When a public school fails to meet its obligations to students, parents deserve a choice in the education of their children. And I intend to give it to them. Some may choose a better public school. Some may choose a private one. Many will choose a charter school. But they will have that choice and their children will have that opportunity.” – Sen. John McCain, 9/5/08 Republican National Convention

Where Sen. John McCain Stands on the Issues:

School Choice: The issue of school choice has proven a cornerstone of McCain’s educational strategy. McCain says that he and his wife decided to send their children to parochial school, and now he wants to ensure that all parents can have the same freedom.

No Child Left Behind: McCain believes there should be an emphasis on standards and accountability, but that the goal of standardized testing should not be group averages. Instead, the focus should be to inspire every child to strive to reach his or her potential

Teachers: McCain believes the single biggest challenge in turning around a failing school is getting quality teachers into that school. To overcome this challenge, John McCain will:

Encourage Alternative Certification Methods That Open The Door For Highly Motivated Teachers To Enter The Field. McCain will devote five percent of Title II funding to states to recruit teachers who graduate in the top 25 percent of their class or who participate in an alternative teacher recruitment program such as Teach for America, the New York City Teaching Fellowship Program, the New Teacher Project, or excellent university initiatives.

Provide Bonuses For Teachers Who Locate In Underperforming Schools And Demonstrate Strong Leadership As Measured By Student Improvement. McCain will devote 60 percent of Title II funding for incentive bonuses for high performing teachers to locate in the most challenging educational settings, for teachers to teach subjects like math and science, and for teachers who demonstrate student improvement. Payments will be made directly to teachers. Funds should also be devoted to provide performance bonuses to teachers who raise student achievement and enhance the school-wide learning environment. Principals may also consider other issues in addition to test scores such as peer evaluations, student subgroup improvements, or being removed from the state’s “in need of improvement” list.

Provide Funding For Needed Professional Teacher Development. Where federal funds are involved, teacher development money should be used to enhance the ability of teachers to perform in today’s technology driven environment. We need to provide teachers with high quality professional development opportunities with a primary focus on instructional strategies that address the academic needs of their students. The first 35 percent of Title II funding would be directed to the school level so principals and teachers could focus these resources on the specific needs of their schools.

The D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program: The Opportunity Scholarship program serves more than 1,900 students from families with an average income of $23,000 a year. More than 7,000 more families have applied for that program. The budget for the Opportunity Scholarships is currently $13 million. John McCain believes that this extremely successful program should expand to at least $20 million benefiting nearly a thousand more families.

High Quality Tutoring Programs: Local school districts can certify education service providers but providers can also bypass the local bureaucracy and receive direct federal certification. Education service providers can then market directly to parents. Title I money will be directed straight to the provider.

Expanding Virtual Learning: By Reforming The “Enhancing Education Through Technology Program.” John McCain will target $500 million in current federal funds to build new virtual schools and support the development of online course offerings for students. These courses may be for regular coursework, for enhancement, or for dual enrollment into college.

John McCain Will Allocate $250 Million Through A Competitive Grant Program To Support States That Commit To Expanding Online Education Opportunities. States can use these funds to build virtual math and science academies to help expand the availability of AP Math, Science, and Computer Sciences courses, online tutoring support for students in traditional schools, and foreign language courses.

John McCain Will Offer $250 Million For Digital Passport Scholarships To Help Students Pay For Online Tutors Or Enroll In Virtual Schools. Low-income students will be eligible to receive up to $4,000 to enroll in an online course, SAT/ACT prep course, credit recovery or tutoring services offered by a virtual provider. Providers could range from other public schools, virtual charter schools, home school parents utilizing virtual schooling resources or district or state sponsored virtual schools. The Department of Education would competitively award the funds to a national scholarship administrator who would manage the student applications, monitoring, and evaluation of providers.

Source: http://www.johnmccain.com/Informing/ issues/19ce50b5-daa8-4795-b92d-92bd0d985bca.htm ““Just as with energy independence and health care, the urgency of upgrading public education for the 21st century has been talked to death in Washington, but not much has gotten done. And that failure to act has put our nation in jeopardy. I believe the day of reckoning is here. Our — our children and our country can’t afford four more years of neglect and indifference.

