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CCSSO Applauds President Obama’s Education Reform Efforts
On July 24, at the U.S. Department of Education (ED), the Obama Administration formally announced their effort to use the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, including the Race to the Top fund (RTTT), to support a coordinated and deep-seated reform agenda. CCSSO applauds and supports the ED's comprehensive approach to reform and looks forward to continuing to build a new state-federal partnership dedicated to achieving this important shared goal.
At the event, CCSSO Executive Director Gene Wilhoit highlighed the exemplary state reform efforts from chiefs including the innovative and powerful work already being done by states as part of the Common Core State Standards Initiative. Florida Commissioner of Education Eric Smith also spoke on the critical role of data in education reform. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan referred to education as the civil rights issue of our generation, and the partnership between states and the federal government clearly communicates our nation’s focus on increasing the educational opportunities for every student in the country.
President Obama strongly endorsed the Common Core State Standards Initiative being spearheaded by CCSSO and the NGA Center for Best Practices. The Council echoes the Administration’s commitment to high standards and accountability and asks for increased federal investments like RTTT and the freedom to innovate towards those goals in exchange.
ED is seeking public comment on the RTTT priorities, requirements, and selection criteria. CCSSO will be coordinating a collective response for chiefs. ED will also host an in person stakeholders discussion on August 4 to review RTTT as well as the rulemaking notice on Phase II of the State Fiscalization Stabilization Fund, the preliminary grant notice for State Longitudinal Data Systems and new guidance on Educational Technology State Grants. For more information about RTTT please contact Abigail Rogers at abigailr@ccsso.org or Adam Ezring at adame@ccsso.org.
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Association & Related News
ETS Releases National Education Standards: Getting Beneath the Surface Report
Advocacy in Action
U.S. House of Representatives Approves Labor/HHS/Education Spending Measure
Education Newsbriefs
"City Wins Funding for Preschool Program" (AK)
"Input Sought on Curriculum Selection" (CA)
"R.I. to Offer its First Public Pre-K Program" (RI)
"'Race to Top' Guidelines Stress Use of Test Data"
"Senate Bill Promotes 21st-Century Skills"
Association & Related News
ETS Releases National Education Standards: Getting Beneath the Surface Report
With the drive for common education standards gaining momentum, a new publication from Educational Testing Service (ETS), reviews the debate, details previous and current efforts, discusses the challenges and explores avenues for moving the nation toward greater commonality.
The report, National Education Standards: Getting Beneath the Surface, covers issues such as what must be considered in creating common education standards, what problems must be addressed, and what trade-offs might be required among conflicting objectives.
“The most daunting issue,” says noted educational researcher and report author Paul Barton, “is the huge degree of variation that now exists in our educational system.” For example:
- In student achievement, the lowest scoring 17-year-olds do no better in math and reading than the top scoring 9-year-olds. In addition, the spread in achievement scores in reading within a grade is as large, or larger, than the difference in average scores between grades 4 and 12.
- Evaluations of the state content standards and tests by the Fordham Foundation and the American Federation of Teachers found large variations in quality.
- A review of the textbooks used in 10 states showed that only 4 of 108 possible learning expectations for fourth graders were common across those states.
“There seems to be widespread dissatisfaction with the present system,” says Barton. “As the Secretary of Education put it, ‘we have 50 different goal posts now.’ However, this is not an advocacy document but an effort to help people who are grappling with the issue by providing information that can help.”
To read National Education Standards: Getting Beneath the Surface, please click here. Copies also are available by writing to the Policy Information Center, c/o ETS, MS 19-R, Rosedale Road, Princeton, NJ 08541-0001; by calling 1-609-734-5694; or by emailing pic@ets.org.
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Advocacy in Action
U.S. House of Representatives Approves Labor/HHS/Education Spending Measure
On Friday, July 24 the U.S. House of Representatives approved $67.8 billion for the U.S. Department of Education for Fiscal Year 2010, a discretionary increase of $1.2 billion or 1.9% over Fiscal Year 2009. The measure includes $14.5 billion for Title I, compared to the President’s proposed $12.9 billion; $545 million for School Improvement grants, compared to the President’s proposed $1.5 billion; $446 million for the Teacher Incentive Fund, compared to the President’s proposed $517.3 million; $65 million for statewide data systems; and $7.2 billion for Head Start and Early Head Start.
The Senate Labor, Health and Human Services, Education Appropriations Subcommittee will mark-up its version of the Fiscal Year 2010 spending bill on Tuesday, July 28 and the Full Appropriations Committee will debate the measure on Thursday, July 30. CCSSO's Advocacy Team will continue to provide members with additional updates as numbers from the mark-ups are finalized and the bill is considered by the full Senate.
