UW-Madison Grad Students Produce Local Food Map

Yet another connection between education and sustainable local agriculture... and it features two of my favorite things: food and maps.

Four University of Wisconsin-Madison graduate students in geography have produced what they call the "100-Mile Diet Map". It is an interactive, web-based map that features foods produced within 100 miles of Madison, Wisconsin. It also includes businesses such as farms, co-ops, supermarkets, restaurants, and breweries.

Their project is written about in a story posted on The Capital Times web site as well as by UW-Madison News.

You can also view an initial public version of the map here.

Yum.

Obama on Teacher Quality

While teacher quality didn't make into much of the media coverage of Senator Obama, the topic was featured prominently in yesterday's speech on education. He discusses teacher residency programs, mentoring programs, differentiated compensation, and career ladders.

It would be nice to have a president in the White House who understands that it takes more than just accountability and testing to improve schools. It requires preparing teachers better throughout their careers, recruiting more qualified candidates into the profession, providing leadership opportunities, increasing and reforming teacher compensation, and stripping away classroom isolation by supporting teachers during their initial years in the profession.

Here's an excerpt:

To prepare our teachers, I will create more Teacher Residency Programs to train 30,000 high-quality teachers a year. We know these programs work, and they especially help attract talented individuals who decide to become teachers midway through their careers. Right here in [Mapleton Expeditionary School of the Arts], you have excellent teachers like Ike Ogbuike, who became a math teacher after working as an auto-engineer at Ford and completing a one-year, teacher-residency program.

"To support our teachers, we will expand mentoring programs that pair experienced, successful teachers with new recruits — one of the most effective ways to retain teachers. We'll also make sure that teachers work in conditions which help them and our children succeed. For example, here at MESA, teachers have scheduled common planning time each week and an extra hour every Tuesday and Thursday for mentoring and tutoring students that need additional help.

"And when our teachers do succeed in making a real difference in our children's lives, I believe it's time we rewarded them for it. I realize that the teachers in Denver are in the middle of tough negotiations right now, but what they've already proven is that it's possible to find new ways to increase teacher pay that are developed with teachers, not imposed on them.

"My plan would provide resources to try these innovative programs in school districts all across America. Under my Career Ladder Initiative, these districts will be able to design programs that reward accomplished educators who serve as mentors to new teachers with the salary increase they deserve. They can reward those who teach in underserved areas or teachers who take on added responsibilities, like you do right here at MESA. And if teachers acquire additional knowledge and skills to serve students better — if they consistently excel in the classroom — that work can be valued and rewarded as well.

It would be nice to have a president in the White House who understands that it takes more than just accountability and testing to improve schools. It requires preparing teachers better throughout their careers, recruiting more qualified candidates into the profession, providing leadership opportunities, increasing and reforming teacher compensation, and stripping away classroom isolation by supporting teachers during their initial years in the profession.

Obama On Education

There are two stories in today's papers on Senator Obama's plans for education as the Democratic presidential nominee. (Has Clinton conceded yet?)

The first comes from the Washington Post. While the story is framed broadly around domestic policy and the headline ("On Policy, Obama Breaks Little New Ground") has a clear negative connotation, it offers up a hint of what's to come on education now that the campaign can see the light at the end of the tunnel:

Heather Higginbottom, who runs Obama's policy office at the campaign's Chicago headquarters, cited education as one area in which Obama offers ideas that are not traditionally Democratic, arguing that the problem is not all about schools or funding, but about parents who let their children watch too much television. She said his proposal to give teachers bonus pay if they receive special training or if their students score high on standardized tests is an idea that some liberal-leaning teachers unions oppose. And she said the campaign has brought "fresh thinking" on many issues, particularly on one of Obama's favorites: increased government transparency.

But Higginbottom said the campaign's emphasis is on practical solutions, not ideological points. "I know it's interesting from a political perspective to look left, right and center, but we want to put forward ideas that will move forward in Congress," she said. "And we have the potential to engage people in a way they haven't been engaged recently and give them the tools to participate."

David Axelrod, Obama's top political adviser, said that the campaign will devote more staff members to policy (there are now seven) and that the senator's speeches will increasingly highlight his proposals.

"The next six months is going to be about competing visions for this country," he said. "Obama is looking forward, and his policies will reflect that."

The second story comes courtesy of the Denver Post's coverage of an Obama campaign stop in Thorton, Colorado yesterday.

Obama used the town-hall event to tell about 400 people about his plans for education reform. He promised to fix the "broken promises" of No Child Left Behind, make math and science instruction a national priority, and encourage every child to learn a foreign language to better compete in a global economy.

While praising the goals of No Child Left Behind, Obama has criticized the program for not providing the funding to make it successful.

"We also need to realize that we can meet high standards without forcing teachers and students to spend most of the year preparing for a single, high-stakes standardized test," he said.

