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Opinion: In a changing world, role of education must also change

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Opinion: In a changing world, role of education must also change

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KidsHigh schoolers serve apprenticeships to learn skilled jobs   

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KidsHigh schoolers serve apprenticeships to learn skilled jobs   

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Pro/Con: Fixing the Shortage of Skilled Workers in the United States

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Pro/Con: Fixing the Shortage of Skilled Workers in the United States

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American Students are Lacking in Their Study of Arts, Music, Study Says

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American Students are Lacking in Their Study of Arts, Music, Study Says

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Schools Across the Country Face Criticism for Dress Code Policies

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Schools Across the Country Face Criticism for Dress Code Policies

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Should All High Schoolers Take Courses in Personal Finance

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Should All High Schoolers Take Courses in Personal Finance

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Chicago Public Schools, the third largest school district in the country, is having a moment in the education spotlight.

Last year, a study from Stanford University showed that over the last two decades, Chicago's students have learned at a faster rate than 96 percent of all school districts in the country, including its wealthier and more well-resourced peers. Moreover, its students' average test scores improved by roughly six grade-levels in five years - 20 percent more growth than on average.

The city's schools currently boast an all-time high graduation rate of 77.3 percent. And this week, when the National Center on Education Statistics released results from its biennial assessment of math and reading achievement of students across the U.S., Chicago was one of the few large urban districts to hold steady or post increases in scores, with the exception of fourth-grade reading.

CPS CEO Janice Jackson, who took the reins in December of 2017, is coming in on top, for sure, but she's also determined not to let the district rest on its laurels. One thing holding her accountable for the city's continued success, she says, is the fact that she's born and bred Chicago.

She was a student in Chicago Public Schools, from Head Start through 12th grade. She began her teaching career at the city's South Shore High School and has served in the school system ever since, as a principal, school officer and now CEO. Her children are also enrolled in CPS schools.

In her short tenure, Jackson has already made waves. Among other things, she's supported a requirement that all students graduating from Chicago schools must have a postsecondary plan in place, such as a job, or enrollment in college, the military or a career or technical program.

U.S. News recently sat down with Jackson to discuss the school district's slow but steady success, the challenges that still exist, and where it's headed next under her leadership. Excerpts:
Chicago has made significant academic strides for students over the last couple of decades. Can you reflect on those gains and talk a bit about how you got here?

We're excited about all the metrics pointing in the right direction. Whether you're talking about high school graduation, college enrollment, test scores in elementary schools, things are really moving in the right direction. I think in many cases we have focused on prioritizing growth as a means to meet or attain certain goals. The attainment rates are always the goal, but we have focused on growth so much and CPS is driving some of that change through growth. Back in November, we convened a group of researchers and other folks from the higher ed and research community to help us think about what's going on in the district so that it can be replicated and take stock of some of the things that I think are driving the success. This is the long game. It's not about two year cycles for NAEP or annual test scores or tests we're administering at the district level. When I think about Chicago, I think about the last two decades, the growth has been remarkable. I think the only way to truly turn something around is through slow and steady progress and being hyper focused on improvement, celebrating the improvement you make and then going out and figuring out the next approach for what you need to do.
What are some of the things that are responsible for Chicago's recent success?
The use of data in a very responsible way. That being said, whenever you introduce a data-driven system that can go a lot of different ways. I've worked in CPS my entire career, so I was there when we did not have a data-driven culture at all, and that was dangerous as well, because we were doing a lot of stuff but not knowing if it was working and not getting the outcomes we were expecting. I remember when that shift occurred. The right approach is having a third-party validator, such like our relationship with the University of Chicago. They provide us with research and findings that are sometimes hard to hear and that drives our practice. Having them there is kind of a validator of some of our success. So it's not just data for the sake of having data. I think changing the culture in the district has really led to that and I think to a certain extent heightened accountability. For some people accountability is a bad word. I don't think it's been bad for CPS.
What role has the district's investment in principal leadership played?
As a district, and this was years ago, an effort was really made to invest in principal leadership. The theory of change there was that from the district level, we can't hire 22,000 great teachers individually. But we can hire 600 effective principals who will then hire great teachers and then all tides will rise as a result. There is a really strong ecosystem in Chicago around that. The stability that's been able to be achieved at the school level has contributed to the success. It's no secret that we've had a lot of turnover at the CEO level, so no one district leader can take credit for that, but I think it's been successful at the local level. If you look at CPS, our departure rate is around 17 percent, which is still not what I want it to be, but it's much lower than it is for the country and for urban school systems. A lot of people come to us to see what it is we're doing.
What are your goals when it comes to graduation and college enrollment?
This was about 15 years ago, but we made postsecondary attainment the North Star and I think about that all the time. There is a rich connection between all these groups and funders and postsecondary colleges, the district city colleges all working together to get more students into college. And we've done a really good job with that, increasing graduation rates and increasing the number of kids going to college. Persisting through college is the next area of growth, and for us as a district, it's about really taking a step back and thinking about how we can broaden this. What I hear from parents is that we have to do a better job at preparing students for multiple pathways. In our school accountability policy, we currently give schools credit for kids going to college, but now that's being expanded to college, military, technical programs. Schools are saying we are preparing kids in a different way, maybe we should be getting credit for ensuring they have a postsecondary plan.
Chicago is known for having robust civic engagement when it comes to education. What role has that played in pushing the school system forward?
I think it plays a big role. I do think engaging parents in a number of different ways has led to some of our success. Going back to the accountability piece, every single thing we do in CPS we track and publish, so I think parents are more discerning about what's happening in the district and about what they think quality is and what we should be measuring. That's the way it is in lots of small, affluent districts. Parents know, and so they keep pushing on the right thing and asking questions and that has led to improvement.
What advice do you have for other school districts looking to make similar academic strides?
Start with being open and honest about where the district is and where it needs to go, and that's accountability. And not accountability in way where it hurts people, but in a way that it motivates people. I think all educators want the same thing families want, which is for students to have access to high quality public education. The only way to push yourself as a large district with that is to identify where the gaps and disparities exist and begin to fix that. I think the work we've done around principals is something people can learn from. We have really intentional framework and preparation programs and a way of doing things and preparing principals that I think is valuable. Paying attention to school leadership is extremely important. All districts know this, but making sure we're paying attention to what matters most, which is what's happening inside the classroom - so the relationship between the teacher, the student and the curriculum is extremely important. In the districts that I've been able to observe that are really beating the odds or making the mark are all hyper-focused on the interaction between teachers and students and daily instruction.
When you look ahead, what are your biggest challenges?
What I've been focused on what I've been messaging to my staff is how do we go from good to great. What got us here won't get us to the next stage of growth. It's always about continuous improvement and how do we continue to raise the bar. Chicago is a very diverse city and the goal is the same from border to border: to provide kids a high quality education. But the issues to get there are different. There are parts of the city that are overcrowded, and space and access to facilities is something parents feel deeply about. Parents with means will choose a different option if CPS doesn't provide that. I have communities where students have left the city and moved to the suburbs for various reasons, and population changes presents its own set of issues. Enrollment is something I wonder about. Every day the goal is to get more and more students to go to CPS schools. My goal is to make the school system what it's intended to be - an anchor in the community and something that makes people want to stay in Chicago and send their kids to a Chicago public school. For me, I have to be able to look a parent in the face and say, 'This is the best option for your child.'

Lauren Camera, Education Reporter

Lauren Camera is an education reporter at U.S. News & World Report. She's covered education pol... Read more Lauren Camera is an education reporter at U.S. News & World Report. She's covered education policy and politics for nearly a decade and has written for Education Week, The Hechinger Report, Congressional Quarterly, Roll Call, and the Chronicle of Higher Education. She was a 2013 Spencer Education Fellow at Columbia University's School of Journalism, where she conducted a reporting project about the impact of the Obama administration's competitive education grant, Race to the Top.

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Chicago Public Schools, the third largest school district in the country, is having a moment in the education spotlight. Last year, a study from Stanford University showed that over the last two decades, Chicago's students have learned at a faster rate than 96 percent of all school districts in the country, including its wealthier and more well-resourced peers.

