Triangle Coalition For Science And Technology Education

Last Thursday, President Obama announced that 10 states – Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oklahoma, and Tennessee – will receive waivers, exempting them from meeting specific requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB).

Flexibility is only being granted to those states that requested waivers and meet the Administration’s prerequisites. For example, states must have already adopted and developed plans to implement college and career-ready standards in reading and math. States must also create comprehensive principal development and teacher evaluation systems that include factors beyond test scores, such as principal observation, peer review, student work, or parent and student feedback.

States receiving waivers no longer have to meet the deadline that all students reach proficiency in math and reading by 2014. States must, instead, set new performance targets for improving student achievement and closing achievement gaps. They also must have accountability systems that reward high-performing schools as well as those making significant gains in student achievement. States will develop their own intervention strategies to turn around the lowest performing schools and to help subgroups of students with the greatest needs.

An eleventh state, New Mexico has also requested a waiver, and twenty-eight other states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico have indicated that they, too, intend to seek waivers before the next deadline later this month.

In a White House announcement Thursday, the President said that NCLB is driving the wrong behaviors, from teaching to the test to federally determined, one-size-fits-all interventions.

“After waiting far too long for Congress to reform No Child Left Behind, my Administration is giving states the opportunity to set higher, more honest standards in exchange for more flexibility,”  said President Obama. “Today, we’re giving 10 states the green light to continue making reforms that are best for them.  Because if we’re serious about helping our children reach their potential, the best ideas aren’t going to come from Washington alone. “

The President, once again, called on Congress to work across the aisle to find a long-term solution as the waivers provide just a temporary fix to the current version of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), NCLB, which expired five years ago. Over the last year, both the House and Senate have worked on their own versions of ESEA rewrites, and the Obama administration submitted its own “Blueprint for Reform,” but there has yet to be bipartisan consensus  on any reauthorization plan.

Expressing disappointment with the President’s waiver decision, Senator Mike Enzi (R-WY), Ranking Member on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, said “This action clearly politicizes education policy, which historically has been a bipartisan issue. It is time for the president to work with Congress on important issues like this, instead of acting unilaterally.”

House Introduces ESEA Legislation

At the same time, the House Education and the Workforce Committee continued to move forward with its own plan for ESEA as Chairman John Kline (R-MN) introduced two pieces of legislation last Thursday. The Student Success Act (H.R. 3989) and the Encouraging Innovation and Effective Teachers Act (H.R. 3990) address accountability provisions, or Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP), with state-developed accountability systems, local teacher evaluation systems, and flexibility with the use of federal funds.

Chairman Kline said, “The administration’s waiver scheme provides just enough temporary relief to quiet the demand for lasting reform. Rest assured, my colleagues and I on the House Education and the Workforce Committee haven’t lost our sense of urgency. We must move forward and advance long-term solutions to the challenges facing the nation’s schools.”

Notably absent from the bills are any provisions for strengthening science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. In fact, the Student Success Act removes the current requirement for state testing in science.  The bill summary reads, “To reduce the burden of over-testing on our nation’s students, the bill eliminates the federal requirement that states administer assessments in science. States would retain the option to develop assessments in science and other subjects at their discretion.”

Additionally, the Encouraging Innovation and Effective Teachers Act would eliminates more than 70 existing elementary and secondary education programs which appears to include the Department of Education’s Math and Science Partnerships program (Title II, Part B).

The Committee on Education and the Workforce plans to hold a hearing on these two bills on Thursday, February 16.

Resources

• To find out more about the Student Success Act, read the EdWorkforce bill summary or fact sheet. Resources are also available for the Encouraging Innovation and Effective Teachers Act, including a bill summary and fact sheet.
• For more information on the NCLB waivers, visit http://www.ed.gov/esea/flexibility or read the White House Blog Post, Everything You Need to Know: Waivers, Flexibility, and Reforming No Child Left Behind.
• The Department of Education has posted State waiver documents; including flexibility requests, peer review notes, and a summary of improvements at http://www.ed.gov/esea/flexibility/requests

The U.S. Department of Education announced that STEM education is one of the new “absolute priorities” in the Investing in Innovation (i3) grants. The i3 competition was created under the Recovery and Reinvestment Act to encourage districts, along with community partners, to explore evidence-based, innovative approaches to improving student achievement. The first round in 2010 drew nearly 1,700 applications competing for a slice of $650 million.