The Illinois senator said he would simplify the application process for financial aid for children going to college and give a $4,000 tax credit for students attending public universities and colleges. In return, the students would be required to do 100 hours of public service a year.

He also vowed to create a Service Scholarship program to recruit talented people into teaching and place them in overcrowded districts or struggling

"I will make this pledge as president to all who sign up: If you commit your life to teaching, America will commit to paying for your college education," he said to cheers.

For more on Obama's education policy plans, check out his official campaign web site here.

Musical Elective of the Week

The Musical Elective of the Week is Neil Finn.

My family and friends are, of course, saying "What took you so long?" (and Sara is probably rolling her eyes). They know that Neil Finn is my favorite artist. And he is completely and utterly underappreciated -- especially in America. Finn is one of those rare talents who combines songwriting mastery and musicianship. He's a master pop craftsman, penning intelligent, personal, and provocative lyrics and pleasing your ear with fantastic melodic hooks. And he's been doing it successfully for three decades.

Neil Finn (who turned 50 today) is best known as the co-founder and lead singer/songwriter of the band Crowded House. The Crowdies, as they affectionately are known in Australia, formed in 1985 and wound down in 1996, but re-formed last year.

In Australia and New Zealand, Crowded House is a multi-platinum band, selling out stadium dates, and headlining last summer's Live Earth concert in Australia. In Europe, they are also mega-stars; for example, in 1994, Crowded House was named the BRIT Awards International Group of the Year--ahead of U2, Nirvana, Pearl Jam and R.E.M.

What made the Crowdies special was not only Finn's songwriting and musical prowess but also the stage presence and musical skills of the lads, including co-founder and drummer Paul Hester (whose life ended far too soon in 2005) and bassist Nick Seymour. The current line-up of Crowded House also includes Mark Hart, who joined the band prior to their 1994 album, and Matt Sherrod who replaced Hester as the band's drummer.

Crowded House's eponymous debut album was released in 1986 and offered up two top 10 U.S. hits, "Don't Dream It's Over" and the radio friendly "Something So Strong." They never reached such heights again in the states, lost amidst the grunge and rap of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Crowded House's second album, Temple of Low Men, was a critical success but a commercial disappointment, but includes such fantastic tracks as "Into Temptation," "When You Come," and "Better Be Home Soon."

Woodface, the third album, was released in 1991 and made the band certifiable stars in Europe. For this album, Tim Finn--Neil's older brother--joined the band as an official member and co-penned a number of the tracks. It includes the stellar singles, "Fall At Your Feet," "Weather With You," "Four Seasons In One Day," and "It's Only Natural." Crowded House's fourth album, Together Alone, was released in 1994. It includes the track "Locked Out" (featured in the film Reality Bites) and the international hits "Distant Sun" and "Private Universe." After closing the first chapter of the band in 1994 with a "Farewell To The World" concert before nearly a quarter million fans on the steps of the Sydney Opera House in 1996, Crowded House released Recurring Dream: The Very Best of Crowded House.

Crowded House reformed in early 2007 and released its fifth album, Time On Earth, later that year. The band's first studio album in fourteen years, it features the singles "Don't Stop Now" and "She Called Up."

Finn is a Kiwi, a native and current resident of New Zealand. He got his start at the ripe old age of 18 in his big brother Tim's new wave band Split Enz. In 1980, Neil actually helped launch the group into the pop stratosphere with its hit "I Got You" off the album True Colours.

In addition to being a band leader, Finn is also a solo artist. He has released two solo albums--Try Whistling This (1995) and One All (2002)--as well as a live album, Seven Worlds Collide, featuring a band including Eddie Vedder (of Pearl Jam), Johnny Marr (of The Smiths and currently of Modest Mouse), Ed O'Brien and Phil Selway (of Radiohead), Sebastian Steinberg (of Soul Coughing) and Lisa Germano.

Finn also has also released two albums--Finn (1995) and Everyone Is Here (2004)--with brother Tim under the moniker of the Finn Brothers. Stand-outs from the first album include "Suffer Never" and "Angel's Heap", and not to be missed from the brothers' second album are "Won't Give In" and "Part Of Me, Part Of You." The albums fully capture the vocal harmonies between the two brothers that made such Woodface-era Crowded House tracks as "Weather With You" and "It's Only Natural" so special.

And talent apparently runs in the family. Neil's son, Liam Finn, was named as one of 10 artists to watch for 2008 by Rolling Stone magazine. (Hmmm ... that could be a whole other Musical Elective!)

Happy listening....

------

Extra Credit -- Past Musical Electives of the Week:
Ray LaMontagne
Stuart Stotts
Dan Wilson
Kathleen Edwards

Destruction of the Public University

I write from the front lines. Support for public higher education isn't merely "eroding"-- dare I say it, we are being destroyed. I am employed at one of the longtime leaders of flagship universities, one that really put the public in public, and these days I have no choice but to wonder "Does the state government want me to leave?" Would they rather UW-Madison not exist?