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How America is Breaking Public Education

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How America is Breaking Public Education

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The ultimate dream of public education is incredibly simple. Students, ideally, would go to a classroom, receive top-notch instruction from a passionate, well-informed teacher, would work hard in their class, and would come away with a new set of skills, talents, interests, and capabilities. Over the past few decades in the United States, a number of education reforms have been enacted, designed to measure and improve student learning outcomes, holding teachers accountable for their students' performances. Despite these well-intentioned programs, including No Child Left Behind, Race To The Top, and the Every Student Succeeds Act, public education is more broken than ever. The reason, as much as we hate to admit it, is that we've disobeyed the cardinal rule of success in any industry: treating your workers like professionals.

Everyone who's been through school has had experiences with a wide variety of teachers, ranging from the colossally bad to the spectacularly good. There are a few qualities universally ascribed to the best teachers, and the lists almost always include the following traits:

a passion for their chosen subject,

a deep, expert-level knowledge of the subject matter they're teaching,

a willingness to cater to a variety of learning styles and to employ a variety of educational techniques,

and a vision for what a class of properly educated students would be able to know and demonstrate at the end of the academic year.

Yet despite knowing what a spectacular teacher looks like, the educational models we have in place actively discourage every one of these.

The first and largest problem is that every educational program we've had in place since 2002 - the first year that No Child Left Behind took effect - prioritizes student performance on standardized tests above all else. Test performance is now tied to both school funding, and the evaluation of teachers and administrators. In many cases, there exists no empirical evidence to back up the validity of this approach, yet it's universally accepted as the way things ought to be.

Imagine, for a moment, that this weren't education, but any other job. Imagine how you'd feel if you found yourself employed in such a role.

You have, on any given day, a slew of unique problems to tackle. These include how to reach, motivate, and excite the people whose education and performance you're responsible for. It includes imparting them with skills that will enable them to succeed in the world, which will be vastly different from state-to-state, county-to-county, and even classroom-to-classroom. Gifted students, average students, special needs students, and students with severe disabilities are all often found in the same class, requiring a deft touch to keep everyone motivated and engaged. Moreover, students often come to class with problems that place them at a competitive disadvantage, such as food insecurity, unaddressed physical, dental, and mental health issues, or home life responsibilities that severely curtail their ability to invest in academics.

If your goal was to achieve the greatest learning outcome possible for each of your students, what would you need to be successful? You'd need the freedom to decide what to teach, how to teach it, how to evaluate and assess your students, and how to structure your classroom and curriculum. You'd need the freedom to make individualized plans or separate plans for students who were achieving at different levels. You'd need the resources - financial, time, and support resources - to maximize the return on your efforts. In short, you'd need the same thing that any employee in any role needs: the freedom and flexibility to assess your own situation, and make empowered decisions.

In public education, if teachers do that, they are penalized to an extraordinary extent. Passion is disincentivized, as whatever aspects you're passionate about take a back seat to what will appear on the standardized test. Expert knowledge is thrown to the wayside, as curiosity and engagement are seen as distractions. A vision for what successful students look like is narrowed down to one metric alone: test performance. And a teacher's evaluation of what skills are important to develop is treated as less than nothing, as anything that fails to raise a student's test score is something that everyone - the teacher, the school, and the student - are all penalized for.

If this were common practice in any other industry, we'd be outraged. How dare you presume to micromanage the experts, the very people you hired to do a difficult job full of unique challenges to the best of their abilities! Yet in education, we have this unrealistic dream that a scripted, one-sized-fits-all strategy will somehow lead to success for all. That we can somehow, through just the right set of instructions, transform a mediocre teacher into a great one.

This hasn't worked in any walk of life, and it doesn't work in education. If we were serious about improving the quality of public education in this country (or any country), we wouldn't focus on a one-size-fits-all model, whether at the federal or state level. We would fully fund schools everywhere, regardless of test scores, economic concerns, or teacher quality. We would make a concerted effort to pay desirable wages to extremely qualified, expert-knowledge-level educators, and give them the support resources they need to succeed. And we'd evaluate them across a variety of objective and subjective metrics, with any standardized testing components making up only a small part of an evaluation.

The most important goal of an education is something we rarely talk about: the set of skills and the capabilities of thinking and problem solving that a student acquires. Part of what makes an adult successful in this world is the unique toolkit they have for approaching, attacking, and defeating the challenges they face in this world. A diversity of experiences and methods among the population is a great way to ensure that more problems can be solved; absolute uniformity is as bad for human society as monoculture is for agriculture. The greatest advances in science and society have come about because of the unique backgrounds and approaches some of the greatest minds in history possessed and utilized. Unless our goal is societal stagnation, we need to encourage creativity and excellence, not only in our students, but in our educators as well.

Like any job involving an interaction with other people, teaching is as much of an art as it is a science. By taking away the freedom to innovate, we aren't improving the outcomes of the worst teachers or even average teachers; we're simply telling the good ones that their skills and talents aren't needed here. By refusing to treat teachers like professionals - by failing to empower them to teach students in the best way that they see fit - we demonstrate the simple fact that we don't trust them to do a good job, or even to understand what doing a good job looks like. Until we abandon the failed education model we've adopted since the start of the 21st century, public education will continue to be broken. As long as we insist on telling teachers what to teach and how to teach it, we'll continue to fail our children.

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How America Is Breaking Public Education

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The ultimate dream of public education is incredibly simple. Students, ideally, would go to a classroom, receive top-notch instruction from a passionate, well-informed teacher, would work hard in their class, and would come away with a new set of skills, talents, interests, and capabilities.

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The Real 21st Century Problem in Public Education

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The Real 21st Century Problem in Public Education

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There are plenty of problems in public education, but here's the biggest, from Elaine Weiss, the national coordinator for the Broader Bolder Approach to Education, a project of the nonprofit Economic Policy Institute that recognizes the impact of social and economic disadvantage on many schools and students, and works to better the conditions that limit many children's readiness to learn.

By Elaine Weiss

So much has been said about new "21 st century" skills, standards, and learning requirements, that they have become virtually synonymous with "college and career readiness" (a similarly poorly defined goal). The purportedly new demand for higher-level and different skills has further increased the pressure for more tests and higher stakes attached to them.

A new study showing explosive growth in student poverty suggests, though, that we have misidentified the problem. What if we have actually been teaching the right skills in U.S. schools all along - math and reading, science and civics, along with creativity, perseverance, and team-building? What if these were as important a hundred years ago for nurturing innovative farmers and developers of new automobiles as they are now for creating the next generation of tech innovators? What if these are the very characteristics of U.S. schools that have made us such a strong public education nation, and the current shift toward a narrower agenda just dilutes that strength? What if, rather than raising standards, and testing students more, the biggest change we need to address is that of our student body?

The October 2013 Southern Education Foundation study indicates clearly that poverty, which has long been the biggest obstacle to educational achievement, is more important than ever. It is our true 21 st century problem. Fifty years ago, we educated mostly working-class kids and up, and we did not expect those at the bottom of the socioeconomic ladder to graduate. Now we educate all students, including the very poorest and otherwise disadvantaged. And we expect them all to graduate. Compounding this shift, a large and growing proportion of U.S. students students live in poverty and even concentrated poverty, have a disability, and/or are learning English as a second language. THAT is the paradigm shift, and we need a totally new set of policies to address that 21 st century reality.

In 2000, students who were eligible for free or reduced-price meals made up at least half of the student body in four states. Just eleven years later, over half of public school students are poor in 17 states, including every Southern state but Virginia and Maryland, and most Western states. Student poverty is the dominant reality in schools in three of the biggest states - California, Texas, and Florida-and nearly the majority in New York, Michigan, and Illinois. The 21 st century has sharply increased the proportion of parents who are unemployed, whose jobs do not pay enough to provide basic food, shelter, clothing, and health care for their children, and/or whose immigrant status limit their capacity to navigate the education system and restrict them to a shadow economy.

This devastating reality demands a set of education reforms radically different from those on which policy has fixated of late. Without a set of supports that enable all students to acquire basic literacy, problem-solving, and communications skills, kindergarten teachers must tailor their instruction to an ever-broader range of academic capacities and behavioral challenges.

