You Must Live Here

The Chicago Public Schools residency requirement has ensnared a district social worker and recent kidney donor, the Chicago Tribune reports. He may lose his job, unless CPS chief Ron Huberman intervenes.

We've written previously about such residency requirements being bad policy.

6/2/2010 UPDATE: So the man's job is safe (Chicago Tribune), but why necessitate special treatment? Why not eliminate the policy that restricts the district's ability to employ the best and the brightest regardless of whether they live within city limits or not?

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Grasping At Straws

Illinois is sure to be disappointed if it continues to move forward with a private voucher program (SB 2494) for Chicago Public Schools. Just ask Wisconsin-- and Milwaukee.

Clearly, the Chicago Tribune editorial board ('Liberate the kids'), which is cheering the process on, has not done its homework, not checked its sources, and not looked to its neighbor to the north for guidance. Or it is simply drinking the Kool Aid mixed by Voucher Inc.:

And there's evidence that vouchers improve public schools. A 2009 report by The Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice examined 17 studies on the impact of voucher programs. Sixteen studies found that vouchers improved student achievement in public schools; one study found they had no positive or negative impact. In other words, competition works.

There is also plentiful evidence that vouchers do NOT improve public schools, including the on-going evaluation of the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program -- the longest-standing voucher program in the country, just a short drive up I-94 from Chicago.

To look to the Friedman Foundation for guidance on this issue is akin to turning to Karl Rove's new book as a definitive history of the George W. Bush administration. From a University of Illinois professor, Dr. Christopher Lubienski, here's a critique of the Friedman report cited in the Tribune editorial:

[T]he report, based on a review of 17 studies, selectively reads the evidence in some of those studies, the majority of which were produced by voucher advocacy organizations. Moreover, the report can’t decide whether or not to acknowledge the impact of factors other than vouchers on public schools. It attempts to show that public school gains were caused by the presence of vouchers alone, but then argues that the lack of overall gains for districts with vouchers should be ignored because too many other factors are at play. In truth, existing research provides little reliable information about the competitive effects of vouchers, and this report does little to help answer the question.

Competition does not work. Plus, what evidence exists to suggest that these Chicago-area private schools will do any better a job of educating the students who would be taken out of the public system? I can't wait to see that evidence because I'm fairly certain that it doesn't exist. That raises questions about the Tribune's utter disregard of this issue: "What if student performance doesn't improve in private schools? Simple: Parents will vote with their feet." But if there's no comparable evidence of student performance between public and private schools, how can parents (consumers) make informed judgments about their child's education? In addition, what if there are insufficient openings at private schools for students wanting to go? Will the voucher be sufficient to cover the tuition and associated costs at these schools for low-income students?

What would be preferable to this exercise in grasping at straws would be energy directed toward a more difficult series of conversations about school-based policies like teacher quality, school leadership, teaching and learning conditions and overall school improvement, in addition to community-focused strategies such as early childhood education, after-school programs, quality child care, and school health in the city of Chicago that get to kids' readiness to learn when they come to school.

Vouchers are not the answer, but a major distraction from more efficacious approaches that should be the focus of the Illinois Legislature.

Image courtesy of Laura Lee.

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The Revolving Door of Teachers In Chicago

The Consortium for Chicago School Research today released an informative study ("The Schools Teachers Leave") of teacher turnover in Chicago Public Schools (CPS). It reviewed the personnel records of approximately 35,000 public school teachers in 538 elementary schools and 118 high schools over a five-year period between the 2002-03 and 2006-07 school years. Its primary finding is that half of all Chicago public school teachers had left their school within four years -- and more than two thirds of new teachers had. It also identified 100 CPS schools with "chronically" high teacher turnover -- losing about a quarter of their teachers annually. While these statistics are slightly worse than Illinois as a state and the nation as a whole, CPS is not a huge outlier with regard to teacher mobility. It is a problem across the board.

From an equity standpoint, teacher mobility and turnover is a particular chllaenge for schools within urban districts like CPS because of the student population they serve. Turnover has significant implications for educational equity because schools with large percentages of African-American and low-income students are more likely to be inflicted with this revolving door of teachers. These students in greatest need of access to quality education and quality teaching are the least likely to receive it. They are more likely be taught by beginning teachers and those without full credentials or relevant subject matter knowledge. This lack of educator quality feeds low student achievement, socioeconomic and racial achievement gaps, and dropout rates.

The Consortium reports offers some guidance about what relatively successful schools look like. It identifies teacher working conditions as a major factor in retention and in developing a nurturing and collaborative professional environment.

The schools that retain their teachers at high rates are those with a strong sense of collaboration among teachers and the principal. Teachers are likely to stay in schools where they view their colleagues as partners with them in the work of improving the whole school. They are likely to leave schools where colleagues are resistant to school-wide initiatives and where teachers’ efforts stop at their own classroom door. Teachers stay in schools with inclusive leadership,
where they feel they have influence over their work environment and they trust their principal as an instructional leader.

