Race to the Top

To be presented to the Second Ever congregation of the Sachem Junto on Thursday, April 1, 2010:

According to the Washington Post, “Delaware and Tennessee won the first shares of President Obama's $4 billion fund for education innovation and reform.
Delaware received 454.6 points out of 500. It has a new state law that bars educators from receiving "effective" ratings unless their students demonstrate satisfactory levels of growth. It also offers bonuses of as much as $10,000 a year for teachers and principals willing to transfer to high-needs schools. Schools in "turnaround" because of poor performance must show improvement within two years.
The state plans to send "data coaches" into schools to help teachers track student performance and target lessons where needed. The state is to begin new tests in the coming school year that will generate achievement data to help evaluate teachers and principals.”

Ezra Klein from the Post states, “Race to the Top is a $4.35 billion grant program created in the stimulus package. The short version is that the states submit proposals to improve their education system to the federal government, and if the Feds approve, the states get a pot o' money with which to implement the plan. The idea isn't just to fund public schools, but to use the promise of federal money in a time of strapped state budgets to empower reformers. New York finished second-to-last, leading Mike Bloomberg to criticize the state legislature for not lifting its cap on charter schools. "We are not going to qualify unless the state understands this," he said. And that's where the promise of the program really lies: Using the money to get the states to make legislative changes they wouldn't otherwise make, and unite stakeholders who wouldn't otherwise come together.”

Now I went to the University of Delaware, observed, student taught, and was a leave replacement at schools across the state during my tenure there. And I did notice some obvious problems in the education system. For one, in DE, kids can be bused to any school within the county, and there were very selective choices, leaving some schools in the dust. The state education department has started taking over schools in the state, and Howard, where I student taught, was on the short-list for Federal Take-over, but was passed over for 5 other schools.

An obvious concern with Race To the Top is data. In the article, they focused on how DE was going to enforce data when it came to changing what's going wrong with teachers in the classroom. I get afraid when I hear administration screaming "data" because I feel that they want teachers to teach strictly to the test, and to remind you of the dirty SpringBoard issue last year, you know I do not like teaching to the test. I'm going to be a hypocrite here for a second, however, and say that an effective teacher (or highly qualified to use some NCLB jargon) should be able to have high passing grades on any test, state-, federal-, or locally-enforced. How does R2TT enforce the latter without encouraging the former?

One thing I will say about Delaware, and my district in particular, is that they offered worthwhile professional development days. Our professional development time pales in comparison, but, to my knowledge, Delaware doesn’t have the teacher center programs like New York does.

Here’s what my friend Nicole, who is the English department chair at Howard, had to say about R2TT: “In regard to Race to the Top Funds, the jury is still out. Delaware wrote a lot into its grant, and very little of it was actually fleshed out at the time of submission--such as how to handle teacher accountability under the new DPAS II system--but every district acknowledged that the money was a necessary evil when considering the extreme budget crisis the State is currently facing. I am not in a position to comment on it yet, as I try not to jump to conclusions until the details and specifics are available--which will not be for several more months. I do know that the money will save some of our staff, as our District was in a difficult place facing next year's budget, but beyond that I cannot say whether I am happy about this turn of events or terrified; I am leaning toward the latter.”

Now, let’s bring it back to New York, which finished second to last in this first round of Race funds. My union President, John H., in his last Presidential Point letter in Speak Out, addressed the issue, but under the guise that he wasn’t so sure Sachem needed reform in the first place. He said, “To earn the grant, I had to sign off on a check list of items that focused on the reforms. The problem in New York was that some of the items were contradictory to local contract and, in one case, state education law. Among these were the uses of student scores in determining teacher tenure.” He also said that other issues involved locals opening contracts and renegotiating items to satisfy new federal guidelines. John ended his point by saying the following: “In Sachem, I see a school district where taxes have been held in check in exemplary fashion. I see a professional staff that has steadily increased student test scores until they were top in the county. Our teachers are teaching, our students are learning, our administrators are making it happen and our Board is keeping costs and taxes down. Tell me, exactly where we need reform? From where I sit, instead of the feds and the state trying to reform us, they should be using Sachem as a model to show how things can be done. But what do I know?”

While I share in John’s sentiment, I know that part of being a teacher is being able to adapt, and I think in education there is always room for improvement. If we get stuck in the mud, screaming “past practice, past practice,” how does this benefit the kids?

Here are my questions on the subject:
1) How do we deal with the issue of data and teaching to a test in determining tenure or the effectiveness of a teacher? My friend Chris recently asked me, “Do you believe all teachers have the ability to motivate and develop lessons plans effective enough to get less fortunate and less intelligent students to learn the necessary material to be considered an educated citizen?” My answer is shouldn’t we all?
2) Do we agree with how the federal government is handling this? Are their intentions—to get people to start talking about reforming education—good?
3) Where does professional development play into R2TT’s intentions? Shouldn’t the development of teachers be top priority? Why is NYS threatening to take Teacher Centers away?
4) Do we actually need reform?!

Happy Accidents

I've recently been thinking about coincidences. I first started thinking about their importance today, as I was gliding, tires slick with rain, onto Sunrise Highway, merging from Nicolls Road South. I was thinking about accidents, specifically car accidents, train accidents, any form of crash. Probably not the best thing to be thinking about while driving. However, an accident is effectively a coincidence; it is something that, who knows, maybe was--or was not--planned in the pre-destination of a life. One wrong move could lead to an accident and all accounts of one's future could be changed, altered by a split-second decision or indecision to jerk left...or right.

I got to thinking about this idea of a coincidence. Is it an act of fate? Are all accidents, coincidences, surprises pre-determined? Are they supposed to happen? Maybe we should pay more attention to them if that's the case.

I remember reading The Celestine Prophecy a few years ago. James Redfield's novel focuses on coincidences as being the first of nine insights into achieving a fulfilling life. This first insight entails consciousness of the coincidences in our lives. Coincidences that build up supposedly lead us to a higher path.

I've always been cognizant of the coincidences in my life. I remember when I was reading the book, I got an image in my head of the mother of one of my friends from elementary school. I remembered Mrs. Peters, my friend Amy, Amy's 6th birthday party at their house, and fondly reflected on how her mother was a good person. The next day, Mrs. Peters, who I hadn't seen in probably a decade or so, showed up at the Italian Ice store where I was working. I don't know the meaning attributed to that coincidence; it may just have been to prove to me that they do exist, and that I shouldn't let them go unnoticed.

I think for too long a time I have ignored the power of coincidence.

As Bob Ross said, "We don't make mistakes here, just happy accidents."