experiential learning, and develop their bodies could all be included. Physical and mental health services would be important components of the IESP, Individual Education and Social Program.
Executive Director, Voices for Georgia’s Children
Two strategies are necessary for children to win the race to the top: start early and embrace the needs of the whole child.The “race to the top” may be planned by policy makers, coached by educational leaders, and delivered by teachers, but it will be won by children. With children as the starting point of our aspirations, we have much of the research we need to support their success. So let us begin by acting on what we already know.
First, we must commit to doing whatever it takes to ensure that all children are reading well by third grade. We know that if children are not reading well by third grade, their chances of graduating from high school plummet. Do we know how to ensure that children read by third grade? Yes. We engage them as early as possible in high quality learning and developmental opportunities – at home with parents, in child care with caregivers, in pre-K programs for three and four year olds. When children enter kindergarten and first grade with learning deficiencies, we deploy curricula and small group instruction, even one-on-one, that have demonstrated success through research. We have the knowledge of how to succeed with young children; we must add our commitment that every child will be reading well as they enter fourth grade.
Children win if they graduate and are able to support themselves, contribute to their communities, and participate as citizens. We have considerable data that tell us which children are likely to win the race and which are not. We know that children who are retained in a grade for 2 or 3 years are not likely to graduate; that only 40% of girls who get pregnant ever finish high school, that our prisons are full of young people who never graduated and that less than half of our children who age out of the foster care system earned a high school degree. Most of these children are already known to one or more state agencies – Juvenile Justice, Family and Children Services, Mental Health, Community Health – as well as our public schools.
When children are young, as young as 3 and 4 and certainly as elementary school students, the risk factors for poor school performance and failure to get a diploma are obvious. If these factors had physical descriptors as disabilities, we would, by law, develop an Individual Education Program (IEP), to ensure we were meeting their special needs. We should embrace the same commitment to children whose socio-economic environments put them at a disadvantage. By engaging the entire team of caseworkers, teachers, probation officers, pastors, guardians, and other adults responsible for the child’s well being, we can address the needs of the whole child in an IESP (Individual Education and Social Program).
What might an IESP look like? In addition to a school component, it would include supports from outside the school to expand the child’s relationships in the community and his opportunities for personal development. Tutors and mentors from the community, after-school programs, sports, and summer programs that can keep children off the streets, build their social skills, involve them in experiential learning, and develop their bodies could all be included. Physical and mental health services would be important components of the IESP, Individual Education and Social Program.
Winning the Race to the Top: What are the best reform strategies for K-12 education?
by Hunter Pierson
Teach for America Fellow (Oakland, 2001-06)
As a native of New Orleans, I am not accustom to my home state performing well when it comes to rankings of health, education, and welfare. Unless the category is food, culture, or top tourist destinations, we tend to dwell near the bottom of the pack. Given this, it is a striking reversal of fortune that Louisiana is frequently mentioned as a front-runner in the US Department of Education’s “Race to the Top”. How did this come to be? What could we in Georgia learn from this somewhat startling development?
To be sure, the state of public education in New Orleans and Atlanta is quite different. The New Orleans school system is marked by a recovering local economy, a state takeover, and a dramatic reinvention in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The Atlanta school system is characterized by a close partnership between the business community, school board, and superintendent that has led to steady improvement and national accolades.
Yet in spite of these differences, I believe we in Georgia can take at least one lesson from Louisiana when it comes to the Race to the Top. Our state should invest in innovative non-profits that help attract talented people into the field of public education.
This view is undoubtedly shaped by the five years that I spent as a part of Teach For America. Teach For America is the national corps of outstanding recent college graduates of all academic majors and career interests who commit two years to teach in urban and rural public schools across the country.
Programs like Teach For America, New Leaders For New Schools, and the Broad Residency have given the Louisiana an edge in the Race to the Top. The state has turned to these programs to recruit ambitious young people into its classrooms, schools, and district offices. These “talent pipelines” help states win the Race to the Top in two main ways: (1) they recruit teachers and administrators with strong analytical skills; (2) they have a track record of producing exemplary leaders
The Race to the Top is designed to spur education innovation and reform; however, to meet the criteria set forth by the Department of Education, a state must accomplish many quantitative tasks: develop high-quality assessments, build data systems, measure performance, etc. Talent pipelines like Teach For America target individuals who excel in performance management and data-driven instruction.
Winning the Race to the Top also demands exemplary leaders who can turn around struggling schools and make education a statewide priority. In Louisiana, if you look at the leaders behind the state’s highest performing schools and most successful non-profits they are often individuals who came to education through programs like Teach For America.
In conclusion, there are many promising reform strategies in education. But as the New Orleans experience has taught us, grand visions are only possible if you have people on the ground to achieve them. By investing in innovative non-profits that attract talented people into public education, Georgia can win the Race to the Top.
Teach for America Fellow (Oakland, 2001-06)
As a native of New Orleans, I am not accustom to my home state performing well when it comes to rankings of health, education, and welfare. Unless the category is food, culture, or top tourist destinations, we tend to dwell near the bottom of the pack. Given this, it is a striking reversal of fortune that Louisiana is frequently mentioned as a front-runner in the US Department of Education’s “Race to the Top”. How did this come to be? What could we in Georgia learn from this somewhat startling development?To be sure, the state of public education in New Orleans and Atlanta is quite different. The New Orleans school system is marked by a recovering local economy, a state takeover, and a dramatic reinvention in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The Atlanta school system is characterized by a close partnership between the business community, school board, and superintendent that has led to steady improvement and national accolades.
Yet in spite of these differences, I believe we in Georgia can take at least one lesson from Louisiana when it comes to the Race to the Top. Our state should invest in innovative non-profits that help attract talented people into the field of public education.
This view is undoubtedly shaped by the five years that I spent as a part of Teach For America. Teach For America is the national corps of outstanding recent college graduates of all academic majors and career interests who commit two years to teach in urban and rural public schools across the country.
Programs like Teach For America, New Leaders For New Schools, and the Broad Residency have given the Louisiana an edge in the Race to the Top. The state has turned to these programs to recruit ambitious young people into its classrooms, schools, and district offices. These “talent pipelines” help states win the Race to the Top in two main ways: (1) they recruit teachers and administrators with strong analytical skills; (2) they have a track record of producing exemplary leaders
The Race to the Top is designed to spur education innovation and reform; however, to meet the criteria set forth by the Department of Education, a state must accomplish many quantitative tasks: develop high-quality assessments, build data systems, measure performance, etc. Talent pipelines like Teach For America target individuals who excel in performance management and data-driven instruction.
Winning the Race to the Top also demands exemplary leaders who can turn around struggling schools and make education a statewide priority. In Louisiana, if you look at the leaders behind the state’s highest performing schools and most successful non-profits they are often individuals who came to education through programs like Teach For America.
In conclusion, there are many promising reform strategies in education. But as the New Orleans experience has taught us, grand visions are only possible if you have people on the ground to achieve them. By investing in innovative non-profits that attract talented people into public education, Georgia can win the Race to the Top.
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