Pardon me for being a bit upset. While my school is by no means the poorest in the state, and I am fully aware as I'm on the tenure-track I occupy a very elite position in the overall structure of faculty jobs, still, the belt tightening is getting to be a little too much. Just a few examples:

1. Our "raises." Since I arrived 4 years ago we've never received more than a 2% annual increase. Today they reneged on our scheduled increase for this July, reducing it from 2% to 1%. One percent!! Thanks very much for the just over $500 bucks-- that's not even enough for a single plane ticket from Madison to Washington, DC these days.

2. Funding our grad students. They are terrific, and boy are they struggling. A very small percentage have any funding--from a teaching or research assistantship-- and it's getting increasingly more difficult to generate external funds to support them. Recently the University was forced to change policy and pass the costs of grad student tuition on to faculty research grants. So now, to hire a student, one has to budget for their stipend, their benefits, and their tuition. That eats up a whole lot of the space in grants. So much so that I have already, on one occasion, been forced to choose between funding a student, or funding myself. I am no saint, but honestly, I funded the student. Why should I have been forced to choose?

3. The lack of benefits. Don't even get me started... 6 weeks unpaid maternity leave (the fed minimum), no domestic partner benefits, no dependent tuition waiver, no childcare assistance...

4. The departures. We're losing great people, wonderful people, right and left. And not just to elite private schools, but to other publics. To places you really think people wouldn't leave us for. But they do, they must, and we wave goodbye and wonder if we're next.

Now maybe I'm taking a huge risk here in being so frank about what it's like here and now, especially without the status of a tenured prof. Oh well. Because here's the other side of the story: This is truly-- despite it all, in spite of their best efforts to squash us-- a WONDERFUL school. The students are genuine and smart, ambitious yet for the most part without egos. The colleagues (who remain) are brilliant, funny, kind people who are truly here for the work. The town is easy-going and somewhat affordable, and a great place to raise a family. The administration ain't perfect, but it's clearly trying. So we stick around. We hope. We survive.

We just do it on a shoestring
("Mom, please send money-- childcare is expensive. Thanks-S.")

Highly Qualified Teachers

A new U.S. Department of Education analysis reports on the percentage of teachers working in America's schools who are 'highly qualified'. Under the No Child Left Behind Act, all teachers of core academic subjects must hold at least a bachelor's degree, have full state certification, and demonstrate knowledge in the core academic subjects they teach. The application of this law varies from state to state however.

During the 2006-07 school year, 94 percent of core academic classes nationwide were staffed by a highly-qualified teacher (HQT). However, when you scratch beneath the surface, the data reveals inequitable access to HQTs for students who attend high-poverty schools. At the elementary level, 93.5% of classes in high-poverty schools were taught by a HQT as compared to 96.6% in low-poverty schools. The gap is much larger at the secondary level, where only 88.7% of classes in high-poverty schools had a HQT versus 95.4% in low-poverty schools.

In a majority of states (48 for secondary and 38 for elementary), high-poverty schools were less likely to have classes taught by HQTs than low-poverty schools.

More On Inequitable Teacher Distribution

Yesterday I blogged about inequitable teacher distribution between schools. Today, Education Week posted an article about inequitable teacher distribution between grades within schools.

The Ed Week article discusses a new study authored by Ruth Curran Neild (a research scientist at Johns Hopkins University) and Elizabeth Farley-Ripple (a graduate student at the University of Pennsylvania). It finds that high-school freshmen in Philadelphia are more likely to be taught by inexperienced, uncredentialed teachers than their sophomore, junior and senior counterparts. And those freshmen who take two or more classes with novice, uncredentialed teachers average two more absences per academic year.

The freshman year is regarded as a critical time especially for those students at-risk of dropping out of high school.

A Smokescreen at VCU

Today's New York Times reports on a restrictive research contract that Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) has with Philip Morris USA--both based in Richmond, Virginia--that gives the tobacco giant veto power over the publication of academic studies by faculty. VCU's VP of research acknowledges that the contract violates the university’s own guidelines for industry-sponsored research.

Smoke 'em if you got 'em.

Towards More Equitable Teacher Distribution?

In light of the New York Legislature's troubling decision to ban the use of student test scores in teacher tenure decisions, this development -- reported in today's Washington Post -- is hopeful. (Remember, I'm an Optimist.)

Now, I'm squarely in the "multiple measures" camp. I don't think student test scores should serve as the sole arbiter or necessarily even be a primary factor in teacher tenure, licensure or compensation decisions. But to completely restrict them from being in the mix at all? Pleeeease! New York's decision was way off the mark. Measures like this make the job of thoughtful reformers much more difficult and stoke the wrath of those who want to storm the barricades.

In Washington, DC Michelle Rhee is off to a hot start as Schools Chancellor. She's shaking up a system that was in desperate need of some shaking up. Perhaps she's ruffled a few too many feathers, but in general she's doling out the right measure of tough love, tackling bureaucratic dysfunction, and keeping her focus on raising student outcomes.

