A Weekly Bulletin of News and Analysis from the Thomas B. Fordham Institute
June 13, 2007, Volume 1, Number 36
Ohio Gadfly has surrendered to the summer season and has taken off for an extended holiday. Readers can expect a new issue to buzz into their inboxes in early August.
Contents
Editorial
Editorial
Weeds Have STEMs, Too
Ohio's education system has reached a crossroads--at which it can either transition to a dramatically different and more productive model (as outlined in the recent McKinsey/ACHIEVE report here), or it can continue to tinker with incremental adjustments that render the system more complex and costly without producing substantial improvements in student learning.
Incrementalists, such as the well-entrenched adult interest groups backing the proposed school-funding amendment to Ohio's constitution, would have one believe that more money will cure the state's education ills. This despite the reality that Ohio is growing ever poorer, as evidenced by sobering new budget figures (see here). Serious reformers, on the other hand, acknowledge that Ohio needs a dramatically more effective education system than it has; that today's school results are dismal; that it's results that matter at day's end, not inputs; and that boosting them calls for a new education model. Such a model will be more efficient, with higher standards, enhanced transparency, universal results-based accountability, wider schooling options, and greater flexibility for educators to meet the varied needs of children.
Sadly, recent news from Columbus (and Dayton--see here and below) doesn't bode well for the serious reform crowd. Consider the legislation being drafted at the Statehouse to create a new set of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) schools. This effort comes on the heels of December's failure to reach consensus on another STEM bill (HB 695), and a $20 million earmark for STEM in the current budget. It also faces some stern opposition from many Democrats and their traditional allies within the educational establishment.
We were no fans of last year's STEM bill (see here). Its reliance on redundant and cumbersome new top-down systems to create and manage STEM schools reflected little of the innovation implicit in such a program. What's more, it completely overlooked the possibilities inherent in Ohio's extant school chartering framework, whereby groups with track records of success could seek to open high-quality STEM (or other innovative) schools under the watchful eyes of existing charter school sponsors.
The newest iteration of STEM legislation (at least as described to date) would be, if anything, even worse. As we see it, HB 155 would sacrifice innovativeness and effectiveness on the altar of political expediency. At best it would bring a tiny bit more incremental change to Ohio's education system. Consider two of its key provisions:
The first provision maintains the previous bill's yet-another-separate-school-system approach. That's both unnecessary and ill-conceived--since it mirrors Ohio's charter program and would be funded in a manner that's both stingy and inefficient. If Ohio's chartering experience has taught us anything, it's that quality programs, especially high school programs, aren't add-ons built on the cheap. (Will Ohio's STEM schools also be expected to pay for facilities out of their meager per-pupil funding while districts continue to construct new schools for their thinning student populations? That's what charter schools must do.)
The second provision represents capitulation to teacher unions and other traditional education groups--all of which hate charters schools and any other reform programs (such as alternative licensure for teachers, the EdChoice voucher program, and the special needs voucher) that threaten their monopoly control. Ceding oversight of STEM schools to school boards and ESCs--few of which have distinguished themselves as flexible innovators or experimenters--would sorely diminish, if not scuttle, any chances of a STEM program's success.
Yet these provisions, stifling enough on their own, are part of a broader misreading of STEM possibilities. We're speaking of the view that STEM should become a system of separate-and-distinct schools, when in truth it should represent a standard and concept that many organizations and networks should aspire to and seek to enter. What lawmakers should be doing with their STEM dollars is setting a STEM standard, almost a STEM "brand," associated with the effective delivery of 21st Century content and skills in math, science, etc. This should be attainable by any school (district, charter or private)--or college, non-profit organization, etc.--that believes in it and can make it work. It would, of course, need to include quality curricula, rigorous coursework, amazing teachers, astute uses of instructional technology, lofty performance expectations, and a host of partner organizations to enrich the program of study and create opportunities for young people to pursue STEM-related careers.
