Arne Duncan: Face Of Change In Education

Arne Duncan has taken some downright scurrilous attacks in his short time as Secretary of Education. You'd think he had a secret child labor camp, spiriting the little kiddies off for hours of forced labor under the guise of charter schools. I mean, you know, What Would Hitler Do?


It's astonishing to me that anybody would make these kinds of assertions about this guy considering his background and devotion to education. His mother started a children's center http://www.sueduncanchildrenscenter.org in 1961 in Kenwood, a rough part of Chicago at the time. She took her 3 privileged children with her to the center every day to help out as they were able, from sharpening pencils as children to tutoring as teen-agers. Arne learned to play basketball in those neighborhoods along with personal lessons of inequality that most folks never understand. Kids, his friends, that dropped out of school were the ones who died from street crime. He also learned that there was no reason for it.


"I grew up with folks in mom's school who were smarter than me, more talented, harder working, and just didn't have the opportunities I had," Arne Duncan says.


Duncan's first job after receiving his degree was with the Ariel Education Initiative, funded by Investment Banker John W. Rogers, Jr, a childhood friend from the children's center. This program provided mentoring and the promise of an affordable college if they graduated from high school. From there Duncan moved into the Chicago Public Schools where he eventually implemented Renaissance 2010 which included a tough program to turnaround underperforming schools and the founding of charter and contract schools, which accounted for 7% of all Chicago schools in the 2008-2009.


http://ren2010.cps.k12.il.us/docs/ONS_PerfReport.pdf


http://www.gse.harvard.edu/blog/news_features_releases/2009/09/will-obamas-choice-change-education-in-america.html>http://www.gse.harvard.edu/blog/news_features_releases/2009/09/will-obamas-choice-change-education-in-america.html


He is now bringing reforms to the nation's schools, many of which have students that experience worse poverty and despair than some in Chicago. During a visit to Lame Deer High School at the http://www.kivitv.com/global/story.asp?s=12957016>Northern Cheyenne Reservation in Montana, Duncan heard total hopelessness and was “incredulous” that “in the past six years, only eight students have gone on to four-year colleges”.


When Duncan says he only wants success, “especially for historically underserved low-income and minority students”, he is thinking of all of the nation's young people, from the reservation to the forgotten minority neighborhoods.


So what are these reforms that have raised the hackles of half the teachers of America? While Race To The Top garners 90% of the headlines, it is actually only one of a number of programs being implemented. The 2009 Recovery Act provided over $100 billion in education funding, only $4 billion of which is RTTT. $53 billion was set aside to cover shortfalls in state and county 2009 budgets, $25 billion for school repair and modernization, $4 billion for head start and child development, $13 billion for Title I, and $13 billion for IDEA.


Recovery Act reform starts with the http://broadeducation.org/asset/429-arrasmartoptions.pdf>ARRA Smart Reform Options, a collective of ideas released after the best educators from the country convened in Washington, DC, in early April 2009. They should look familiar as they have become the foundation of Duncan's education reforms and


Priority 1: Develop Common American Standards


27 states have adopted the new http://www.corestandards.org/>Common Core Standards, an initiative led by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State Schools Officers. Teachers, Administrators, Researchers, and Curriculum and content specialists were brought together to address K-12 and college and career readiness expectations.


“The common core standards, two years in the making and first released in draft form in March, are an effort to replace the current hodgepodge of state policies.


They lay out detailed expectations of skills that students should have at each grade level. Second graders, for example, should be able to read two-syllable words with long vowels, while fifth graders should be able to add and subtract fractions with different denominators.”


http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/21/education/21standards.html>http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/21/education/21standards.html


Priority 2: Provide Data and Information that Educators, Policymakers, and Parents Can Use


“Over the next four years, two groups of states, 44 in all, will get $330 million to work with hundreds of university professors and testing experts to design a series of new assessments that officials say will look very different from those in use today.”


The new tests, which Secretary of Education http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/d/arne_duncan/index.html?inline=nyt-per>Arne Duncan described in a speech in Virginia on Thursday, are to be ready for the 2014-15 school year.


“They will be computer-based, Mr. Duncan said, and will measure higher-order skills ignored by the multiple-choice exams used in nearly every state, including students' ability to read complex texts, synthesize information and do research projects.”