The Post reports:

The Washington Teachers' Union is discussing a proposed three-year contract from the school system that would eliminate seniority, giving Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee more control in filling vacancies, a union member familiar with the talks said yesterday. Without seniority, Rhee could place teachers based on qualifications or performance rather than years of service, said the union member.... The union member said Rhee sought the provision as a recruiting tool so she could offer talented candidates the position of their choice.

This development is hopeful, not because it gives Rhee more power but because she strikes me as a leader with a clear idea of how to utilize that power to distribute teachers in a more sensible manner. Currently, as in most school systems, tenured DC public school teachers with the greatest seniority can basically decide where they want to teach. What that often means is that experienced teachers opt out of schools that serve the most disadvantaged and most academically needy students.

In a school system like DC with tremendous challenges, I think it makes a great deal of sense to coordinate the placement and distribution of teachers from the central office as opposed to enabling each individual teacher to make his or her decision removed from the needs of the entire system. (Rhee's apparent proposal to eliminate tenure entirely is another matter and methinks a step too far.) In terms of assignment, teachers should be able to indicate preferences, there should be transparency in the assignment process, and additional pay should be considered for teachers who are handed more challenging assignments. But the status quo isn't working -- and not just in Washington, DC.

Groups like the Education Trust have reported that the distribution of teachers between and within school districts is inequitable. The students who arguably should receive the best, most experienced teachers are often the ones who receive a revolving door of new teachers who are set up by the system to fail and often leave at higher rates. These teachers seldom receive high-quality mentoring and induction support and often are asked to teach in schools that have inadequate working conditions in place. It's an impossible task.

In Teaching Inequality: How Poor and Minority Students Are Shortchanged on Teacher Quality, Heather Peske and Kati Haycock write:

Children in the highest-poverty schools are assigned to novice teachers almost twice as often as
children in low-poverty schools. Similarly, students in high-minority schools are assigned to novice teachers at twice the rate as students in schools without many minority students. In high-poverty secondary schools, more than one in three core academic classes are taught by out-of-field teachers, compared to about one in five classes in low-poverty schools. When it comes to minority students, the same pattern persists. In secondary schools serving the most minority students, almost one in three classes are assigned to an out-of-field teacher compared to about one in five in low-minority schools.

Clearly, this situation needs to change and I applaud Rhee's efforts to deliver a quality public education to students in Washington, DC. Taking control of teacher assignment may well be a necessary ingredient in her recipe for success.

Professors Are Mamas Too: What I Missed Today

I have a big new research project in desperate need of grant funding, so I spent the entire day (seriously, 7 am to 4 pm) sitting in a coffee shop with my partner in crime, working on a looong proposal.

It was around 2 pm when I got the following email from my nanny:
"I tried to put Conor down for a nap after lunch because he was yawning. He played for awhile with the music in his crib and I decided to go get him because he was not going to take a nap. When I opened his door I noticed that he was standing in his crib with just his diaper on. He had taken off his pants and they were just laying in his crib. I have no idea how he got them off! I was shocked!"

Got that? The FIRST time my son learns to take off his pants, BY HIMSELF, and I am sitting in front of my laptop, miles away. The things we miss out on...

Journalists Who Make Claims About Educational Practice Without Hard Evidence

This is part 1 of a continuing series...

Today's example: Susan Kinzie of the Washington Post.

In Sunday's WaPo Kinzie wrote an upbeat article about a University of Virginia administrator (Sylvia Terry) who really cares about the success of college students, particularly minority students struggling to make it on that elite Southern campus. Overall, a nice portrait of someone who appears to be a nice woman.

But Kinzie's judgment lapsed when she wrote her lead:
"More black students graduate from the University of Virginia within six years than from any other public university in the country, and here's why: institutional commitment, an admissions process that selects strong students, generous financial aid and a network of peer advisers."

While Kinzie was smart enough to not chalk up UVa's successes to a single factor or person, and even wise enough to note the selection process which generates an able student population, she made a strong causal statement without citing a shred of empirical support. Did anyone do a multivariate analysis comparing UVa to other schools, identifying factors such as institutional commitment as the drivers setting the school apart from others? I didn't think so.

The problem with statements like these is that they give the false impression that taking actions like increasing admissions standards or ramping up advising will close black/white gaps in college completion. They *might* but we don't know that from what Kinzie's indicated here.

Don't get me wrong-- I don't disagree with Kinzie's hypothesis. I just want reporters to accurately depict what we know-- and don't know-- about works in education.

Creationism Redux -- We're Not in Kansas Anymore

Last month, I took aim at Florida and Kansas for prostelyzing through science standards.

