Ballard seeks control of 7 failing IPS schools
Mayor Greg Ballard has asked to take charge of efforts to turn around up to seven Indianapolis Public Schools that are facing state takeover.
In a speech to the Greater Indianapolis Progress Committee this morning, Ballard cited state law that allows mayors to petition the state board to take control of schools that have been on probation for low test scores for six consecutive years. Ballard said the schools would be added to a portfolio of charter schools his office oversees and that he would apply "charter like" solutions to them. He pitched his plan as a middle road between mayoral takeover of the entire school district, which has been pushed by some community and business leaders, and state control of local schools.
"I believe our immediate focus should be on the successful turnaround of the schools being taken over by the state," he said. "Once we successfully turn around these schools, then we can tackle the larger issue of IPS as a whole."
State board members and Superintendent for Public Instruction Tony Bennett are holding meetings this month to gather public input at each of the seven Indianapolis schools -- six high schools and a middle school -- that could reach their sixth year of probation when state test scores are released later this summer.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Daniels Supports Diploma Mill for Teachers
Mitch Daniels continues his efforts to privatize education--first Western Governor's, now this. How can the governor justify bringing in shady programs that compete with his own state university system? Shameless!
6th Largest Graduate School of Education Relocating from Illinois to Indiana
INDIANAPOLIS (June 7, 2011) - American College of Education (ACE), an academic institution that provides online graduate degrees for working educators seeking advanced degrees, announced today that it will move its main campus from Chicago to Indianapolis, creating up to 40 new jobs by 2014.
Founded by a national team of education researchers and practitioners to address the advanced degree needs of in-service educators around the world, the organization will invest $1.2 million to establish its new headquarters in 12,000 square feet of space at 161 W. Ohio St. in downtown Indianapolis. American College of Education has already begun transitioning to Indiana and expects to be operational in the Hoosier State in August.
"The stable, affordable and pro-growth economic environment found in Indianapolis versus other cities plays a significant role in our ability to attract new companies. ACE is another example of a company that has recognized all Indianapolis has to offer and made the choice to relocate here. We look forward to welcoming them to our city," said Mayor Greg Ballard.
American College of Education was established in 2005, but its roots go back to 1858 through its predecessor, DePaul University. The organization offers master's degree programs in educational leadership, curriculum and instruction, educational technology, ESL, bilingual education, reading, math and science. In addition the College delivers professional development courses designed to address specific state and district needs.
"We believe that the state leadership and strategic vision of the state make it one of the nation's leaders in education reform. We are committed to partnering with the school districts and the state to help them achieve their learning goals for all the school children of Indiana," said Sandra J. Doran, president of ACE. "We believe that ACE can play a major collaborative role in supporting the professional educators of the state. Our vision is to continue to build the country's most comprehensive, affordable, high quality online educational environment where working teachers and school administrators can grow intellectually and enhance their classroom effectiveness and district leadership skills."
In addition to relocating many of their current staff, American College of Education will begin hiring for the 40 additional academic, administrative, support and professor positions once its move is complete in August.
"Though not the first company to choose Indiana's low-tax, business friendly environment over Illinois and other states, American College of Education's cross-border move is a significant indicator that our state has a climate welcoming to new jobs and investment," said Governor Mitch Daniels.
About American College of Education
American College of Education is solely dedicated to providing in-service educators the most affordable, accessible, high-quality online master's degree programs in education. The College's vision is to dramatically improve student performance by enhancing the instructional effectiveness of teachers through transformative technology and innovative online learning. American College of Education is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and is a member of the North Central Association (NCA) serving online students nationally and internationally. For more information about American College of Education, visit www.ace.edu.
6th Largest Graduate School of Education Relocating from Illinois to Indiana
INDIANAPOLIS (June 7, 2011) - American College of Education (ACE), an academic institution that provides online graduate degrees for working educators seeking advanced degrees, announced today that it will move its main campus from Chicago to Indianapolis, creating up to 40 new jobs by 2014.
Founded by a national team of education researchers and practitioners to address the advanced degree needs of in-service educators around the world, the organization will invest $1.2 million to establish its new headquarters in 12,000 square feet of space at 161 W. Ohio St. in downtown Indianapolis. American College of Education has already begun transitioning to Indiana and expects to be operational in the Hoosier State in August.
