Flawed Research: Strategic Vision and OCPA

One of my favorite categories in this blog is called "Flawed Research." This category deals with studies opponents of public education have used to try to discredit our schools. The organizations tout the results as gospel to push their anti-public education agenda.

The Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs is noted for using these studies to enhance their positions. Op-ed columns, press releases and press conferences have sung their praises.

Not surprisingly, when put under scrutiny, researchers find a number of flaws and/or serious issues with the creditability of the studies. A few days ago, a survey commissioned by OCPA and conducted by Strategic Vision out of Georgia, was used to show how poorly students were doing in Oklahoma in regards to Civics instruction. These results were based on phone interviews to questions found on the US citizenship test.

Our state newspapers both used the information in stories to show how schools were failing their students. The results, if legitimate, would have raised serious questions. However, a few days after the splash in the press, there was some serious investigative reporting done and further information about the polling company, Strategic Vision, came to light.

The reporting puts into question the validity of the research and results, and puts OCPA clearly in the spotlight of the "Flawed Research" category. One story, Can Oklahoma Students Really be this Dumb addresses the results and methods used by the polling company while the other story, Pollsters Under Fire for '08 Surveys, brings the historical credibility of this company into question.

Rest in Peace Governor Bellmon

The death of former Governor Henry Bellmon brings back tremendous memories of his forward thinking and courage in supporting education with HB 1017. The Governor was a true education champion and his work was a benchmark other states hoped to reach.

Sadly, over the last few years, Governor Bellmon had to watch as members of the legislature have tried to eliminate all of the gains made under this bill. Remember, this bill was passed, and than voted on, and passed, by the people of Oklahoma.

May you rest in peace Governor Bellmon knowing there are those of us who will continue to fight for your educational legacy.

Education Stimulus Dollars Used to Fill Budget Holes

In a story by Kelsey A. Kemp, "A survey recently conducted by the American Association of School Administrators reported that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding has prevented school districts nationwide from implementing reform and changes.

The survey, Schools and the Stimulus: How America's Public School Districts Are Using ARRA Funds, reports that while the ARRA funds mean additional dollars in school districts, most of that money is being used to shore up fiscal budget holes and, even then, the stimulus money is often not enough to prevent school districts from eliminating personnel and core subject teaching positions. According to the survey, more than 67 percent of the 160 school administrators said that the stimulus dollars were being directed toward filling state and local budget holes, and 53 percent of the administrators surveyed said they were unable to save teaching positions for either core subjects or special education."

Does it surprise anyone that stimulus money is being used to fill holes created by budget shortfalls? The money from the federal government was supposed to be used for new programs and innovations. What does this mean for the future of our schools? You can bet the opponents of public education will talk about how the stimulus money didn't work without addressing the real issues.

It's time we let President Obama and Secretary Duncan know what is taking place and we need to hold our legislators accountable for the budget mess they've created.

The Oklahoman Begins Support for SQ 744??

"A survey being released today by the nonprofit Oklahomans for Responsible Government calls on school districts to make more information available to taxpayers via Web sites. Transparency, the group contends, is an effective and cost-efficient way to keep the public informed about matters ranging from public meetings to budgets. We agree."--Oklahoman Editorial

One of the components of SQ 744, aka the HOPE Campaign, is the commitment to school transparency. In an editorial, both of the Oklahoman and Oklahomans for Responsible Government support school transparency. They are finally seeing the light. Can their endorsement of SQ 744 be coming soon?

Editorial Facts and Common Sense: Plan B Less Money for Teachers?

"How do you fill a $55.6 million hole in your grand strategy to reshape the education world?

It's a good question, but not an insoluble one. The answer will require the help of all the people who have brought the district this far in the process. The Tulsa philanthropic community will be called on for bigger donations. The state will need to give more, too. The teachers' union may need to consider taking a bit less. The district will have to scour its budget looking for other ways to reallocate the tax resources it has."--Tulsa World Editorial

The Tulsa School District found out it was not one of the schools selected for foundation money from Bill Gates. These excerpts from the world let you know how difficult it is to put these plans in place. There isn't enough money to do this kind of plan so the "teacher;s union" needs to take less.

