The Notebook

Mayoral candidates gather in the auditorium of Eagle Academy for Young Men.

Mayoral candidates had to dig deep into history to unearth an unpleasant memory about the United Federation of Teachers at a schools forum in the Bronx on Tuesday night.

Asked to recall a time when they disagreed with the UFT, Bill Thompson and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn cited the union’s initial opposition to district centralization nearly 20 years ago.

Thompson at first praised the UFT’s role in the re-centralization, which shifted some hiring responsibilities to the chancellor and required changes to state law. Pressed to name a time that he disagreed with the UFT, Thompson said it was when the union obstructed the same shift.

“The resistance, before that, of the UFT to change the system that existed, to changing from decentralization, was a mistake,” he said.

Thompson’s delicate answer reflected how carefully the Democratic candidates are handling issues dealing with the union, which is hosting its own forum before thousands of members this weekend. On June 19, the union’s Delegate Assembly will vote to endorse a candidate, a decision that could tip the scales in the Democratic primary.

The union was barely mentioned during the first 45 minutes of the education forum, which was organized by the Eagle Academy Foundation, a nonprofit that supports the Eagle Academy network of public schools. Instead, the candidates polished their education talking points. Quinn went after testing and de Blasio, renewing his attack strategy, went after Quinn.

“Speaker Quinn, you had 12 years to challenge the mayor on his obsession on high-stakes testing and you didn’t do it,” de Blasio said. “It’s kind of hard to say it now and have people believe it.”

Former Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrión, Jr. also appeared on the panel. He was the first to bring up the teachers union, offering what might have been the night’s — or the race’s — most notable flip-flop.

Carrión, who left the Democratic party to run as an Independent and who is also seeking the Republican nomination, had previously blamed the UFT for the city’s failure to reach a teacher evaluation deal before a state deadline in January.

“The city and the teachers union were at the table, and as far as I know, the teachers union removed themselves from the negotiations,” Carrión told Capital New York at the time. He also credited Bloomberg for standing up against the UFT on negotiations.

On Tuesday, Carrión basically said the exact opposite when asked to name one thing he would change about the Bloomberg administration.

“I would change the posture that the mayor has taken as it relates to the relationship with the teachers union,” he said. “I don’t believe the mayor should ever, ever walk away from a negotiation of teacher evaluation.”

Former teacher Sal Albanese, a long-shot candidate, also said he had been at odds with the union over its resistance to city changes to governance structure (Blasio and Carrión had left by that point).

Comptroller John Liu, the only candidate to point to a different issue when discussing the union, criticized the UFT for its silence when the Department of Education “chastised” Khalil Gibran International Academy, the city’s first dual language Arabic program, “to the point that it is now a mere semblance of what it used to be.”

“The United Federation of Teachers should have taken a strong stance in helping that school stay around and succeed,” he said.

Carmel Macklin, a special education history teacher at Eagle Academy, said Liu’s candid response impressed her the most.

“I liked when he went out on a limb about the Arab school,” she said after the forum ended. “I appreciate those organic responses over those canned responses.”

Quinn made an impression on a small group of students who gathered outside in the school’s lobby after the event.

“Besides what she was saying, she was very sure of what she was saying and she had evidence and proof of what was going to do, so that’s what I really liked about her,” said ninth-grader Habeeb Lewis.

It was the second candidate panel at a school in five days but the first time that all of the front-running Democratic candidates were together talking about education policy in months. The event was moderated by Elinor Tatum, publisher of the New York Amsterdam News, and Gerson Borrero, a columnist for El Diario and regular guest on NY1′s Inside City Hall. It drew more than 100 people, many from Eagle Academy.

COLORADO

• A preliminary release of third grade reading scores showed flat levels for the third year in a row. EdNews Colorado 
• You can look up how your school’s third graders scored in our searchable database. EdNews Colorado
• Kindergarten students in Boulder participated in “Brain Day” to learn more about cognitive function. Daily Camera
• A bill that would change the state’s sex education offerings awaits the governor’s signature. Colorado Springs Independent
• The appointment of D. Rico Munn as Aurora Public Schools’ superintendent became official. 7News

NATION

• California’s efforts to increase diversity in higher education is starting with middle school programs to prepare kids for college. New York Times
• Newtown, Connecticut residents are still divided over what to do with the elementary school where students and teachers were killed. Wall Street Journal
• Polls show that few American students learn about climate change in school, but some groups are trying to change that. NPR

 

Rise & Shine

Each weekday morning, we search websites of various media, comb through RSS feeds and peruse Google alerts to bring you a roundup of the day’s top education headlines, in Colorado and across the country, by 8 a.m. If you’d like to suggest a story we’ve missed or a source we should add to the list, please email us at ednews@ednewscolorado.org.

In statehouses and cities across the country, battles are raging over the direction of education policy—from the standards that will shape what students learn to how test results will be used to judge a teacher's performance. Not since the battles over school desegregation has the debate about public education been so intense and polarized, observers say. (Education Week)

PENSION TENSION: The Illinois Retired Teachers Association, a group of 35,000 former public school teachers and educators, says it is prepared to sue if Senate President John Cullerton's pension reform plan becomes law. The central characteristic of Cullerton's plan is that it offers employees and retirees a set of choices, such as taking less money for their annual 3 percent automatic cost-of-living increases or keeping the level intact and giving up access to insurance. (Tribune)

COMMON CORE FOCUS: Education expert Sandra Alberti of the nonprofit Student Achievement Partners spoke at Irving School on April 29 about the new Common Core standards being implemented in Oak Park District 97 and other schools across the country. Illinois is among 45 states that are adopting the new standards, which cover elementary, middle and high schools. Common Core, as described by supporters, is described as a more rigorous way of learning and teaching English and math. (Oakpark.com)

IN THE NATION
VOUCHER RULING: Louisiana’s highest court ruled Tuesday that Gov. Bobby Jindal’s hallmark school voucher plan violates the state’s constitution because of how it is funded. The state Supreme Court found that the school voucher plan is illegal because it diverts tax dollars to private schools from Louisiana’s “minimum foundation program,” which was created under the state constitution to pay for public schools. (The Washington Post)

GOING DIGITAL: High school students will take the ACT college admissions exam by computer starting in the spring of 2015 — but at least for a while, the paper and pencil version will be available, too. (The New York Times)