The decisions our leaders make about education in the coming years will shape our future for generations to come. They will help determine not only whether our children have the chance to fulfill their God-given potential or whether our workers have the chance to build a better life for their families, but whether we as a nation will remain in the 21st century the kind of global economic leader that we were in the 20th century.” – Sen. Barack Obama, 9/8/08 in Dayton, Ohio

Where Sen. Barack Obama Stands on the Issues:

No Child Left Behind: Obama has repeatedly criticized the 2002 legislation, adopting the slogan: Left the Money Behind and Left the Students Behind. While Obama praises NCLB’s emphasis on accountability, he argues that the law was an unfunded mandate – inadequately implemented by the Education Department. Obama has pledged to reform the law – beginning with additional funding. He will also improve the assessments used to track student progress and improve NCLB’s accountability system so that we are supporting schools that need improvement, rather than punishing them.

Zero to Five Plan: Obama’s “Zero to Five” plan will provide critical support to young children and their parents – placing key emphasis on early care and education for infants. Obama will create Early Learning Challenge Grants to promote state “zero to five” efforts and help states move toward voluntary, universal pre-school. In addition, Obama will expand early Head Start, increase Head Start funding, and improve quality for both. Finally, he pledges to provide affordable, high-quality child care for working families.

Math and Science Education: Obama plans to make math and science education a national priority. He pledges to recruit math and science degree graduates to the teaching profession and support efforts to help these teachers learn from professionals in the field. He will also work to ensure that all children have access to a strong science curriculum at all grade levels.

Address the Dropout Crisis: Obama will pass his legislation to provide funding to school districts to invest in intervention strategies in middle school – strategies such as personal academic plans, teaching teams, parent involvement, mentoring, intensive reading and math instruction, and extended learning time.

Expand High-Quality Afterschool Opportunities: Obama will double funding for the main federal support for afterschool programs, the 21st Century Learning Centers program, to serve one million more children.

Expand Summer Learning Opportunities: Obama’s “STEP UP” plan addresses the achievement gap by supporting summer learning opportunities for disadvantaged children through partnerships between local schools and community organizations.

Support College Outreach Programs: Obama supports outreach programs like GEAR UP, TRIO and Upward Bound to encourage more young people from low-income families to consider and prepare for college.

Support English Language Learners: Obama supports transitional bilingual education and will help Limited English Proficient students get ahead by holding schools accountable for making sure these students complete school.

Teachers: When it comes to teachers, Obama’s plan includes several initiatives. Among them:

Recruiting Teachers: Obama will create new Teacher Service Scholarships that will cover four years of undergraduate or two years of graduate teacher education, including high-quality alternative programs for mid-career recruits in exchange for teaching for at least four years in a high-need field or location.

Preparing Teachers: Obama will require all schools of education to be accredited. He will also create a voluntary national performance assessment so we can be sure that every new educator is trained and ready to walk into the classroom and start teaching effectively. Obama will also create Teacher Residency Programs that will supply 30,000 exceptionally well-prepared recruits to high-need schools.

Retaining Teachers: To support our teachers, Obama’s plan will expand mentoring programs that pair experienced teachers with new recruits. He will also provide incentives to give teachers paid common planning time so they can collaborate to share best practices.

Rewarding Teachers: Obama will promote new and innovative ways to increase teacher pay that are developed with teachers, not imposed on them. Districts will be able to design programs that reward accomplished educators who serve as a mentor to new teachers with a salary increase. Districts can reward teachers who work in underserved places like rural areas and inner cities. And if teachers consistently excel in the classroom, that work can be valued and rewarded as well.

Higher Education: Create the American Opportunity Tax Credit: Obama will make college affordable for all Americans by creating a new American Opportunity Tax Credit. This universal and fully refundable credit will ensure that the first $4,000 of a college education is completely free for most Americans, and will cover two-thirds the cost of tuition at the average public college or university and make community college tuition completely free for most students. Obama will also ensure that the tax credit is available to families at the time of enrollment by using prior year’s tax data to deliver the credit when tuition is due.

Financial Aid: Obama will streamline the financial aid process by eliminating the current federal financial aid application and enabling families to apply simply by checking a box on their tax form, authorizing their tax information to be used, and eliminating the need for a separate application.

Source: http://www.barackobama.com/ issues/education/
Interview with Obama Education Advisor, Linda Darling-Hammond ]]> http://www.pbs.org/wnet/wherewestand/featured/the-2008-presidential-candidates-where-do-they-stand/140/feed/ 13 http://www.pbs.org/wnet/wherewestand/blog/geoffrey-canada-the-harlem-childrens-zone/153/ http://www.pbs.org/wnet/wherewestand/blog/geoffrey-canada-the-harlem-childrens-zone/153/#comments Thu, 04 Sep 2008 19:52:13 +0000 lisa gray http://www.pbs.org/wnet/wherewestand/2008/09/04/geoffrey-canada-the-harlem-childrens-zone/

“This is about millions of American children who have no job, who have no possibility of getting a job, and what to do with them. There is no plan. This is a national crisis that we’ve got to get serious about, and we need some real leadership in this nation on that issue. The truth of it is, this is neither a Democratic nor a Republican issue. This is an American issue.”

