SCHOOL FOR THOUGHT

A Call for Choice

Kate Tennier has a great editorial in today’s National Post. Bravo!

While SQE is generally optimistic about the choices being offered, we agree with Tennier’s caution that unless choice mechanisms reach “tipping point” levels, they will not be the incentive that becomes the “tide to make all boats rise.”  Our critics know this all too well.  Tennier notes:

        “The board’s education director, Chris Spence, has stated that one reason for this initiative is to stem the flow of students from the public to the private system. It is not surprising then that I find myself on my more cynical days imagining a statistician beavering away at board headquarters doing the math as to just how much choice they need to offer to retain the students—and their funding—who would otherwise go to private schools.
         “And it is this very calculation, the one that says ‘choice but not too much’ that creates the problem. ‘Calculated choice’ is a well-known tactic of monopolistic systems to satiate the demands—and thereby quell the voices—of the empowered few who would otherwise demand much-needed structural change.”

We were both on Jerry Agar’s CFRB Newstalk 1010 show this morning discussing the choice issue.

So readers, is this the Toronto District School Board merely tossing a bone to a famished dog or is it the start of a tide of change?

Timely Advice

Dear Aunt Malkin,

Every night I spend two to three hours working with my eight-year-old son and six-year-old daughter teaching them the basic skills and knowledge they’re not learning at school. Coupled with the fact that I also have an active preschooler to attend to, I definitely have my hands full! But I am wondering whether there is something else I should be doing (please say no). Signed, Busy in Brampton

Dear Busy,

I’m afraid I do have one more suggestion for you - but you should think of it in terms of an investment that might save you a lot of time in the future, as opposed to just one more chore. Based on what you have written, it sounds to me as if your kids are attending their neighbourhood school even though it’s not doing such a hot job. You never know, there may be another school in your area that is much better… And April is such a good time for school shopping!

In my book, How to Get the Right Education for your Child, I outline ways of searching out and evaluating other schools. I also make suggestions regarding tactful ways to request a transfer to a better publicly-funded school. And, if it turns out you’re stuck with your neighbourhood school, I include advice on how to identify and request the school’s best teachers for next grade. I would be happy to send you a free copy of my book on request.

Regards, Aunt Malkin

Are Teachers’ Unions Bad for Kids?

Click here for an interesting account of a recent debate on whether or not the teachers’ unions are responsible for failing schools. Before the debate, the audience was polled on the question, with 43% agreeing, 24% disagreeing, and 33% undecided. After the debate had ended, 68% agreed that the unions were responsible for failing schools, 25% disagreed, and 7% remained undecided. You can watch the video by clicking here and then clicking on the “Audio/Video” link. In addition, you can cast your own vote on the motion (at press time, the results were 58% agreeing, 36% disagreeing, and 6% undecided).

Why Marrying a Good Speller is Important

Truth in Advertising

A frequent commenter to our blog is in the habit of making confident pronouncements about education - but fails to provide chapter and verse. Here is The Bible for his latest series of assertions.

1.  “The claim that 40% [of Ontario students] cannot do basic skills is bogus proven by the EQAO that you love and I think is worse than useless.”

The EQAO’s tests are based on the Ontario curriculum. They are not designed to evaluate the mastery of basic skills, but rather to assess whether or not the students have mastered their grade’s curriculum sufficiently to cope with the work of the next grade. The EQAO reports that roughly 35% of students (depending on the subject and the grade) are not ready for the next year’s work. Regardless of one’s opinion of the Ontario curriculum and the value of testing students’ mastery of it, the Ontario Auditor General has confirmed the reliability and validity of these tests. They are sending an important message.

2.  “It is not me it is ‘standardized testing’ like PISA and TIMMS by the OECD that says we are #2 in the world.” 

The Programme for International Assessment (PISA) is indeed administered by the OECD. In the most recent iteration (2006) Canadian 15-year-olds placed 3rd in science, 4th in reading, and 7th in math. The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) is administered by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement. In the most recent iteration (2007), the Canadian performance was expressed in terms of the four individual provinces that participated. Ontario placed 16th in grade 4 math and 8th in grade 8 math. In science, Ontario placed 12th in grade 4 and 11th in grade 8. Approximately 60 countries participated in both assessments, and they include quite a few educationally-backward countries like Yemen, El Salvador, Morocco, and Algeria.

3.  “I agree our students don’t learn enough but their teachers are totally blameless in this because the system is totally starved of the funding that it would take to make us #1 with the literacy of 15 year olds.”

There is no evidence that increased spending, except in cases of extreme deprivation, leads to more student learning.

4.  “We graduate more people from post secondary than any nation on the Earth. Am I satisfied with this? No I want to widen the gap and pull away on the other nations.”

According to the OECD, in 2007 Canada ranked 21st out of 25 OECD countries in terms of the percentage of its young people who are first-time graduates from university-level and vocationally-oriented tertiary education.

5.  “As you can see the level of satisfaction with teachers, local schools etc. Ontario voters want higher taxes and much more money spent on schools so the classes can be smaller and there are more SE teachers. What part of this is difficult for you?”

The part that is difficult for us is that we think that Ontario voters are clutching at the straw proffered by the usual suspects. If the public realized that money is not the problem (see the paper referenced in #3 above), they would likely withdraw their willingness to pay more. All this poll result shows is that Ontario voters are unhappy with the province’s public schools. After all, if they thought the schools were doing an excellent job, they would scarcely want to pay more for them.

