Education Blogging is now...

...here

at my business site.

Because that makes a lot more sense.

I've included some of my most recent education posts there.

and... I'll be using this site for any personal blogging I choose to do.

Of course, you can always follow me on Twitter.

Whose side are they on, anyway?

Jon Stewart and the LIBOR scandal.

Guess what?  Pension funds are underfunded in part because big BANKERS are playing games with interest rates...they get paid, you don't!

Bill Frist Reminds Republicans They Like Free Markets

In this illuminating piece, Bill Frist highlights the many benefits of the healthcare exchanges being opposed by several Republican governors (Rick Perry, Chris Christie, and others). 

He points out that the exchanges were originally a Republican idea.  In fact, they plan that was the alternative to "HillaryCare" in the 90s was essentially a state exchange plan.  And it was brought forth by Republicans. 

It's a good idea because it increases competition and relies on private markets.  People choose a plan that works for them and then they pay for it.  It breaks down barriers to purchasing across state lines.  And, the experimentation inherent in the plan means that we can learn more about what works in health reform. 

Obama included the plan as a way to keep costs down as well as to placate Republicans.  No matter your feelings about this President, the exchange idea is a good one -- and Bill Frist makes that point solidly.

Kentucky's Education Efforts Applauded

Kentucky's education efforts over the past 20 years are noteworthy, says a Harvard report.

The report ranks Kentucky in the top five in the nation for education improvements.  The timeframe of the analysis essentially tracks the timeframe since the Kentucky Education Reform Act of 1990.

Kentucky has done well at moving more kids from below proficient to proficient in key areas and has also shown growth in most subjects at levels above the national average.

In Kentucky's case, reform focused on increased spending and on helping rural schools achieve spending equity as well as an emphasis on high standards for student achievement.  There has also been an increased emphasis on teacher and principal training by way of internship programs.

Kentucky has no charter schools and has not moved in that direction.  Likewise, Kentucky teachers have not been subject to the reforms in evaluation that have taken hold in other states such as Tennessee.

Meanwhile, in spite of the BEP and of numerous other "reform" efforts, including opening up the state to almost unlimited Charter School operation, Tennessee has not made noteworthy gains in the same time period.

Tennessee has failed to invest in schools along the same lines as Kentucky or North Carolina, two neighboring states which both show significant gains in the Harvard study.  Even Tennessee's current reform efforts do not include increased support or pay for teachers and last year, the BEP growth formula was short of expectations, leaving many school districts hurting for funds.

In short, a commitment to investment in schools, support for teachers, and high standards appears to yield results. 

A Journey with Tony

Tony Blair ... former Prime Minister of Great Britain.

So far, a fascinating read.  Starts with his election as PM and seems well told, interesting, colorful.  Looking forward to exploring this one:

Fracking and Strong Motion

So, I saw this and was reminded of this.

How is it that 20 years ago, Jonathan Franzen wrote about what is essentially fracking and now...now, we're having a big, national debate over fracking?  Dumb luck? Good research?

SCORE scores TN Teacher Evaluations

So SCORE has come back with their report on Tennessee's teacher evaluation system.  They make a number of sensible recommendations.  Most notably, that the feedback teachers receive from the evaluation process should be coupled with targeted, meaningful professional development.  I agree.

Let's also remember why we're doing all of this.  It's because teachers are the most important school-based factor in student achievement.  But, there are other indicators that have a huge impact.  50% of the impact, actually, is outside of school. 

But, back to the point.  If we're going to focus attention on teacher quality (and we should), we should focus on meaningful evaluation that has teacher buy-in and that evaluation MUST be coupled with targeted, specific professional development.  SCORE's assessment supports this claim.  It's a MUST, not an option.

Schools Get Investments in East, Middle Tennessee

Yesterday I wrote about investments in education taking place in Knoxville and Nashville.

A Return Trip to Burger King

Some may remember a recent trip to Burger King I took in light of reading about their "new" menu items and the supposedly new experience of eating there.

After that trip, I was actually reluctant to go back...but, the Whopper.  It's good.  With cheese, of course.

So, I returned.  And took my daughter.

It was definitely better the second time.  The service was faster, the freestyle fountain was fully functional -- I had Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper and my daughter had Hi C Fruit Punch. 

I got the Whopper, of course. 

She got the kids meal with Chicken Strips.  And they weren't just chicken nuggets.  They were well-seasoned strips of chicken.  They were quite tasty.  Plus, they had apples as a side. 