And too many students will be doomed from a very early age to remedial education and dim prospects of life success. Until we ensure that basic, preventable medical problems do not keep large numbers of students out of class and lack of food does not prevent them from focusing, effective teaching will become further out of reach. So long as we put school nurses, social workers, and counselors on the "expendable" list when budgets are tight, teachers will shoulder more non-teaching burdens, and instruction will be impeded. In the absence of systemic, consistent afterschool and summer enrichment, a growing number of students will lose much of what they gain during the day and over the school year, wasting taxpayer dollars and future talent.

Not only have we not addressed these realities, we have exacerbated them. Pressure on test scores has crowded out the art, music, and drama that cultivate a love of learning and that draw out children's unique skills. In high-poverty schools especially, drilling in math and reading has dumbed down lessons, frustrated teachers, and put students at an even greater disadvantage relative to high-income, experienced, well-rounded peers. Standardization has made it harder to tailor lessons to the unique culture of the community, making instruction more distant and less relevant. This pressure has also sidelined physical education and recess, both of which boost student capacity to focus and learn, and of course are critical to combat our growing child obesity crisis. Finally, it has increased the prevalence of "zero-tolerance" policies that establish harsh disciplinary consequences for even minor infractions and that treat the natural responses to poverty- and school-related stress as near-criminal behaviors.

Kids who are living in poverty need more, not less, of the supports that help upper-class children thrive. These include small classes, challenging, rich curriculum, individualized instruction, and supportive responses to emotional and behavioral challenges. It also means ensuring a meaningful "floor" - in terms of school readiness, physical and mental health, and nutrition - on which they can stand in order to viably learn.

We do have a 21 st century education crisis - poverty. Until we properly diagnose the illness, however, our prescribed remedies will continue to fall far short.

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The real 21st-century problem in public education

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There are plenty of problems in public education, but here's the biggest, from Elaine Weiss, the national coordinator for the Broader Bolder Approach to Education, a project of the nonprofit Economic Policy Institute that recognizes the impact of social and economic disadvantage on many schools and students, and works to better the conditions that limit many children's readiness to learn.

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10 Challenges Facing Public Education Today

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10 Challenges Facing Public Education Today

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Whether you're a classroom teacher, school counselor, paraeducator, bus driver, cafeteria worker or school secretary, everyone who works in a public school faces a new school year ready to do the job they love. But they are also prepared to confront undeniable challenges. These challenges may differ district to district, school to school, but one thing is clear: the voice of educators is needed now more than ever and their unions are providing the megaphone. It's not up to our teachers and school staff to shoulder this burden themselves. Administrators, parents, communities, lawmakers must do their part. But as the mobilization of educators that began earlier this year has demonstrated so powerfully - the "Educator Spring" as NEA President Lily Eskelsen García calls it - the nation is finally listening to what they have to say.
When educators from around the country walked out of their classrooms last spring, their message was clear: Our students deserve better. By taking this action, they said no more jam-packed classrooms with 40-plus desks, no more decades-old textbooks held together with rubber bands, and no more leaky ceilings, broken light fixtures, pest infestations, and cuts to basic curricula that are essential to a well-rounded education.

"We are truly in a state of crisis," says Noah Karvelis, an educator from Arizona, where cuts to public school funding have been deeper than anywhere else in the country.

Public school funding has been cut to the quick all over the country after excessive and reckless tax cuts.

It's been more than 10 years since the Great Recession, but many states are providing far less money to their schools today than they did before the crash. Our schools are crumbling and educators are leaving the profession in droves, unable to pay off student debt or make ends meet on stagnant salaries.

As of the 2017 - 2018 school year, at least 12 states had slashed "general" or "formula" funding-the primary form of state support for elementary and secondary schools-by 7 percent or more per student over the last decade, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Seven of the states-Arizona, Idaho, Kansas, Michigan, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Oklahoma-enacted tax cuts costing tens or hundreds of millions of dollars each year, instead of restoring education funding.

"To add to this heartache, new teachers in our state of North Carolina have never known anything different, and many even believe our current reality is normal," says Todd Warren, a Spanish teacher and president of North Carolina's Guilford County Association of Educators. "While the wealthy and corporate elite recovered from the recession of 2008, public school teachers and their students did not. North Carolina public school teachers make more than 11 percent less on average than we did 15 years ago when salaries are adjusted for inflation."

But it's the students who suffer the most from budget cuts, particularly poor students. Public education has been a pathway out of poverty for families for generations, but that pathway is blocked when schools are unable to offer a decent education.Too often, low-income students end up in schools with the lowest funding, fewest supplies, the least rigorous curriculum, and the oldest facilities and equipment, according to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.

On average, school districts spend around $11,000 per student each year, but the highest-poverty districts receive an average of $1,200 less per child than the least-poor districts, while districts serving the largest numbers of students of color get about $2,000 less than those serving the fewest students of color, the study says.

No more, says Todd Warren.

"There are enough of us to say, 'Enough!'" says Warren. "It is time to leverage our power now."
Join millions of voices fighting for our nation's public school students and educators. Take the #RedforEd Pledge!
A 2018 survey by the Pew Research Center conducted two months after this year's February school shooting in Parkland, Fla., showed that 57 percent of U.S. teenagers are worried that a shooting could take place at their own school. One in four are "very worried" about the chance.

Those numbers are staggering but hardly surprising given the rash of school shootings that have captured headlines this year, and in previous years. Since the shooting at Colorado's Columbine High School in April 1999, more than 187,000 U.S. students have been exposed to gun violence in school.

Fed up with lawmakers' inaction, students across the nation in 2018 are leading a national movement to bring common sense to the discussion.

Educators understand if students don't feel safe at school, achievement suffers. It's the paramount duty of everyone in the community-and the politicians who represent them-to help create safe learning spaces.

Arming teachers and school staff is not the answer. According to an NEA survey, seven in 10 educators said arming school personnel would be ineffective at preventing gun violence in schools and two-thirds said they would feel less safe if school personnel were armed.

Educators across the U.S. stood up to reject the idea that more weapons would help save student lives. As of May 2017, only one state had passed a law that mandated arming teachers and staff.

"We don't want to be armed. We want better services for our students," says Corinne McComb, an elementary educator from Norwich, Conn. "More psychologists and counselors who can be present for the students more than one day a week or month. We need services for families. We have the money, we can do this."

Kathy Reamy, a school counselor at La Plata High School in La Plata, Md., says the trend is unmistakable.

"Honestly, I've had more students this year hospitalized for anxiety, depression, and other mental-health issues than ever," says Reamy, who also chairs the NEA School Counselor Caucus. "There's just so much going on in this day and age, the pressures to fit in, the pressure to achieve, the pressure of social media."

It doesn't help, adds Denise Pope of Stanford University, that schools have become "a pressure cooker for students and staff...and student and teacher stress feed off each other."

According to a 2018 study by the University of Missouri, 93 percent of elementary school teachers report they are "highly stressed."

Stressful schools aren't healthy for anyone. There's nothing wrong with a little pressure, a little nervousness over an exam, or a teacher who wants students to succeed. We all feel pressure, but something else is going on.

The causes and convergence of teacher and student stress has been a growing concern over the past decade. Research has consistently shown that stress levels in newer educators especially is leading many of them to exit the profession within five years.

Teachers need adequate resources and support in their jobs in order to battle burnout and alleviate stress in the classroom. If we do not support teachers, we risk the collateral damage of students.

One solution for students could be more one-on-one time with psychologists and counselors. But that's a challenge since so many of those positions have been cut and are not coming back. That said, more and more schools take the issue of stress seriously, and have begun to look at ways to change policies over homework, class schedules, and later school start times to help alleviate the pressure many students feel.

"People are finally seeing what negative stress does to the body, what that does to the psyche, and what it does to school engagement," says Pope. "Schools and communities know stress is a problem and they want solutions."

Think back on the days when you were in middle school and high school. Remember the awkwardness, anxiety, and angst that hung over you like a cloud? Your students, no matter their behavior, are probably grappling with the same troubling emotions, says Robin McNair, the Restorative Practices Program coordinator for Prince George's County in Maryland.