• A tally of inspections by a labor union finds that many schools are in poor physical shape. (Daily News)
• A Harlem school was evacuated after a light fixture exploded. (NY1, Daily News, DNA Info, SchoolBook)
• Jim Dwyer: The city’s try to keep Cathie Black emails private lasted 10 times longer than she did. (Times)
• The city’s charter sector is waging an ad campaign to boost support for charter schools. (GothamSchools)
• The Daily News says Christine Quinn is wrong to suggest relaxing admissions rules to gifted programs.
• The AFT’s intervention aims to boost McDowell County, W. Va., where previous tries have faltered. (AP)
• California’s efforts to boost diversity in its public universities focus on improving applicants early. (Times)
• Newtown, Conn., remains split about what to do about the school where 20 students were killed. (WSJ)
• Louisiana’s Supreme Court struck down Gov. Bobby Jindal’s school voucher program. (Times-Picayune)

Gov. John Hickenlooper and Lt. Gov. Joe Garcia held a pep rally for early childhood literacy Tuesday at the Capitol, reminding supporters about one of the administration’s top education priorities.

Gov. John Hickenlooper signs early childhood bill on May 7.

It’s Colorado Literacy Week 2013, and the ceremony in the Capitol’s west foyer was a kickoff event to highlight several initiatives.

Hickenlooper signed House Bill 13-1117, a bill that consolidates several state child development and early childhood offices and agencies in the Department of Human Services. “This is the culmination of our effort to make government more efficient and effective,” Hickenlooper said. “I think it will lead to greater outcomes.”

Garcia touted a new report, Colorado Reads 2013, that highlights what’s happened during the last year in the administration’s “early literacy initiative.” (You can read the report here.)

The lieutenant governor also put in a plug for the One Book 4 Colorado initiative, which encourages reading by young children. The program distributes free books through libraries and doctors’ offices. This year’s book is “Duck on a Bike.” That effort officially rolled out Monday.

Garcia is crisscrossing the state this week, appearing at several events to promote early literacy.

Colorado’s third grade TCAP reading scores remained flat in 2013 for the third year in a row, according to preliminary TCAP results released Tuesday. Read our related story.

According to the state, 73 percent of the state’s third-graders scored proficient or advanced in reading in 2013. That’s down roughly a percentage point from last year and roughly equal to scores from two years ago.

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Click here to load this Caspio Online Database.Search tips

• Click any district name and hit Search to bring up all schools in that district, including district totals.
• Looking for statewide totals for comparison? Click in the “School district” name box and scroll down to “State totals.”
• To compare schools, hit “Ctrl” and click on as many names as you’d like to see.
• To rank search results, click on a column heading. For example, if you’re looking at several schools and want to easily see which had the highest proficiency rate in 2013, click on the column heading “2013 % Proficient and Advanced.” Click once and it sorts lowest to highest – click twice to see highest to lowest.
• Clicking the “Details” button brings up more information about the 2013 TCAP scores, including data about the numbers of students scoring unsatisfactory or those with no scores.

Data notes

• Only schools with at least 16 third-graders receiving TCAP scores are included; the state withholds data for fewer students to protect their privacy. If you cannot find a school or you see blanks or X’s in your school’s history, that typically means not enough students took the exams that year to disclose results.
• Results of the Spanish-language exams are included in the database, denoted by “Spanish” after the district or school name.
• Results of the Transitional Colorado Assessment Program come in four levels – unsatisfactory is the lowest level, then partially proficient, proficient and advanced, the highest level. Typically, a student scoring proficient or advanced is considered to be performing at or above grade level. These are the same levels as the former CSAP tests, given since 1997.

Learn more

• Can’t find a school? Think your school data is in error? Email us at EdNews@EdNewsColorado.org and we’ll check it out.

• Students were taken to the hospital after a PCB light fixture exploded at a Harlem school. (DNA Info)
• The rabbi of the city’s “gay synagogue” is Christine Quinn’s friend, Randi Weingarten’s partner. (Tablet)
• TED Talks’ first television special airs tonight, with an education focus and John Legend as host. (PBS)
• A teacher describes engaging students with poetry after learning from Billy Collins. (HuffPo via Edwize)
• A teacher the city tried to fire for posting off-color comments online won a big legal decision. (NYCourts)
• Manhattan Institute honorees say the teachers contract and teachers should go. (Future of Capitalism)
• A recent survey found serious room for improvement in the city schools’ recycling habits. (NYC H2Ogo)
• Jennifer Jennings, nee Eduwonkette, apologizes for her colleagues who booed Arne Duncan. (EdWeek)
• Diane Ravitch said the booing was appropriate since it’s the only way researchers can resist. (DR’s Blog)
• A looming dispute in education is who owns the intellectual property that teachers upload. (Eduwonk)
• A teacher points out an obvious question about the city’s Common Core ad campaign. (Gary Rubinstein)
• A social scientist argues against labeling “value-added” teacher ratings as “junk science.” (Shanker)
• President Obama name-checked the city education nonprofit Blue Engine as high-impact. (White House)
• A survey of states’ privacy laws shows you can’t access teacher ratings at all in 22 states. (Teacher Beat)

A panel on teacher evaluations focused on implementation concerns. From left: Avram Barlowe, Tom Kane, Linda Rosenbury, Aaron Pallas, and moderator Kim Sweet, executive director of Advocates for Children.

With New York City on track to let yet another state deadline to come up with a teacher evaluation plan pass on Wednesday, it appears increasingly likely that State Education Commissioner John King will have to impose an evaluation system on the city’s schools.

But how to put that plan into action remains a question with few easy answers, according to a panel at a New York Bar Association event Monday evening.

The panel featured two education researchers who often disagree about some of the thorny issues around teacher evaluations; a principal who sees no need to slow down reforms; and a veteran teacher whose high school is exempt from high-stakes testing.

Despite their diverse perspectives, the panelists agreed that city educators are ill prepared to give and receive feedback. And even though the role of test scores has been a hot topic recently, the panelists honed in not on the role that measures of student performance will play in evaluations but on the more subjective elements required by the state’s evaluation law, such as observations.

“[W]e’ve spent much less time talking about other aspects of the evaluations, which are much harder to do and will required much more work here in New York and other states that are trying to implement,” said Tom Kane, the Harvard University education and economics professor who directed the Gates Foundation’s Measures of Effective Teaching study.