Today the Chronicle of Higher Education reports that the standards front is not the only place where the battle between creationism and evolution is waged. It is also waged in the classroom. According to a recent Penn State survey, one in eight high school biology teachers report teaching creationism as "a valid, scientific alternative" to evolution. Further, one in six believe that "God created human beings pretty much in their present form at one time within the last 10,000 years or so."

Yikes. I wonder if evolution is taught in theology classes?

Thumb On The Scale: High School Graduation Rates

Saturday’s editorial in the Wisconsin State Journal – a daily newspaper serving Madison (for you non-Badgers) – is merely the latest calling for consistency and transparency in the public reporting of high school graduation and dropout rates. In this version, Wisconsin is the whipping boy for inflating its graduation rate. The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction says it's 91.2%, while the U.S. Department of Education says it's 85.8%, and the Editorial Projects in Education Research Center says it's 77.3%.

Back in 2005, under the leadership of then-National Governors Association (NGA) Chairman and Virginia Governor Mark Warner, the nation’s Governors signed onto a Compact that called for a consistent measure for calculating high school graduation rates. Specifically, the Graduation Counts Compact calls for “a standard, four-year adjusted cohort graduation rate. States agree to calculate the graduation rate by dividing the number of on-time graduates in a given year by the number of first-time entering ninth graders four years earlier.” Joining the Governors in supporting this approach were national organizations including the American Federation of Teachers, the National Education Association, the Alliance for Excellent Education, the Council of Chief State School Officers, and the Education Trust. Despite that seemingly high level of consensus, a number of states continue to conduct business as usual.

There are some honest reasons for this, such as the inability of state data systems to track students who transfer schools, districts, and even states and separate them from those who drop out of school completely. Some states are continuing to overcome this obstacle. In addition, many Governors don’t control their state department of education and can’t snap their fingers and make this happen. Further, more than a dozen of the Governors who signed this compact three years ago are no longer in office. However, the NGA is working to ensure that governors who have taken office since 2005 agree to the compact’s terms.

There’s most certainly some bureaucratic heel-dragging going on and politics at foot. In fact, two states--North Dakota and South Dakota--have dropped out of the compact all together.

Nonetheless, some progress has occurred. According to a 2006 NGA report, 13 states reported their graduation rate according to the Compact formula; two states used the Compact formula with local cohort data; and one state reported a sophisticated estimate consistent with the recommendations. By 2010, 39 states planned to report a graduation rate using the Compact definition. Two states have even codified the Compact rate: Colorado did so through state board regulations and Maryland through legislation.

On April 1st of this year, U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings issued proposed regulations that would require all states and high schools to use the NGA-proposed high school graduation rate calculation by 2011. This action may impel recalcitrant states to get off the dime.

This issue clearly isn't liberal or conservative, Republican or Democrat. If we truly are going to put the interests of students first, we need to capture accurately the magnitude of this problem. Perhaps doing so would impel policymakers to take more seriously their duty to reform high schools and support the teachers and administrators who staff them. Currently, too many high school dropouts are forgotten within data reporting systems much as they are forgotten by the school systems that serve them poorly.

If we can’t honestly collect and report basic data about the education policy issues we’re trying to address, why even bother with data or research at all? Let’s manage and legislate based on whims and fancies—and blatantly false perceptions. At least we'll feel good.

-----------------------------------

For those of you craving more on this topic, check out this 2006 report from the NGA Center for Best Practices, this April 2008 policy brief from the Alliance for Excellent Education or this August 2007 brief from The Education Trust.

A Live Wire: The Electric Company Returns

The New York Times recently reported and Early Ed Watch has spread the word that PBS is bringing back that wonderful 1970s-era children's television program The Electric Company. The original show sought to boost literacy skills among early elementary students. It ran from 1971 to 1977.

In addition to Sesame Street cameos, visits from Spiderman, and characters dressed up in gorilla suits, a number famous actors were members of the cast of The Electric Company, including Bill Cosby, Morgan Freeman, Rita Moreno, and Gene Wilder.

Now if only Sesame Street would bring back the cookie eating Cookie Monster everything would be right with the world again.

Musical Elective of the Week

This week's Musical Elective is Ray LaMontagne.

Discovered (in part) by Angus King, the former Governor of Maine, the 34-year-old LaMontagne went from toiling in a shoe factory in Lewiston, Maine (my mom's hometown) to releasing his debut album within a span of 10 years. His musical delivery is straightforward, emotionally exposed and introspective, probably influenced most by the likes of Bob Dylan, Stephen Stills and Neil Young. LaMontagne's rapturous, raspy voice hooks you and draws you in.

Trouble was released in 2004 to great critical acclaim and has sold more than 250,000 copies to date in the U.S. It features the oft-played title track as well as a collection of haunting cousins, including "All The Wild Horses" and "Burn," the tender "Hold You In My Arms," and the hopeful "Forever My Friend."

Till The Sun Turns Black, his second album, was released in 2006. The R&B-influenced "Three More Days" was a featured single off that album. It also includes the standout tracks "Be Here Now" and "You Can Bring Me Flowers."