"When you look beyond behavior, when you truly look at the person behind the behavior, you'll often find a cry for help," says McNair, whose work in Restorative Justice Practices (RJP) aims to drastically reduce suspensions and expulsions, increase graduation rates, and transform student behaviors.

RJP has proven to be the most effective way for educators to break the school-to-prison pipeline, a national trend where children-mostly low-income and children of color-are funneled out of public schools and into the juvenile and criminal justice systems through harsh "zero tolerance" discipline policies for even minor infractions.

In the 2013 - 2014 school year, the most recent nationwide data available, black students were three times more likely to receive both in-school and out-of-school suspensions than white students.

Rather than casting out students after wrongdoing, RJP seeks to reintegrate them into the classroom or school community to make amends and learn how to handle problems more positively.

Simply put, students are better off in school than they are when they're kicked out and left to their own devices in an empty home or apartment, where court involvement becomes more likely. But all students who participate in RJP-even those not directly involved in a conflict-report feeling safer and happier.

McNair suggests that educators strive to create a tight-knit community, even a family, in their classrooms from day one so that students not only know each other, but genuinely care about each other.

" Restorative practices aren't only for use after a conflict or incident. These practices allow us to proactively build community within a classroom and within a school by nurturing relationships between teachers and students," McNair says. "When students know that you care about them they are more likely to follow the rules and more likely to stay in the classroom and do the work," adds McNair.
Learn more about restorative practices in schools.
According to the U.S. Department of Education Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC), about 8 million students missed more than three weeks of school during the 2015 - 2016 school yea r, up from 6.8 million the previous year.

Chronic absenteeism is typically defined as missing 10 percent or more of a school year. This translatesto roughly 18 days a year, or two days every month. Chronic absenteeism is usually a precursor to dropping out. And dropouts often wind up before the court.

Educators like Lois Yukna have created innovative ideas designed to keep kids in school. Others can learn from what Yukna is doing.

For more decades, Yukna was a school bus driver in Middlesex County, N.J. Today, Yukna is a school attendance officer in New Jersey's Woodbridge Township School District. Her job now is to make sure that once students get to school, they stay.

When students don't attend school regularly, Yukna works closely with students, parents, and the courts to turn the situation around.

"Something needed to be done because the main goal is to educate students, and they can't be educated if they're not in school," says Yukna.

She noticed that students who were frequent no-shows at school were the same ones whose behavior when they attended resulted in detentions, suspensions, and sometimes, trouble with police.

Yukna and a guidance counselor in the Woodbridge district put their heads together to come up with something that would emphasize restorative practices instead of suspension and encourage students to return to and stay in school.

Supported by NEA grants, the program exposes about 100 students "to a world of possibilities through internships, mentorships, and achievement incentives." Parents have classes on nutrition, health, and the impact of social media and family dynamics on learning. "They learn how to motivate their children to come to school and do their best," Yukna says.

In the first year, approximately 85 percent of the students improved in at least one area: academics, attendance, or attitude. In the second year, all of the students improved in each area. Best of all, of the participants who were seniors, 100 percent graduated in 2017.
-Contributed by Joye Barksdale
In the last few years, schools and states nationwide have spent a lot of time designing new plans to coincide with the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), passed by Congress in 2016.

Now that ESSA state implementation plans are done, what should educators expect in the new school year?

Expect to see more schools identified for improvement under the law's expanded accountability system. Some states, like Washington, have already released their list of schools, which were identified through multiple measures of academic and school quality indicators, not just test scores.

The challenge here is that while the accountability system was expanded, the money to help support the additional schools identified for improvement was not. These schools will be put on tiers of support. The greatest amount of money will go to the highest priority and trickle down.

As the school year continues, district leaders will need to create ESSA implementation plans, leaving schools identified for improvement with the task of building their own site-based plans. Since the plans must include educator input-not only teachers, but also paraeducators, nurses, librarians, counselors, and other education support professionals-this is the period during which the voices of NEA members will be critical.

"Get in front of it," recommends Donna Harris-Aikens, director of NEA's Education Policy and Practice department. "It is possible that the principal or superintendent in a particular place may not be focused on this yet."

To learn what's available at their schools, educators can use NEA's Opportunity Checklist, a short, criteria-based tool to quickly assess what's available at their school, and the Opportunity Audit, a tool that is rooted in the seven NEA Great Public Schools (GPS) criteria, which addresses the research and evidence-based resources, policies, and practices that are proven to narrow opportunity and skills gaps.

While some may be discouraged by the thought of placing more schools on an improvement plan, the truth is that despite some funding challenges, ESSA remains a promising opportunity.

If the last several months are any indication of the challenges educators will face around the immigration status of students, they should expect uncertainty and fear.

It's been an emotional roller coaster for Dreamers-young people brought to the U.S. as children, who have received the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, protections over the five years of the program. In September 2017, President Donald Trump rescinded DACA. Five months later, he vowed to work with Congress to protect undocumented immigrants who entered the country illegally as children. In April, he tweeted "DACA is dead" and "NO MORE DACA DEAL."

"We have a lot of students on hold," says Hugo Arreola, a campus lab technician for the Phoenix Union High School District in Arizona. A DACA recipient himself, he sees his students and community in turmoil. "Many are afraid to renew their DACA applications, student anxiety is up, and people are still scared. The environment is very tense."

"It's hard being in this limbo," says Karen Reyes, a 29-year-old teacher of deaf pre-kindergartners in Austin, Texas. A former Girl Scout who has lived in the U.S. since the age of 2, Reyes attended U.S. public schools from kindergarten through graduate school, eventually earning a master's degree in Deaf Education and Hearing Science from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.

"One moment you have your hopes up, thinking a deal might happen, and then there's a tweet and people think you're back to square one," she says. That's not the case, she explains. "But they don't realize all the work we've done, the allies we've made, and the foundation we've built. We're not back to the beginning. We're just on a detour."

Arreola and Reyes are active union members helping to inform, engage, and empower the immigration community in their respective hometowns.

Through Arreola's unions, the Arizona Education Association and Phoenix Union Classified Employees Association, and local allies, he's involved in various workshops, information forums, and trainings that help inform people of their rights. "It starts in the local area and making sure you have representatives who understand the realities of the situation and how this impacts their area," Arreola explains.

Reyes has been involved with citizen drives, sponsored by her local union, Education Austin, and United We Dream.
Educators can take steps in their own communities to fight the uncertainty and fear undocumented students face. Go to NEA Ed Justice to learn more about Safe Zone school board policies and NEA's toolkit for "Know Your Rights."
Every few months it seems educators get inundated with stories about the next big thing in classroom technology-a "game changer" set to "revolutionize" teaching and learning. Sound familiar? It should. Education technology, for all its benefits (and there are many), tends to be subject to egregious hype. A lot of money, after all, is to be made and many school districts- eager to demonstrate that their schools are on the "cutting edge"-can make some rather questionable purchasing decisions.

Just recall the 2013 decision by Los Angeles Unified School District to proceed with a $1.3 billion plan to put an iPad loaded with a Pearson curriculum in the hands of every student. Technical glitches and lack of teacher training were just a couple of problems that eventually crippled the initiative.

Educators know better than anyone that healthy skepticism or at least caution about the latest classroom technology will end up serving their students best. It's a stand that gets teachers branded as resistant to change, a convenient and unhelpful label. It has more to do with what's best for student learning.

The good news is that the impulse to buy into the latest hype has been curtailed somewhat over the past few years as educators have taken a seat at the table. If you want to try the latest and greatest virtual learning, gamification, personalization, the first question always has to be "What is best for my students?" As Tracey Matt, a language arts teacher in Albia, Iowa, says. "It takes a great teacher to foster independent learners. This must be done with the use of technology on the forefront, but it should not supersede the importance of an instructor."

Technology will continue to advance and more "game-changers" are invariably lurking around the corner. Maybe they can revolutionize the classroom, but it's the educator who is best suited to determine how and why new tech should be used to best serve students.

Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos may be privatization's most visible and stalwart proponent, but school privatization has been a threat to public education for more than 20 years and is financed and championed by a network of corporate interests. Their goal: to use their financial muscle and propaganda to undermine the mission of public schools and position the nation's students as commodities upon which to draw a sizeable profit.