Another broken promise in the performance pay debate. This isn't unusual. Performance pay plans fail because there is never enough money as they collapse under their own weight. Teacher's "buy in" to a program while changing aspects of their bargained contract. What do they get for it--broken promises and a weaker contract. It takes money to fund these programs and Tulsa has its work cut out for it to fund what they wanted to do.

A Kindle in Every Backpack?

Here is an interesting opinion about all children having their own "Kindle in a backpack" so they can keep up with changing textbooks, the weight of textbooks and other issues facing students when dealing with books.

It's a concept that will be debated as we continue to move forward with new technologies. One only has to wonder how far the publishing companies are willing to go when this could conceivably cut into their profits.

Editorial Facts and Common Sense

An editorial in the Oklahoman, addressing Oklahoma's poor showing in per pupil expenditure based on the latest US Census Bureau's report, brought out suspect arguements as it tries to refute Oklahoman's support of the HOPE campaign (SQ 744).

In an effort to address perceived short-comings, Oklahoma is compared to Utah whose students do better on the NAEP, despite warnings by NAEP officials for states not to compare results if states have their own state standards.

Utah's students are recognized by the writer as being "predominately white and more affluent" than Oklahoma's students. For years, the impact of poverty on kids has been a strong indicator of success. In comparing kids from the USA to other countries, America's public schools are bashed for not being competitive. But when you take out the scores of students in poverty, our kids come out on top.

No one is saying you ignore those in poverty, but to ignore the role poverty plays in students lives is irresponsible.

Another "fact" is that common education receives 35% of the Oklahoma budget. What the article fails to mention is that common ed use to receive 39% of the budget as its share continues to decrease.

Oklahoma is supposedly working very hard and will do better "when the economy recovers and revenues permit." Oklahoma is an oil state. The revenues coming in were incredible. Because Oklahoma had so much growth revenue, the legislature, thinking the revenue would last forever, cut taxes. They learned nothing about oil revenue, tax cuts and the impact on revenues occurring in the 1980's. For Oklahoma, our revenue problems, with a shortfall of $2B, are largely self-imposed.

The piece even states "[t]he claim that the Legislature enacted tax cuts at the expense of schools is unfounded...." Is it really? The state has a shortfall of a couple of billion, and it's not at the expense of schools? Not only schools but everything else.

Addressing salaries for the Oklahoman has always been about merit pay and the salary schedule. When presented with ways to enhance teacher pay, they balk at the possibilities and always return to the same old arguments.

Paying teachers to be competitive with other states and other professions gives Oklahoma the opportunity to recruit and retain people. However, when we aren't competitive, we end up with teacher shortages the legislature addresses by passing a variety of ways to become a teacher. We don't have a teacher shortage in our state. We have a number of graduates with education degrees who are in other professions because the pay and benefits are so low.

As more information is made available showing the legislature's embarrassingly low commitment to kids and our future, you will continue to see responses that try to white-wash the truth. Sadly, all Oklahomans are impacted by the "white-wash" and our state will have a difficult time competing and growing in its second century if the truth is not told.

Lessons from the Horizon Summer Programs

Earlier this evening, NBC News ran a story on the Horizon Summer Programs that are helping public school students address the "summer brain drain". According to the video, the programs help address the achievement gap issues by providing selected students with tuition to attend, individual attention, and a varied curriculum involving swimming and other electives.

In order to attend, public school teachers nominate kids to be considered, and the ones who get accepted have their tuition paid by a private foundation.

It would seem that money, individual attention aka. lower class size, quality time with kids (including schedule) and a well rounded curriculum make a difference in the achievement gap.

These are the same issues public school teachers have been advocating for their schools. Maybe now the "so-called experts" will address those needs for all of our public schools.