LaMontagne's third album may be released in the fall of 2008. Keep your eyes and ears open for LaMontagne's music. For more, visit his web site or his MySpace page.

-------

Extra Credit -- Past Musical Electives of the Week:
Stuart Stotts
Dan Wilson
Kathleen Edwards

International Recruitment of Community College Students?

The front page of Sunday's New York Times included a provocative story about the increasingly common practice of international students paying private recruiters to help them access U.S. colleges and U.S. colleges paying those same recruiters a commission to do so. According to the story, a recruiter may receive $3000 from a student for his services, and then also receive $1000 from the college the student ends up attending.

What's wrong with this? Let's start with the possibility that, as reporter Tamar Lewin put it, it could turn the "college-admissions process into a global bounty hunt."

I was most struck by the mention that community colleges are also engaged in this activity. Writes Lewin, "those familiar with the flow of international students say that thousands, mostly from Asia, use agents to come to American institutions, particularly community colleges with intensive English programs."

There aren't any easy ways to think about this. On the one hand, this may facilitate (or reflect) a broader vision of the "community" potentially served by a community colleges. Indeed, many Chinese students find themselves unable to get into that country's colleges, and in some sense our community colleges provide them with the same welcoming & open door provided to Americans.

The idea that students travel thousands of miles away from family to engage in the "intensive English programs" provided at community colleges is more troubling. The hard fact is that we know far too little about how to effectively and efficiently teach adults with limited English proficiency. The resources necessary to accomplish that difficult task well, including highly qualified teachers, are rarely found at community colleges. I have difficulty imagining that a significant number of students in these programs are successfully retained, even to initial program completion, let alone to associates degree completion or transfer.

Finally, how does one juxtapose the image of community colleges paying recruiters to find and bring in international students with my notion of the community college as "single working mother" of higher education? Is this just mom being entrepreneurial? In some sense, I suspect so-- international students pay full tuition, and community colleges need money. This is an important aspect of context that Lewin neglected in her article--the underfunding of our public institutions, which in turns provides motivation for this behavior. I hypothesize that were community colleges not so desperate for cash, they'd be less likely to spend their time in this way. Except that we do see even the more selective, wealthier schools doing this too...

I hope it's clear that I find this all very troubling. I'm just not sure what should or could be done. Any ideas out there?

Washington State Gets it Right for the Next Generation

Washington State joined the ranks of states on the leading edge of promoting college-going among poor kids today when it announced the creation of the College Bound Scholarship, which is targeted at low-income 7th and 8th graders, guaranteeing to make sure that 100% of the gap in their demonstrated financial need (for tuition & fees) is covered and that they receive $500 for books.

Unlike some other states which shall remain nameless, which have created promise-type programs but guaranteed nothing of real value to the kids, this program has some serious chops. Here's why:

1. It is a GUARANTEE. The kid who fulfills the terms of the scholarship gets the money, for sure.
2. It is a TARGETED program. It is advertised with a very clear income eligibility chart.
3. The scholarship is MEANINGFUL. It can be used at a private or public in-state school, fills in all tuition and fees not covered by state grants, and goes beyond to provide money for books, and the money is good for up to 4 years so long as it's used within 5 years of high school graduation.
4. It is PUBLICLY funded. The WA Legislature actually ponied up.

These are all important elements of a good early-commitment financial aid program that are all too often neglected. Serious props to Washington for putting together a program based on research, and packaging it in a way that is simple and accessible. Now, if other states could only follow WA's lead!

The Hard-Working Community College

I often think of the American community college as the single working mother of higher education. Without her there'd be no dinner, the kids would run 'round naked, and society would suffering. She's been around for a long time but is often taken for granted, dissed, or dismissed, and yet she keeps on trying, day in and day out. We expect a lot from her, but give her few resources to work with, and then compare her "outcomes" to those of folks from situations completely unlike hers-- middle-class two-parent homes with savings in the bank and time left for evenings and weekends.

Sure, there are some who value the community college-- but the vast majority of the U.S. really doesn't act like it. I can't think of too many parents who'd state their desire for their kid to attend a two-year school, or too many legislators or philanthropists who pay alumni homage to the community college where they began.

Today there was a bit of movement on this front. The Bernard Osher Foundation gave $25 million to create an endowment which will support $1000 scholarships for 1,250 students attending the 109 California community colleges. They plan to grow the endowment, and really hope to increase investment in those schools and their students.

Similarly, in December the Fund for Wisconsin Scholars was endowed with $175 million to distribute grants to low-income college students attending the 42 public two-year and four-year colleges across Wisconsin. The first cohort, entering this fall, will include 600 students attending two-year colleges who will each receive $1,800/year for up to 5 years. (Full disclosure: I am collaborating with FFWS on a research project to examine the impact of those grants.)