“If these plans work out, it'll turn the current testing system upside down,” said Bruce Fuller, an education professor at Berkeley


http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/03/education/03testing.html?_r=1&ref=arne_duncan>http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/03/education/03testing.html?_r=1&ref=arne_duncan


AFT President Randi Weingarten:

The U.S, Department of Education today announced it has awarded grants to two consortia of states to develop a new generation of student assessments. The Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers will receive $170 million, and the SMARTER Balanced Assessment Consortium will receive $160 million. Together the two groups include 44 states and the District of Columbia.

WASHINGTON—“We applaud today's announcement. These grants take a solid step toward developing better assessments of student achievement. This is a welcome move away from single high-stakes tests—a move that will better inform teaching and learning.”

http://www.aft.org/newspubs/press/2010/090210.cfm>http://www.aft.org/newspubs/press/2010/090210.cfm


Priority 3: Conduct Meaningful Teacher Evaluations


“Districts must create fairer, more accurate, and more useful teacher evaluation systems, developed with teachers and their unions. The evaluations should comprise four elements: a description of what good teaching looks like (codified in an evaluation “instrument”), a measure of how much the teacher has contributed to student learning over time, a regular evaluation process during which teachers are observed and receive specific advice about what to improve and how, and meaningful follow-up in the form of targeted professional development and support.”


For instance, a recent NEA evaluation of the http://forum.mdischools.net/sites/default/files/forum.mdischools.net/2009_NEA_teacherevaluationsystems.pdf>Teacher Advancement Program that operates in 14 states found that “TAP teachers consistently outperformed teachers in similar non-TAP schools in both student achievement gains and proficiency, teacher and principal surveys have found high levels of sup­port for the system, and teachers felt the program pro­moted collaboration and profes­sional growth.”


Priority 4: Turn Around Low-Performing Schools



Partnership Zones in Delaware
http://www.doe.k12.de.us/news/2010/0202.shtml>http://www.doe.k12.de.us/news/2010/0202.shtml


Delaware, along with five other states (Colorado, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts and New York) will participate in a three-year public-private partnership to create scalable and sustainable strategies for turning around clusters of their lowest-performing schools. A two-year extension is slated to follow the initial three-year effort. The announcement was made today by the http://www.massinsight.org/turnaround>School Turnaround Group at Mass Insight Education & Research Institute, a non-profit organization that published the ground-breaking 2007 report, The Turnaround Challenge.


http://www.dsea.org/Accountability/RTTT.html>http://www.dsea.org/Accountability/RTTT.html


Green Dot of California is a very successful and popular turnaround model in Los Angeles. Green Dot was granted control of http://www.greendot.org/green_dot039s_transformation_of_locke_high_school_yields_impressive_retention_and_enrollment_rates>Locke High School in 2008-2009 school year, when over 50% of Locke's tenured teachers signed a petition to turn over governance of Locke High School to Green Dot Public Schools. This historic decision marked the first time that teachers, supported by an external school operator, forced the restructuring of a traditional public school.


“Green Dot attributes its successful turnaround at Locke to several key factors, including breaking the school into a family of seven small schools, bringing in new teachers and principals to ensure alignment with the educational philosophy, creating a clean, inviting and safe campus, increasing interventions, and creating an integrated alternative education program. Each of the schools in the Locke cluster are autonomous, supported by Green Dot's efficient back office, and all of the teachers are members of the Asociación de Maestros Unidos, a CTA/NEA affiliate and the exclusive collective bargaining unit of Green Dot teachers in Los Angeles.”


Priority 5: Help Struggling Students


“Good teaching can overcome these challenges.”


“In Dallas, for instance, students who had three consecutive years of effective teachers improved their mathematics test scores by 21 points.”


“Tennessee is reviewing the distribution of teachers in six urban districts by qualification and experience level, as well as the distribution of effective teachers, using data generated from the state's “value added” longitudinal data system.”


Put the best teachers in front of the neediest students. Guilford County in NC is offering $10,000 recruitment incentives, for instance. Increase stability with teacher retention, extend school hours, increase learning days, and build on success.