On the downside, the store has not been remodeled and still has an "old" feel to it.  And not in the good way.  They weren't especially busy even though it was dinner time. 

People did seem to be enjoying the new smoothies, but no one bought any ice cream, let alone the Bacon Sundae, while I was there.

Burger King may be coming back.  Slowly.  If more of their stores are remodeled and they can keep the service going strong, I'm guessing people will come back, try it out, and come back again.

What is Glass-Steagall?

...And why do you care?

In the wake of the recent JP MorganChase debacle, those of you following my Twitter feed know that I've joined in calling for a return to Glass-Steagall. 

But why? And what is Glass-Steagall, anyway.  This article, though somewhat slanted toward a bankers view of things, does a nice job of summarizing the key provisions of Glass-Steagall. 

So, here's the deal.  Because certain banks were deemed too big to fail, we not only had a huge financial meltdown -- banks were speculating with their depositors' money and lost, we also had a HUGE government-funded bailout of banks.  That would NOT have happened had Glass-Steagall been in play.  In fact, Glass-Steagall was the law of the land from 1933 until 1999.  66 years and American banking was thriving by all accounts. 

Within just 8 years of its repeal, banks were taking on HUGE risks that risked the funds of their depositors' -- funds that are largely backed by and sometimes insured with taxpayer dollars by way of the FDIC.  So, if you're a big time investment banker, you can make a big, risky bet and if you lose, no worries.  The government will be there to ensure you get paid or, at the very worst, that your depositor's get their cash back (up to $250,000 now). 

But, if Glass-Steagall were in place and an investment bank went bad, only the $ in that bank would be at risk...not deposited funds from "normal" banking -- funds backed by FDIC.  So, an investment bank fails and some investors lose and others win.  No problem.  Capitalism is working.  Homeowners and working people don't lose. 

JP Morgan has been around a long time.  They were around pre-Glass-Steagall and thrived post-Glass-Steagall.  The fact that they're making huge, risky bets on the order of those that caused the recent bank meltdown is of concern.  And it wouldn't happen if we had Glass-Steagall.

Elevator Eti-Quit

Yep, that's what he said.

So, yeah.  I've written on this topic before.

But, apparently, not enough people understand it.

Yesterday, as I walked into a building and prepared to hit the button and wait for one of the 6 elevator choices before me, I saw a man "waiting" for the elevator.

He held a cup of coffee in his hand and was standing right next to the door.  Like touching the door, really.

Not surprisingly, the elevator door opened and nearly hit his coffee cup.  Plus, he was right in the middle of the elevator and began to walk on when two women attempted to walk out.

Um, sometimes...people on upper floors of building ride elevators to the bottom so they can leave the building.  Apparently, this guy (easily in his 50s) is not aware of how elevators work.

Then, he backs up and says, "oh, sorry...go ahead.  Elevator eti-quit, you know."

No, I don't know.  What's eti-quit? Hmm.

Anyway, if only he was a regular reader of this informative blog he'd know exactly how to use an elevator. 

I'm not quite sure why this is a complicated issue.

Free Beer and Hot Wings vs. Tennessee Legislators

Yep. 

Our Tennessee General Assembly is providing plenty of fodder for would-be comedians.

Even Free Beer and Hot Wings are getting in on the act. 

Gateway Sexual Activity -- Here's what Hot Wings thinks.

Cheerwine and Print Ad Consistency

...Or, the ad text and the visuals should MATCH.

Here's what I'm talking about:

What do you notice about this billboard?

Go ahead...

...Did you see that?  Raised in a glass.  It says that.  Right there in RED.  Except it's not a glass, it's a cup.  A paper cup.  Which is fine, really.  But it doesn't match the ad text. 

Now, there are confused drivers all over the South and other places where this ad campaign is in play. 

Thanks, Cheerwine!

Bill Frist said..

This. and then I said this.

My trip to Burger King..

So I've been reading lately about how Burger King has changed. They've been getting some attention lately for their new menu items (chicken wraps, smoothies, frappes)... and for a general change in their marketing approach.

I've always been a fan of the Whopper and the "Have it your way" attitude at Burger King. Meanwhile, I've sometimes found the stores to be not very busy and with something of a gross feeling about them.

So, I tried out my local store. It still looks the same on the outside. But on the inside, there were pictures of people sitting around tables of BK food and seeming to really like it.