2009 RA Sights & Sounds--Bob Chanin, NEA General Counsel

"During the Bush administration...NEA was audited by the Internal Revenue Service, repeatedly. It was investigated by the Department of Labor. And it was called a "terrorist organization" by the Secretary of Education....Attacks by conservative and right-wing groups will continue unabated....Why, you may ask, is this so? Why are these...bastards picking on NEA and its affiliates. I will tell you why. It is the price we pay for success. NEA has been singled out because they are the most effective unions in the United States.--Bob Chanin, NEA General Counsel addressing the 2009 RA.

2009 RA Sights & Sounds--Anthony Mullen, Teacher of the Year

"America's teachers and education support professionals live in very challenging and stressful times. Incredibly, many of the nation's economic problems are now directed at unions. We have become easy targets for some misguided government officials, economists, and media talking heads who believe it is time for us to give back and to share the pain. Well, teachers and education support professionals have burdened the pain of being underpaid and overworked for too long.

And since we have been given very little, we have nothing to give back. Teachers did not leave their classrooms and abandon children when the best deal in town was to work in the financial services sector. We did not join the legions of people that became wealthy by sitting in front of a computer and selling stocks and managing hedge funds. We did not envy friends and neighbors who prospered during the 1980s and 1990s and bought McMansions and took trips to Bali. No, we stayed with our students because we believe that education and our nation's children are too valuable to be abandoned for a new sports car. So we accepted our meager raises. We worked harder to narrow the achievement gap and did more with less to help our nation prosper. And now, some of the very same people who once asked me how I could live on a teacher's salary, are now asking me what I can do to help the economy. What my union is going to do to help the economy.

And I tell these people two things: One, teachers did not crash the economy. Greed and corruption by people entrusted with our country's financial health collapsed the economy.

And two, unions are helping to recover the economy by protecting the rights of their members. Unions are making sure that what has made our country great, the middle class, will not be sacrificed for the decadence of Wall Street."--Anthony Mullen, 2009 National Teacher of the Year

2009 RA Sights & Sounds--Linda Darling-Hammond, NEA Friend of Education

"We need federal education policies that support educators in doing the challenging work they have committed to do, that supports schools to improve, that supports students in and out of school with adequate health care, with housing, with community supports. You know, when you go to high-achieving nations around the world, they don't have children who are homeless. They don't have children without health care. They have a safety net that enables every child to come to school ready to learn that day and to take advantage of what the school has to offer, as well as well-qualified teachers, counselors, principals and plentiful, high-quality learning materials. We need to meet international standards by treating education and teaching in this country the way they are treated in high-achieving nations around the world."--Linda Darling-Hammond, 2009 NEA Friend of Education

2009 RA Sights & Sounds--Dennis Van Roekel's Keynote Address

"And contrary to what our opponents might say... NEA welcomes a national conversation about how to transform our school system... better ways to measure student learning... to improve the practice of our profession... to attract bright and talented students into teaching... and to confront the problems that plague poor and minority children in struggling schools."--NEA President Dennis Van Roekel's keynote address on July 3.

2009 RA Sights & Sounds--Arne Duncan

"The President and I have both said repeatedly that we are not going to impose reform but rather work with teachers, principals, and unions to find what works."-Secretary of Education Arne Duncan

2009 RA Sights & Sounds--Campaigning

OEA members campaigning for Mustang teacher Greg Johnson, who was running for, and was elected to, the NEA Executive Committee.

Flawed Research: Preschool Juggernaut by Chester Finn

Reroute the Preschool Juggernaut is a new book published online by the Hoover Institution and authored by the Fordham Institution’s Chester Finn. It is an inaccurate and poorly reasoned attack on the movement to secure all children a good preschool education. The book cherry-picks a few weak studies to fit its preconceptions, and it builds the case for targeted programs based on errors, exaggeration, misrepresentation, and logical inconsistency. Below, I set forth 14 points to consider which together demonstrate these flaws and explain why an even-handed review of all costs and benefits tends to support preschool for all.