Each panelist pointed to different reasons why the subjective components of teacher evaluations might not yield accurate readings of teacher quality. Kane repeatedly cited student evaluations as among the measures that the MET study showed most reliably predicted student performance gains — but most districts in the state aren’t using student evaluations, and last year, union leaders in New York City indicated the idea was a non-starter here.

Teachers College’s Aaron Pallas shared a personal story about a flawed evaluation he received as a young sociology professor from a distinguished education philosopher.

“He didn’t have enough deep knowledge of the subject matter to be able to comment on whether I was teaching stuff that was really meaningful,” Pallas said. “So a great worry about instructional rubrics” — particularly in higher grades — “is that they’re not going to be subject matter experts. … That strikes me as a concern.”

And Avram Barlow, a teacher who helped found Urban Academy High School, a school that is part of a small consortium of schools that uses performance-based assessments instead of high school Regents exams. Barlowe warned that teachers would shift their instruction so that they are focused more on appeasing their principals during observations than on developing creative lesson plans to fit their students.

Linda Rosenbury, a graduate of the city’s Leadership Academy and former principal at M.S. 22, said city principals remain unprepared to do the regiment observations that they are likely to be required to do for each teacher.

“Right now, the majority of principals and assistant principals in New York City were hired not as instructional leaders whose main job it was to produce these reports of classroom observations,” said Rosenbury, who has advocated for a new evaluation system because she said she struggled to remove weak teachers during her tenure. Rosenbury left M.S. 22 this year to become founding principal of the Brooklyn Urban Garden School, a new charter school in District 15. (Charter schools are not obligated to evaluate teachers in accordance with the state’s evaluation law.)

The Department of Education’s preparedness for carrying out its teacher evaluation plan was an issue that originally led UFT President Michael Mulgrew to call off negotiations talks late last year. King later wrote a stinging letter to the city echoing some of the same concerns.

The city responded with an 18-page letter detailing plans that met some of the state’s requirements but fell short on others.

City and union officials both said Tuesday that they intended to submit the bare minimum Wednesday of what the state has asked for. The deadline, which requires both sides to either submit an approved plan or submit their own versions of a plan and explain sticking points in the long-standing impasse, was written into law earlier this year to force defiant districts to begin implementing their plans.

On May 29, if the city still does not have an approved evaluation plan, King will settle the dispute by deciding which plan must be adopted.

The Colorado Education Association is honoring the work of educators across Colorado today for National Teacher Day by highlighting the dedication of two Colorado teachers who took a classroom pen pal project to the next level to foster cultural understanding between students of two very different schools.

Learn more about the collaboration between Hanson Elementary School in Commerce City and Kohl Elementary in Broomfield in this CEA video.

CPS officials on Tuesday mostly dismissed the conclusions by independent hearing officers that the district should not close 11 schools, without addressing safety concerns and questions about the academics at the receiving schools.  

Speaking on background, the officials said that the hearing officers--who concluded that CPS did not comply with state law and therefore should not close the schools--either did not understand or over-stepped their role.

Of 54 schools, hearing officers concluded that the following should not be closed: Buckingham Special Education Center, Calhoun, Delano, King, Mahalia Jackson, Manierre, Mayo, Morgan, Overton, Williams Elementary and Williams Middle School. In addition, a hearing officer said the closures of Stockton and Stewart should be delayed and that Bowen High School should not be forced to co-locate with a new Noble Street Charter School.

The hearing officers’ findings are not binding.

In a statement released later Tuesday, CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett said that the reports will be considered by Board of Education members. The board is set vote on proposals to close 54 schools and co-locate another 11 at their May 22 meeting. If approved, this will be the largest restructuring of a major urban school district ever.

“We are grateful for the work and dedication hearing officers have brought to this process,” Byrd-Bennett said in her statement.

Hope for opponents, but no guarantee

Given that the opinions were written by well-respected former judges, the reports could give new fodder to closing opponents and may bear weight on board members’ votes.  

CPS officials note that in the vast majority of cases, hearing officers simply concluded that CPS complied with the law. But the officers in other cases listened to impassioned pleas from teachers, parents, principals, aldermen and state lawmakers, and issued reports that indicated they understood their concerns.

Otis Taylor, principal of Buckingham Special Education School, says he didn’t know what to expect when he went to the hearing. He and parents told the hearing officer that the commute is too long from Buckingham, on the far South Side, to Montefiore School on the Near West Side. 

The hearing officer agreed, saying that the CEO “failed to consider pertinent information on the safety impact that the long commute will have on Buckingham students.” 

Taylor says the finding gives him hope. “I am glad it came out like that and I am optimistic.”

As is the case with Buckingham, in most scenarios the officers opposed a closing because they did not think the district had made sufficient transition plans that addressed academic or safety concerns.

CPS spokeswoman Becky Carroll says the district was only required to provide a draft transition plan—which, as drafts, are works in progress and won’t be complete until mid-June. She added it was not up to the hearing officers to comment on the quality or feasibility of the plan.

But many of them did just that.

“Generalities and vague promises”

Hearing officer Paddy McNamara notes that “it cannot be emphasized enough how concerned the Manierre parents are about their children’s and their own safety if Jenner and Manierre are merged into one school.” The two Near North Side schools are such deep rivals that the basketball league realigned so that they don’t play each other, according to the testimony.

She decided “that CPS violated its own guidelines by failing to consider the unique circumstances of Manierre.”

Regarding plans for the closing of Morgan Elementary, hearing officer David Coar noted two deficiencies. First, the transition plan did not adequately answer the question of whether Ryder, set to receive Morgan’s students, could meet the need of special education students. Second, CPS did not tell parents enough about how safety concerns would be addressed.

“The safety of the youngest and most vulnerable children in the school system is a very serious thing, not to be addressed with generalities and vague promises,” wrote Coar, a former federal judge. “Violence is a fact in the city of Chicago and in the neighborhoods involved in this school closing in particular.”

Hearing officer Charles Winkler echoed these concerns. However, instead of opposing the closure of Stockton and Stewart, he suggested that CPS wait until the 2014-2015 school year.

Then, he asks these probing questions: “Will an understaffed Chicago Police Department be able to provide enough officers to assist the Stewart children? Will CPS hire a private security company to furnish properly trained personnel? Is there really enough time to get everyone up to speed so the 14,400 children from the closing schools are provided safe passage?”

