Teachers & Education Policy

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONAugust 25, 2011

Maryann Woods-Murphy•Washington Teaching Ambassador Fellow•Spanish Teacher•2010 New Jersey Teacher of the Year.

Brad Jupp•Senior Program Advisor in the Office of Secretary of Education. •Former English Teacher and Union Leader (Denver, Colorado)

Chad Aldeman•Policy Advisor •Office of Planning, Evaluation, and Policy Development

Overarching Goal

“By 2020, America will once again have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world.”

President Barack Obama, February 24, 2009

“We believe this is the civil rights challenge of our time.”

• Secretary of Education Arne Duncan

Our Strategy to Meet This GoalElementary(Grades K-5)

Secondary (Grades 6-12)

Post-Secondary

Early Learning(Birth-grade 3) Goal:

All graduates have opportunities for success in the 21st century economy.

Goal: All students graduate high school on time prepared for at least one year of post-secondary.

Goal: All students enter middle school with foundational skills to tackle advanced subjects.

Goal: All kindergarten students arrive ready to learn and remain on track to 4th grade.

Our Methods to Meet This GoalOnly a comprehensive strategy will work -- “cradle to

career.”Reauthorization of ESEA is one part of this broader

strategy.Tight on goals; loose on means.Foster innovation and reward success.We will have accomplished these reforms with educators,

not to them.

The Major Changes from an Educator’s Perspective

NCLB Our Proposal

Single, pass/fail measureTo grade schools

Multiple measuresTo create a culture of continuous

improvement

More and more schools failEven where progress is being

made

Recognize school successReward and learn from progress

& growth

Narrowed curriculumFocusing on tests in math and

ELA

Well-rounded educationAllow all subjects, fund better

tests

Focus on gaps & equityFocus on achievement of all

student groups

Focus on gaps & equityMaintain focus + appropriate

interventions=

Are students proficient?Focuses on “bubble kids,” while losing sight of higher and lower

performers

Are students learning?Focuses all students

Highly qualified teachersMinimum professional

expectations; looks good on paper.

Highly effective teachersHigh professional expectations;

looks good in the classroom

A Complete Education - Principles

Support implementation of college and career-ready standards.

Focus on a complete and well-rounded education.

Improve low-income students’ access to accelerated and college-level coursework.

Support high-quality instruction in high-need districts and schools.

Creates renewed respect for the effective effort of all teachers and leaders.

Requires multiple measures when considering the efficacy of teachers, leaders and schools.

A Complete Education - Principles

College and Career Ready Standards:An Example

Figure 3

A campground has a large lawn with a soccer field that measures 100 × 50 meters (Figure 1). The park manager decides to keep the field open at night.

Therefore, a decision needs to be made about where to place some light posts. Standard lamp posts are 13 meters high and light a circular region with a radius of 50 meters (see Figure 2).

1.The diagram below (Figure 3) shows the lighting of the field when lights are placed at points D and B. What is the area of the soccer field that is NOT lit when these two light posts are used. Show your work.

What might a challenging test question look like? Dutch 8th grade math examination item by the courtesy of the Freudenthal Institute.

College- and Career-Ready Students - Approach

Respond to greatest

challenges

Provideflexibility for

results

Recognize& reward success

Rethinking the federal accountability system• Use growth and progress to measure schools.

• Focus on closing achievement gaps.

Rethinking the federal accountability system• Use growth and progress to measure schools.

• Focus on closing achievement gaps.

Similar differentiation at district and state level

Schools in bottom 5%

Schools in next 5%

Achievement gaps

Most schools

School makinggreatest gains

Schools meeting all performance

targets

Four Assurances

American Recovery & Reinvestment Act

Historic influx of funding to all states to save jobs,

ensure stability, and provide base level of funding to create

foundation for reform.SFSF: $48.6bIDEA: $12.2bTitle I: $10b

Ed Tech: $650m(and other funding streams)

Largest one-time federal education investment in history to save jobs and

drive reforms.$98.2b

Formula Funds Targeted, competitive grants

to supportstates and districts

in taking onambitious reforms.

RTT: $4.35bSIG: $3.0bi3: $650m

SLDS: $250m(and other funding streams)

Competitive Funds

Great Teachers and Great Leaders - Principles

• Great teaching and school leadership matters. No in-school factor has more influence on improving student learning.