- Geoffrey Canada, founder and President of the Harlem Children’s Zone

Block by block. Child by child. That’s how Geoffrey Canada set out to save at-risk children in some of the most devastated neighborhoods of Central Harlem.

In 1970, he founded the Harlem Children’s Zone (HCZ) – a non-profit organization that’s been called one of the most ambitious social experiments of the century. Canada, 56, says his goal is to offer these children all they need to succeed in an ever-changing, competitive world. It’s a lofty dream, but one Canada has devoted his life to – and one he says the public school system has so far been unable to accomplish.

“We should not have a system where, if you’re born in one place, simply because people there are poor, you get an inferior education,” he says. “That’s not the kind of America I think that the framers of our Constitution envisioned.”

Canada himself could have been a victim of this kind of America. He grew up in a poor, violent neighborhood of the South Bronx, living in a tenement home with his single mother and three siblings. His mother worked several jobs to put food on the table. She also impressed upon her kids the importance of education.

Canada listened. He was a driven student, and worked his way through Bowdoin College, then the Harvard School of Education. When he came home to the Bronx, he says he was stunned to see that in all the years of his absence, little had changed.

“If you happen to grow up like I did, and you went to a school that failed 70 to 80 percent of its kids, and you go back 50 years later, and see the same failure rate, you say to yourself, how could this be?” he says.

That’s when his work as a child advocate began. In 1983 he joined a nonprofit in Harlem called the Rheedlen Centers, and in 1998 he became its President. Instead of targeting the Center’s work on a handful of specific issues, Canada decided to cast its net wider to several blocks of Central Harlem, an area in which he promised to offer services to every child.

Today, the Harlem Children’s Zone operates on a fiscal budget of approximately $58 million – some of it donated by private sources, some corporations and a small portion from the Federal Government. True to Canada’s goal, the organization serves more than 10,000 at-risk kids – providing them with a network of social services and a high-quality education – all at no cost.

What’s more, Canada says, the Harlem Children’s Zone has diminished the societal costs of failing to provide these kids with sufficient education and healthcare.

“When you send a kid to jail for ten years, they do not come out prepared to get a job, to pay their taxes, to raise their families. You have created a crippled citizen, who is going to be on the public payroll for almost the rest of his or her life,” he explains. “The antidote to having kids in jail, is to get them into college.”

Canada also believes in intervening early through what’s called the Baby College. The workshop invites new parents to learn how to raise their kids to ensure a good education. To minimize the chances that his kids will fall victim to street crime, he keeps them off the streets – requiring after-school activities and longer school years.

So far, it seems, the formula is working – with approximately 95 percent of the kids who attend going on to college. And other cities, including Baltimore, are taking note – deliberating copycat programs in their own at-risk neighborhoods.

What will it take for more of America’s schools to produce these kids of results? According to Canada, success depends on accountability.

“No one has taken real accountability and said, ‘I’m going to fix this problem. I’m going to put politics aside, and I’m going to do what’s right for America’s children,” he says. “That’s the kind of leadership I think this nation needs.”

Where We Stand highlights key obstacles and opportunities facing American schools. In addition to characters and stories in the film, we asked some of the nation’s top education experts their thoughts about the most pressing issues discussed in the program: global competition, technology in our schools, No Child Left Behind, the economy, teacher professional development, finance, student achievement, standardized testing and more.

Foxfire Center for Student Success – In East Central Ohio, Zanesville is representative of the many designated economically transitional and at-risk towns in the Appalachian Region. Unemployment remains above state and national rates, 8.1 percent, and the average annual household income is $27,900.

Foxfire alternative school was started in 2000 by the assistant principal and a group of teachers at Maysville High School in Maysville School District. The program was designed for those students at Maysville that were struggling to fit into the traditional school environment. “These kids weren’t coming to school because they had to work to support their families, but they’re still good students,” said Maysville superintendent Monte Bainter. “We had all kinds of programs established for kids but certain students never fit into them.”