Carroll says the school district is still working with the Chicago Police Department to firm up plans. However, the transition plans rely on what are called “safe passage workers” to make sure students get from school to home. Safe passage workers are adults from the community who stand on corners and watch students as they walk home, calling the police if they spot trouble.

Academic quality

Other hearing officers cited academic concerns. In the past, most displaced students have landed at schools that are not much better than the schools that closed.

One current proposal involves Overton and Mollison, both of which are Level 3 schools, the lowest possible rating given by CPS. Overton is slated to close, with its students sent to Mollison.

Byrd-Bennett’s guidelines say that if two schools have the same rating, the district can still consolidate, as long as the receiving school outperforms the closing school on four of the performance criteria established by the district. The performance criteria include ISAT scores and measures of academic growth, as well as attendance.

Under those guidelines, Overton qualifies to be consolidated into Mollison. Hearing officer Carl McCormick does not dispute that, but he does point out that the guidelines don’t lead to the ultimate goal—a better education for the students who are displaced.

“We must ask, is it relevant or significant that the higher-performing school is rated in the lowest academic level and is on probation?” wrote McCormick, a former Cook County Circuit Court Judge. “This is tantamount, using a food metaphor, to the promise of an omelet with a crisp waffle. Then what is actually delivered is broken eggs, whose contents are oozing out, and a burnt pancake.”

Rather than addressing McCormick’s concerns, in a formal written response, CPS’ General Counsel James Bebley wrote “the Hearing Officer substituted his judgment for the CEO’s in applying a different standard to higher-performing schools than the one expressed in the guidelines.”

Colorado’s third grade TCAP reading scores remained flat in 2013 for the third year in a row, according to TCAP results released Tuesday.

EdNews stock photo

According to the state, 73 percent of the state’s third-graders scored proficient or advanced in reading in 2013. That’s down roughly a percentage point from last year and roughly equal to scores from two years ago.

Among the highlights of this year’s results: Just over three-quarters of girls and 70 percent of boys scored at proficient and above. Some 83 percent of white third-graders scored at that level, compared to 58 percent of Hispanic students and 59 percent of black students. For students qualifying for free and reduced price lunch, 59 percent scored at proficient and above.

Learn more

• Find your school and district TCAP scores

The percentage of students scoring proficient and advanced in third grade reading in Jeffco remained flat, dropping slightly from 80 to 79.5 percent. At the same time, the percentage of students in the district qualifying for free and reduced price lunch rose 1 percentage point to 34.4 percent.

Jeffco Superintendent Cindy Stevenson believes there may be a correlation since poverty among children is rising in Colorado and scores dipped in most metro area districts – except Denver.

“I don’t  use that as an excuse,” Stevenson said. “I do look at, what are the drivers? I don’t question what teachers are doing.”

Stevenson said the district has been crunching data and monitoring student progress. She said she likes to see schools hit 80 percent of its students at grade level. Right now, 50 elementary schools hit that benchmark in third grade reading, and 25 are at 70 percent proficient and above. Stevenson said she’d like to examine how summer literacy programs and the presence of AmeriCorps volunteers in schools affect results.

“Scores are staying steady even though poverty among little children is increasing,” Stevenson said. “As we get more and more data we’ll really look at it.”

Denver scores increase in 2013

Denver Public Schools celebrated its upward trend in reading scores, which grew from 59 to 61 percent reading at proficient and above over the past year. That figure has grown 10 points since 2010 and represents 800 additional third-graders who are reading at grade level, district officials said.

“This is encouraging news, especially given that elementary literacy is such a critical foundation for academic success,” said DPS Superintendent Tom Boasberg in a statement. “I am very grateful to the work of our elementary teachers for these gains. At the same time, it is clear that we have much work to do to increase the literacy levels in our elementary schools.”

Boasberg said he believed that plans to increase full-day preschool and kindergarten opportunities, strengthen academic programs for English-Language Learners and to provide more support and tutoring for struggling readers would help boost test scores even more.

Source: Denver Public Schools

In addition to the gains on the TCAP reading assessment, DPS had a 10-percentage point gain over last year on the TCAP Lectura exam taken by 600 Spanish-speaking students, bringing the percentage of third-grade Spanish-speaking students who are proficient or above in reading to 57 percent.

In Douglas County, the percentage of third-graders scoring at proficient and advanced dipped from 82.8 to 81.5 percent.

“The third grade TCAP reading scores capture a small snapshot of overall DCSD student achievement,” said Dougco Superintendent Liz Fagen. “Of course, we aspire to have all of our students proficient or advanced in reading.  However, we are very pleased that DCSD schools consistently rank among the best in the state.”

The percentage of students scoring of students scoring proficient or advanced in reading in Aurora Public Schools dropped from 51 percent in 2012 to 49 percent this year.

Aurora’s Chief Academic Officer Tammy Clementi said the dip was no surprise. She said district staff figured out in November that there were gaps in the district’s approach to teaching basic reading skills at the lower grades, such as phonemic awareness. The district now has a plan in place to address those deficiencies.

“We recognized we weren’t going to see gains this year,” Clementi said. “We anticipate a much different story next year.”

However, there were bright spots in Aurora, Clementi said, noting that the percentage of third-graders at reading level – based on the TCAPs – at Vaughn Elementary rose from 28.9 to 46.5 percent.

“A lot of our schools you look at the leadership – the instructional expertise and their ability to drive through instructional practice that needs to be happening on a consistent basis.”

In Adams County School District 50, which last year moved up from “turnaround” status to “priority improvement” in the state’s accountability system, 50 percent of third-graders scored at proficient or advanced in reading, up from 39 percent in 2010.

“The results show that our hard work and commitment to proficiency for all students is making a difference,” said Adams 50 Superintendent Pamela Swanson.  “We still have a long way to go, but I believe the upward trajectory is a very positive indicator.”

Scores rise in Greeley-Evans

Scores for Greeley-Evans District 6 third-graders rose two points this year, with six schools seeing double digit gains in the number of students reading at advanced or proficient levels.

This year, 66 percent of Greeley-Evans third-graders scored advanced or proficient on TCAP reading assessments, up from 64 percent in 2012 and 63 percent in 2011. Twenty percent of third-graders scored partially proficient and 14 percent scored unsatisfactory on the reading assessment.