"The stable, affordable and pro-growth economic environment found in Indianapolis versus other cities plays a significant role in our ability to attract new companies. ACE is another example of a company that has recognized all Indianapolis has to offer and made the choice to relocate here. We look forward to welcoming them to our city," said Mayor Greg Ballard.
American College of Education was established in 2005, but its roots go back to 1858 through its predecessor, DePaul University. The organization offers master's degree programs in educational leadership, curriculum and instruction, educational technology, ESL, bilingual education, reading, math and science. In addition the College delivers professional development courses designed to address specific state and district needs.
"We believe that the state leadership and strategic vision of the state make it one of the nation's leaders in education reform. We are committed to partnering with the school districts and the state to help them achieve their learning goals for all the school children of Indiana," said Sandra J. Doran, president of ACE. "We believe that ACE can play a major collaborative role in supporting the professional educators of the state. Our vision is to continue to build the country's most comprehensive, affordable, high quality online educational environment where working teachers and school administrators can grow intellectually and enhance their classroom effectiveness and district leadership skills."
In addition to relocating many of their current staff, American College of Education will begin hiring for the 40 additional academic, administrative, support and professor positions once its move is complete in August.
"Though not the first company to choose Indiana's low-tax, business friendly environment over Illinois and other states, American College of Education's cross-border move is a significant indicator that our state has a climate welcoming to new jobs and investment," said Governor Mitch Daniels.
About American College of Education
American College of Education is solely dedicated to providing in-service educators the most affordable, accessible, high-quality online master's degree programs in education. The College's vision is to dramatically improve student performance by enhancing the instructional effectiveness of teachers through transformative technology and innovative online learning. American College of Education is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and is a member of the North Central Association (NCA) serving online students nationally and internationally. For more information about American College of Education, visit www.ace.edu.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
My Man Mitch
Much has happened here in Indiana as part of the so-called "education reform" movement. Governor Daniels, not yet announced Presidential candidate, is clearly going to tought these efforts as part of his domestic agenda. Nevermind that he's cut the budgets for public schools every year he's been in office (recession or not). Now, tax money is diverted to private schools (recession or not), teachers are easier to fire, and the floodgates are open for charters. Remember too that "my man mitch" is on record as saying, "if I could privatize education tomorrow, I'd do it." He would sell off our schools, our kids, and our future.
Monday, May 2, 2011
Educational Reform: Who Wins? Who Loses?
As part of the First Wednesdays Discussion Series (see below), a discussion of
“Educational Reform: Who Wins? Who Loses?” will take place, 12-12:50 pm, at WFYI Studios Community Room, 1630 N. Meridian, with panelists Teresa Meredith, VP, ISTA; Eugene White, Superintendent, IPS; Bill Chu, Deputy Superintendent, ISDE; and David Harris, CEO, The Mind Trust; moderated by Matt Tully, Indianapolis Star, sponsored by ACLU of Indiana. For more info, phone ACLU at 635-4059. See more info below
What is First Wednesdays?
The First Wednesday Series serves as a forum for discussion of contemporary issues in our society and features panelists who have subject matter expertise in the chosen topic. We are fortunate to have volunteers and sponsors from local organizations, public and private, who support this event so that we can bring this program to you. Our 2011 community sponsors are WFYI Studios, NUVO Newsweekly and Fraizer Designs. The public is welcome to attend.
“Educational Reform: Who Wins? Who Loses?” will take place, 12-12:50 pm, at WFYI Studios Community Room, 1630 N. Meridian, with panelists Teresa Meredith, VP, ISTA; Eugene White, Superintendent, IPS; Bill Chu, Deputy Superintendent, ISDE; and David Harris, CEO, The Mind Trust; moderated by Matt Tully, Indianapolis Star, sponsored by ACLU of Indiana. For more info, phone ACLU at 635-4059. See more info below
What is First Wednesdays?