Starting as an offshoot of Maysville High School, students were offered evening classes instead of suspension or after school programs. That first year, 12 students participated. This year’s enrollment is at 207 students aged 16-22. Students apply, or are referred, to Foxfire from the surrounding Zanesville area. The targeted students include working teenagers, dropouts, would-be dropouts, pregnant teens and teen parents (2007-2008 student population included 30 teen pregnancies and 92 with children), and youth on probation or coming from the juvenile justice system. Students come to class in shifts, with the option of choosing from three four-hour slots in the day. They are required to either work or participate in community service for 15 hours per week.

The school’s mission stems from a Core Values system: Caring, Honesty, Teamwork, Discipline, Character, Work Ethic, Accountability, Commitment, Respect and Loyalty. “Having an environment where we teach and reciprocate respect, accountability and caring with the students has had the biggest impact,” said teacher and Director of Student Services, Austin Lewellen.

In part of creating a supportive and encouraging environment, the curriculum is a Project Based Learning program. The students enter the program at different levels of learning and different credit needs for high school completion. With project based learning, each student works at her own pace. Each project is set to fulfill state standards based on the Ohio Graduation Test (OGT), so after a student has completed it she receives a grade and earns the appropriate number of credits.

Cornelius Murphy, 19, a former Foxfire student, said the project based learning is beneficial to kids’ learning process. “For English I took the Tupac Shakur project class. Having class projects on subjects you’re familiar with makes the kids interested in doing the research, following through, and writing on the topic. With the hands-on interactive learning projects, a lot of us need that kind of teaching to learn.” Murphy enrolled himself at the school when he was 17, and at a 9th grade reading and math level. He feels the flexible school schedule was vital to his graduation. “Foxfire works because it’s for kids who don’t do well in a regular environment, for whatever reason. It gives students a chance to work, pay bills, pay for childcare, and learn a trade to help after graduation.”

Since graduating last year, Murphy has been working as a State Nursing Assistant and plans to attend a community college for a degree in Radiology. He received his SNA certificate with help from Foxfire career counselors and teachers. “If I hadn’t gone to Foxfire, I’d still be at Zanesville High trying to get my diploma,” said Murphy. “I would never drop out. But, it would take me a lot longer to finish all the credits and graduate.”

The school has a comprehensive Career-Based Initiative in which the students are introduced to varied fields of work and college opportunities. Each student is required to make three college visits with a staff member. Also, each student must choose a field of interest, which may include the military, and is required to do a job shadowing in that field for a minimum of sixty hours during the semester.

In an area with few choices or jobs, many youth choose to go into construction because of its higher pay, or join the military. To help encourage young people into the workforce and post-secondary training, Foxfire’s Youth Build Grant enrolls at-risk/dropout youth at a local technical school to receive training in order to build government housing within the county. The students are paid minimum wage during their training and in the end can earn up to $17 per hour.

Principal Todd Whiteman has worked diligently to make an environment where students can accelerate and feel like they belong to something. “The biggest challenge is to take these kids and get them well so they can learn. A lot of them have poor health, they come from environments where violence, drugs, alcohol and sex are prominent,” said Whiteman. “Ninety-percent of the kids are referred from the juvenile delinquency courts. But our hands-on learning curriculum makes the academic skills relevant and interesting to them.”

Whiteman’s Core Value system is also implemented with the teachers. In just a few years, Foxfire’s retention rate rose from 40 percent to 100 percent. The staff meets every morning for thirty minutes to assess and collaborate on curriculum mapping. “There has been a noticeable rise in respect and support among the teachers,” Whiteman said. “Wellness is an important factor in our school. The teachers need to care about themselves and the students.”

Samantha Fleming enrolled at Foxfire when she was 16, pregnant, and with only 7 high school credits. At the time she was enrolled at a vocational school but never went because of bad morning sickness. In just one year she completed 15 additional credits, passed the Ohio Graduation Test, and graduated high school last May. “I would have dropped out if it wasn’t for Foxfire,” said Fleming. “The teachers treat us as equals and with encouragement. Teachers would send cards in the mail saying ‘Sam, you’re doing a great job.’ It was always a constructive and positive environment.”

A crucial benefit to students is the Care Team initiative implemented by Superintendent Bainter. The Care Team is a collaborative of representatives from schools, mental, physical and behavioral health, child protection, juvenile court, law enforcement and child development. Foxfire has a full-time social worker and nurse on staff, as well as a part-time drug and alcohol counselor. “The Care Team initiative flags kids at the elementary age,” said Bainter. “At the beginning of each school year every staff person picks a group of kids to build a connection with. Connecting with kids is positive for the kids and for the adults. If kids think you care about them, they’ll work hard to prove successful to you and to themselves.”