• Shift focus from qualifications to effectiveness.

• Invest in teacher and leader preparation and career development.

• Move away from perfunctory evaluations, and incorporate multiple measures in a fair rigorous way.

• Ensure that all students have access to effective teachers and leaders.

Great Teachers and Great Leaders - Principles

Great Teachers and Great Leaders - Structure

Develop teacher and leader effectiveness and ensure that all students have access to great

instruction.

Invest in ambitious reforms

in teacher & leader career development, including

placement, compensation and evaluation.

Develop & scale up programs that prepare

teachers & leaders to be effective where needed

most.

Effective Teachers & Leaders

Teacher & Leader Innovation Fund

Teacher & LeaderPathways

Meaningful evaluations

Equitable distribution

Preparation& support

Flexibilitywith results

Teacher Preparation Policy

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONAugust 25, 2011

The shape of the teaching profession is changing,raising the stakes on teacher preparation.

Teacher experience as share of workforce

Mode: 15 yearsof experience.

Mode: 1 yearof experience.

We’re not setting a high bar for entry.Only 23% of teachers come from the top third of college graduates –14% in high-need schools.

We’re not giving teachers the skills they need to be effective.62% of education school alumni feel they were not prepared for “classroom realities.”

Our system for preparing teachers isn’t doing a good job.

This isn’t fair to teachers or to students.

62%

23%

Programs don’t provide teachers with the skills they’ll need in the classroom.

…work with parents:

…address needs of students from diverse cultural backgrounds:

…address needs of students with disabilities:

…address needs of students

with limited English proficiency:…maintain order and

discipline in the classroom:

21%

28%

30%

16%

33%

Principals reporting their teachers were prepared to…

Paper-and-pencil licensure tests are easy and lack predictive validity.

99% 98% 97% 96%

National pass rates on licensure exams.

Pass

rate

(perc

enta

ge)

Our teaching force does not reflect the increasing diversity of our students.

Perc

enta

ge w

ho identi

fy a

s A

fric

an-A

meri

can o

r H

ispanic

38%of students

14%of teachers

These challenges persist in part because of a lack of meaningful accountability.

27 states

have never identified a low-performing program.12

stateshave identified 1-5 low-performing programs.12

stateshave identified 6+ low-performing programs.

Out of the over

1,400 institutions preparing teachers, only

38 programs were identified by states as low-performing in the most recent year.

But despite this picture, this is a time of incredible opportunity in teacher preparation.

Teacher education associations are calling for preparation to be “turned upside down.”

Top programs are attracting talent & offering strong models.States are beginning to measure programs based on meaningful data. States & ed. schools are working to raise

standards for entry into teaching based on performance.

TN

LA

NC

We’re proposing initiatives that will supportthis progress and tackle long-standing challenges.

Presidential Teaching FellowsA new $185 million program to support rigorous state-level policies and provide scholarships to attend top programs.

Augustus F. Hawkins Centers for Excellence$40 million in first-time funding for a program supporting teacher preparation at minority-serving institutions.

Together, these initiatives will reward the best programs, improve the middle, and transform or shut down the lowest-performing.

1

2

Presidential Teaching Fellows will support rigorousstate-level policies and fund scholarships for teachers.

States set-aside to implement performance-based licensure and teacher prep program accountability. Receipt

conditioned on removal of barriers to effective alternative route programs.

$185 million in formula grants to leverage state reform and provide scholarship aid to top-tier teacher ed programs.

Top-tier programs, be they alternative or traditional route, receive subgrants to award $10,000 scholarships

to “Presidential Teaching Fellows.”

Presidential Teaching Fellows prepare to teach high-need subjects or fields, and teach three years in high-need

schools.

Hawkins Centers for Excellence will help preparethe next generation of effective minority teachers.

Minority-serving institutions receive competitive grants to reform and expand their teacher preparation programs.

The President’s budget proposes $40 million in first-time funding

for this already-authorized program.

Improvement activities to include:* Heightened entry or exit standards;* Course redesign so that programs are clinically-based;* Training of all candidates in evidence-based methods of reading instruction; and* Partnerships with local school districts or non-profits with demonstrated effectiveness in preparing and placing minority candidates in high need schools.