Still, DeVos' appointment to lead the nation's education agenda in 2017 was a huge boost just as charter schools and voucher programs were losing a little steam. (Vouchers have been voted down at the ballot box every time they've been attempted through referendum.)

DeVos is a vocal advocate of cutting education spending and freeing up federal dollars to expand charter and voucher programs nationwide. Charter schools have expanded dramatically since their introduction in 1992, and currently serve about 5 percent of the nation's students.

Educators, however, are determined to stop vouchers from taking hold in the way charters have done. Voucher schemes drain hundreds of millions of dollars away from public school students to pay the private school tuition of a select few.

They "are destructive and misguided schemes that use taxpayer dollars to "experiment with our children's education without any evidence of real, lasting positive results," says NEA President Lily Eskelsen García.

Educators and activists are making a huge difference in their states by lobbying lawmakers to reject vouchers (often rebranded by their advocates as "education savings accounts" or "tuition tax credits").
NEA: Vouchers Cost Kids
In 2018, New Hampshire educators led the way in defeating a plan to establish so-called "education savings accounts," which would have diverted a massive chunk of taxpayer money from public schools to fund the private school education of some students. Private schools would have to accept public funds but provide "no access to financial records, student achievement data, and no say in how the school is run," says Megan Tuttle, president of NEA-New Hampshire. "The absence of public accountability for voucher funds has contributed to rampant fraud, waste, and abuse in current voucher programs across the country."

Voucher proposals have been defeated in other states but their proponents are nothing if not relentless. Which is why, according to David Sciarra, executive director of the Education Law Center, activists must stay alert to the ongoing effort to push school voucher initiatives and to hold them up to public scrutiny.
Join the fight against school vouchers at vouchers.nea.org
"There's a need to be vigilant in every state where governors and key legislators support these bills," Sciarra says.

Did you yell at the TV when you heard Betsy DeVos confuse proficiency and growth during her confirmation hearing? Are you disturbed by out-of-touch lawmakers like Arizona's John Allen, who said teachers work second jobs so they can afford boats and big homes? Do you cringe at the fact that some Kansas lawmakers have tried to skirt the state supreme court's ruling that they must remedy the woeful underfunding of schools?

The reality is that too few elected officials at the local, state, and federal level have the in-depth knowledge of public education that only comes from working as an educator. And it shows in their policies and their budgets.

As if educating students every school day weren't enough, it's also on you to make sure officeholders understand the issues you face in the classroom and how to make progress solving them.

The key is to show up and speak up.

"We have to make our voices heard by the people who are making decisions that affect our classrooms," says Maryland music teacher Jessica Fitzwater.

"Elected officials need to understand that it's not just dollars and cents, students' entire lives will be impacted by these decisions," she adds.

That means showing up and sharing your story at school board meetings, lobby days with state lawmakers, and town halls when your members of Congress are back home. Check your state association website and attend your next local association meeting to find out how to get involved.

And if your elected leaders still aren't listening, throw your support behind people who will.

This November brings a critical opportunity to elect (or re-elect) pro-public education candidates who are not beholden to those who want to privatize education, and who are willing listen to educators and parents.

Educators are reliable voters. But you can inspire others to head to the polls for pro-public ed candidates as well.

Latwala Dixon, a math teacher at Columbia High School in Lake City, Fla., says talking to people about the importance of voting in past election cycles has made her even more passionate about the issues that affect her as an educator and a citizen.

"I tell a lot of people, if you don't use your right to vote, you will lose it," Dixon says. Some of the people she speaks with-friends, acquaintances, colleagues-have responded enthusiastically, but others indicate they do not believe their vote makes a difference.
Here's another "tide turning" way to make sure elected leaders invest in schools-become one yourself! If you're considering a run or supporting a colleague who is running for office, check out NEA's candidate training program for members at
"So what you're only one vote? Your vote counts," Dixon says emphatically. "What if all of you 'only one vote' people got out there and voted? It could really turn the tide."

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10 Challenges Facing Public Education Today - NEA Today

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Whether you're a classroom teacher, school counselor, paraeducator, bus driver, cafeteria worker or school secretary, everyone who works in a public school faces a new school year ready to do the job they love. But they are also prepared to confront undeniable challenges.

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17 Critical Issues Facing Education in 2017

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Education Week - Peter DeWitt's Finding Common Ground

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Education wasn't a really hot topic for the Presidential campaign. It mostly took the backseat to Tweets, name calling, more Tweets, fake news, some more Tweets, and friends unfriending each other on Facebook because of how polarizing the campaign was then, and how the election still is now.

However, education has been a battleground of rhetoric over the years, and 2017 will certainly bring in some changes given, not only the campaign and ultimate election decision, but because of so many issues bubbling up to the top that need our attention. Some of the items may surprise you, while others seem like common sense. The 17 issues that I think will be critical this year are:

1. Betsy Devos - The New billionaire U.S. Secretary of Education pick is clearly coming in with a reputation if she gets approved. According to this USA News article Devos is the champion for school choice, and is well known for her charter school advocacy in Michigan. Educators, parents, politicians and pundits are all waiting to see what she will do when she takes over the position. Will it be that different from Arne Duncan and John King, who were both advocates for charters and school choice? According to Politico, incoming Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer has named Devos one of the 8 cabinet picks he will fight.

2. School choice - Clearly this has been one of the major priorities of Devos, so those affected by education will soon see what she plans to do. In the same USA News article from above, Devos was quoted as saying,

"I'm most focused on educational choice. But, thinking more broadly, what we are trying to do is tear down the mindset that assigns students to a school based solely on the ZIP Code of their family's home. We advocate instead for as much freedom as possible."

3. U.S. Department of Education - During the campaign there was a great deal of talk about abolishing the US Department of Education, but heh, there is always a lot of talk of abolishing everything during campaigns. With Devos in power, the US department of Education will certainly take on a role. Will their role be about undoing everything that happened over the last 8 years?

4. The Common Core - President-elect Trump has been vocal about his intentions of eradicating the Common Core. What will the Common Core look like in 2017? Will it be recycled under a new name? According to this NPR article there is little to nothing that the President-Elect can do to the CCSS. However, considering it was such a political mess over the last few years, and the President-elect was vocal about it, there certainly will be some changes. Will they merely just be political rhetoric changes?

5. ESSA Reauthorization - This one is a bit more complicated. For more information click on this link to my colleague Alyson Klein's Politics K-12 blog for an excellent run down of 5 things educators need to know when it comes to ESSA.

6. Media Literacy - Yes, media literacy...still. However, it's just as important for adults as it is for students. If you suffered through your friend's post for one candidate and against another, and now have to listen to the media cover the President-elect's Tweets about everything from nuclear weapons to Saturday Night Live or Meryl Streep (not to mention fake news!), media literacy is bound to take on a different role in education. Media literacy is more important now than ever. Check out the Partnership for 21st Century Learning's 4 C's for help on this one.

7. Multi-Cultural Education - Can't build a wall around this one anymore. The U.S. is made up of a very diverse population, and in order to move on we have to come to a better understanding and respect for one another. Too many negative, ignorant, racist, anti-religious, homophobic conversations are taking place, and they need to be replaced with a better understanding of the diverse country we live in, which will hopefully help our students get a better understanding of the world around them. That world around us is keeping a keen eye on everything that is happening in the US right now.

8. Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) - The World Health Organization (WHO) predicts that,

"One in four people in the world will be affected by mental or neurological disorders at some point in their lives. Around 450 million people currently suffer from such conditions, placing mental disorders among the leading causes of ill-health and disability worldwide."

There is a strong need for SEL. In a meta-analysis involving more than 200 studies and 270,000 students, Durlak et al (2011) found " those who participated in evidence-based SEL programs showed an 11 percentile-point gain in academic achievement compared to students who did not participate in SEL programs."

One of the best resources on SEL is the Collaborative for Social-Emotional Learning (CASEL). Every school should be focusing on CASEL's five competencies for SEL, which are Self-awareness, Self-management, Social awareness, Relationship skills and Responsible decision making.