Any such STEM standard should be coupled with greater flexibility for schools and other providers to meet it. Yes, the draft legislation would grant the Ohio Board of Education the right to waive teaching requirements for STEM-subject teachers and also exempt STEM schools from state minimum school year and schedule requirements. But that's just the tip of the flexibility iceberg. (Consider,for example, absurd salary rigidities and dysfunctional seniority systems.)
Part of the $20 million for STEM programs should support creating a world-class STEM standard in Ohio and assisting interested schools in attaining it. The balance, along with considerable sums garnered from federal and philanthropic coffers, could fund a broader STEM consortium made up of schools meeting the STEM standard, universities seeking to partner with them, and businesses and research institutes that can offer teachers and students rich opportunities for hands-on learning in STEM fields. Schools failing to maintain the standard would have the STEM brand revoked, as well as the networks and resources that go with it. Pursuing this route would certainly encourage all schools--not just a select few--to compete for and retain STEM status.
As for content, a healthy STEM needs leaves and blossoms, too--rigorous liberal-arts courses that can increase students' chances for success in STEM subjects, cause creative juices to flow and produce flexible, adaptable, broadly-educated people for tomorrow's society, not just high-techies. Indeed, follow this logic and one quickly finds that the STEM movement, while championed as the savior of Ohio and the nation's talent needs, is really about standards for education as whole. It's no surprise that raising them is one of the key recommendations of the aforementionedMcKinsey/ACHIEVE report.
If Ohio policymakers are serious about transforming the state's education system into a world-class model, reinvigorating Ohio's economy, and creating a new generation of highly skilled workers, they should make STEM the standard--not simply another system in which to house another round of incrementalism.
by Chester E. Finn, Jr., Terry Ryan, Quentin Suffren
Guest Editorial
Survey Do?s and Survey Don?ts
Last month, Fordham published its biennial survey of Ohioans' views on education (see here). Who knew it would be the start of a trend? Two other surveys followed close on its heels--one from KnowledgeWorks (see here) and a second conducted by Baldwin-Wallace College (see here). In light of their diverse and--in some instances, inconsistent--findings, we asked Steve Farkas, president of the FDR Group (which conducted our survey,) to provide some tips for interpreting survey results.
Ohio has long been an epicenter for conflict around education reform--be it schemes to "fix" school funding, efforts to expand school choice, or attempts to ratchet up the level of rigor in Ohio's classrooms. Such conflict is reflected in the sheer number of surveys of Ohioans popping up lately, some of which report different, even contradictory, results. For rank and file Ohioans, inconsistent reports of what they "favor" or "oppose" may simply breed confusion and further pessimism about the chances for substantially improving education in the Buckeye State. Yet it is possible to draw some commonsense conclusions--and precautions--about where the Ohio public really stands. Here are some "do's" and "don'ts" to help make sense of all those data.
Don't believe surveys that show Ohioans are critical only of other people's schools, not their own. Buckeye residents don't think their local public schools are doing a great job. As the 2007 survey conducted by the FDR Group for the Fordham Foundation reveals, more than 4 in 10 (43 percent) Ohioans think that a high school diploma from their local public schools is no guarantee that the typical student has learned the basics. Only 41 percent of Ohio parents say they would send their own children to traditional public schools if money were not an issue. These ratings point to too many unhappy customers.
Be skeptical of surveys that show Ohioans are willing to pay more in tax money for the schools. Ohioans are polite and they value education. So it's hard for them to disagree when nice interviewers ask about spending more for something as important as the public schools. But if they believe the schools are educating ineffectively and spending their money ineffectively, do they really mean it? Our survey shows that Ohioans think--by a 71 percent to 21 percent margin--that if more money were spent on the public schools "the money would actually get lost along the way" rather than "get to the classroom and improve education." And recently, nearly 70 percent of all new school operating and capital levies on the ballot were voted down by the Ohio electorate. Since few educators or leaders bother to update voters on what happens to their money when they're not asking for it, citizens are left wondering what the schools are doing with the taxes they've been paying all these years.