This is a good start. I hope the public sector picks up the ball soon, and doesn't use these private donations as substitution or an excuse to continue to under-invest in the single most accessible and affordable opportunity for higher education in America. Yes, there's a lot of room for improvement in the outcomes of our two-year colleges-- I'm the first to admit that. But it's unreasonable too much from colleges which receive per pupil funding comparable to k-12 funding than to spending in other institutions of higher education. As Norton Grubb notes in his excellent book Honored But Invisible: An Inside Look at Teaching in Community Colleges:

"Real funding per pupil in community colleges has been essentially stagnant--[during a period in which] more students have come...needing remedial/development education, guidance and counseling, and active and innovative teaching. Thus the disparity between stable funding and increased needs has become greater and greater... The basic political decisions about these institutions have provided access to higher education for larger numbers of students, but with considerably fewer resources compared to four-year colleges."

It's time to step up and put the resources where they are needed. If you've got it, send it to Bernard Osher-- they're matching $1 for every $2 the California Community Colleges system raises over the next 3 years!

Musical Elective of the Week

The Musical Elective for this week is: Stuart Stotts.

This one is for all of you on what Kathleen Edwards (our first ME of the week) referred to last night at her killer Majestic Theatre show as "Raffi time." Meaning Mommies and Daddies with rockin' taste but toddlers to please.

Stuart is a local Madison songwriter and storyteller. His new CD Everybody Started Out Small features the classic "Eight Hugs a Day" which is catchy, sweet, and exactly what I want to hear my kid singing.

We first met Stuart at a performance at Madison's Overture Center for the Arts Saturday morning Kids in the Rotunda event. These shows are always great, but Stuart was extra special. He's a witty, intelligent singer with a great voice and infectious smile. He's very into audience participation, and managed to get several daddies up on stage for "When Daddy's Dance." My own husband even got up there!

There is a lot of crappy kids music out there these days--you know, stuff that when the CD shuffle in the car brings it around you just cringe. Stuart's music is an exception, and for those of us living in Madison, that's a point of pride. Check him out!

From High School to the Future: Chicago Leads the Way

As I've been accused a few times since starting this blog of being too negative about the possibilities presented by schools & teachers, I want to pass on my good vibes from attending an event this week that made my quite optimistic indeed.

For the last several years I've been working with a crew of outrageously talented folks at the Consortium for Chicago School Research (including Melissa Roderick & Jenny Nagaoka) who are collaborating with the Chicago Public Schools (most notably Greg Dardinier) to get high school students, teachers, and administrators focused on increasing the potential for student success after high school. With loads of financial support from both CPS (Arne Duncan) and the Gates Foundation (among others) CCSR and the school system built a tracking system that allows them to follow kids out of high school and into college & work, to see how they do-- and even more importantly, to figure out how to help them do better.

It's so unusual for a school district, especially one as large as Chicago's (130+ high schools!) to have the data capacity to do this. The vast majority of high schools in the U.S. rely on a student exit questionnaire administered in the spring of senior year, which asks kids "What are your plans for the fall" (choices include 4 yr college, 2yr college, work, etc) and their responses are used as a proxy for the real destination. In other words, the college-going rate for a high school or district is based on a student's self-report in May of senior year. This is a highly inaccurate measure, as several different data sources have proven-- plenty of kids who say they are going to college do not (or do not go to the kind of school they said they were going to, even if they were admitted and accepted) because they realize they cannot afford it, or get side-tracked during the summer, and many who say they aren't going, do decide to show up at a community college. Clearly districts need a much more reliable source of information if they are to learn about their high school graduates, and use that information to inform and change their educational practices.

Well, Chicago's got it figured out. They hooked up with the National Student Clearinghouse, which is able to identify students attending 91% of the colleges nationwide-- if they are enrolled, NSC usually knows about it. CPS checks with kids before they leave high school to make sure they have the right social security number & birthdate, and an idea of where the kid might be going, and then uses this data to track them. This is a not-too-complex and pretty inexpensive way to get consistent and reliable information back to individual high schools about their grads.

The results have been transformative for the Chicago Public Schools. Too much to get into here, but you can check out in this report and this report from CCSR to see what they've learned about who goes to college, what helps them get there, what the big barriers are to accessing more elite institutions, who graduates & from where,etc. Some principals were stunned to learn that even at their "high-performing" high schools only 3 or 4 in 10 kids actually went on to attend college. Because the district also asks about what students want to do (what they aspire to), and follows up on their wages, they can respond to people who make excuses such as "Not all kids want to go to college" (not true, nearly 90% do), or "Some kids are better off going to work" (not so--the wages of CPS students who go straight to work are very, very low). Changes have been made, and over the last several years, while the college-going rates of high school graduates nationwide have declined, they have gone up in Chicago.