The second round of i3 will be much smaller, providing a total of $150 million and awarding up to 22 winners. While the previous round required grant winners to secure 20% matching funds from the private sector, the matching requirements will be lower and scaled to the type of grant awarded.  According to the Department of Education, the smaller matching fund requirement, along with fewer selection criteria are part of “simplifications” made in response to feedback from prior applicants and other stakeholders.

Grants will be available to the same three categories as in the previous round: scale-up grants, validation grants, and development grants. Individual school districts, groups of districts, and nonprofits in partnership with districts or a consortium of schools are eligible to compete.

All applicants are required to select and address one of the following “absolute” priorities: Teachers and Principals; Standards and Assessments; Low-Performing Schools; Promoting science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, or STEM, education; Improving Rural Achievement. The last two are new to this round of i3 and reflect key areas of the administration’s agenda for education reform.

For applicants that compete under the new STEM education absolute priority, the Department will be looking at funding projects that are designed to address one or more of the following areas:

1. Students’ access to rigorous and engaging coursework in STEM
2. The number of students prepared for advanced study and careers in STEM
3. Professional development and/or high-quality preparation of STEM educators
4. The number of traditionally underrepresented minorities in advanced study and careers in STEM
5. The number of traditionally underrepresented minorities who are STEM educators and have access to high-quality professional development and/or preparation opportunities.

While little else has changed from the competition, here is a quick side-by-side comparison of i3 in 2010 and 2011.

Applications for the FY2011 i3 competition are due on August 2, 2011 and awards will be made no later than December 31, 2011. The Department of Education is offering pre-application workshops and webinars to those interested in applying.

The Department is also seeking peer reviewers for the FY2011 i3 grant competition from various backgrounds and professions including: PK-12 teachers and principals, college and university educators, educational evaluators, social entrepreneurs, strategy consultants, grant makers and managers, and others with education expertise. The selected reviewers must have expertise in at least one of the program’s five absolute priorities, (which include STEM education expertise), or in educational evaluation. To learn more, review the FY 2011 i3 Call for Peer Reviewers, which describes the necessary qualifications. Peer reviewer applications are due by Friday, July 8.

The Department of Education announced the winners of its Investing in Innovation (i3) grant program, selecting 49 winning proposals out of nearly 1,700 applicants to share the $650 million fund.

i3 was designed to encourage and reward school districts, nonprofits, and consortia of schools that are developing fresh ideas, growing promising programs, and scaling what works in an effort to reform education. Along with other recent Department-sponsored, competitive grant programs like Race to the Top, the i3 fund stemmed from the $10 billion investment in education under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).

Overall, the i3 winners represent 42 states and 2 territories and place heavy emphasis on serving students with disabilities, English language learners, and reaching rural areas. Programs focusing on education in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) are also well-represented.

Existing programs with proof of success were eligible for up to $50 million under the “scale-up” category. Teach for America, Ohio State University, the Success for All Foundation, and Ohio State University are the four scale-up winners. Previous speculation had supposed that Project Lead the Way might be included in this group, but the well-known STEM education program failed to score as high as its competitors.

Promising programs looking to strengthen their reach could request up to $30 million in “validation” grants. Fifteen groups were chosen, including STEM-focused programs: ASSET Inc.’s Regional Professional Development Centers for Advancing STEM Education, George Mason University’s Virginia Initiative for Science Teaching and Achievement (VISTA), and Smithsonian Institution – National Science Resources Center‘s LASER program.

The third category, “development,” enabled applicants with new, innovative ideas to apply for up to $5 million. Out of thirty development grant winners, several STEM programs were chosen including: Bellevue School District’s “STEM, Rigor, and Equity in a Comprehensive High School,” ARCHES (Alliance for Regional Collaboration to Heighten Educational Success) – STEM Learning Opportunities Providing Equity, Education Connection’s STEM Education for the 21st Century, Erikson Institute’s Mathematics: A Whole Teach approach to Professional Development, and Exploratorium – Institute for Inquiry’s “Integrating English Language Development and Science.”

