Arne Duncan addresses education writers
The Education Writers Association conference kicked off yesterday in Washington, and Arne Duncan spoke to our group last night. Some highlights (on issues I didn't talk about last week when I covered his talk at University of Maryland):
-- Unproven programs are "absolutely worth trying." Performance pay is still new in education, but it increases worker productivity in other industries. If we never try new things, we'll never know if they can work.
-- Closing failing schools in Chicago, the saddest part was showing parents the data. No one had ever talked to them, and they didn't know they were the worst in the city.
-- Districts should hold principals accountable for school culture.
-- School districts should be judged on their graduation rate -- and not necessarily a four-year rate. Nothing's wrong with giving a struggling kid extra time. And districts should not be penalized in their statistics for bringing dropouts back.
-- "If there's one word that captures my state of mind these days, it is urgency."
I had the opportunity to briefly meet Duncan after his talk, and he asked me what I think of the work Dr. Alonso is doing in Baltimore. I said it sounds like they share many of the same ideas.
Categories: Around the Nation, Baltimore City
Baltimoresun.com's 
Comments
Merit based pay for teachers is a terrible idea. Let's assume that an algbra 1 teacher's pay is based on her students' pass rate of the Algebra/Data Analysis HSA. Systems of linear equations is one of the topics on the Algebra/Data Analysis HSA. Traditionally, that teacher would teach her students how to solve a system of linear equations by graphing, substitution, elimination, and when they've mastered those skills, by using the graphing calculator. If that teacher's pay was merit based then she would most likely skip or cut short teaching the students actual algbra i.e. graphing, substitution, and elimination. She would instead spend more time having her students remember a few keystrokes so that they could solve those problems using the graphing calculator. Many of her students will get those problems correct but will have no understanding of the algebra behind it.
Here's an interesting article by Danny Westneat of The Seattle Times about merit based pay for teachers.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/dannywestneat/2008902412_danny22.html
Posted by: Catherine | May 1, 2009 9:57 AM
Does the news from US Ed Secretary that federal dollars will be following districts that are engaging in these types of difficult reforms influence anyone's thinking about the Banks/TMHS/Lemmel situation? Should the increased likelihood of external funding (Foundations, feds, etc) be considered in making closing/principal/teacher decisions?
Interested to see individuals' thoughts on this one.
Posted by: Bill | May 1, 2009 1:23 PM