Teacher's Desk: CSAP SNAFU

Running for a seat on the Colorado Board of Education almost two decades ago, I championed the idea of an accountability test. Little did I know I would later be suffering the angst of giving such a test. This CSAP was not what I had in mind. I was of the mindset that we give a test to measure students’ performance of Colorado academic standards that was simple, easy-to-take, easy-to-assess, and inexpensive like an Iowa, California, or ACT. Today, as site assessment leader at our school, I arrange and train proctors, keep all the different tests organized, and proctor make-up after make-up after make-up tests. The students required to take the CSAP are our recently enrolled students who generally have poor attendance, poor skills, and even poorer attitudes. Fortunately, that is usually less than 30 students for day and night school! Proctoring make-up tests takes away the planning period of two teachers and the attention of our discipline coach (dean).

Larger high schools and middle schools do wonderful give-a-ways of I-pods, video games, flat screen televisions, and gift certificates. Students are usually given a number for a drawing after each test they take. For 8th and 10th graders, that is approximately twelve hours of testing! Even though many of these students are not used to making good choices, many of them show up for every test and try to do their best. Recently, the legislature looked at forbidding schools from using incentives.

The original purpose of this test was to make schools accountable to their communities and taxpayers, as well as, compare schools’ results so that parents could make better school choices. I don’t disagree with that. There were plenty of schools in poor neighborhoods that were making excuses instead of doing the job the taxpayers were paying them to do: educate every child, no matter the child’s circumstance. I do think it is time to find a more efficient method of assessing student progress by using a simpler, less expensive assessment tool aligned with our state standards.

In March 4th’s Denver Post, www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_11830285, parents at Hanson Pre-K through 8 school are using the CSAP as a weapon. They want the district to return their school, the lowest performing school in the district, to a bi-lingual approach and reinstate their beloved principal, even though objective assessments inform us the bi-lingual format is not improving student performance. By holding the school “hostage,” the school’s aggregate scores will be even lower and places the school at-risk for closure.

Instead, if the parents want a bi-lingual approach to their students’ education, and they feel their desires are ignored, they should develop their own charter school that is designed to support a bi-lingual environment. There are several schools, mostly charter schools, that take a bi-lingual or even multi-lingual approach. The Colorado League of Charter Schools and Colorado Department of Education are great resources for start-up charter schools.

Governor Ritter’s P-20 panel wants Colorado to take another look at state accountability tests, especially at the high school level. That makes sense to me, as long as there continues to be transparent accountability of student achievement.

Kathleen Kullback is a special educator with an MA in educational leadership and is a former candidate for the Colorado State Board of Education.

Teacher's Desk: Shape Up, Parents

I keep telling myself I like my job and love my students, but when the weather is mild, students’ behavior gets wild. And boy, could I use a mental health day today. I awoke this morning with a bad case of crabbiness, but unlike regular public school teachers who get ten sick days and five personal days a year, I came in. I only get five days for both personal needs and illness. I used three already because I needed two for the Jewish holidays. I understand that I work with at-risk youth, but I also know many of their parents. If these nice folks knew how disrespectful these adolescents act toward adults, I’m sure most of them would be very embarrassed.

I’m as guilty as many supporters of charter schools and vouchers about blaming poor instruction for the sorry state of not only Colorado’s but America’s declining student achievement. That is really not fair to many teachers. What I haven’t alluded to enough is the shabby habits of many of our students’ parents. Shut the television off. Turn off the video game. Give your child a healthy dinner and conversation. De-clutter a desk or table, so he has space to do homework. Ask him to show you his homework. Don’t make your teenager babysit a younger sibling and miss school. Set up doctor and dental appointments after school. Keep the iPod at home. Don’t call him on his cell phone in the middle of the day. Use the school telephone. Call his teacher regularly. Show up for parent/teacher conferences. Provide money for lunch, or better yet---make him lunch. Make your child go to bed at a reasonable time, and make sure he gets to school on time in the morning. I’m sorry if you are a single parent. I’m sorry if you are here illegally and cannot speak or understand English well. I’m sorry if you, yourself, were a high school drop out; if you are not going to be responsible in properly raising your offspring, then don’t have them. I know that sounds really harsh (I warned you I was crabby!).

Good parenting includes continuing to parent during the high school years. I know some of these young adults wear parents down, so some parents are just counting the days until the fledgling leaves the nest! But poor parenting while your child was younger had considerable effect on his behavior now. Your young adult or your small child does not need another friend. He needs a parent. He needs someone to model reasonable behavior. He needs someone to show the consequences of behavior. He needs you to say NO.

Kathleen Kullback is a special educator with an MA in educational leadership. She is a former candidate for the State Board of Education.