Don't expect surveys to resolve the debate over reform of Ohio's system of school funding. Most Ohioans are not closely monitoring the minutiae of new funding schemes and haven't thought about how to restructure the school financing system. But the public does have some convictions that are relevant to the debate. In our survey, for example, 43 percent say it's the school districts themselves--not the state board of education (18 percent)--that they "trust most to make decisions about how to spend tax money allocated to Ohio's public schools." This is a pragmatic calculation that the closer decision-making is to the playing field the better the decision, not an ideological stance. And in focus groups people clearly evince another conviction: a desire to help the schools of poorer communities without preventing wealthier communities from spending more on theirs.
Be aware of surface support for a proposal when the public has not given much thought to an issue. Lacking any independent knowledge, people try their best to answer by looking to the question for clues. Thus much will depend upon survey question wording: what language is used and whether it is even understandable, which concepts and values are highlighted, which players are associated with the proposal. In short, they're going on instinct. For example, in our survey 63 percent of Ohioans support a concept called weighted-school funding, described in the question as "a proposal to make the amount of money that Ohio spends on children's education differ according to each child's individual needs and special circumstances, and to have all of that money follow children to the schools they attend." It's a complicated thought and a new one for the vast majority of people to consider. The fact that most favor it means that people like what they heard in the question, and that there's initial support worth exploring--but not that the issue is resolved.
Carefully scrutinize polls that show the public abandoning a policy they previously supported. Once they commit to a policy, people just don't change their minds easily or capriciously and often have a lot more patience than leaders and elites. Instead, pay attention to trend data--i.e., survey questions that are repeats of previously asked questions. For example, the FDR/Fordham survey reveals that support for charter schools is stable (2007: 52 percent in favor; 2005: 51 percent in favor). When substantial shifts in opinion occur, it's typically in response to something real that's occurred in the world.
Finally, be suspicious of surveys that give the public a chance to reach for simplistic solutions to funding dilemmas or a chance to reach for the proverbial "free lunch." Taxpayers will, of course, like proposals that offer to cap their property taxes, to exempt whole groups from levies, to take money from magical places like tobacco settlements. A survey may skip the part where the public has to wrestle with policy tradeoffs and costs; responsible elected officials will not be able to.
Many observers believe that the public is easy to manipulate. As it turns out, it's opinion polls that are easy to manipulate.
by Steve Farkas
Steve Farkas is the president of Farkas Duffett Research Group. Prior to co-founding the FDR Group, Steve was Research Director at Public Agenda, a nonprofit and nonpartisan think tank, from 1992 to 2004. Steve is the principal author of over 100 major opinion studies on a range of issues from public education, families, poverty and immigration, to social security, crime and foreign policy.
Reviews and Analysis
Gem City Blues
As schools across Ohio adjourn for summer vacation, officials at the Dayton Public Schools (DPS) still face some tough decisions and serious challenges before they can enjoy it. In May, the district failed to pass a 15-mill levy, forcing $30 million in cuts. As a result, over 200 instructional staff will be furloughed (and be further penalized by Ohio's regressive teacher pension system if they move to another field--see here); two district schools will be shuttered; and numerous programs will be merged, drastically curtailed or eliminated (even successful and popular ones like Stivers School for the Arts).
The dire fiscal crisis at DPS has even merited national attention. Two recent New York Times articles (see here and here) chronicled the drama surrounding one of DPS's more innovative programs, the Dayton Early College Academy (DECA), which graduated its first senior class this spring. Under the district's contract with the local union, DECA's hand-picked staff (consisting of mainly younger teachers) was in danger of being replaced with teachers with more seniority but little knowledge of or aptitude for delivering the school's academic program. Fortunately, DPS allowed DECA to leave the district and become a district sponsored charter school--a move that took foresight and some courage on the part of district board members. (At this point, DPS will still remain its sponsor even though this is sure to irritate the teachers union).