More than 60 percent, or nearly 12,000, of District 6 students qualify for free or reduced lunch, an indicator of poverty. And about 26 percent, or more than 5,100 students, are English language learners.

“We are beating the odds, and that is great news for our students,” said District 6 Superintendent Ranelle Lang. “Teachers and administrators have been working hard on strategies to help our students learn to read proficiently, and this helps show our efforts are working.”

The TCAP, or Transitional Colorado Assessment Program, is an interim test designed to replace CSAP (Colorado Student Assessment Program) as the state moves to full implementation of the new Colorado Academic Standards.

The Colorado Department of Education published preliminary third grade reading results this week, but results from other grade levels and content areas will be released in August. Math, reading and writing are tested in third through 10th grades. Science is assessed in fifth, eighth and 10th grades.

On each side of the split screen, a girl with long hair and a puffy white coat walks to school, where she works on a writing assignment, raises her hand to answer a question, watches the clock, and walks past a bulletin board plastered with student work.

Then the divider disappears and the two girls leave the building hand in hand to stack blocks on a crowded playground.

As the scene plays out, a voiceover narrates. ”Like most children in New York City, these two second-graders attend different schools in the same building. They both love science, their favorite color is green. They both want to be doctors, or astronauts. Can you tell which child attends the district school, and which the charter school?”

Because of the city Department of Education’s policies about filming inside buildings it owns, both girls actually attend the same school, Our World Neighborhood Charter School in Queens. It’s a creative liberty that the New York City Charter School Center took when creating the television ads that make up the first phase of a new campaign to sway public opinion in charter schools’ favor.

The ad campaign comes at an important moment. Encouraging charter school growth has been a hallmark education policy of the Bloomberg administration, and most of the Democratic candidates for mayor have signaled that they would not be as friendly to the privately managed schools.“The Bloomberg approach to charter schools was one of the fundamental mistakes of this administration,” said Public Advocate Bill de Blasio at a forum in Brooklyn last week.

The Charter Center, a nonprofit that advocates for the sector and assists individual schools, argues that de Blasio’s take does not reflect public opinion. Officials say the ad campaign is in part a response to a survey finding that many New Yorkers say they support charter schools — but that many others say they do not know enough to be able to form an opinion. Other people have misperceptions about charter schools, they said.

“What we’ve tended to see in polls about charters is a lot of people still don’t know that charters are public schools,” said CEO James Merriman. “This is meant to inform them that there are benefits and not just controversy.”

Of the ads, which can all be seen at a single website with the address What.AreCharterSchools.com, some are aimed purely at letting New Yorkers know that charter schools can be an option for families. But others face some of the most persistent criticisms of charter schools head on.

Two of the ads focus on co-location, the sometimes divisive policy of letting charter schools operate inside public school buildings. The ad with the two girls ends, “As long as it’s a great public school, it shouldn’t matter.” Another ad finishes, “Sharing space works — and it’s what makes New York City great.”

The ad campaign is planned to unfold over multiple years, organizers say, and in multiple forms of media. Right now, the four 30-second spots are airing on local television networks — an ad buy that Merriman said cost “in the low six figures.” The group is also working on a series of print ads that will feature charter school leaders and appear in local newspapers in the coming weeks. There will also be a direct mail campaign to people who have expressed interest in charter schools in the past, and some of the ads will appear in Spanish-language media.

“I don’t think anyone has done this before — a public awareness campaign talking about charters with this magnitude,” said Petra Tuomi, the charter center’s director of marketing and communications.

Merriman said the campaign was meant to provide insurance at a time — during and directly after the mayoral election — when criticism of charter schools is likely to get increased airtime.

“I think when a new mayor comes in, whoever he or she may be, I think they’re going to understand that charters are a key component of moving the system forward. I’m not really worried, frankly, that anyone is going to go around trying to dismantle charters,” he said. “On the other hand, it’s a mayoral campaign and campaigns are loud, and we just want to make sure that parents — as we say, who may or may not know — are hearing from us directly about what charter schools are about.”

As we enter the final stretch of the race to close down a record number of schools, the most ever in a single district at one time, we are extremely concerned about the patterns that are emerging in North Lawndale.

We find that capital costs used to justify closing North Lawndale schools have been inflated up to 3 times. Moreover, no capital projects are now in progress at the schools slated to be closed, and they are in excellent condition. We have also found, consistently, that CPS has misrepresented the amenities of the closing schools. In most instances, the closing schools have greater amenities than the receiving schools. For example, CPS has said that Pope and Henson don't have computer labs. Yet Henson has two technology labs, a library and a computer in every classroom, and Pope has a technology lab and a media center.

(Catalyst Chicago reported on the impact of closings in North Lawndale in the spring issue of Catalyst In Depth. Independent hearing officers have recommended against closing about a dozen schools, but none of those targeted in North Lawndale.)

Community residents have questioned whether the proposed school closings are providing cover for the Academy for Urban School Leadership, which operates turnaround schools, to consolidate its interests in North Lawndale. Bethune, an AUSL school, will close before being completely turned around. This will free capacity for AUSL to take over Chalmers, situated across the street from the northeast corner of Douglas Park. Pope, situated across the street from the southwest corner of Douglas Park, will close, and Johnson, which is an AUSL school, will assume its attendance boundaries. Johnson is situated across the street from Douglas Park on 14th Street. AUSL controls Collins High School, situated inside the park. After the dust settles, AUSL will control essentially every school in or around Douglas Park.

In addition, while Henson’s receiving school is Hughes, the new attendance boundaries are drawn such that the lion's share of Henson students will go to Herzl, another AUSL school. There are also connections to the current CPS leadership. Board President Vitale is the former board president of AUSL. CPS’ Chief Administrative Officer Tim Cawley is a former managing director of AUSL.

While we believe schools should be improved rather than closed, it should be noted that AUSL schools do not necessarily present better options. AUSL schools in North Lawndale have historically under-performed the North Lawndale Average.

More segregation?

School closings will also “re-segregate” the African American and Latino communities around Paderewski, and will not provide better opportunities for African American students. Currently, Paderewski is the only North Lawndale school whose attendance boundaries include North Lawndale and Little Village. Paderewski’s student population is 82% African American and 18% Latino. African American students generally live in Lawndale, north of Cermak Road, while the Latino students generally live in Little Village, south of Cermak Road.