New Report on Charter Schools and Student Achievement

Charter Schools Found Not To Have Raised Student Achievement Significantly

The Washington Times (6/16, Billups) reports, "Even as the president has touted the growth of charter schools and his education secretary has decried state caps on their numbers, a new study from Stanford University has found that the nation's charter schools have not significantly raised student achievement when compared with traditional public schools. The study of collective reading and math progress in 2,403 charter schools in 15 states and cities, including the District of Columbia was released Monday by researchers at Stanford's Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO)." Findings "showed that almost half of the charter schools produced results similar to those from comparable public schools, and schools producing worse results than the traditional schools outnumbered those with better numbers by more than 2 to 1."

Would You Teach Here for $125,000?

The Equity Project charter school in New York City’s Washington Heights will open this fall with 120 5th graders chosen by lottery. Preference was given to students from surrounding neighborhoods and to weak academic performers. Most children will be from low-income Hispanic families. The school will grow to 480 children in Grades 5 to 8, with 28 teachers. The eight teachers who will open the school were selected in a nationwide search and will be paid a $125,000 annual salary, with potential bonuses in the second year. [Full Article]

More on Western Heights

Western Heights and its data system are featured in an article by Ed Week.

Western Heights Acknowledges Dropouts

This story appeared in the Oklahoman today. Western Heights Superintendent Joe Kitchens is an OEA member and strong advocate for public schools.

District’s telling symbol Western Heights’ dropouts gone but not forgotten

By Christy Watson

Most everything about the Western Heights High School graduation was typical. Valedictorian Ashley Ozment spoke of good memories and exciting futures. The band played "Rise and Shine” in tribute to the graduates. And Principal Jean Adams offered words of wisdom and encouragement.

But as the 133 graduates made their way across the Cox Convention Center stage and back to their seats, they had to pass by what made the ceremony most unusual: empty chairs. One for each of the 56 former Western Heights students the school counted as Class of 2009 dropouts.
At some point during the past four years, 339 students were part of the Class of 2009, Superintendent Joe Kitchens explained to graduates and the crowd. School officials confirmed that 146 of those students ended up at another school. Four received a GED. That left the 133 graduates and 56 students the school officially counts as dropouts. They were gone but not forgotten. They still had chairs.

Kitchens is frustrated at the district’s 29 percent dropout rate. But two years ago, the rate was 40 percent. In real numbers, 97 kids from the Class of 2007 dropped out. That fell to 81 last year. Behind those numbers are real kids with a shot at a better future.
In a few years, all Oklahoma schools will have to follow the more rigorous dropout formula Western Heights has embraced. Will all be as brutally truthful?

Western Heights is a district well known for its impressive student data system. The data are telling. Students who didn’t begin ninth grade at Western Heights dropped out at twice the rate of other students. These mobile students also failed classes at twice the rate of their peers.
Those figures mean little without action. "We know who the mobile students are and we know when they come into our school system,” Kitchens said. "It is our job to effectively identify those students and put people out there who are specifically charged with helping them the day they enter our school system.” It’s working.

Kitchens acknowledges the pressure that his focus on dropouts puts on school staff. Despite some criticism about the empty chair display, he isn’t ignoring the success of graduates. Most have college plans, and some already have several hours of college credit through a partnership with Oklahoma City Community College. But he doesn’t want parents and patrons to miss the big picture. With an entire section of empty chairs at graduation, that picture was impossible to ignore.

Watson is an editorial writer for The Oklahoman.

OEA Educators and Clergy Conference

The 2nd annual Educators and Clergy Conference was held earlier this spring and more than 100 people -- teachers, administrators and clergy -- attended. The Conference topic was how schools and churches can work together to battle the dropout problem.

Some faith-based organizations have programs for kids while other groups and schools are looking for help and direction in this area. The speakers shared successes and challenges of their programs and also heard from representatives from the First Amendment Center about how programs can legally assist schools.

Speakers pictured above are of OEA Vice-President Becky Felts, Reverend George Young, Tulsa Schools Superintendent Keith Ballard, Charles Haynes, Senior Scholar at the First Amendment Center, Patrick McPherson of Lawton, Howard Hendricks the Director of the Oklahoma Department of Human Services, Richard Klinge of Catholic Charities, Julie Roberson of St. Luke's Methodist Church and Officer Wayland Cubit of the Oklahoma City Police.