District Administration - November 2009 - (Page 10)

Br iefings Newsupdate PeoPle Watch RAISING THE BAR Rhode Island’s new commissioner of education, Deborah Gist, wants the minimum score on a test that prospective teachers take for admission into teacher training programs in her state to be the nation’s highest. It’s currently among the lowest. STATE AID CUT In response to low revenues and high health care costs, Alabama Gov. Bob Riley has ordered state funding for education to be cut by 7.5 percent for FY2010. This comes on top of an 11 percent cut in 2009. by Don Parker-burgard Critics See Problems in New York City Charter Study A report issued by the New york City Charter schools evaluation project in september, and since been held up as clear evidence that charter schools are doing a better job than traditional schools, is now facing criticism that its claim of being an “apples to apples” study just isn’t true. The report, How New York City’s Charter Schools Affect Achievement, examines the performance of students who applied for openings in New york’s charter schools, which are 94 percent filled through random lotteries. when researchers compared the academic performance of those who were “lotteried in” with those who were “lotteried out,” they discovered a higher rate of achievement in the charter group. Critics claim the report does not take into account the “peer effect,” whereby a child learns not only from teachers but from fellow students. writing in edwize, a blog sponsored by New york’s united Federation of teachers, Jonathan Gyurko says, “Charter schools benefit from the fact that 100 percent of their students hail from motivated families; as a result, a charter student is surrounded by peers who are there by choice—rather than by attendance zone.” Alexander hoffman, writing in Gothamschools, an online news source about the New york City public schools, says the report is flawed because, in contrast to a medical study, it has no placebo group. both groups—students in charter schools and students in traditional schools—know what kind of education they are getting. “i know from my own experience teaching that students who get their choice of schools take a bit more ownership,” hoffman says. “if they get their second choice, or last choice, or somehow do not get their choice, that’s KIPP Infinity Charter School, in Harlem, serves students in grades 5-8. NEW PRESIDENT Susan H. Fuhrman, president of Teachers College, Columbia University, has assumed the presidency of the National Academy of Education. She is a recognized expert on the creation of universitypublic school partnerships. FREE HIGHER ED Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell is pushing a plan to provide a college education or job training to high school students who graduate with an A average and who have four credits each in math, science and language arts. POWER TO THE PARENTS Los Angeles Unified School District Supt. Ramon Cortines has introduced a plan to allow parents to initiate major reforms at 12 low-performing schools and 18 new schools, rather than waiting for the district to act. a big hurdle for their teachers and parents to overcome.” Led by well-known school choice advocate Caroline hoxby of stanford university, the researchers claim that since these two groups were essentially the same— both comprised of students who sought admission to charter schools—they were able to make a comparison in which where students were educated, charter school or traditional school, was the only variable. Among the report’s findings: • Charter school students are more likely to be black and to be poor than the average student in a traditional school. • Compared to lotteried-out students, students in a charter high school increase their regents examination scores three points for each year they are in the charter school before taking the exam. • Students in charter schools from kindergarten through grade 8 close about 86 percent of the “scarsdale-harlem achievement gap”—a measure of performance differences between students in wealthy suburbs and students in low-income urban neighborhoods—in math and 66 percent of the gap in english. District Administration 10 November/December 2009

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - November 2009

District Administration - November 2009
Contents
Advertiser Index
From the Editor
Letters
News Update
Facilities & Construction
Stimulus Monitor
Administrator Profile
District Profile
Conversations
Mobile Learning Guide
The New Writing Pedagogy
Staying Ahead in Education
Tightening the Purchasing Process
Minding Your E-mail
New Books
How Well Does This Web Site Work?
Problem Solution
New Products
Professional Opinion
Crisis Response

District Administration - November 2009