They also had a Coke Freestyle Fountain. A GREAT idea. I had Cherry Vanilla Coke. Yum! They only had one, though. And there are tons of choices... So, it took some time for people to figure out the touchscreen machine and to choose what they wanted. There used to be two fountains with the standard selection of seven or eight drinks. So, two people could easily and quickly fill their cups. Not so anymore. This will definitely take some learning -- or, it will make people not want to come back. I guess two freestyle fountains would be too much. But at lunch time, this could be a hassle.

Of course, on this visit, which was actually just after 1 PM, so missing the key lunch rush, there was quite a crowd. And, lots of waiting. Orders came out very slowly. More than 10 minutes AFTER my order was keyed in, my name was being called for my food.

I did happen to notice that BK now offers a Bacon Sundae. Yep, BACON! Soft serve ice cream, pieces of real bacon, and one slice of bacon shoved in the ice cream. Also topped with caramel and chocolate. Now, this sounds like it might be tasty.

But, if Burger King is going to stage a comeback and reclaim its place as the #2 burger joint in America, the service will have to be faster at its restaurants and the challenges of the freestyle fountain will need to be worked out. Plus, more stores will need to be upgraded quickly. Otherwise, people will think it is the same old Burger King with a bigger menu.

Creating a Positive Learning Environment

Tangible evidence of the benefit of capital improvement funds.

Teacher Impact on Student Earnings

So, I'm aware that this study received attention in early January. And it was even mentioned in President Obama's State of the Union. But, it keeps getting cited as further evidence that we need to fire more teachers to improve student achievement.

Here's the finding that gets all the attention: A top 5 percent teacher (according to value-added modeling or VAM) can help a classroom of students (28) earn $250,000 more collectively over their lifetime.

Now, a quarter of a million sounds like a lot of money.

But, in their sample, a classroom was 28 students. So, that equates to $8928.57 per child over their lifetime. That's right, NOT $8928.57 MORE per year, MORE over their whole life.

For more math fun, that's $297.61 more per year over a thirty year career with a VAM-designated "great" teacher vs. with just an average teacher.

Yep, get your kid into a high value-added teacher's classroom and they could be living in style, making a whole $300 more per year than their friends who had the misfortune of being in an average teacher's room.

If we go all the way down to what VAM designates as "ineffective" teaching, you'd likely see that number double, or maybe go a little higher. So, let's say it doubles plus some. Now, your kid has a low VAM teacher and the neighbor's kid has a high VAM teacher. What's that do to his or her life?

Well, it looks like this: The neighbor kid gets a starting job offer of $41,000 and your kid gets a starting offer of $40,000.

Wait, what? You mean VAM does not do anything more than that in terms of predicting teacher effect?

Um, no.

And so perhaps we shouldn't be using value-added modeling for more than informing teachers about their students and their own performance. Using it as one small tool as they seek to continuously improve practice. One might even mention a VAM score on an evaluation -- but one certainly wouldn't base 35-50% of a teacher's entire evaluation on such data. In light of these numbers from the Harvard researchers, that seems entirely irresponsible.

Perhaps there's a lot more to teacher quality and teacher effect than a "value-added" score. Perhaps there's real value added in the teacher who convinces a struggling kid to just stay in school one more year or the teacher who helps a child with the emotional issues surrounding divorce or abuse or drug use or any number of other challenges students (who are humans, not mere data points) face.

Alas, current trends in "education reform" are pushing us toward more widespread use of value-added data -- using it to evaluate teachers and even publishing the results.

I can just hear the conversation now: Your kid got a "2" teacher mine got a "4." My kid's gonna make 500 bucks more a year than your kid. Unless, of course, the situation is reversed next year.

Stop the madness. Education is a people business. It's about teachers (people) putting students (people) first.

I'm glad the researchers released this study. Despite their spurious conclusions, it finally tells us that we can and should focus less on a single value-added score and more on all the inputs at all levels that impact a child's success in school and life.

So, that's 25%

In a follow-up to this post, I wanted to find this post, from Nashville Jefferson. Here's why. I wanted to see how much school-based variables impact student achievement. His post makes clear: 50%. That means 50% is beyond a school's control. But it also means that if we assume that teacher quality accounts for 50% of the school-based variables impacting student achievement, it means it only accounts for 25% of the total impact on student achievement.

Sure, that's a reasonable amount. And yes, we should be concerned about attracting and keeping the best teachers in the classroom. But we shouldn't forget about other factors.