Even though CPS has designated Cardenas and Castellanos as receiving schools for Paderewski, the new attendance boundaries for Cardenas and Castellanos are drawn such that the northern boundary is Cermak Road. Likewise, the southern boundary for Penn and Crown is Cermak. Effectively, Latino students will be sent to Cardenas or Castellanos, which are higher-performing, while African American students will go to Penn or Crown, both lower-achieving. Cardenas is Level 1 and Castellanos is Level 2, and both are nearly filled to capacity. Paderewski, Crown and Penn are all Level 3 schools, and Paderewski is the strongest of the three.

We ask that CPS put a moratorium on school closures until they can complete their master facilities planning process, mitigate any conflicts of interest and change any plans that could compound segregation.

Valerie F. Leonard

Co-Founder, Lawndale Alliance

COLORADO

• Legislators cleared most of the last education bills under consideration off their plates. EdNews Colorado
• Some schools want more students to walk or bike, but safety concerns and car culture can make it a hard sell. EdNews Colorado
• The tiny school district in Dove Creek may become a model for other school districts looking for loopholes in state law in order to arm educators. Denver Post
• Newsweek’s list of the top 2,000 high schools in the country included 40 Colorado schools. 9News
• A group of parents trying to recall a group of Colorado Springs school board members failed to gather enough signatures to advance their petition. Gazette
• The four school districts in Dolores and Montezuma counties are adding new teacher coach positions as part of their new evaluation system. Cortez Journal
• A workshop aims to show teachers how they can use classroom gardens in their lessons. Post Independent 
• A new Global Village Academy will open in Windsor. Coloradoan

NATION

• The vast majority of teachers in the nation’s largest school districts either saw their pay frozen or took a pay cut during the recession. New York Times
• A small Michigan school district has run out of money to pay its teachers, but the teachers agreed to work for free until the end of the school year. HuffPo
• The ACT is moving to computer-based testing. New York Times

OPINION

•  Commentary: Other cities, including Richmond, Virginia, are looking to Denver as a model for education and economic development. Richmond Times-Dispatch

 

Rise & Shine

Each weekday morning, we search websites of various media, comb through RSS feeds and peruse Google alerts to bring you a roundup of the day’s top education headlines, in Colorado and across the country, by 8 a.m. If you’d like to suggest a story we’ve missed or a source we should add to the list, please email us at ednews@ednewscolorado.org.

According to a report released Tuesday by the National Council on Teacher Quality, the vast majority of teachers in the nation’s largest school districts took a pay cut or saw their pay frozen at least one year between 2008 and 2012. (The New York Times)

Independent hearing officers are opposing 14 of the school closings proposed by Chicago Public Schools officials, citing safety concerns and the district's failure to show students would be going to better schools. In some cases, hearing officers concluded that CPS violated its own closing guidelines or presented inadequate transition plans, especially for special education students. In many of these cases, hearing officers said the academic difference between a closing school and a school taking the students was marginal.v(Chicago Tribune)

INFLATED AND FLAWED: A joint analysis by WBEZ/Chicago Public Media and Catalyst Chicago has found that CPS' original cost savings estimates related to school closings were significantly flawed—based on outdated needs assessments inflated by estimates and riddled with mistakes. And, although CPS officials lowered their initial savings estimate by $122 million, their new projections are still based primarily on speculation regarding the current condition of buildings and needs.

A SKEPTICAL PUBLIC: The amount Chicago Public Schools says it’s going to save by closing down schools is being challenged by parents, school staff and aldermen across the city. And CPS itself recently admitted to overstating how much it would save from closing schools.

A WRINKLE FOR RANGEL: Blogger Kenzo Shibata says UNO charter network's CEO Juan Rangel should step down from the Public Building Commission that oversees construction of public schools and other government buildings. "It’s been well documented recently that UNO Charter Schools operated largely as a patronage trough for the connected. This news prompted Illinois Governor Pat Quinn to suspend state funding to the UNO charter network coming out of a $98 million state grant." (Chicago Now)

IN THE NATION

EVALUATIONS AND TEST SCORES: While Texas legislators and educators agree that better methods are needed for teacher assessment, the question of tying evaluations to test scores is a sticking point. (The New York Times)

DUNCAN ON DETROIT: U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan visited Detroit students Monday and told them better days are ahead for the city's troubled schools. (The Detroit News)

Reports published Monday night show that independent hearing officers do not think CPS has proved its case for closing 11 schools. The hearing officers said that CPS did not follow policies and laws in deciding to close Buckingham, Calhoun, Delano, King, M. Jackson, Manierre, Mayo, Morgan, Overton and Williams Elementary and Middle school. Also, a hearing officer suggested CPS delay the consolidation of Stewart and Stockton in order to address safety concerns. 

In addition, a hearing officer recommended against the co-location of Bowen High School with Noble Street.

The hearing officers cited safety concerns, said some schools were not higher performing enough to be a welcoming school and also that CPS should have taken special education students into account in their utilization formula. 

CPS will host a media call this morning. More information to follow.

CPS released this fact sheet in response to the officer's reports.

• Christine Quinn, a mayoral candidate, is asking the city to open gifted programs to more children. (Times)
• Students protested Anthony Weiner’s discipline policies. (GothamSchools, City Room, Daily Politics)
• The rally against Weiner, a possible mayoral candidate, had political undertones and implications. (Post)
• A Fordham High School for the Arts teacher is suing the city over the way her principal treated her. (Post)
• P.S. 18 in Morrisania section of the Bronx is also getting a vision clinic thanks to the UFT. (Daily News)
• A right-wing columnist says the city’s extended school day plan is too weak to guarantee success. (Post)
• The ACT, one of two major college admissions exams, will switch to computer-based testing. (Times)
• Most teachers in large districts saw their pay cut or frozen at least once because of the recession. (Times)
• All 27 teachers in Buena Vista, Mich., said they’d work for free after their district ran out of funds. (HuffPo)
• Schools are increasingly grappling with how to include transgender students on sports teams. (Times)

On the day CPS announced its list of school closings, students at schools slated to shut down received folders with letters to their parents stating that their school had lost enrollment, was partially empty and needed anywhere from $4 million to $37 million in repairs and maintenance.