Teacher Loan Forgiveness• Individuals must teach full-time for 5 consecutive years in high-need subjects and low-income K-12 schools.

• Can have up to $17,500 in principal and interest forgiven.

• Income-based repayment for all borrowers.

• Teachers eligible for full Public Service Loan Forgiveness after 10 years.

The Role of Teachers in The Role of Teachers in PolicymakingPolicymaking

Teaching Ambassador FellowsTeaching Ambassador Fellows• Goal: to facilitate communication between the classroom and the

Department of Education (ED)• 16 Fellows selected based on leadership, teaching ability, and potential for

contribution to ED and the field– 5 Fellows spend a year at ED in Washington– 11 Fellows remain in their classrooms and work part time on projects

and with policy liaisons– All Fellows serve as federal employees while also sharing their classroom

teacher perspectives

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What do Fellows do?What do Fellows do?

• Learn about ED• Provide ED with the teachers’ voice and

perspective on policy• Serve in a listening capacity to teachers in the

field• Bring the concerns, triumphs and every day

challenges of teachers back to ED

How does policy effect your classroom?How does policy effect your classroom?

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AssessmentsAssessmentsAssessmentsAssessments

Administrative Administrative ProcessesProcesses

Administrative Administrative ProcessesProcesses

Teacher Teacher Quality & Quality &

Certification Certification RequirementsRequirements

Teacher Teacher Quality & Quality &

Certification Certification RequirementsRequirements

Money/ResourcesMoney/ResourcesMoney/ResourcesMoney/Resources

Parent / Parent / Community Community

InputInput

Parent / Parent / Community Community

InputInput

StandardsStandardsStandardsStandards

CurriculumCurriculumCurriculumCurriculum

Your ClassroomYour ClassroomYour ClassroomYour Classroom

2011-2012 Classroom Fellows

Kareen Borders, Gig Harbor, WAJuan Govea, Salinas, CASharla Steever, Hill City, SDLeah Lechleiter-Luke, New Lisbon, WIDexter Cheney, Chicago, ILBruce Wellman, Olathe, KS Madonna Ramp, Austin, TXMaryann Woods-Murphy Allendale, NJBruce Taterka, Mendham NJAngela McClary-Rush, Andrews, SCGamal Sherif, Philadelphia, PARobert Baroz, Boston, MA

2011-2012 Washington Fellows

Claire Jellinek, Albuquerque, NMGregory Mullenholz, Rockville, MDShakera Walker, Boston, MAGenevieve DeBose, NYC

Examples of Fellows’ workExamples of Fellows’ workLaurie CalvertLaurie Calvert

Teacher outreach via ED website, blogging, creation of informational materials

Nick GreerNick GreerWorked on teacher quality and recruitment, RTT technical assistance, and STEM

Leah RaphaelLeah RaphaelMiddle-school strategy and Race to the Top Technical Assistance.

Linda YaronLinda YaronWorked on union/district partnerships, community outreach, especially with youth voice and international affairs

Edit KhachatryanEdit KhachatryanWorked on worked on Career and Technical Education & secondary schools strategy, teacher quality and evaluations, and RTT technical assistance

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Teachers and Federal PolicyTeachers and Federal PolicyExamplesExamples

What else can I do?What else can I do?

- Participate in school committees- Learn about your union’s education initiatives- Ask for more involvement from administrators

@ school, district & state level- Read and discuss big questions- Join local professional organizations

SeekSeek

- Communication & outreach- Partnerships- Local events- Collaboration with your colleagues

Our Strategy to Meet This GoalElementary(Grades K-5)

Secondary (Grades 6-12)

Post-Secondary

Early Learning(Birth-grade 3) Goal:

All graduates have opportunities for success in the 21st century economy.

Goal: All students graduate high school on time prepared for at least one year of post-secondary.

Goal: All students enter middle school with foundational skills to tackle advanced subjects.

Goal: All kindergarten students arrive ready to learn and remain on track to 4th grade.

Our Methods to Meet This GoalOnly a comprehensive strategy will work -- “cradle to

career.”Reauthorization of ESEA is one part of this broader

strategy.Tight on goals; loose on means.Foster innovation and reward success.We will have accomplished these reforms with educators,

not to them.

Questions?

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONAugust 25, 2011