Teacher's Desk: Florida's Example

State Sen. Nancy Spence, R-Centennial, is sponsoring SB-130, a pilot program for three charter schools serving autistic students. I remember talking years ago with Sen. Spence about her scholarship bill for poor students -- Colorado's voucher experiment -- being struck down in the courts. She asked me to check out what Florida was doing for special education students. I did and discovered the McKay Scholarship Program. Much as I like this year's SB-130, the McKay Scholarships are far better. The McKay Scholarship allows any student with an Individual Education Plan (IEP), Kindergarten through 12th grade, the opportunity to attend the school that the parent and student feel is the best fit. This includes, district public schools, charter schools, and private schools. The state of Florida will pay the choice school the amount of state funds used to educate that student, or private tuition, whichever is less. This can be as little as $5,500 per school year to $22,000 per year depending on the severity of the disability.

Senator Spence was originally supporting parents of autistic children with a similar version to the Ohio Scholarship Program. The Ohio Scholarship Program is a choice program for autistic students only and allows school choice for students with autism in a district or out-of-district school, or in a private school. The student must have an IEP with the autism disability designation. Unless transportation is noted in the IEP, the parents are responsible for transportation costs. The state will fund the student up to $20,000 per year depending on the student’s needs. Autism is a spectrum disorder which means there are many different levels of abilities and needs and all are under the autism umbrella.

I truly like the McKay plan best because it supports all disabling conditions. Many of our transient special education students are falling through the cracks. It is not uncommon to see sixteen and seventeen-year-olds reading at the first, second, and third grade levels. Those of us working with a quality reading program like Wilson or Language can move students two to four years in reading levels for one school year’s instruction if the student attends regularly and is motivated. Attending the school of your or your parents’ choice denotes buy-in; motivation and attendance is more likely to occur.

I like the McKay Scholarship over a pilot charter because it would impact students with disabilities immediately. Although I support the charter pilot program, it will take two or more years to develop a charter, pass a school district’s board of education’s specifications, find quality, supportive charter school board members, and market to the autistic community. Then, a principal familiar with charters, autism, leadership, and new school openings must be selected, as well as, the selection of curriculum, personnel, location …and much, much more. It would be so much easier to pay students’ tuitions for existing programs!

I don’t believe the general public realizes how many students need some form of special education and never receive it. We have an abundance of students with attention problems, behavior problems, various degrees of emotional and mental illness, and plain old dyslexia. Most schools’ special education (IEP) population is 10% of the total student population. My experience in district and charter schools leads me to believe that for every child we have in our schools on an IEP, there are two more that should also be receiving services. Most of these students are bright, capable people that need some additional strategies or services to become confident and successful.

Moving to “opportunity” scholarships for students of need will lighten the load for general educators who may be unprepared for the litany of interventions and strategies needed for some of these kiddos. In Denver, we have two private schools especially designed for students with learning disabilities that are leaders in the field. Unfortunately, only the elite have access.

A Colorado form of the McKay Scholarship Program is needed. Let’s call it the Spence Scholarship Program.

Kathleen Kullback is a licensed special educator at Colorado High School Charter with an M. A. in Educational Leadership from UCD. She is a former candidate for the State Board of Education.

Teacher's Desk: The Charter Edge

"Charters fuel DPS growth," said a Rocky headline this week. Why do public charter schools have waiting lists while old-line schools are losing ground? Story with details is here. From my experience as an educator in both types of institutions, it is obvious to me the diversity of student experiences, diversity of instructional programming, and the warm and friendly teacher/parent relationships that charter schools provide draw parents throughout Colorado to charter schools.

Denver Public Schools’ charter schools represent all grade levels with distinctly different approaches to instruction, while many of Denver’s elementary charter schools take a back-to-basics approach with E. D. Hirsch’s Core Curriculum, Odyssey Charter School provides an expeditionary learning approach for its students.

P. S. 1 introduces its middle school students to understanding their learning in an urban setting. KIPP Sunshine Peak Academy, West Denver Preparatory, and Denver School of Science and Technology provide instruction to middle school students with a highly structured approach and high expectations for all students. The teachers and leaders are dedicated professionals willing to put extra time and effort into an age group that at best can be called “little rascals.” If I had a hat, I’d certainly tip it!

Highline Academy, Omar Blair Charter, Amanda Charter (formerly Challenges, Choices and Images) Highline Academy, Odyssey Charter, Wyatt-Edison, and Northeast Academy continue their rigorous approach for a pre-K through 8 or K through 8 student body (Amanda Charter is through 12). While Community Challenge School includes the 8th graders in an 8th grade through 10th grade student body enrollment.