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Education Newsbriefs
City Wins Funding for Preschool Program
Juneau Empire (07/23/09) Marquis, Kim
On July 22, Alaska Education Commissioner Larry LeDoux announced that six school districts, including Juneau, would receive grants between $150,000 and $380,000 as part of a pilot preschool program in the 2009-2010 school year. The grants would enable recipients to serve about 330 children in half-day programs. "The pilot's purpose is not to establish whether preschool is beneficial for children. We already know it does help prepare children to start kindergarten ready to learn. Rather, the pilot will allow school districts to create preschool programs that incorporate Alaska's early learning guidelines in ways that are tailored to their communities," says LeDoux. The school districts receiving the grants also will be expected to provide families with guidance on how to select the best care for young children at home and to use specific assessment tools to evaluate children in these pilot programs.
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Input Sought on Curriculum Selection
Santa Rosa Press Democrat (CA) (07/20/09)
The materials recently submitted for the 2009 Education and the Environment Initiative (EEI) Curriculum Review for grades kindergarten through 12 are available for public review and comment. About 85 units cover a variety of topics from science and history to sustainability and global climate change. According to California Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell, "Students today will be responsible for making decisions that influence the future health of the environment. This curriculum provides the foundation to prepare students to be informed, environmentally conscious decision makers. I encourage educators, parents, and all interested parties to participate in the review of these landmark environmental instructional materials. Their input will help ensure that high-quality, standards-based environmental curricula are available to teachers and schools in California." The comment period ends on Sept. 1 and recommendations will be considered by the California Department of Education's Curriculum Development and Supplement Materials Commission before advice is given to the secretaries of the California Environmental Protection Agency and the California Natural Resources Agency. Once accepted, the materials will be submitted to the State Board of Education for final approval. For more information, click here.
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R.I. to Offer its First Public Pre-K Program
Providence Journal (RI) (07/27/09) Jordan, Jennifer D.
Rhode Island has been among a handful of states that do not offer public pre-K programs, but starting in September 2009, the state will open up to six pilot pre-K classrooms to help between 72 and 108 four-year-olds in urban environments receive an early education. The program will be funded by $700,000 from the 2009-2010 state budget, and the State Department of Education estimates the cost per child for the pilot pre-K program at $9,300. If the pilot program is successful, it could be expanded. Rhode Island Education Commissioner Deborah Gist says, "We talk a lot about achievement gaps. But when children come to school with such widely varying levels, what we really have is a preparation gap that exists before they even start school." The pilot programs will follow 10 national benchmarks, including requiring pre-K teachers to hold a bachelor's degree with a special concentration in early childhood, classes no larger than 20 students, and a child-to-staff ratio of 1:10 or better. "We must continue to make the case for why an investment in early childhood is so important, even in tough budget times. That's why the [National Institute for Early Education Research] study[, which will examine what gains have been made in language, literacy, and other areas among pre-K students,] will be so important. Also, it's important to have classrooms to take people to and say, 'this is what a high-quality pre-K classroom looks like,'" notes Gist.
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'Race to Top' Guidelines Stress Use of Test Data
Education Week (07/23/09) Vol. 28, No. 37, McNeil, Michele; Sawchuk, Stephen
Under the recent U.S. Department of Education guidelines for $4 billion in Race to the Top grant money, only 2 of the 19 criteria must be met by states applying for the funds. States must have been approved by the department for funds under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and must not have laws in place preventing the use of student achievement information in teacher and principal evaluations. The public has 30 days to comment on the criteria, and the U.S. Department of Education will unveil the final criteria in October. If the criteria stand as is, California and New York could be ineligible for Race to the Top funding. Once the criteria are approved, states have 60 days to apply for grants, which will be awarded in March 2010, but states winning grants in the first round cannot apply again for the second round, which will be distributed in September 2010. The state governor would apply for the money, but the state education chief and the president of the state education board must sign off on the application, and the U.S. Education Department will examine whether reform plans have statewide backing, especially from teachers' unions. Those states receiving grants can use the first 50 percent how they choose, but the second half must adhere to the formula for Title 1 programs for disadvantaged students.
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Senate Bill Promotes 21st-Century Skills
eSchool News (07/01/09) Vol. 12, No. 7, P. 10; Prabhu, Maya T.
U.S. Sen. John Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) has proposed legislation that would give matching federal funds to states offering curriculum choices focusing on 21st-century skills. West Virginia educators and the Partnership for 21st Century Skills contributed ideas toward the bill. "The knowledge base and skills set that most students learn in school should expand to provide students with the skills, like critical thinking and problem solving, needed to succeed in modern workplaces and communities," Rockefeller said when introducing the bill on May 13. The bill indicates that states could broaden their curriculum offerings to focus on such 21st-century skills as financial, economic, business, and entrepreneurial proficiency; civic literacy; and health and wellness awareness. The U.S. Department of Education would be given $100 million annually to distribute to states if the bill is passed. Partnership for 21st Century Skills Chair Paige Kuni says states that have launched 21st-century skills initiatives--Arizona, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, North Carolina, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and West Virginia--could obtain financial assistance through the legislation.
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