Amidst all of this CHANGE is Race To The Top and School Improvement Grants. RTTT has awarded 12 states with several million dollars, from $75 million for Hawaii to $700 million for Florida. were the first two winners, chosen in larger part due to consensus from all interested parties, including the local teachers' unions.


Delaware obtained signatures of participation from 100% of Local Education Agency (LEA) superintendents, 100% from the presidents of local school boards, and 93% from the local teachers' union leaders. Tennessee at it obtained 100% of the signatures in each category except teachers' union leaders, gaining 93% approval from them.


Delaware stood out for its overhaul plan that included a promise to identify the state's worst-performing schools and then turn them around within two years. It also achieved high marks for giving extra bonuses to teachers and principals willing to work in the toughest, academically-challenged schools.


Union support remained important in the selection of the second round of RTTT States.


"In Massachusetts, http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2010/08/massachusetts_education_ideas_1.html, only school districts where the superintendent, School Committee and teachers' union committed to follow certain regulations are eligible to receive the money.”


In Hawaii, http://www.westhawaiitoday.com/articles/2010/08/25/local/local02.txt, the Hawaii State Teachers Association is cooperating with a plan to base 60 percent of a teacher's evaluation on student achievement. They must provide assistance to struggling teachers and will work out new procedures “if the situation doesn't improve”.


School Improvement Grants, according to Arne Duncan:


“Right now, our administration is distributing $4 billion dollars to states all across America to turn around our lowest performing schools. Many of those schools are in inner-city communities.


We're offering up to $6 million dollars per school over three years - which is a lot of money - over and above what they normally receive. Our resources will help, but what is most lacking now is the courage to change and the clear vision of what's possible.


The local leadership can choose from several different approaches to transition student achievement. Some require staffing changes and some don't.


Most require more training, a better curriculum, and more learning time.


You can also turn over the school to a private operator like a charter school and I want to take a minute to talk about charters because a lot of people are confused.


As many of you know - since some of you have your own schools - charter schools are public schools.


They serve our children with our money. They are accountable to us - just like regular public schools.


One big difference is that they have more autonomy. In many cases they hire non-union teachers - but not always. One of the best charter operators in the country is Green Dot in Los Angeles and they use union teachers. People forget that the charter school movement began with Albert Schanker, the legendary leader of the American Federation of Teachers.


The best of them - like the schools in the Harlem Children's Zone led by Geoffrey Canada - also provide social services and include parenting classes for young moms. They give parents books to read to their children. And they stay with them every step of the way, from Baby College to real college.


I'm not advocating for charter schools. I only want good schools. I don't care if they are charter schools or traditional public schools. We need both. We desperately need high-performing schools, the vast majority of our children will always be education in traditional public schools.


I only want success - especially for historically underserved low-income and minority students - and that's what the president wants."


http://www.ed.gov/news/speeches/education-and-destiny-secretary-arne-duncans-remarks>http://www.ed.gov/news/speeches/education-and-destiny-secretary-arne-duncans-remarks

I appreciate this history on Arne Duncan..there's so much invested in distortion that it isn't always easy to get real information except if you know where to look and where not to go.

We should try to keep this kicked for an easy reference guide~ :)

than the horror stories I hear from a few campaigners at DU.

It's a very positive approach. Thanks.

I hadn't known much about Arne's early background, and the more I read through your post, the more I gained an understanding of where he's coming from. There's been a lot written about him on DU that seems to come from a place of fear just short of (and maybe not even short of, WWHD), but from what I had read of him, I've always felt Duncan's commitment is to upgrade education in this country, not destroy it. I guess sometimes a side effect of true change is that it will at times be frightening, and maybe even painful, to some.

Looking forward to making my way through the links posted in your piece, and learning more about this subject. I especially liked reading about the Priorities.

http://obama-mamas.com/blog/?p=1887

I used an html to bbcode converter and it didn't convert right. I got tired of trying to figure them all out.

I was a lot more impressed with Duncan too. His mother is 70 and still goes to her childrens center every day. People complain that he's never taught in a classroom, but they don't realize he grew up in a classroom, his life was a classroom and still is.

follow the path of someone else..he's has his own unique journey.

:kick:

excellent links.