In order to actually receive any money, winners are required to secure 20 percent matched funding from private sector donors by September 8, or be granted a waiver by the Department. To help applicants connect with potential funding sources, the Department of Education has created the Open Innovation Portal and the Foundation Registry i3.

Jim Shelton, assistant deputy secretary for innovation and improvement, said in a statement yesterday, “We were really struck by the number of high quality applicants and winners who were not among the usual suspects.”

The administration hopes to continue the i3 grant program and requested an additional $500 million in the FY2011 budget proposal.

Check the Department of Education’s website for additional information on i3, including a detailed list of the 2010 highest-rated applicants, a summary of these applicants’ characteristics, and reviewers’ comments and scores.  

Today, Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced the finalists for the second round of the Race to the Top grant competition. Out of 36 applicants, 18 states and the District of Columbia were selected to present their plans in Washington the week of August 9.

The 19 finalists are: Arizona, California, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and South Carolina.

Duncan formally announced the winners this afternoon at the National Press Club in Washington, where he delivered a speech mentioning the “quiet revolution” of education reform around the country.

“There is a growing sense that a quiet revolution is underway in our homes and schools, classrooms, and communities,” Duncan said. “This quiet revolution is driven by motivated parents who want better educational options for their children. It’s being driven by great educators and administrators who are challenging the defeatism and inertia that has trapped generations of children in second-rate schools.”

While Race to the Top gives competitive preference to states with STEM initiatives, Duncan only briefly touched on America’s competitiveness in STEM today. “We’re competing with kids from around the world and the truth is we are slipping further behind. Among developed nations, our 8th grade students trail 10 other countries in science and our 15-year-olds are in the bottom quarter on math,” said Duncan.

Duncan also talked about the “game-changers” in his reform plan and in the blueprint for the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) reauthorization, such as measuring individual student growth rather than proficiency. Other game-changers include current federal initiatives like the Investing in Innovation (i3) Fund, the Teacher Incentive Fund, School Improvement Grants, and the federal charter school program. Between all of these programs, Duncan estimates that the Department of Education will distribute almost $10 million to support education reform.

Initially, the Race to the Top pot was $4.35 billion and out of that, $600 million was awarded to first round winners, Delaware and Tennessee, and $350 million is reserved for a separate assessment competition, leaving $3.4 billion remaining for the second round grant winners. The Department says it expects to select 10-15 winners, which will probably be announced in early September.

Duncan said, “Just as in the first round, we’re going to set a very high bar because we know that real and meaningful change will only come from doing hard work and setting high expectations.”  

Today, President Obama sent to Congress his blueprint for the revised Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). According to the President, the blueprint is not only a plan to rewrite the “flawed” current version, No Child Left Behind (NCLB), but provides a framework for a “re-envisioned federal role in education.” The priorities of the plan include: rewarding excellence, raising the bar for standards, strengthening teachers and school leaders, closing achievement gaps, promoting innovation and continuous improvement, and increasing flexibility — as well as accountability — at the local and state level.

In his weekly address on Saturday (see video below), President Obama discussed the proposal and the administration’s vision for an ambitious goal, that “all students should graduate from high school prepared for college and a career- no matter who you are or where you come from.” Citing recent news of other nations surpassing the U.S. in education, Obama said, “The fact is, there are few issues that speak more directly to our long term success as a nation than issues concerning the education we provide to our children.” By 2020, his goal is that the United States will once again lead the world in college completion.

This morning, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan held a national press conference call with reporters to discuss the administration’s proposal. Duncan spoke of the sense of urgency coming from both sides of the aisle, as both Democrat and Republican lawmakers are requesting this blueprint and are currently engaging in discussions on education reform.

Duncan discussed how this ESEA reauthorization will differ from its current version, NCLB. First, he said that NCLB was too punitive, too prescriptive, and lowered the bar for students. The administration recognizes that the ESEA rewrite must reward excellence, focus on growth, increase flexibility, and include a well rounded curriculum across all grade levels. A huge emphasis is being placed on recognizing and rewarding schools for excellence and success- a fundamental change from the NCLB.