Which leads me to this week. The Gates Foundation recognized how amazing this has been for CPS, and funded them to hold trainings to let other school districts from around the country in on the action. So we gathered in Chicago this week-- districts applied and 8 or 9 were chosen (including Philly, Austin, Portland)--to attend two days of sessions on how to use NSC data effectively to generate positive changes in high schools and colleges.

I was there as part of the Milwaukee team. As someone deeply concerned about all of the kids in urban districts left behind as the great masses moves towards higher education, I can't tell you how much it warmed my heart (really, it did!) to listen to k-12 district folks talk (in some cases for the very first time) about college-going and completion, and realize that these problems are real, widespread, and there is something we can do about it. It was especially wonderful that CCSR's team (led by Chris Mazzeo) also provided social opportunities for the districts to get to know one another, as they will need support in coming years when they try to go home and reorient administrators and teachers' thinking about how and why high schools can help increase college completion rates among our poorest kids.

During the next several months the teams will be working with their district data and then we'll reconvene in the fall to discuss what we've found and plan to do. I'll keep you posted.

An Edible Schoolyard in NOLA

An article in today's San Francisco Chronicle puts a Cajun twist on my recent blog post about sustainable agriculture and schools.

Teacher Leaders

Bess Keller offers up an interesting story in Education Week on teacher leadership. She profiles an initiative in Massachusetts that provides an opportunity for classroom teachers to influence education policymaking and hopes to create a means to retain younger teachers in the profession.

Last year the Cambridge-based Rennie Center for Education Research and Policy named 16 early-career teachers as its first class of Teaching Fellows. These educators are being trained as advocates to influence policy and they are exploring educational issues in greater depth. In the Ed Week article, Betty Achinstein, my colleague at the New Teacher Center who studies teacher socialization, praised this project for its work to groom teachers as change agents.

The voice of the classroom teacher is all too often missing from education policy conversations. If policymakers listened, they would discover that a teacher's voice is a powerful one and could help them better understand the likely impact of proposed policies. That's not to say that teachers always know best and policymakers don't. But if policy did a better job of learning from practice, policy choices would be better informed and the gulf between policy intent and implementation might well be reduced.

Interesting fact: Paul Reville, president of the Rennie Center, will begin as Secretary of Education in Massachusetts, on July 1, working directly for Governor Deval Patrick.

AFT: Raising The Standards

Last week the American Federation of Teachers released a report on state academic standards. In Sizing Up State Standards 2008, the AFT analyzed state standards in English, math, science and social studies. States met the AFT criteria if their standards were clear, specific and content-focused. If 8 pages is too daunting, here's the press release.

Coming out on top -- with a perfect score -- in the AFT analysis was Virginia. Not bad for a right-to-work state! The laggards that "lacked clear criteria for any grade or subject" were Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Montana, Nebraska, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. So I'm guessing this group doesn't get an 'A' for effort?

More important than its ranking of the states are the report's recommendations for improving content standards and its recommendation that states provide instructional guidance and teacher resources to help teachers bring the standards into the classroom.

As I mentioned in this recent post ("Teaching To The Test"), one of the benefits of a coherent set of academic standards is that it enables teachers to prepare their students for assessments without resorting to explicitly teaching to the test, or "drill and kill," as the AFT calls it. Clear standards can also help teachers make informed decisions about their professional development and allow them to work together to address student needs. That sure beats Underwater Basket Weaving.

Maybe because this topic isn't as sexy as high school exit exams or performance pay, I haven't seen much coverage of this report. But academic standards should be the engine that drives the k-12 train.

Musical Elective of the Week

The Musical Elective of the Week is: Dan Wilson.

Dan Wilson is best known as the lead singer of the Minneapolis-based band Semisonic. Semisonic hit the big time ten years ago with the Grammy-nominated single "Closing Time" off its 1998 album Feeling Strangely Fine. (Semisonic has been on hiatus since 2001.)

Wilson's first solo album, Free Life, was released in October 2007. It's a dandy of an album replete with melodic hooks and smartly-penned lyrics that one has come to expect of Wilson's from his work with Semisonic. It features contributions from Sheryl Crow, who provides the harmony vocal on “Sugar”; Sean Watkins (of Nickel Creek), who plays acoustic guitar on “Free Life” and “Baby Doll;” and Gary Louris (of the Jayhawks), who contributes a guitar solos on “Cry” and “Come Home Angel.”

Variety says that Free Life "delivers some thrilling rock hooks," the Boston Globe wrote that this album "will worm deeply into the hearts of those who hear and embrace it," and the New York Daily News called Wilson "one of the most skilled and spirited pop writers of the last decade." Wilson won a Grammy last year for Song of the Year for co-penning "Not Ready To Make Nice," from the Dixie Chicks' 2006 album, Taking The Long Way.

I saw Wilson perform back in March as part of the Hotel Cafe Tour (along with Cary Brothers, Ingrid Michaelson, and Joshua Radin). He was even nice enough to autograph the CD that Sara purchased for me. He's certainly one of the most talented and overlooked American singer-songwriters around.