The high school experience in Denver Charter Schools probably shows the greatest diversity of structure, culture, and student body. KIPP, Denver School of Science and Technology, Southwest Early College and the new West Denver Preparatory High School are all highly structured, academically rigorous, no-nonsense programs. Amanda Charter focuses on improving the quality of education for African-American students. Life Skills provides an opportunity for students to finally reach for a diploma with a computer-based educational program. Academy of Urban Learning is a small school designed to help students of poverty and homelessness gain access to a diploma and work experience. Skyland Community works with students to develop personalized learning plans that include outside experiences and P. S. 1 Charter tries to raise and improve students’ awareness of their learning with both a day and night school. Denver Venture School is a new program combining the entrepreneurial spirit with strong academics.

My current school, Colorado High School Charter, is an alternative school that places emphasis on giving students a second chance at earning a high school diploma through small class sizes and every student graduates with a post-secondary plan. Both day and night school students must be 16 or older. All of our seniors attend a College Summit class daily that helps them devise a post-secondary plan, apply to colleges, sign up for student aid and scholarships, write a college essay, and prepare for graduation requirements. All students graduate with acceptance into a post-secondary institution; many are the first in their family to go to college!

All of these charter schools welcome parents and many require parental participation. When parents choose a school for their student, or an older student chooses a school for himself, there is much more buy-in and a greater likelihood that the student will succeed. Parents and students are flocking to charter schools because involved parents will choose the school their children attend, not depend on sending them to the closest school. A charter school relies on the fact that needed school dollars require them to provide quality instructional programming for their school or it cannot exist. Student success and parental satisfaction keep charter schools in business. That’s accountability.

Kathleen Kullback is a special educator at Colorado High School Charter with a M.A. in Educational Leadership and a former candidate for the State Board of Education.

Health care & education: Who chooses?

Apart from national defense, the two giants of the U.S. economy are health care and education. In terms of expenditure, number of employees, and importance to every American family they are unique. They are very similar in that both face mammoth challenges regarding cost containment and the equitable distribution of services.

Both are also very high priorities for a new national administration that clearly has a goal of dramatically transforming American society into the statist social welfare model that prevails in Western Europe.

It is however the systemic differences between American health care and education that are most instructive because they illustrate better than anything else the stark choices facing our country at what is obviously a critical turning point in our history.

To understand these differences it is best to view them via a litmus test of the varying levels of government control and union dominance in both industries.

Throughout the first three hundred years of American history education was largely a local affair constructed and run by private individuals. K-12 education was disproportionately the province of single women who read very well and were able to convey that skill to pupils who were thus empowered to read books on literature, history, geography, science etc. Post-secondary education was in the hands of older people possessing college degrees who for relatively modest fees were willing to share what they had learned with younger people who wished to acquire said degrees.

Throughout this period the influence of state government financially and otherwise was negligible, the federal role virtually non-existent. As late as 1949 a United Nations survey of international education described the U.S. system as the world’s leader in performance, freedom, cost-effectiveness, and particularly breadth and equity of access.

The second half of the 20th century however saw U.S. education moving in an accelerating downward spiral in which performance, and accountability sagged while costs soared. Coincident with and the major cause of this decline was the growth of government control and labor union membership from minimal levels to positions of overwhelming dominance. Thus today while an ever-shrinking private sector still exists it is fair to describe American education as a system of “government schools” where teachers belong to unions much more interested in member benefits than in student achievement.

American Medicine grew from the tiniest acorn into the mighty oak of the global pre-eminence it enjoys today. In the 17th century doctors were few and far between. When possible veteran doctors shared their knowledge with aspiring young physicians. The latter however were greatly reliant on their close study of classic medical texts.

“Hospitals” as that term is properly understood did not appear until the late 18th century. Formal medical education first put down roots in the 19th century.

Only in the 20th century did American medicine evolve into what we can call a “Health Care System”. By gradual stages medical education, hospitals, research, and insurance came together to produce constantly improving patient care for an ever growing proportion of the population.

Though significant government monies went to research, education and insurance in recent decades, the overall enterprise remains largely in private hands. Standards for professional competence, hospital effectiveness and research probity remain essentially and successfully within the province of the medical community. In effect while government offers support, it does not control governance, and unions while present-mostly among lower ranking employees- are decidedly not dominant.

Perhaps the starkest difference between our educational and our health care systems is seen in who has choices and who does not.

In government controlled schools, not surprisingly the government makes the choices about what’s available, where, when, and for whom, and also supports a system of quality control that essentially grants veto power to labor unions.

In our health care system patients get to make important choices regarding their doctors and treatments. Unlike education money follows client choices, and quality control is firmly in private non-union hands and is committed to the high standard of patient well-being rather than the low standard of employee convenience.

In sum, for both education and health care a citizen’s right to choose goes hand in hand with both quality service and customer satisfaction. Government control and union dominance are hostile to both.

Very soon citizen choice in both health care and education will face major tests against the power of government and unions. It is hard to exaggerate how much is at stake.

William Moloney’s columns have appeared in the Wall St. Journal, USA Today, Washington Post, Washington Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, Baltimore Sun, Denver Post, and Rocky Mountain News.