District leaders repeated that argument, telling the media that CPS will avoid paying $560 million in capital costs over 10 years by shuttering 51schools—more than the savings in operating expenses. The argument has been used to justify the closings, the largest number ever at one time in a major district, as CPS pointed out the need to move old, expensive-to-maintain buildings off the books and cut a projected $1 billion deficit

But a joint analysis by WBEZ/Chicago Public Media and Catalyst Chicago found that the original cost savings estimates were significantly flawed--based on outdated needs assessments inflated by estimates and riddled with mistakes.

CPS leaders acknowledge that the numbers were not iron-clad and insist that the basic premise—avoiding major capital spending—is solid.

In its draft 10-year facilities plan, officials quietly lowered their initial savings estimate by $122 million, conceding that some of the changes were prompted by repeated questions from WBEZ and Catalyst.

Yet the new projections are still based primarily on speculation regarding the current condition of buildings and its needs.

The WBEZ and Catalyst analysis found these problems with the cost savings figures:

• A CPS official said that the new estimate of $437 million in capital cost savings from closings, down from $560 million, came as the result of updated building assessments. But only six of the 51 schools slated to close have had new assessments.

• CPS officials have added in a variety of expenses to the known needed repairs, such as modernizing labs, compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, and installing air conditioning--without conducting assessments to determine what the school needs or obtaining specific estimates of costs.  

• Major discrepancies can be found between the public information CPS has provided and the internal accounting of cost savings. The 10-year draft master facilities plan provided estimates for closing schools that are, on average, $3 million higher than estimates in the internal documents provided to Catalyst and WBEZ last week. CPS officials included the cost to upgrade schools, in addition to repair costs, despite plans to close schools.

 

“We are toast”

Principals, local school council members and community activists--and even aldermen--have been questioning the cost-savings figures since the district first released them. 

They believe the numbers were exaggerated to bolster the case for closing schools and say it undermines their trust in the district’s decision-making process—an already fragile trust that CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett has said she is determined to repair.

One principal said he was worried the minute he saw the district’s estimate for repair and maintenance at his school.

“I thought to myself, we are toast,” said the principal. This principal, and others contacted for this story, said he has been warned by CPS not to talk to the press.   

A 2010 assessment put a $7 million price tag on repairs and maintenance at this principal’s school. However, the letter provided by the district for parents said it would cost more than three times that figure for repairs and maintenance.

Parents at Trumbull in Andersonville had a similar reaction. The letter parent Ali Burke received at home on March 21 said that Trumbull needed $16.2 million in maintenance and repairs.

“It is ludicrous,” said Burke, who serves on the local school council at Trumbull. 

Trumbull’s latest assessment from 2010 stated that the school needed $4.6 million in capital spending. No new assessment has been done since then. Internal documents provided to WBEZ and Catalyst show CPS lowered the projected savings after the March 21 letter, to about $11 million. The draft facilities plan put the cost to maintain and repair at $15 million.

Burke and other LSC members said they would think CPS would put out estimates based on an actual assessment and pricing based on bids. Burke asked CPS to provide an accounting for how it determined the costs, and CPS officials promised to bring one to a planned meeting with U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky. But the CPS official who attended “forgot” the paperwork, Burke said.

James Morgan, Trumbull’s president, is incredulous. “Where is your source, CPS?” he said.

Not a science 

Mary Filardo, executive director of the 21st Century School Fund, notes that predicting capital cost savings is difficult. Filado’s Washington D.C.-based organization focuses on educational facilities planning. “It is not science,” she says. “It is elastic.”

But Filardo, who has been assisting the Chicago Educational Facilities Task Force, said that some of the numbers put out by CPS seem odd, especially given the latest assessments.

She points to Wentworth Elementary, a building that is slated to be shut down next year as students and staff relocate to Altgeld.

Between 2000 and 2010, CPS spent about $3 million at Wentworth for boiler repairs and campus renovation, among other work. The 2010 assessment stated that Wentworth needed $5.5 million more in work.

Then, this winter, CPS projected savings of $10.5 million in capital costs by closing Wentworth.

Yet given the major work done in the past 10 years, Filardo says it is hard to imagine what needs to be done. “It is probably an exaggeration,” she says.

Filardo has studied school closings in cities across the country and says it is not unusual for school districts to inflate savings, although often for operating costs such as salaries for laid-off principals, engineers and teachers.

A top CPS official, as well as board president David Vitale, say the adjusting of figures is not important because the basic premise remains. 

“Not having to worry about the capital maintenance is clearly something that will save us money,” says the official (whom the CPS communications office would not let be identified). “It is not a perfect science.”

Education quality also a factor

Vitale says CPS officials are trying to put out a lot of information and tackle many projects and so he would not be surprised if some of the information was not accurate.

“My assumption is that they made some judgments and some estimates,” he says. CPS board members have asked to be briefed on each of the proposed school actions.  By then, Vitale says he expects the school-by-school numbers to be accurate and it is important to him to be able to compare relative costs between schools.

However, with only six updated assessments, it is hard to see how he will be able to make apples-to-apples comparisons for every closing situation. Take Ryerson and Laura Ward in West Humboldt Park. 

The Ward building is slated to close. Ward does not have a new assessment, but the updated assessed need is about $6.6 million a year (including $3.3 million from a 2008 assessment, plus extra costs added in such as inflation, engineering and design). 

Ryerson, where Ward’s student and staff are to relocate, has an updated assessment that puts the price tag for capital spending at $7.9 million. 

Yet Vitale notes there are other factors to consider beyond capital cost savings.

“Because of our financial situation, we must use our buildings efficiently,” he says. He says he also will be looking at utilization and the quality of education in each building.

Updated 9:30 a.m. May 7 – The Senate today gave final 27-8 approval to a late bill intended to give the University of Colorado more flexibility in admitting out-of-state students and using the additional revenue to provide merit scholarships to bright Colorado students.

Campus of University of Colorado at Boulder

House Bill 13-1320, introduced only on April 23, is the last education bill in line as the 2013 legislative session heads toward Wednesday adjournment. It’s had a bit of a bumpy ride in committee, but on Monday passed on a voice vote after about 20 minutes of debate. After Tuesday’s final vote the House will have to consider Senate amendments.

Although the bill applies in theory to all Colorado colleges, in practice it’s tailored for CU-Boulder, which is bumping against its allowed percentage of non-resident students. CU officials want to admit more non-residents both so it can gain the substantially higher tuition they pay and also so it can use some of that revenue to provide merit scholarships for top Colorado students. (The state hasn’t provided any merit aid since 2009, although colleges can do so on their own, as CU does already.)

