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Association & Related News
Fall SCASS Meeting Cycle Kicks Off: Highlights Connections to the Chiefs' Four Initiatives
ASR SCASS Identifies New Issues for States
Register Now for 2009 CCSSO Annual Policy Forum and Business Meeting
Advocacy in Action
U.S. Department of Education ESEA Reauthorization Stakeholder Briefing Focuses on Great Teachers and Leaders
CCSSO to Co-host Education Briefing on Birth to Five Education and It’s Impact of High School Graduation
Education Newsbriefs
"Gist Ready to Roll Out Reforms" (RI)
"Texas to Invest $160 Million in T-STEM Academies" (TX)
"Wisconsin Gets $86 Million for Charter Schools" (WI)
"Pre-K Lessons Tied to TV Shows Found to Spur Gains"
"NAEP Math Scores Idle at 4th Grade, Advance at 8th"
Association & Related News
Fall SCASS Meeting Cycle Kicks Off: Highlights Connections to the Chiefs' Four Initiatives
By Ashley Gardiner
Six of the State Collaboratives on Assessment and Student Standards (SCASS) groups met last week to begin the annual cycle of meetings for each SCASS group. These meetings, which occur three times a year, provide staff development and collaborative problem solving forums for state education agency (SEA) professionals.
The SCASS meetings in St. Louis included the following groups: Technical Issues in Large Scale Assessment (TILSA), Assessing Special Education Students (ASES), Formative Assessment for Students and Teachers (FAST), Comprehensive Assessment Systems (CAS), and English Language Development Assessment (ELDA).
“By combining a number of SCASS meetings at one site, we are able to very effectively communicate information about the Council's work and recognize the ways SCASS groups extend those initiatives,” said, Robert Olsen, senior state collaboratives manager, who coordinates the direction of all15 SCASS groups.
CCSSO staff presented to the SCASS groups about the Council’s initiatives, including the Common Core State Standards Initiative, the details and trajectory of the EdSteps performance assessment project, the Next Generation Learners initiative, and the Education Workforce Development initiative. The Comprehensive Data Systems and Standards, Assessment, and Accountability initiatives will be highlighted during SCASS meetings in February. Questions or comments about the SCASS program should be directed to Robert Olsen at roberto@ccsso.org or 202-312-6869.
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ASR SCASS Identifies New Issues for States
By Rolf Blank
At the fall meeting of the Accountability Systems and Reporting State Collaborative on Assessment and Student Standards (ASR SCASS) convened by CCSSO, state education managers and staff from 25 member states reviewed and discussed the role of state data and accountability systems in conjunction with several new federal education funding programs and proposed guidelines. The ASR’s growth model work group assessed the federal proposal to have state education agencies demonstrate capacity to link student achievement data to teachers as a measure of teacher effectiveness, and the group identified questions that would need to be addressed by states in preparation for carrying out this type of student achievement analysis in relation to teachers.
The ASR meeting also included presentations from several states on their experiences over time in developing and using growth and value-added models to inform educational decisions and program improvement. The group reviewed a new ASR paper that charts and describes transitions in accountability systems due to state policy change and discussed plans for a new report to assist states in ensuring data quality and validity particularly with regard to accuracy of cohort-based graduation rates. For further information on the work of the ASR SCASS click here.
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Register Now for 2009 CCSSO Annual Policy Forum and Business Meeting
By Paul Ferrari
Registration is open for CCSSO’s 2009 Annual Policy Forum (APF) and Business Meeting, November 19–22, 2009, at the Naples Grande Resort and Club in Naples, Florida. The APF is designed to bring chiefs, deputies, and federal liaisons together to conduct the annual business of the Council. The forum will focus on the following:
- to review the chiefs’ four strategic priorities and call upon members to engage in a collective theory of action around those priorities;
- to discuss the policy effects of the chiefs’ strategic initiatives, the implications for collective state action, and their intersection with current federal opportunities; and
- to prepare the organization and the states to collectively act on the chiefs’ strategic priorities with a variety of key education policymakers in the coming year.
The deadline for registration is close of business Friday, October 30, 2009. For questions about the program or registration, please contact Bevin Kennedy at bevink@ccsso.org or 202-336-7014.
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Advocacy in Action
U.S. Department of Education ESEA Reauthorization Stakeholder Briefing Focuses on Great Teachers and Leaders
The U.S. Department of Education (ED) hosted its second Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) Reauthorization Stakeholder Briefing last week with a focus on improving teacher and school leader quality. Assistant Secretary Carmel Martin laid out four overarching principles that will guide the Administration’s ESEA proposal on teacher quality: treating teachers as professionals, promoting recruitment and preparation, focusing increased attention on school leaders, and improving the equitable distribution of high-quality teachers and leaders. Assistant Secretary Thelma Melendez discussed four key components to ensuring high-quality teaching: evaluation/compensation systems based on multiple measures, career pathways that include induction for new teachers, flexibility for schools to tailor programming for diverse learners, and the use of master teachers for enhanced skills and expertise.
The briefing also included an expert panel offering their views on how best to improve teacher or leader quality. Member of the expert panel included Arlene Ackerman, Superintendent of the Philadelphia Public Schools system; Kay Brilliant, Director of Education Policy and Practice for the National Education Association; Richard Laine, Director of Education Programs at the Wallace Foundation, and Dan Wiseberg, Vice-President of Policy for the New Teacher Project. To view a complete transcript of this event click here.
ED will hold its next stakeholder briefing on Wednesday, Oct. 21. The topic will be Promoting Innovation and Rethinking the Federal Role. The forum will be hosted by Assistant Secretaries Thelma Melendez and Carmel Martin, and Assistant Deputy Secretary Jim Shelton.