9. Transgender Students - In 2010, I finished my doctoral work researching how well school administrators safeguard LGBTQ students. At the time, very few schools allowed me to do my research with them, and only a few that I did get into actually knew what transgender meant. Fast forward 7 years and schools are trying to work with students transitioning. For those of you thinking I'm pushing my agenda, I'm not. However, I have long felt that schools have to be prepared for the students coming to them regardless of their beliefs, and right now many are not, which means we're telling a population of students we don't care about them and they're not reaching their full potential.

10. Recess - Students need a brain break and over the years we have seen schools get rid of recess in order to increase class time. Many of those schools will get an understanding of how wrong they were when they did that. Our students, no matter how young or old they are, need time outside. We will see more and more schools let students play so they can get their childhood back.

11. Crisis Teams - Considering the information by the Global Health Organization, we will see an increased importance in crisis teams at school. Although these have a combination of individuals involved, and different levels of involvement based on the crisis, the most basic crisis teams involve school psychologists, social workers, nurses, teacher representatives and school principals. They meet weekly to discuss students who are at risk because of mental health issues.

12. Collective Efficacy - The research aroundself-efficacy (Bandura) has been around for many years but John Hattie, someone I work with as a Visible Learning trainer, says self-efficacy is,"The confidence or strength of belief that we have in ourselves that we can make our learning happen." Not all teachers, students and leaders have it, and collective efficacy is the way to help raise the self-efficacy of individuals. Through authentic collaboration and group thinking, collective efficacy can help solve the real problems that each individual school is facing.

13. Testing - Yes, testing is tied to ESSA, but it needs to have its own category as well because it remains a huge topic. The President-Elect has said many times that the U.S. is not competing at the same level as other countries when it comes to international comparisons (PISA). He actually said he wants to spend less on schools because of bad test scores ( read here). What does that mean? Does it mean we will pull out of PISA? Does it mean we will see a change in how students are tested? Who knows! However, testing will play a part in educational conversations for 2017.

14. Authentic Engagement vs. Compliant Engagement - In order to get students to a level where they are assessment capable learners (Hattie) which has an effect size of 1.44 (well over the hinge point of .40 which equates to a year's worth of growth for a year's input) we need to involve students in more authentic learning experiences. Compliant learning will take a backseat to more authentic experiences where students have a voice in their own learning.

15. Pre-service Teacher Programs - We have millions of teachers who work hard and find innovative ways to meet the needs of diverse students, and then we have others who work from bell to bell and have lower expectations of some students. Teaching is much harder than many of us ever understood when we were in college become teachers. That understanding needs to change, and it's based on how we prepare teachers. Higher education and schools have to work harder on their partnerships because the status quo relationships that have been happening for decades are no longer good enough. We need stronger teacher candidates that can help meet the academic and social-emotional needs of our ever-changing student population, as well as deal with an educational cycle that needs to be based on a pedagogical cycle as opposed to the present political one.

16. Leadership Prep Programs - We need better leaders. There are thousands and thousands of hardworking school leaders who go above and beyond in their daily roles as building and district leaders. However, there are many, many more who have done their time in their schools as assistant principals and are now handed the principalship. The old boys network needs to be replaced with high quality leaders. Leadership programs need to be stronger, and leadership coaching needs to become part of the norm. So many leaders want it, but often don't have the opportunity to take it.

17. School Climate - In order for any initiative to be successful, the school climate needs to be supportive and inclusive. Why? A positive school climate, where there is a sense of collective efficacy, can help eat away at a school culture that blocked authentic learning experiences for all students. Schools face tough circumstances, like those on this list, and in order to address those issues effectively, they will have to foster a school climate where stakeholders want to be a part of the process.

Those are my 17 critical issues. Please feel free to share your choices below.

Peter DeWitt, Ed.D. is the author of several books including the best selling Collaborative Leadership: 6 Influences That Matter Most (September, 2016. Corwin Press/Learning Forward). Connect with Peter on Twitter.

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17 Critical Issues Facing Education in 2017

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Education wasn't always the hottest topic of the presidential campaign. It took a backseat to Tweets, fake news and name calling. However, there will surely be changes in education because so much is bubbling to the top. Here are 17 critical issues facing education.

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Major Challenges Facing Public Schools in the United States

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Major Challenges Facing Public Schools in the United States

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There are various challenges facing the public education system in the United States. There is a real need to address these issues in order to provide the best possible education for students.

The United States federal government is not involved in the management of public schools. Each of the country's 50 states and one federal district has a separate education department. It establishes and implements regulations for public schools. Public academic institutions are funded by state governments mainly from local funds and real estate taxes. The state's lawmaking body decides on the amount of subsidies for public universities and colleges. State education statutes standardize funding, employment of teachers and school personnel, core curriculum, and attendance of students.

Public school students in all levels are not required to pay tuition. Those enrolled in state universities and colleges are also eligible for student loans and scholarship grants. Public schools in the US are governed by local school districts. Each district is presided over by a board designated by the government unit or chosen by the community. This committee prescribes policies for said district.

Public Education Foundations & Need for Improvement

The groundwork for public education in the United States encompasses developments in educational philosophies, institutions and policies. This will give you a picture of the learning systems in the country starting from the 17th century until the present period. The first public high school opened in Boston in 1821. Before the end of the nineteenth century, public institutions outnumbered private schools.

At present, States establish guidelines for compulsory education and in many localities, education is obligatory for youngsters from the age of five or six to 16 and a maximum of 18. In essence, the state exercises full control over the syllabus and student requirements. Understanding this system will allow parents and children to narrow down alternatives and create a realistic personal education program.

However, the public educational system undoubtedly needs a lot of improvement. Stakeholders must identify the problems confronting public schools in the country. For instance, National Center for Education Statistics research says that roughly 19 percent of public school students are not able to finish high school. More than 70 percent are not qualified to enroll for a college degree. In short, public education seems to be declining compared to other developed nations. This deficiency in educational preparedness is something that the government has to realize right away.

Identifying Numerous Challenges

There are numerous challenges threatening the stability and survival of public schools across the country. This is not only a concern of state officials but the federal government as well. One of the major problems of most state governments is the lack of classrooms or inadequate space. Schools in Georgia have been affected by reduction in funding. Hence, administrators have no choice but to stretch class size threshold just to have room for pupils. This problem also affects other states like South Carolina and Virginia. The problem is teacher's performance becomes affected once the classroom size goes beyond the limits. Mentors are not effective if the number of students go above 30. Class size also carries significant weight based on research in the education sector.

Hardship and Family Issues

Hardship is a disturbing concern. According to research findings by the Southern Education Foundation, roughly 51 percent of school-age kids in the US live along or under the so-called poverty level. This means that the family with four members has a yearly income of $23,000 or lower. It was reported that low-income students make up a greater part of public school population in at least 21 states. Those who belong to this class are likely to have the highest ratio of dropouts. You can expect students lacking the proper nourishment will not be capable of performing well in school.

Academic institutions, state officials, legislators and mentors are fully aware of this predicament. However, finances are really lacking when it comes to public education. Family issues also account for problems. What happens at home will surely affect the student's inclination to learn. These are problems about separation or divorce of parents, violence at home, lack of guidance, and environment. One of the biggest problems though is the refusal of parents to collaborate with school administrators and teachers to provide for needs of children.

Lack of Technology

It is quite lamentable that oftentimes the students are more advanced in terms of technology compared to mentors. On the other hand, technology like mobile gadgets can serve as major distraction for young people. Teachers are hard-pressed to maintain the interests and focus of children on schoolwork. This calls for striking a balance between traditional learning and technology. Meanwhile, some public schools do not have the resources to acquire computers which are necessary in today's modern curriculum. The problem of education district officials is how to procure sufficient sophisticated equipment that will support classroom instructions.

Morale of Educators

The self-esteem of teachers has been a perennial concern. Some of these professional tutors are underpaid or do not receive enough incentives that will serve as basis for motivation. Once this happens, efficient instructors are forced to seek employment elsewhere or look for other jobs that will guarantee higher compensation and more lucrative career options.

Institutions with sub-par performance frequently seek respite from pressures by adherence to a specific program, parameters and faculty meetings. There is nothing inappropriate about this conventional approach. Nonetheless, it builds an atmosphere of accountability and compliance which is the opposite of innovation. It will be better for administrators to focus on outcomes instead of accountability.