The First Wednesday Series serves as a forum for discussion of contemporary issues in our society and features panelists who have subject matter expertise in the chosen topic. We are fortunate to have volunteers and sponsors from local organizations, public and private, who support this event so that we can bring this program to you. Our 2011 community sponsors are WFYI Studios, NUVO Newsweekly and Fraizer Designs. The public is welcome to attend.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Why you should call your legislator about the Indiana Voucher Bill
- It will shatter the barrier between church and state in K-12 schools observed since the 1851 Constitution.
- It will divert $58.5 million during the next two years from public schools to private schools based on 7500 vouchers in the first year and 15,000 vouchers in the second year. As schools begin laying off teachers due to budget problems, this is a bad time to undermine public school funding in this way.
- It adds an income deduction for home school parent expenses and private school parent expenses costing the taxpayers $3.7 million per year. This would be the first state benefit for home schools in Indiana history, giving new money to home schools while public school budgets are struggling.
- It would end the 160 year practice of giving state funding only to public schools to educate young citizens about our democracy in a non-partisan, non-sectarian forum. Public schools have been the bedrock of our democracy and the centers of our communities, but vouchers could fragment this system.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Cherry-Picking Evidence on Vouchers
As the Indiana spin machine continues, be very skeptical about claims that vouchers will help public schools. The standard M-O here is that groups supporting particular issues release "research reports" that support those issues and then the policy people cite those reports as evidence. Ingenious, insidious.....unethical.
New Win-Win Report on School Vouchers Still Not a Winner
BOULDER, CO (April 19, 2011) – In 2009, the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice released a report titled A Win-Win Solution: The Empirical Evidence on How Vouchers Affect Public Schools. The report was reviewed for the Think Twice project by University of Illinois professor Chris Lubienski, who concluded that the 2009 report purports to gather all available empirical evidence on the question of the competitive effects of vouchers, finding a strong consensus that vouchers help public schools. But the report, based on a review of 17 studies, selectively interprets the evidence to support the Foundation’s own conclusions.
The Friedman Foundation has now released an updated version of the report, combining the older discussion of the effects of school competition with a new discussion of various outcomes for voucher participants. The new report, however, is equally flawed. The earlier Friedman report asserts that “contrary to the widespread claim that vouchers hurt public schools, the empirical evidence consistently supports the conclusion that vouchers improve public schools. No empirical study has ever found that vouchers had a negative impact on public schools” (executive summary).
Lubienski’s review explains that the 2009 report cherry-picks evidence and that the majority of studies cited “were produced by a very small group of people largely associated with school choice advocacy organizations” (p. 6).
Lubienski’s review of the original report explains that the cited “studies include some rigorous work by respected researchers. But issues of methodology, interpretation, and generalizability emerge when the research is marshaled simply to support a narrow agenda, as with the Friedman Foundation’s. Then, the temptation for selectively summarizing research can distort the actual findings” (p. 5).
For instance, Lubienski points to the report’s misuse of Carnoy and his colleagues’ (2007) research. The new report continues to inappropriately use the Carnoy work, as well as others, in order to contend that vouchers have a positive “competition” effect on public school systems. In fact, as Lubienski states, the actual study that Carnoy and colleagues conducted to test the competition effects of voucher systems “found no competition effect” in their results (p. 5).
Lubienski also criticized the earlier Friedman report for championing the expansion of school voucher programs without acknowledging that previous expansions did not increase any positive effects that could be attributed to competition. The new report again sidesteps an explanation for this lack of success, except to present it as evidence of the need to expand the programs more dramatically.
What the new report does add is a discussion of research concerning the effects of voucher programs on the students receiving the vouchers. The report cites eight studies, most of them conducted by avowed voucher advocates.
It is remarkable how unrestrained the report is in pursuing the conclusion of “positive effects” when a fair reading of these studies would conclude there is minimal to no effect. Most disconcerting is the over-reach and distortion employed in the report’s attempt to dismiss the prominent and peer-reviewed study by Princeton’s Alan Krueger and Pei Zhu, which found no effects of a voucher program in New York City.
While the new Win-Win report does improve upon the original report’s arguments in some areas, the overall logic and corresponding evidence still falls short of making the case. The report is not a useful review of the effects of school competition.