TDSB To Create Choice

The Toronto District School Board is looking to create schools of choice.  The proposal, released yesterday, will see alternative schools modeled on private academies, such as a choir school, sports school, same sex schools, etc.  The new schools will be located in high-needs areas of the city.  See news reports here, here, and here.  This is very good news.

“The board’s hope is that by introducing these kinds of programs, it will be able to boost enrolment and attract students that might otherwise go to the private system.  ‘It’s about retaining and attracting students,’ said Dr. Spence.”  Bravo Dr. Spence!  You get it.

Dare we say that SQE played a big part in getting that ball rolling?  It only took four years.

Readers should know that in April 2006, SQE sponsored the Toronto leg of former Edmonton school director Angus McBeath’s speaking tour.  We called it:

“SAVING OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS: When cash-strapped school boards are losing students and budget deficits loom, can Ontario learn from Edmonton’s success in turning things around?”

McBeath was responsible for implementing Edmonton’s now famous and much copied system-wide reform, which came about as a direct result of trying to deal with declining enrolment and competition from charters and private schools.  McBeath asked, “What if we stopped acting like a monopoly?”,  and the rest is history.  SQE arranged for McBeath to meet with the board here in Toronto at that time. 

Naturally, the usual critics of choice have their say along with the usual hypocrisy.  In fact, one parent group leader has taken the words right out of Dr. Howard Fuller’s mouth.  (She must have read our March 22nd post.)  Ms. Kidder is quoted in the National Post:

“Choice is open to those with the capacity to choose.”  

And choose she did.

Now doesn’t that sound strangely similar to Dr. Fuller’s own words below?

“Those of us with money have the capacity to choose and the great hypocrisy that operates are those individuals who would never put their own children in certain schools denying poor parents the capacity to do it. We have teachers who teach in schools they would never put their own children in, demanding that other peoples’ children stay there. I find that to be hypocritical. We’ve got politicians running around talking about how important the public school structure is and then you ask them, ‘Well, where do your children go to school?’”  —From his January 2008 address to the Economic Club of Toronto where several TDSB trustees were in attendance.

Kidder is also quoted,  “What happens to the neighbourhood schools?”  Well, Annie, they get better.

Why The Middle Class Needs School Choice

Even though public opinion about the job that schools are doing is improving, confidence in our public schools is still low. Several “report cards” on school achievement have exposed the fact that what may appear on the surface to be a good school is really one that is coasting on past laurels. 

If readers think it is just parents at low SES schools that need choice, think again.  This article from the Harvard Education Letter is interesting!

Not at Good as You Think: Why The Middle Class Needs School Choice, an eye-opening book by Lance Izumi, Vicki Murray, and Rachel Chaney, has been made into a documentary.  The trailer can be viewed below.

Not as Good as You Think: The Myth of the Middle Class School, according to the filmakers, shatters the myth that “good” schools are found in “nice” neighborhoods.

Schools That Make a Difference

The C. D. Howe Institute has just released a study of Alberta schools that compares the academic performance of students with similar socio-economic backgrounds. By removing the influence of demographic factors, the author was able to estimate each school’s effectiveness. Table 1 lists the 13 most effective schools that include grade 9: seven are conventional public schools, three are private schools, and three are charter schools. Table 2 lists the top 22 schools that do not include grade 9: thirteen are conventional public schools, four are private, three are separate, and two are charters. Since there are considerably more public schools than private, separate, and charter schools in Alberta, it appears that it would be wise to foster the growth of alternative schooling options.

It is also clear that low socio-economic status need not doom students to academic failure. The families of Barnwell Public School students, for example, have extraordinarily low education levels - yet these students are achieving well. Clearly, the teachers at Barnwell Public School are doing something right.

An Unexpected Ally

We embarked on reading the latest addition to our lending library, The Flat World and Education: How America's commitment to equity will determine our future, by Linda Darling-Hammond, with some trepidation. Because the author has been identified by Newsweek Magazine as the "favorite of the unions", we were afraid that her book would be the usual diatribe against such things as standardized testing and merit pay. Now it's quite possible that we missed the woods for the trees, since there are an awful lot of words in this book, but we think that Dr. Darling-Hammond is calling for the introduction of measures that will bring about the success of every child in school - exactly what SQE wants too! Here is an excerpt from the conclusion to her book.

"Creating schools that enable all children to learn requires the development of systems that enable all educators and schools to learn. At heart, this is a capacity-building enterprise leveraged by clear, meaningful learning goals and intelligent, reciprocal accountability systems that guarantee skillful teaching in well-designed, adequately resourced schools for all learners. It is not only possible but imperative that America close the achievement gap among its children by addressing the yawning opportunity gap that denies these fundamental rights." (p. 326)

We could have said it better ourselves!

Let Me Rise

If you liked Howard Fuller's comment about crazy mothers, then you will love the "crazy" real live mom who made school choice happen.

Virginia Walden Ford, and all the mothers like her, was the driving force behind school choice in Washington, D.C. There are lots of mothers just like Virginia all over the U.S.  Don't underestimate their presence in Canada, especially in big cities like Toronto.

Take a look at what Virginia and other families have to say in this extremely moving short film Let Me Rise and you will see why Obama's decision to phase out the DC voucher program is a crying shame.

It is really worth watching the whole film, but a short trailer is below. What you might find truly alarming are the words of retiring NEA Counsel, Bob Chanin, who made his farewell speech at the union's 2009 conference:

"It is not because we care about children; and it is not because we have a vision of a great public school for every child. It is because the NEA, and its affiliates, are effective advocates because we have power." 

Most of all, you will wish parents had power too.