Thus, teachers stay in schools where the conditions are well suited for them to have the potential to be effective—where their colleagues are collaborators, school administration is supportive, parents trust teachers to do their jobs, and the learning climate for students is safe and non-disruptive. These elements of school working conditions are among the key elements needed to improve student achievement, along with a school-wide focus on improving instruction.

To address this teacher quality problem, one solution that new CPS CEO Ron Huberman has announced is to expand the new teacher induction and mentoring work of the Chicago New Teacher Center throughout the district. (Disclosure: I work for the New Teacher Center, the CNTC's parent organization.) CNTC is currently active in five CPS Instructional Areas, mostly on Chicago's South Side. Its intensive mentoring work -- and high-quality induction overall -- has been shown not only to increase teacher retention, but also to help beginning teachers become more effective in the classroom. The work of the CNTC was recently profiled in the Center for American Progress report, Ensuring Effective Teachers for All Students.

This kind of data analysis is exactly what all states and school districts should be engaged in. It's hard to fix a problem that isn't understood and it's hard to set a policy goal to address something that isn't quantifiable. More often than not, the reason this type of analysis isn't occurring is due to the lack of political will and the unwillingness to grapple with bad news, rather than the absence of data systems or human talent to conduct it. Where there's a will, there's a way. Without naming names, I've seen a 'can't do' attitude triumph again and again in states and districts. It's best to take this work out of the direct control of politicians and educational leaders who serve systems over kids. Perhaps that's why this effort ("Education Week: Chicago Group Promotes Links for Districts, Researchers") to replicate the Chicago Consortium model is a promising one. And, in this case, kudos to CPS leaders for being open to this scrutiny and their willingness to learn from it.

MORE:
Chicago Tribune coverage
Chicago Sun-Times coverage and editorial
Catalyst Chicago blog

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Duncan Appoints College Access Assistant

Alexander Russo reports on This Week in Education ("USDE: "Another Windy City Pick For Duncan") that Greg Darnieder, former head of the Chicago Public Schools' Department of College and Career Preparation, has joined U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan's team as a special assistant for college access.

Sara praised Greg in an earlier Optimist post ("Yeah It's Arne Duncan!").

Despite his title, I assume and hope that he'll be working on college success as well--not just access.

BACKGROUND:
"Duncan's Team"
"From High School To The Future: Chicago Leads The Way"


Sara adds:

YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is a great move. I've seen Greg in action numerous times, and have to tell you, this guy has got the goods. First of all, he understands how to get people to work together on behalf of kids. Second, he gets incentives, both carrots and sticks. Third, he gets research-- and he's not scared of data. Fourth, he asks thoughtful, relevant questions. And fifth, he's got what it takes. Yee-haw, Duncan just made my day!

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Yeah it's Arne Duncan!

Here are a few good reasons to be psyched:

(1) Chicago Public Schools has a Department of Postsecondary Education. Yes, seriously. It was created in 2003 and Arne appointed a very smart man -- Greg Darnieder -- to lead it, and it's enjoyed plenty of success.

(2) He listens to researchers and benefits from their work. Witness his relationship with the Consortium for Chicago School Research.

(3) He recognizes talent. See above, the hire of Greg Darnieder, among others.

(4) CPS's High School Transformation and establishment of Avid programs.

An Ed leader who is focused on helping more schools create meaningful pathways to college for more kids ... imagine that.

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Duncan It Is

The Chicago Sun-Times reports that President-Elect Barack Obama will announce Chicago Public Schools Superintendent Arne Duncan as his Education Secretary tomorrow.

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Ed Secretary Watch

Does Fordham's Flypaper blog have it right: Chicago Public Schools Superintendent Arne Duncan is the leading candidate to be Obama's Education Secretary? I'd hate to see a wish of David Brooks fulfilled -- not because I have anything against Duncan -- it's more about Brooks. According to some Chicago sources, Duncan may well be in the driver's seat at this point. We'll see if they are right -- and if I'm talking to people "in the know."

Personally, I don't have a strong preference between some of the oft-named candidates. At many levels, I don't think it lives up to all the hype. However, I think an important criteria that hasn't been written about in most of the new stories and blog posts is that the next Education Secretary must have strong communications skills. Because, let's face it, while he or she will be involved in policy decisions, one of the most important roles they will play is to communicate the President's vision and make the case for those education reforms to policymakers. Not all are equal at that task. Just look at the recent Rod Paige experience.

Using that "communications" criteria, I don't know Duncan intimately enough to say whether he floats to the top. One could make the case that many current and former governors might be somewhat more adept with the bully pulpit.

What do you all think? Chicagoans, if you can pull yourself away from the Blagojevich circus, what is your perspective?

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

DECEMBER 13th Update: Ed Week's David Hoff reports that both Duncan and Denver Superintendent Michael Bennet have undergone FBI background checks.

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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.

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