Getting the "Teacher Quality" Talk Right

In this article, President and CEO of SCORE (Tennessee's Statewide Collaborative on Reforming Education) Jamie Woodson says, "The number one factor of a student's success is effective teaching in the classroom."

This is the claim made by lots of education reformers these days. The same reformers go on to tell us we need to better evaluate teachers and that means evaluating them using student test scores. Doing so, they argue, will help us identify ineffective teachers who can be fired. And because we'll be getting rid of the least effective (by their definition) teachers, teacher quality will improve and so will student performance.

Here's the problem: The data do NOT suggest that effective teaching is the number one factor of a student's success. At all.

Here's what research on this topic does say. A student's teacher is the most significant school-based factor in determining student achievement. The key word is school-based. Also, the same data suggests that the teacher accounts for up to 50% of a student's success among all school-based variables. The second most significant school-based variable is school leadership. Other factors play a role. The building, environment, peers, resources. All of those make up the remainder of the school-based variables.

Of course, the school-based variables are not the ONLY variables that impact student achievement. So, yes, it is important to have strong teachers.

But, the education and income levels of the student's parents remain the most significant overall predictor of student success. This has been true for some 40 years (probably more, but it's what the researchers have been showing us for at least 40 years).

If you have parents who didn't graduate from high school, it makes it much more likely you won't graduate from high school. If you come from a low-income family, you are much more likely to run into struggles that make focusing on school difficult.

So, sure, we should focus on teacher quality. Because, of all the school-based factors, it is the most significant. But we shouldn't lose sight of other school-based factors -- like prinicpal quality. Or buildings -- it's absolutely not okay to send kids to school in portable trailers. Our kids deserve adequate resources, too. That means the ability to take home text books --and access to texts that are not outdated.

And, we should also realize that there are larger, systemic problems (poverty, access to health care) that impact significantly student outcomes. Sure, this CAN be overcome in some cases, but usually not without a convergence of amazing interventions in a child's life. Perhaps the teacher with low "value-added" scores convinces her struggling student who lives in poverty to keep trying and to stay in school -- and so he becomes the first high school graduate in the family because someone believed in him.

Comprehensive education reform would 1) listen to teachers (they ARE the experts) 2) put in place the reforms teachers suggest 3) adequately fund schools so kids have clean, safe buildings and adequate resources and 4) address the ENTIRE school as well as community inputs.

Shouldn't We Make Public Schools Like the Best Private Schools?

So, I read this article about private schools and the best practices of the leading independent schools in our country. The article makes the point that private schools are themselves market-driven and that if anyone would adopt reforms along the lines of those pushed by "corporate" reformers, it'd be private schools. After all, if they don't produce results, parents won't shell out the cash to send their kids, right?

The article makes some good points -- namely, that teacher pay is relatively predictable (there aren't typically huge bonuses or merit pay programs), that firing is rare and that evaluations are not usually based on student test scores.

Then I had the good fortune to spend an entire day (a full 18 hours) at a well-regarded private school with a high school speech team I help coach.

Which caused me to think about the article. And about education reform in general.

This particular school has nice facilities -- they are not opulent, but they are excellent. And we know from research that school buildings matter.

Parents spend about $15,000 per year to send their children there. While there are also fundraisers and other sources of income, it's fair to say this school assesses the cost of educating each child at $15,000 per year. That's almost double the state average per pupil spending in Tennessee.

The school also pays teachers relatively well. Not long ago, a friend of mine was leaving his teaching job there. When his position was advertised, the starting salary was listed at $52,000. Most Tennessee teachers would have to earn a Master's degree and teach 15 years to earn that amount. But that's the starting pay they were offering. I don't know how their pay scale works over time, but even if that teacher received no raises for 10 years, they'd be nicely ahead of their public school counterparts.

Students and teachers at this and other leading private schools also have access to excellent resources -- including textbooks and materials that are not 10-12 years old.

So, let's review. Excellent education is obtained in private schools without all the "cool" reforms currently being pushed on public schools. The essence is this: Spend enough on students to ensure access to excellent educational resources, pay teachers well and offer them stability, house the school in a nice, clean building that is fully functional (not in portable trailers).

That's it. Private schools have no incentive to engage in these practices if they are not working. Parents would simply spend their money elsewhere.

We simply need leaders with the will to not only demand these things, but also to make them happen.