Duncan spoke about accountability in terms of three categories of schools: the highest performing, the middle performers, and the lowest level with the greatest achievement gaps. When it comes to intervening in the lowest performing schools, Duncan says the administration will use “carrots and sticks”, including school turnaround grants, to place pressure on these schools to improve. Rather than having the Federal government mandate the types of interventions that must be used in each school, state and local decision makers will have the flexibility of deciding how to meet their targets. The exception would be the bottom 5 percent of schools that would be forced to use one of the department’s turnaround models.

In NCLB, accountability for student achievement was entirely up to individual schools, but now, for the first time, districts and states will also share this responsibility, as well as the rewards and consequences. The 2014 deadline for school improvement will also go away with the new ESEA, and rather, states will set their own targets to align with new standards.

A series of hearings discussing the different components of ESEA is also in full-swing. This week, Arne Duncan will give testimony on Obama’s blueprint to committees in both the House and the Senate, and another hearing will address the needs of diverse students. Other hearings that have already taken place recently have discussed charter schools, heard testimony from Secretary Arne Duncan, and looked at the implications for the economy.

We anticipate that much more discussion on the reauthorization of ESEA will take place in the coming weeks and months. Stay tuned for updates as new developments take place!

Yesterday, the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) and the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) released the official draft of the K-12 Common Core State Standards, which will be open to public comment for the next three weeks. The process of developing these standards has been state led by the governors and chief state school officers in 48 states, two territories, and the District of Columbia, with input from a wide range of stakeholders- including educators, researchers, content experts, national organizations, and community groups.

The standards cover mathematics, English-language arts, and briefly, literacy in history, social studies and science and lay out grade-level specific goals, as well as college- and career- readiness standards. The CCSSO and NGA Center have said that once these standards are finalized, they will develop a set of common core standards in science and potentially other subject areas.

The standards are based on the following criteria:

• aligned with college and work expectations;
• clear, understandable and consistent;
• include rigorous content and application of knowledge through high-order skills;
• build upon strengths and lessons of current state standards;
• informed by other top performing countries;
• and evidence-and research-based.

National standards and college- and career- readiness have been an ongoing theme across the current initiatives of this administration, including Race to the Top, the ESEA rewrite, and within the President’s budget. While the Obama administration did not have a role in the drafting of the standards, both the President and Secretary Arne Duncan have avidly pushed for the development of a common, higher set of standards as part of an overall education reform agenda.

This morning U.S Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan appeared before the House Education and Labor Committee in a hearing entitled “Building a Stronger Economy: Spurring Reform and Innovation in American Education.” Originally the hearing was to take place February 10th, but was rescheduled due to the blizzard in Washington, D.C.

However, with tomorrow’s upcoming announcement of the Race to the Top finalists and the ongoing hearings on the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) reauthorization, timing couldn’t have been better. Both the hearing room and the overflow room were packed with spectators, interested in what Secretary Duncan had to say.

The Department of Education has laid out the following priorities for the next two years:
• supporting reform of struggling schools
• improvements in the quality of teaching and learning
• implementation of comprehensive statewide data systems
• simplifying student aid

While Duncan did not make any new announcements, nor did he make specific reference to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education, his testimony echoed the Department’s predefined goals and priorities. Committee members questioned Duncan on President Obama’s education budget, the agenda for education reform, including the ESEA reauthorization, as well as on the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act. Other topics of discussion included charter schools, supplemental services, especially after-school programs, teacher quality and development, and assessment for special education and English language learners.

Overall, Duncan spoke positively about his outlook for this year’s agenda, stating, “As hard as this work is, it is also critically important; and for all the challenges, I’ve never been more optimistic.”

Alyson Klein of EdWeek also has a good wrap up of the hearing, which includes some of the specific questions that were asked.

Stay tuned for more from Duncan as the Race to the Top finalists are revealed tomorrow!

Photo from http://www.flickr.com/photos/edlabordems/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0