Samantha Fleming took advantage of, and was grateful for, the Care Team presence. “Every Friday we had the Parenting Class. We’d meet, pregnant or teen parents, and talk about pregnancy, labor, parenting, physical and emotional needs,” said Fleming. During the school year, Samantha worked part-time at her mother’s tanning salon. This fall she plans on studying Nursing or Cosmetology at nearby Zane State College.

One of the biggest challenges of many schools is meeting state requirements and assessments. But Foxfire’s system of teaching, learning and caring has helped overcome that challenge. In just two years the number of students that passed the state 10th grade reading proficiency exams rose from 36.4 percent to 75 percent. Each tested area for the OGT increased by 60 percent -242 percent. The school was recently deemed as Best Practice and model for alternative schools by the Ohio Department of Education. It also met all requirements for the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) in the state’s annual report card. And the class of 2007 had a remarkable 97.3 percent graduation rate, outpacing the state average of 86.9 percent.

Read a recent article in EdWeek, “Returning Dropouts Said to Face Too Tough a Road to Graduation.”

Ohio’s Appalachian region was once highly dependent on heavy industry, agriculture and mining. Like other states previously reliant on manufacturing and industry, the majority of jobs today are in health care, retail and service industries. Poverty remains high. While some communities have improved over the years, many are still adjusting to disappearing sectors and lack of basic infrastructure, such as water and sewer systems. Surrounding metropolitan areas have seen increases in employment opportunities with better pay and technological skills. But those jobs haven’t made it into these rural counties.

Education remains a challenge, as well. High school completion rate is around 68 percent. And those that do leave high school are often unprepared for skilled labor jobs or even community college. Rural schools are less likely than those in non-rural schools to offer programs that prepare students for current and anticipated jobs. The offerings typically reflect the differences in labor markets. Jobs that are available are usually in the nearest city, which could be up to an hour’s drive or more. Next to joining the military, vocational or technical schools can sometimes be another option for students in rural areas to advance skills and learning.

Jobs in the Appalachian area of Ohio are starting to demand a technically trained workforce in math and science-related fields, including electrical maintenance and computerized numerical control occupations. Tamra Pace, Director of Communications at Zane Sate College, sees a rise in corporate responsibility. To help accelerate an incoming workforce, companies are requiring an Associate’s degree for jobs that previously required a Bachelor’s degree. “This results in increased levels of responsibility and mobility within a corporation,” said Pace. “American Electric Power, one of the biggest corporations in the area, is hiring our graduates with a degree in Electrical Engineering Technologies to fill technical jobs previously filled with personnel with Bachelor’s degrees. And with the aging population, health-related occupations are in great demand.”

Hocking Community College is taking a different approach. The school has designed programs in order to attract businesses. Green companies and fuel cell application companies are growing in the Canton and Athens areas of Ohio. Lynn Hull, Director of Enrollment, says Hocking is taking advantage of advancing technological fields. “Hocking is trying to be on the front end of what we hope is the future of the state of Ohio,” said Hull. “We’re trying to increase the green collar job workforce, so when it happens, these young people will be the best and brightest and ready.”

But getting those young people to the starting line has proven difficult. Hocking is not alone in seeing a noticeable increase in remedial classes for students in reading and math. “These students are educationally disenfranchised from an early age and it gets worse over time,” said Hull. “Teaching to the test methods are unproductive. All learners are different, and more kids lack basic skills at an early age in impoverished areas. We need to make knowledge relevant to real world skills.” Hull’s recommendation to make reading and math seem relevant to students by making learning a hands-on experience fits the model of other successful alternative schools. “We feel hands-on training, in-field training, sensory training technical schools are what students need more of,” said Hull. “It is in these environments where students truly excel in learning.”

In March 2008, New York Public Television hosted the third annual Teaching & Learning Celebration in New York City. The Celebration is a two-day professional development conference for educators.

Here you will find excerpts from the panel discussion, Where We Stand: America’s Schools in the 21st Century. Panelists include Judy Woodruff, Roy Romer, Michael Flanagan, Billy Cannaday, Andreas Schleicher and Kim Oliver.

The fourth annual Teaching & Learning Celebration will be held on March 6 and March 7, 2009. Please visit their website for more information.

http://www.thirteencelebration.org/

Discusses testing and assessment.

Discusses global competition and comparisons of other countries’ education systems.

Discusses standards and expectations.

Discusses state of education and the economy in Michigan.

Discusses reason for panel discussion and state of education system.

Addresses Teaching and Learning Celebration attendees.