• American students are among the most tested in the world.
• State spending on standardized tests has almost tripled in the last six years to over a billion dollars.
• China, Singapore, and Finland and most European countries have national standards. The U.S. doesn’t.

THE QUESTION: IS ALL OF THIS TESTING DOING ANY GOOD?

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/reports/globalization/finland-whats-the-secret-to-its-success/206/ http://www.pbs.org/wnet/wherewestand/reports/globalization/finland-whats-the-secret-to-its-success/206/#comments Fri, 05 Sep 2008 20:18:26 +0000 lisa gray http://www.pbs.org/wnet/wherewestand/?p=206

Finland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe – the majority of it covered with forests and lakes. It boasts great natural beauty, world-renowned saunas, and is home to the phone giant Nokia.

But none of these attributes are what inspires delegations from more than 50 countries to travel there annually. Instead, these international visitors head to Finland for a first-hand look at one of the things the country does best: education.

The Finns call these delegates “educational pilgrims.” Their mission? To find out the secret to the Finn’s success. Finland has always boasted first-rate schools, but the country has made headlines over the past decade for consistently performing at the top of an international test known as PISA (The Programme for International Student Assessment). Sponsored by the Organization for Economic Development (OECD), the test in reading, science and math is administered triennially to 15-year-olds in 57 developed countries, which together account for nearly 90 percent of the world’s GDP.

Of those countries, Finland placed first overall on the 2006 tests, which focused on science, compared with the U.S.’s position in the middle of the pack. Finland has maintained this lead since the test was first administered in 2000, ranking first in that year’s reading assessment. In addition, Finland has a high-school dropout rate of less than 1 percent – compared with roughly 25 percent in the U.S. And in tertiary education, the World Economic Forum ranks Finland first in the world in enrollment and quality.

When asked about their ranking, Finnish educators and experts consistently cite the country’s teachers. In Finland, they say, teaching is considered one of the most highly esteemed professions – hardly a surprise, considering the fact that all of the country’s teachers must hold master’s degrees, and the profession is highly competitive. Even though the salaries of Finnish teachers are comparable to those in the U.S., a job opening in a Finnish classroom typically attracts more than 40 applicants.

The job’s popularity can be partly attributed to the country’s liberal approach to its curriculum. In Finland, teachers are allowed to choose their own textbooks and customize their lesson plans. They aren’t required to administer standardized tests, and assign little homework.

“Teachers are very independent, and there is little cooperation between teachers,” says Maria Lisa Wahlfors, a teacher at the Tapiola School outside of Helsinki. “I think having this freedom is much better because I can choose the material I want to teach, and it can match my personality.”

In addition, the Finn’s success is due in large part to the country’s demographics. Unlike the United States, where great disparities in income and an extremely diverse population present obstacles to education, Finland enjoys one of the highest standards of living in the world, is largely homogeneous, and has a strong national culture.

“No Child Left Behind had ambitious goals of promoting services and educational opportunities for all children. In that sense it was a very important piece of legislation. It eliminated any sense that some children could not and should not be educated to the levels of all children. Now, the dilemma is what happened in the implementation. And we now know that we walked a very long mile between the vision and the reality.”
– Sharon Lynn Kagan, Associate Dean for Policy at Teachers College, Columbia University.

Signed into law in 2002, No Child Left Behind is President George W. Bush’s signature domestic policy initiative – a sweeping education law aimed at improving our public schools. NCLB, as the law became known, passed Congress with overwhelming bipartisan support. Hailed as a landmark follow-up to President Lyndon Johnson’s Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965, NCLB strengthened Title I – the program targeting billions of federal dollars to education for poor children, with the goal of closing the “achievement gap” between rich and poor, white and black. Or, as Bush famously said, challenging the “soft bigotry of low expectations.”

In addition, the law placed an unprecedented emphasis on accountability – requiring states to develop a set of standards for what every child should know and learn in reading and math. To measure that knowledge, NCLB made the education system more reliant on testing than ever before: mandating that every student from third to eighth grade (and one high school grade) take a state test every year – a total of approximately 45 million annual tests.

Why so many tests? One of the backbones of NCLB is strict accountability – something educators and legislators agreed was lacking in America’s schools. One of its more concrete goals was lofty; by 2014, every student must be proficient in reading and math. Those schools that do not meet the standards face federal intervention.

Since its passage, NCLB has become what is arguably one of the most unpopular pieces of education legislation ever passed. A public opinion poll, conducted by Gallup and Phi Delta Kappa International (an education organization), found that nearly six out of 10 Americans who are familiar with NCLB believe it has had no effect on schools, or a negative effect.

Criticism from lawmakers and educators is widespread, and sometimes fierce. Among the most commonly echoed charges: the legislation has been underfunded, it has focused too much on standardized testing, and its most admirable goals have been bogged down in complex details.

NCLB’s defenders say that the law has pumped billions of federal dollars into America’s schools, and that rising test scores are evidence of its success. Despite this claim, there’s no concrete evidence to support the idea that NCLB has made an appreciable mark on student achievement. Why? Under the law, states are required to set their own standards. To avoid penalization, some states have been charged with deliberately setting low standards – or gaming the system.

Under NCLB, states also have little incentive to develop tests that go beyond the multiple choice format – raising the charge that our system is creating generations of “bubble kids.” A recent survey by Education Week reported that 42 percent of students are now taking state reading and math tests that are entirely multiple choice – a format that saves both time and money.

States across the country have also joined the chorus of criticism against NCLB. Most recently Connecticut did so in court, filing suit against the federal Department of Education contending that NCLB is an unfunded mandate. More specifically, the state charges that the government has failed to fund all the tests the law requires.

Still, the Bush administration had hoped that Congress would reauthorize NCLB this year. Debate over the legislation, however, has left it floundering. And any changes to the law, which many legislators have proposed, are not likely to be considered until a new President enters the White House.

On the Presidential campaign trail, Sen. Barack Obama vows to overhaul NCLB – dubbing the law “No Child Left Behind Left the Money Behind,” and “Students Left Behind.” Obama believes that while the goals of NCLB were admirable, it’s been inadequately implemented by the Education Department, and has failed to markedly improve student achievement.

Sen. John McCain supports NCLB, but also promises to make changes. Chief among them: using growth models to measure student achievement, abandoning sanctions for underperforming schools, and moving away from the 2014 proficiency deadline.

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 standards and expectations.

On the impact of No Child Left Behind.

On how high the stakes are for the U.S. if we don’t raise the bar for our schools.