Teachers should not be branded as mere instructors but agents of change. Create tie-ups with local business community for teachers' awards wherein the best performers will receive a package of incentives. Accolades could also be decided based on merits. At the same time, it would be good to connect with the community for better relationships with stakeholders such as parents and guardians.

Student Behavior

Another major challenge staring at public schools is the attitude of students. These negative traits include lack of interest, tardiness, malingering, and disrespect for mentors and other school officials. These problems are often at the secondary level and less at the primary grades. This predicament can be associated with the lack of parent commitment. Some parents do not even go to the school at any time during the academic year. On the contrary, involvement of elders is vital to the development of the child.

Financial Resources

Indeed, budget reduction made by the State Government for public schools is always a big letdown. Fewer subsidies will definitely result in a decrease in services, logistics (books, computers and other supplies) and lower compensation for teachers. Funding is often described as the root of all these problems. A lot of states maintain funding programs with regressive distribution schemes that do not take into account the necessity of allocations for districts which have poverty issues. Moreover, many states are now faced with decrease in total revenues leading to reduction of funding for public schools.

Perhaps, legislators should realize that education must be among the priorities in allocation and spending. There should be an impartial financing system that will provide appropriate funds based on the needs of students. It should become progressively relative to the financial requirements of the student. Lawmakers must assess the conditions of schools' financing systems and concentrate on equal sharing of logistics.

The truth is the public schools system is a potent engine not only for learning but for youth empowerment as well. Unfortunately, this engine continues to splutter due to insufficient or disproportion in fund allocation.

Epilogue

Many citizens think that the underlying dilemma in public education at the moment is paucity of focus on outcomes. The chronicles of reforms in the country's public learning is full of feeble measures and improper diagnoses of education quandary. There is a lot of finger-pointing and shifting of culpability when stakeholders could have simply cooperated to formulate solutions for these problems.

Some people opine that the failure of reforms stem from the fact that these are disrupted by education lobbyists, lawmakers, academic managers, district officials, and parents, as well as teachers associations. Political interest is also one of the main culprits in the demise of the public program.

Public education in the United States may not be in tip-top shape because of evolving socio-cultural trends which started in the sixties. These spoiled the ethical foundations for education, classroom obedience and common consensus on what students should be taught and how these should be imparted. Likewise, many students are faced with deficiencies in communications (verbal and written) and technology.
Some observers believe that market competition is a way of resolving problems of public education. However, state policies will continue to enforce stringent laws, regulations, red tape, and mandates. These will tie the hands of school administrators to pass on the required skills, insights and knowledge to students. Education calls not only for reorganization but initiatives that will create a positive impact on students, teachers, parents, and officials.

Reforms should be immediate and done fast. Yet, these should also be thought about carefully. The bottom line is to change what should be changed in education. Even the smallest of modifications can have bigger returns if these are implemented properly.

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major challenges facing public schools in the united states

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major challenges facing public schools in the usa

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Major Challenges Facing Public Schools in the United States

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The United States federal government is not involved in the management of public schools. Each of the country's 50 states and one federal district has a separate education department. It establishes and implements regulations for public schools. Public academic institutions are funded by state governments mainly from local funds and real estate taxes.

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Three Issues That are Hurting the American Education System

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Three Issues That are Hurting the American Education System

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3 Issues that are hurting the American Educational System

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Spread the loveHere are some facts you may find alarming: according to data collected by the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), the performance of American students as compared to their international equivalents is mediocre at best. PISA is an international study that evaluates education systems worldwide every three years.

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What Students Really Think of Their Education, Teachers

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What Students Really Think of Their Education, Teachers

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When 414,000 grade 6-12 students speak, educators should listen. A student survey showed that while many students enjoy school and learning, they want their education to be more relevant to their everyday lives. Included: Results from largest student survey to date.

Adults ideas about students attitudes toward their educational experience often are based on speculation and assumptions. The result is a disconnect between what educators think students need and how to meet those needs and what students consider important.

That is why the results of the My Voice Aspiration Survey -- the largest study to date of student perceptions from grades 6 to 12 of the current academic environment -- are so critical. The final report is based on responses from 414,000 students within 569 schools in 32 states from various socioeconomic backgrounds.

What the report indicates in part is that many students enjoy school and want to succeed, they also want their education to be more relevant to their everyday lives and teachers to show more interest in them as individuals.

Among the positive findings, according to a press release released about the results:

Seventy-five percent of students reported enjoying learning new things, and that same percentage felt that what they learn will benefit them in the future.

Eighty-four percent of students agree that getting good grades is important, and 69 percent feel testing is an important part of their education.

Sixty-five percent of students said they have a teacher who is a positive role model.

Forty-nine percent of students taking the survey enjoy being at school, 54 percent enjoy their classes and 64 percent believe learning can be fun.

On the other hand:

Only 38 percent of students felt their classes help them understand what is happening in their everyday lives.

Forty-seven percent felt school is boring and only 31 percent felt teachers make school an exciting place to learn.

Just 48 percent felt teachers care about them as individuals and even fewer -- 45 percent -- felt teachers cared if they were absent from school.

Only 30 percent of students respect their fellow students.

The survey was conducted between fall 2006 and spring 2008 by the educational assessment group of Pearson and the Quaglia Institute for Student Aspirations (QISA) an educational research organization.

Dr. Russell Quaglia, the founder of the My Voice survey, Aspirations Unlimited, and QISA, talked with Education World about the studys findings.

Dr. Russell J. Quaglia

Education World: What was most surprising about the studys results?

Dr. Russell J. Quaglia: Many of the studys results are alarming, if not surprising. If we had to pick two things that surprise us, one would be that only 65 percent of students believe school is preparing them well for the future. One might expect students to see a lack of relevance in the present, but students loss of confidence in school as the place that prepares them for success later in life, is both surprising and alarming.

Second, despite a decade of calls by everyone from leading educators to leaders in the business community to shift our schooling from fact-based learning structured by academic disciplines to one that develops creative, flexible thinkers using a more interdisciplinary approach, this change is still not happening in any widespread way. For example, the survey found that just more than half -- 57 percent -- of students say they are encouraged to be creative in school. This actually gets worse as students pass from middle school -- 67 percent -- to high school, where the figure is 54 percent. Why is creativity being squeezed out when it is the very thing everyone says we need most?

EW: How can educators and policymakers apply the studys findings?

Quaglia: They can begin by taking the voice of students seriously. So many people want to dismiss the findings as just what the kids think as if what students think and believe doesnt affect the way they relate to their teachers, engage their academic work, or develop meaning in their lives. Once educators see this data as a valid source of information for how students are experiencing school, they can begin to take steps to improve students sense of self-worth, active engagement, and purpose.

At the policy level, we need to re-authorize the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) in a way that broadens accountability beyond academic achievement to the full spectrum of what we expect schools to do. Academic achievement is an effect of a number of causes, not the least of which is whether or not students are inspired to work hard to reach their goals.

Students loss of confidence in school as the place that prepares them for success later in life is both surprising and alarming.

Arne Duncan, the new U.S. secretary of education, got this right in Chicago when he made "student connection" one of four outcomes that need to be measured in his school improvement plan efforts alongside student outcomes, academic progress, and school characteristics. Elements of his Human Capital Initiative are also in this vein. If he brings that same broad perspective about what can be measured as school outcomes to the national level, we will start writing policies that improve not just test scores, but raise students' aspirations.

EW: How would you respond to the findings that only 48 percent of students feel teachers care about them as individuals and only 45 percent felt teachers cared if they were absent?

Quaglia: This is disturbing, especially since nearly 100 percent of teachers say they care about their students. Our findings are sometimes discouraging to teachers and that is understandable. The discrepancy lies in how teachers define caring about their students. For example, while teachers may view planning lessons and getting tests and papers back on time as caring, students describe these efforts as teachers doing their job. One student said, They get paid to do those things. Students tell us that the teachers who care about them ask how they are and take the time to listen, they show up at games or pop into practices, they know they take ballet and ask about the recital even though there is no ballet club at the school. These little things take a few minutes and have an enormous impact on a students experience of school.

