The Hits Keep on Coming

  big trouble indeed!  Lots of posts on the Indy Star page and Indiana Citizens encourages you to chime in there but this might be a place to engage this as well.  So many problems here that its hard to begin but, in cynical moments, this looks like the beginning of the end of public education in Indiana.  How do you feel about it being on your watch?

Education officials reveal big reforms

Many educators see trouble ahead

Indiana education officials on Tuesday charted a bold and controversial path for the state's schools with a series of reforms that include forcing out weak teachers, shutting down teacher colleges whose graduates don't get results, and converting troubled schools to charters.

Gov. Mitch Daniels and Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett laid out that plan in their application for a piece of the $4.4 billion federal stimulus money earmarked for "Race to the Top" education reform.

Fast Forward documents: Read Indiana's Fast Forward plan on the Indiana Department of Education website

The state, Bennett said, will continue to push for the reforms even if thefederal government does not provide any money.

The proposal envisions a drastically changed educational system where all teachers are evaluated each year. More than half their review would be based on how their students performed on state standardized tests compared with the students' previous scores, and low performers would face consequences.

"We believe it's going to be one of the most creative and aggressive plans out there," Bennett said. "This is about transparency and accountability."

Read More:
....."aggressive" I can believe but...."transparency and accountability?"  Do folks really understand what putting teachers on a bell curve means?  It means always having a failing group--how will sign up to teach kids with the most needs? Charter schools and state takeover?  Read: privatization and LESS accountability.  The only thing transparent here is the political spin.  Shameless.

State Lowers Standards for Teachers

More spin coming from the DOE.....make no mistake, this means less qualified teachers in the classroom and actually makes it easier for LESS content courses for secondary teachers.  At least their consistent in twisting the truth.

New Rules Will Give Hoosier Students More Knowledgeable Teachers Subject-Experts from Outside Education Welcome   FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Media Contact:
Stephanie Sample, Press Secretary
317-232-6616, ssample@doe.in.gov The state board overseeing teacher licensing and preparation voted today to advance new teacher licensing regulations that ensure all new teachers will be experts in the subjects they teach and allow adults from other careers to more easily enter the teaching profession. These new regulations—called the Rules for Educator Preparation and Accountability or the REPA—aim to improve student achievement through better classroom instruction. “We crafted these changes with the belief that students’ academic success is determined, in large part, by the quality of their teachers,” Superintendent of Public Instruction Dr. Tony Bennett said. “These new rules for licensing go further than ever before to make sure all Indiana’s school children receive the high-quality instruction they deserve.” Members of the Advisory Board of the Division of Professional Standards, including Bennett, have been meeting since July, 2009, working with the Indiana Department of Education and education stakeholders statewide. In addition to passing exams that test their knowledge, the new rules require those who teach grades 5-12 to earn baccalaureate degrees in the subjects they teach.  This creates a better balance in teacher preparatory programs between coursework on how to teach and subject-specific training on what they will teach. 


Dr. James Fraser, senior vice president for programs for the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation and professor of History and Education at New York University, said, “The proposal to require every future secondary school teacher in Indiana to complete a full discipline-specific arts and sciences major makes very good sense. Indeed, such a move will bring Indiana up to a standard that is currently in place in many states across the United States. A solid major in the discipline to be taught is an essential minimum to truly knowing the content one aspires to teach.” Equally important, the rules take steps to address future teacher shortages and bring more knowledgeable adults into Indiana schools. The advisory board will have the authority to approve online and non-traditional teacher preparation programs in the future.  Without these alternative licensing programs, it’s unduly difficult for successful adults in other careers to enter the teaching profession.  These new regulations allow for new pipelines to bring real world experts into Indiana classrooms. Ariela Rozman from The New Teacher Project said, “We commend the IDOE for taking important steps to increase teacher and administrator quality—through an expansion of teacher and administrator pipelines, a focus on content knowledge which has been linked to student achievement, a requirement to measure the effectiveness of teacher preparation programs and a commitment to school-based professional development.” The new regulations go even further to improve teacher support and provide greater flexibility. Incoming teachers will work closely with school-level administrators to create targeted professional development plans to benefit student instruction.  


Current and future teachers will have more options to renew their licenses—options that won’t require them to pay for college coursework. The new rules also make it easier for teachers to make their licenses more marketable; they can add subjects to their licenses by passing exams that test their knowledge. “I’m incredibly proud of these teacher licensing changes,” Bennett said. “They address a foundational aspect of my plan to reform education in Indiana by targeting instructional quality. This is a great victory, and it should energize all of us to work even harder to improve Indiana’s schools in the year ahead.” 


The REPA regulations go into effect July 31, 2010. Students currently enrolled in teacher preparation programs will be transitioned into these new rules between now and August 31, 2013.  For more details on REPA and to view an updated summary of the rule,

http://www.doe.in.gov/news/2009/07-July/documents/ProposedTeacherLicensingChangesSummary100107.pdf

A New Year & Public Education

A call to action from the Indy Star.....it's about time.  There is a lot of interest now thanks to the ludicrous policy of Daniels/Bennett and the coverage of the realities of urban education at Manuel High School.  Many misperceptions and confusion persists but it does feel like a time to continue to push the conversation on public education in our city.  We've done some things this past year but perhaps its time to bring this beyond the internet and into the actual public sphere--Should Indiana Citizens go public?  What do you think?

Join in bold vision for our children

No issue is more critical for this city and state than to improve the academic achievement of its children. As go our schools in this new year and new decade so will go our economy, our quality of life and a multitude of other key measures.

The year begins on a sour note, with the state forced to make significant cuts in school funding and without money to expand important initiatives such as full-day kindergarten or early childhood education.

Yet, despite the fiscal challenges, the drive to raise cultural expectations and improve student achievement must accelerate. The status quo, let alone sliding backward, is unacceptable.

The Indianapolis Star is freshly committed to leading a sustained effort to improve the educational attainment of this community's children. More details on what forms The Star's campaign will take will come soon.

But this much must be said emphatically now: This city has for far too long stood by passively as the future for thousands of children was crushed because they failed to obtain a solid education.

The reasons why students fail are varied and complex. No easy answers exist. No one program can fix all the problems. No single entity acting alone can make a lasting difference.

What is needed now -- what must be demanded -- is a coordinated and sustained push in this community, and ultimately in the state, to ensure that all children have a realistic chance to succeed in school, no matter the neighborhoods they live in, no matter the families they come from.

Here is a bold vision for a new decade: By 2020, the children of Indianapolis and their peers throughout Indiana will be the best educated in the world.

Is such a future possible? Most definitely yes. But only if we residents of this city and state are courageous enough to take chances; are committed enough to invest our personal resources, including time and money; are honest enough to set aside biases; are patient enough to overcome inevitable setbacks; are passionate enough to enlist the skeptical; are persistent enough to sustain the effort after the first blushes of emotion fade.