Links to Reports/Review:
The original 2009 Win-Win report, produced by The Friedman Foundation, can be found at the following link: http://tinyurl.com/44of9vr
The NEPC Think Twice Review of the 2009 Win-Win report, done by Chris Lubienski, can be found at the following link: http://nepc.colorado.edu/thinktank/review-win-win-solution
The new Win-Win report, released in March 2011 by The Friedman Foundation, can be found at the following link: http://tinyurl.com/3hm9jby
The Think Twice think tank review project (http://thinktankreview.org), a project of the National Education Policy Center, provides the public, policy makers, and the press with timely, academically sound, reviews of selected think tank publications. The project is made possible in part by the generous support of the Great Lakes Center for Education Research and Practice.
New Win-Win Report on School Vouchers Still Not a Winner
BOULDER, CO (April 19, 2011) – In 2009, the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice released a report titled A Win-Win Solution: The Empirical Evidence on How Vouchers Affect Public Schools. The report was reviewed for the Think Twice project by University of Illinois professor Chris Lubienski, who concluded that the 2009 report purports to gather all available empirical evidence on the question of the competitive effects of vouchers, finding a strong consensus that vouchers help public schools. But the report, based on a review of 17 studies, selectively interprets the evidence to support the Foundation’s own conclusions.
The Friedman Foundation has now released an updated version of the report, combining the older discussion of the effects of school competition with a new discussion of various outcomes for voucher participants. The new report, however, is equally flawed. The earlier Friedman report asserts that “contrary to the widespread claim that vouchers hurt public schools, the empirical evidence consistently supports the conclusion that vouchers improve public schools. No empirical study has ever found that vouchers had a negative impact on public schools” (executive summary).
Lubienski’s review explains that the 2009 report cherry-picks evidence and that the majority of studies cited “were produced by a very small group of people largely associated with school choice advocacy organizations” (p. 6).
Lubienski’s review of the original report explains that the cited “studies include some rigorous work by respected researchers. But issues of methodology, interpretation, and generalizability emerge when the research is marshaled simply to support a narrow agenda, as with the Friedman Foundation’s. Then, the temptation for selectively summarizing research can distort the actual findings” (p. 5).
For instance, Lubienski points to the report’s misuse of Carnoy and his colleagues’ (2007) research. The new report continues to inappropriately use the Carnoy work, as well as others, in order to contend that vouchers have a positive “competition” effect on public school systems. In fact, as Lubienski states, the actual study that Carnoy and colleagues conducted to test the competition effects of voucher systems “found no competition effect” in their results (p. 5).
Lubienski also criticized the earlier Friedman report for championing the expansion of school voucher programs without acknowledging that previous expansions did not increase any positive effects that could be attributed to competition. The new report again sidesteps an explanation for this lack of success, except to present it as evidence of the need to expand the programs more dramatically.
What the new report does add is a discussion of research concerning the effects of voucher programs on the students receiving the vouchers. The report cites eight studies, most of them conducted by avowed voucher advocates.
It is remarkable how unrestrained the report is in pursuing the conclusion of “positive effects” when a fair reading of these studies would conclude there is minimal to no effect. Most disconcerting is the over-reach and distortion employed in the report’s attempt to dismiss the prominent and peer-reviewed study by Princeton’s Alan Krueger and Pei Zhu, which found no effects of a voucher program in New York City.
While the new Win-Win report does improve upon the original report’s arguments in some areas, the overall logic and corresponding evidence still falls short of making the case. The report is not a useful review of the effects of school competition.
Links to Reports/Review:
The original 2009 Win-Win report, produced by The Friedman Foundation, can be found at the following link: http://tinyurl.com/44of9vr
The NEPC Think Twice Review of the 2009 Win-Win report, done by Chris Lubienski, can be found at the following link: http://nepc.colorado.edu/thinktank/review-win-win-solution
The new Win-Win report, released in March 2011 by The Friedman Foundation, can be found at the following link: http://tinyurl.com/3hm9jby
The Think Twice think tank review project (http://thinktankreview.org), a project of the National Education Policy Center, provides the public, policy makers, and the press with timely, academically sound, reviews of selected think tank publications. The project is made possible in part by the generous support of the Great Lakes Center for Education Research and Practice.
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