Meanwhile, in response to an invitation from Speaker of the House Jon Husted, a group of civic, community and education leaders (district and charter) convened to discuss both the future of the district and education itself in Dayton (we've already advocated making "lemonade"--see here). Among the meeting's presenters, former director of Indianapolis' mayoral-controlled charter program (see here), discussed innovative and mutually beneficial instances of district-charter collaboration. Susan Bodary, executive director of a Dayton P-16 consortium, stressed the need to connect instructional opportunities in math and science (via STEM initiatives) to economic development in the area. And Speaker Husted insisted that state budgets are already stretched thin, so creativity and innovation, not simply "more money," will be key to solving Dayton's education issues.
Despite high expectations (some downright unrealistic), participants left the summit with only a stark realization of the challenges ahead for Dayton and a commitment to convene again. With no easy answers or easy money in sight, it's clear that the Dayton Public Schools and larger community will need to embrace radical education reform if the economic prospects of the Gem City are to shine again.
by Quentin Suffren
Slipping Standards, Serious Consequences
The growing number of students scoring "proficient" on Ohio's battery of K-12 state assessments (and a slew of tests in other states) may, in part, be attributed to some weak-kneed tests and low cut scores for passage. A new report from the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences (see here) compared student scores in fourth- and eighth-grade math and reading on the 2005 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)--considered the "gold standard" of assessments by many--with those on myriad state tests across the nation. The results suggest that too many state accountability policies--Ohio's included--pay only lip service to claims of high standards and rigor.
When 32 state proficiency standards for fourth-grade reading were placed on the NAEP scale, none met the NAEP's minimum proficient cut score. A whopping 24 failed to meet even the NAEP's "Basic" cut score. Eighth-grade reading fared only slightly better. Again, none of the 34 state proficiency standards matched up to the NAEP's (only Wyoming's and South Carolina's came close)--and 13 fell below the NAEP's "Basic" standard. In fourth-grade math, two of the 33 states analyzed met or exceeded the NAEP's proficiency standard--Wyoming and Massachusetts. The eighth-grade math analysis saw three out of 36 states meet or exceed the NAEP standard. Yet in both math comparisons, most states hovered between NAEP's "Basic" and "Proficiency" standards, and more than a few languished in the nether regions below "Basic."
Count Ohio's proficiency standards in fourth- and eighth-grade reading among the bottom-dwellers. In fourth- and eighth-grade math, the Buckeye State's standards improve slightly, though still fall squarely between "Basic" and "Proficient" on the NAEP scale. This "proficiency gap" explains why in 2005-06, Ohio deemed 77 percent of its fourth-graders and 69 percent of its eighth-graders as proficient or above in math, while the 2005 NAEP pegged those percentages at just 43 (for grade 4) and 34 (for grade 8). In reading, only 35 percent of fourth-graders and 36 percent of eighth-graders scored proficient or above on the 2005 NAEP--in stark contrast to Ohio's 2005-06 figures of 77 percent in both grades.
To be sure, the problem is a national one (see here), and Ohio is by no means the most lenient of states. (Tennessee's proficiency standards plumb the depths at all four grade levels, and Mississippi's abysmally low fourth-grade reading standard deserves a scale all its own.) Yet the marked differences in rigor evidenced by this study have serious consequences down the line. Consider the recent drama over Ohio seniors failing to graduate because they could not pass all portions of the Ohio Graduation Test (OGT), a 10th grade level (see here and here). In Cleveland, over 1,300 district seniors--43 percent of the senior class-- fell into this category (see here).
The solution, one that would help Ohio and other states reconcile assessment rigor with real-world expectations, may lie in one set of national standards and assessments (as we've argued before --see here and here). With a common set of academic expectations, students in Ohio and across the nation could also be held to a common definition of proficiency--one that might very well swell the ranks of Ohioans who not only don cap-and-gown, but also graduate ready for college and the global marketplace.
by Quentin Suffren