Issues decided Monday

• Green schools
• Medical emergencies
• Parent involvement
• Teacher evaluations
• Tech education
• Truancy

Do your homework

• Get bill texts and other info in our Education Bill Tracker

A controversial portion of the bill allows a college to count a Colorado merit scholar as equivalent to two regular Colorado students, making it possible to maintain the required 55 percent resident undergraduate enrollment while creating more space for out-of-staters.

“What they have done here is a little creative, I would say,” said Democratic sponsor Sen. Rollie Heath, whose district includes the Boulder campus. “You could say ingenious, but we have to resort to this sort of thing at this stage of the game.” Heath and other bill sponsors argue that top Colorado high school graduates are being lured out of state by generous scholarships offered by other universities.

Sen. Owen Hill, R-Colorado Springs, said, “It’s not pretty, it’s not clean” but that he supports the bill anyway.

Sen. Scott Renfroe, R-Greeley, argued against the bill Monday evening, noting questions raised last week by the Department of Higher education. Claiming the bill could lead to fewer Colorado students at CU, Renfroe asked, “Is that what you want?

The House version of the bill also included $3 million in state funds to be divvied up among colleges for merit scholarships. The Senate stripped the money fom the bill, and the House isn’t expected to object. (Learn more about the bill’s intricacies, who would qualify for scholarships and more in his legislative staff analysis.)

Green schools bill finally passes

School under construction

Senate Bill 13-279, another late April bill that encountered some turbulence, is on its way to the governor. The measure sets energy conservation requirements for new school buildings and substantial renovations. Amendments to soften the bill and make its requirements more flexible somewhat eased the initial concerns of school districts. The Senate accepted House amendments and re-passed the bill 19-16.

Passage of the bill is a long-awaited victory for Sen. Andy Kerr, D-Lakewood, a Jeffco teacher who floated several unsuccessful versions while serving in the House.

Here are the details on the other education bills that passed Monday:

School medical emergencies

House Bill 13-1171 allows (but doesn’t require) schools to stock epinephrine injectors to treat students suffering allergic reactions. Students with diagnosed allergies now can bring their own injectors to school. Advocates of the bill argued that schools should stock injectors for undiagnosed students who have reactions. The bill was delayed because of negotiations over training of school employees, liability issues and the role of school nurses. Passed Senate 27-8; the House Tuesday adopted Senate amendments and re-passed the bill 57-8.

Parent involvement

Senate Bill 13-193 makes several changes in parent involvement laws. The measure requires school accountability committees to better promote parent involvement and to be more involved in school turnaround and priority improvement plans, requires each district to designate one staff member as a parent contact person, expands the role of the State Advisory Council for Parent Involvement in Education and allocates $150,000 for the Department of Education to hire a parent engagement specialist. Passed 37-28; the Senate has to review amendments.

Teacher evaluations

House Bill 13-1257 tweaks the state’s 2010 educator evaluation law and gives the Department of Education greater oversight of district principal and teacher evaluation plans. (Current law allows districts to use the state model system or develop their own systems if they meet state standards.) The bill allows the department to review district plans – or do so at the request of “any interested party” – and order compliance with state standards or use of the state system. The Senate passed the bill 21-14, and the House later approved Senate amendments and re-passed it 35-27.

The bill was introduced in a very different form, at the behest of AFT-Colorado, which represents teachers in the Douglas County Schools. The union and the conservative Dougco board are locked in a variety of disputes. The original bill essentially would have given teachers’ unions veto power over district evaluation plans. That idea had little or no support, and the measure was dramatically retooled.

Technical education

House Bill 13-1165 directs a variety of state agencies, including the community colleges board and the departments of education and higher education, to create “a career pathway for students seeking employment in the manufacturing sector.” The program has to be up and running for the 2014-15 academic year. Passed 21-14. (Get more information on the bill here.)

The bill directs state officials to hold a “summit” with industry representatives to determine state manufacturing workforce needs and to design programs to fill them. The measure has a $474,600 price tag in the first year. This is one of two workforce/education bills that survived this session. The other, House Bill 13-1005, directs the community college system to create pilot programs that combine adult basic education with career training. The highest profile workforce bill, a measure allowing community colleges in a limited number of technical fields, died in the face of opposition from state universities.

Truancy

House Bill 13-1021 makes several changes in state truancy law with the intent of keeping more students in school and reducing the jailing of truant students. The bill encourages districts to develop procedures for identifying students who are chronically absent, to work more closely with local with juvenile services agencies and to adopt policies for dealing with habitually truant students. The bill says districts should “minimize the need for court action” and take students to court “only as a last resort.” The bill also limits detention of a student to no more than five days at any one time. The House agreed to Senate amendments and re-passed the bill 38-27. (Read the bill text for more details.)

Also approved Monday was House Bill 13-1007, which reinstates a legislative early childhood study commission. The body won’t receive funding – it will be getting in-kind support from the Colorado Children’s Campaign — but the panel will have the ability to propose bills without those counting against the limit of five that applies to individual members. Re-passed 21-14 by the Senate and 37-26 in the House.

• Sara Mosle: As a compromise, why don’t we just give small classes to high-need students? (Opinionator)
• But that plan could discourage middle-class families from choosing public schools. (Dana Goldstein)
• A researcher compiled 12 ways that charter schools, nationally, might influence enrollment. (TC Record)
• School newspapers are seeking alternatives now that an online clearinghouse is closing. (SchoolBook)
• A student covers Chancellor Walcott’s visit to John Dewey HS, which he tried to close. (Dewey Current)
• Students at Sunset Park High School have set up a repository for testing stories. (Cut Down Testing)
• The principal of P.S. 256 in Brooklyn says the school is as it was when it struggled, but better. (DNA Info)
• An argument in favor of doing away grades centers on self-esteem and their obvious futility. (Slate)
• Bulletproof school furnishings are being marketed heavily to fear-filled school districts. (N.Y. Now)
• A Newark school wants to engage students with a Daddy- (but not father)- daughter dance. (Star-Ledger)
• A Chicago teacher says he understands why students there are protesting and appreciates it. (Ebony)
• Scientists are backing the student expelled because of an experiment gone wrong. (Miami New Times)