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CCSSO to Co-host Education Briefing on Birth to Five Education and It’s Impact of High School Graduation
On Thursday, October 29, 2009, 12:00–1:30 pm EST, a panel of experts will discuss the latest research demonstrating the link between investment in high-quality early childhood programs and improvements in high school graduation rates.
Panelists include: Dr. Robert C. Pianta, Director of the Center for Advanced Study of Teaching and Learning at the University of Virginia; Dr. Jane Gutting, Superintendent of the Yakima School District (ESD 105) in Washington State; Dr. Paul Heckman, Co-director of the Capital Area North Doctorate in Educational Leadership at the University of California, Davis; Doua Thor, Executive Director of the Southeast Asia Resource Action Center, and Dr. Sonya Anderson, National Director of the First Five Years Fund.
The event is cosponsored by the National Council of La Raza, the National Black Child Development Institute, the National Alliance of Black School Educators and the CCSSO. To view a live webcast of the briefing on October 29, click here.
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Education Newsbriefs
Gist Ready to Roll Out Reforms
Warwick Beacon (RI) (10/13/09) Fraser, Meg
Rhode Island Education Commissioner Deborah Gist is prepared to replace seniority-based hiring with criterion-based hiring procedures for teachers. Currently, several schools in Providence use criterion-based hiring for teachers, in which a committee of administrative and teacher representatives interview potential candidates. The principal, however, has the final say in hiring. Gist notes, "I'm going to use every bit of authority I have, every bit of influence to see that the way we place our teachers best benefits our students." Some are concerned that the committee of interviewees will play favorites, but Gist says principal accountability will ensure that the right choices are made for the students. "There has to be accountability at every level and that accountability starts with me. That's how you do it, by not allowing mediocrity to continue. In our country, we've put more money into education and that hasn't necessarily moved the needle. What I really want to encourage people to do is rethink how we do things," she says. Gist notes that the state will be revising its standards for teacher preparation programs to ensure exceptional quality.
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Texas to Invest $160 Million in T-STEM Academies
The Gov Monitor (10/16/09)
Texas will expand the number and scope of Texas Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (T-STEM) academies in the state given that about 90 percent of them are exemplary or recognized. State Education Commissioner Robert Scott says, "Texas has opened more than three dozen T-STEM academies over the past few years. Not only do students find these classes exciting and challenging, but they provide them with a solid foundation that prepares them for college and the work place." The $160 million initiative will increase the number of T-STEM schools to 92 from 46; create a $100 million T-STEM Challenge Scholarship program for students seeking degrees and certificates in the science, technology, engineering, math, or medical fields; broaden the UTeach Program for recruiting university students on the path to receiving math and science degrees into teaching to five additional higher education facilities; and expand the Advanced Placement Training and Incentive Program to 50 more high schools. Some of the new T-STEM academies likely will focus on biomedical fields.
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Wisconsin Gets $86 Million for Charter Schools
WKOW 27 (Maidson, Wisc.) (10/15/09)
Wisconsin was awarded a five-year, $86 million federal grant to develop and support charter schools. The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction will award nearly $5 million in grant money for the 2009-2010 school year, including $2 million for a total of 11 grants to plan new charter schools, $521,169 for three implementation grants to support new charter schools in their first year, and $1.5 million for eight implementation renewal grants to help charter schools during their second year. According to State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Evers, "We must work to ensure that all students graduate with the knowledge and skills they will need to be successful, whether they continue their education or enter the workforce. One of the ways we can achieve this goal is by investing in innovation. With this grant, we can create the next generation of quality charter schools that provide innovative, rigorous, and relevant instruction to our students, connecting them with real-world experiences." More information about charter schools is available on the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction's Web site by clicking here.
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Pre-K Lessons Tied to TV Shows Found to Spur Gains
TMCnet.com (10/14/09)
A study conducted by SRI International and the Education Development Center Inc. and funded by the U.S. Department of Education and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting indicates that disadvantaged preschoolers can learn literacy skills when the preschool curriculum is supplemented with videos and interactive games. The study involved 398 low-income children from 47 preschool centers in New York City and San Francisco who participated in 25 hours of activities over 10 weeks. These children viewed videos from the PBS shows "Super Why!," "Sesame Street," and "Between the Lions" and played online games from the producers of these programs. Researchers found that the technology-supported curriculum helped these children name letters, learn the sounds of these letters, and grasp concepts about stories and printed words. SRI International evaluation research director Bill Penuel says, "What's really powerful here is the combination of media, digital content, and professional development. Particularly when you put these things together, preschool teachers can implement something that is powerful, and it can heave effects that help to close the gap between low-income students for school readiness, compared with more advantaged students of this age group."
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NAEP Math Scores Idle at 4th Grade, Advance at 8th
Education Week (10/14/09) Vol. 29, No. 8, Cavanagh, Sean
The results of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) exam revealed continued improvement among eighth grade students in math, but stagnation among fourth grade students. National Assessment Governing Board Chair David P. Driscoll says, "The failure of our fourth graders to make progress nationally is a cause for concern. With a lack of progress at fourth grade and large achievement gaps that are relatively unchanged, we need to re-examine our efforts to improve student achievement in math." Students in eighth grade taught by teachers with math degrees improved more than those students taught by teachers without math majors, and Driscoll contends that could point to similar problems at the fourth grade level. Achievement among fourth and eighth grade students on NAEP could be directly related to differences in state standards and curriculum. The Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) and the National Governors Association, meanwhile, are working on common, multistate standards and assessments.
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