One teacher we worked with spent just 15 minutes talking to a D-student she knew could do better in her math class. She didn't spend that 15 minutes lecturing him or giving him extra help. She spent it learning that the student played guitar in a garage band and liked the Beatles. Turns out the teacher also played guitar and liked the Beatles. The student became a B student in her class almost overnight.

EW: The findings indicate that many students dont find their classes relevant to what is going on in their lives. What are some ways educators could address that concern?

Quaglia: Educators need to think through and then articulate the relevance. We need to step away from flip because it will be on the test kind of answers. English teachers need to convince the student who wants to play the blues guitar that reading Charles Dickens is relevant because Dickens is the blues in Victorian literature. We need to explain to the football player studying calculus that he may never integrate an equation again, but that integration is like bench pressing for your brain. Its relevance is in adding muscle. How you apply that muscle in your life will be up to you. The student who wants to be a carpenter will obviously need geometry if he doesnt want to waste money on lumber stock; the future hairdresser will need algebra if she wants to be sure her suppliers are treating her fairly. I think in many cases teachers simply have not thought the relevance of what they are teaching through. If its not relevant, why are we teaching it?

"Once educators see this data as a valid source of information for how students are experiencing school, they can begin to take steps to improve students sense of self-worth, active engagement, and purpose.

EW: Do you think todays students have a greater need than in the past to feel teachers take a personal interest in them? If so, why?

Quaglia: Students today have fewer adults in their lives who take a personal interest in them than in the past; aunts, uncles, and grandparents are not as accessible, and neighborhoods are not the places they used to be. Teachers should not nor can they stand in for parents; teachers need be concerned adults-who-are-not-parents. If teachers took as much personal interest in a student as a good neighbor used to, that would fulfill many of the needs revealed by the study. Young people need adults as heroes, as guides and as role models. What we see as they turn to one another to fulfill those roles are the blind leading the blind.

EW: What, if any, gender differences did the findings show?

Quaglia: A narrow focus on the academic and the lack of attention to the affective and social causes of academic achievement is having a detrimental effect on both boys and girls. That focus has led to a teach to the test mentality and tactics that have classrooms in five-by-five rows, students sitting up straight, filling out worksheet after worksheet. This does, in fact, produce higher test scores, but it has the unintended consequence of disconnecting students from school and learning. Students may be able to score higher on tests, but we need to question whether they are really learning anything.

The gender differences revealed in the study indicate that girls are coping better with this approach. That may be due to greater maturity or a better tolerance for sitting for long periods of time. Youve never heard a 12-year-old boy say, Lets play school, but girls play school all the time. The most effective teachers we see are using an interactive, multi-disciplinary approach that values and involves students at all phases of curriculum from choice of content and learning strategies to assessment. These teachers are not teaching at or even to students, but are teaching and learning alongside and with students.

This e-interview with Dr. Russell Quaglia is part of the Education World Wire Side Chat series. Click here to see other articles in the series.

Article by Ellen R. Delisio
Education World®
Copyright © 2009 Education World

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What Students Really Think of Their Teachers | Education World

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When 414,000 grade 6-12 students speak, educators should listen. A student survey showed that while many students enjoy school and learning, they want their education to be more relevant to their everyday lives. Included: Results from largest student survey to date. Adults ideas about students attitudes toward their educational experience often are based on speculation and assumptions.

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That moment in November 1994 was the realization of a dream for hundreds of teachers, students, parents, administrators, community leaders, contractors, and architects who'd worked together to design and build Jackson High.

The project began when the school district found itself faced with too many kids, not enough classrooms or teachers, and the feeling that its schools were in danger of being outpaced by rapidly changing technology. They decided to build a new facility and set goals that were lofty -- "state-of-the-art," "dedicated to lifelong learning," "a school for the twenty-first century" -- but lacking in specifics.

When my firm, The Dykeman Architects, was chosen to design the building, it felt like one of those times when you walk into a room, everyone gets quiet, turns to look at you, and the only thing you can do is to blurt out "What?!" The whole community was looking to us to help them through the process of making the dream come true.

Getting "Programmed"

The first order of business was to organize an Education Specifications committee to set the parameters of the project -- what architects call "programming." Since this was the District's most important initiative in decades, they pulled out all the stops, forming a task force of more than 120 people, including administrative staff, teachers, students, parents, and other community representatives. As the project manager, I saw this as a potential nightmare of competing priorities, but my fears proved groundless as committee members organized into smaller groups, focusing on the needs of different academic disciplines, community use, maintenance, and other design questions.

The majority of committee members were teachers and administrators, handpicked for their openness to change. They helped think through how to translate innovative educational practices into bricks and mortar and pushed us to create a variety of spaces for learning, from large rooms for mass meetings to smaller, more intimate spaces for group work. They were particularly interested in promoting a project-based, interdisciplinary curriculum that would better prepare students for the workplace by taking their individual needs and interests into account.

Community members helped define how the school would be used after hours, leading to designs that ensured areas like the library and auditorium would be accessible to the public without creating traffic through the rest of the school. Students were especially interested in technologies that would help prepare them for their future careers.

With the program in hand, design work started. Using a combination of computer-aided design and drafting software and manual technologies (architects just can't give up sketching on napkins), we went through several versions of the building plan. Much discussion occurred over how spatial relationships between classrooms could facilitate an integrated approach to teaching as well as ensuring flexibility to update the building in the future. The final result was a three-inch binder full of concepts and design specifics -- the blueprint for our shared dream.

Henry M. Jackson High School in Mill Creek, Washington.

Credit: The Dykeman Architects

Turning Dream into Reality

Today, the dream is a reality. The product of our collaboration is a two-story building that is arranged in three wings with room for 1,500 students. The first wing consists of a core of science and technology labs on both levels, surrounded by general-purpose classrooms on the perimeter; this relationship was chosen to make it easier to conduct interdisciplinary activities.

The second wing houses administrative offices and an area that, due to lack of funds to build separate facilities, serves as a combination auditorium, lecture hall, commons, and cafeteria. Students gather there for lunch and other activities, but on special occasions it can be converted to a fully functional auditorium. The area has acoustically articulated walls and ceilings, full theater lighting and sound systems, a raised proscenium stage, and a flat floor in the seating area. Fully upholstered theater seats are built on telescopic platforms that can be deployed or retracted with the flip of a switch.

The third wing houses a 3,000-seat gym and other physical education facilities.

All areas of the school are outfitted with fiber optic cables to allow for networking of computers in all general-purpose classrooms and science labs. Some areas are even more technologically enriched, including a distance learning classroom that features interactive video conferencing, a TV production studio with closed-circuit capabilities, and several technology labs with specialized equipment.

Students and teachers use all of this technology in myriad ways. Jackson students, for example, have worked with University of Washington's Human Interface Technology Lab to explore virtual reality. They designed a three-dimensional model of Washington State that teachers geography by letting computer users take a simulated journey through the state's terrain.

Projects like this are an integral part of the new curriculum Jackson implemented in conjunction with opening the facility. The school now has longer classes, and teachers teach in teams. All students are required to take courses necessary for college admission, and, of course, the curriculum emphasizes technology and the use of informational resources, including new networked relationships with other schools, public and private agencies, and data sources.

These changes have not come without controversy. The teaching staff invested a great deal of effort to develop the new curriculum, but some parents were concerned about having their children venture into unfamiliar territory and transferred them to other schools.

As for the facility, it is performing up to the community's lofty expectations. I'm proudest of the fact that it's designed to handle change -- it can easily accommodate new technologies and teaching techniques, even ones that haven't yet been imagined. It should well serve the needs of students, educators, and the community for many years to come.

K. John Jones is a principal of The Dykeman Architects.

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Designing a Dream: The Ultimate High School from Concept to Completion | Edutopia

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That moment in November 1994 was the realization of a dream for hundreds of teachers, students, parents, administrators, community leaders, contractors, and architects who'd worked together to design and build Jackson High. The project began when the school district found itself faced with too many kids, not enough classrooms or teachers, and the feeling that its schools were in danger of being outpaced by rapidly changing technology.