Tag Archive for 'Michelle Rhee'

Rock Stars vs. Breaking Rocks

Published by Robert Pondiscio on October 21, 2009 in Education Leadership. 0 Comments

Admit it.  If Baltimore schools CEO Andrés Alonso sat next to you on the subway you probably wouldn’t recognize him.  

The Baltimore Sun files an interesting editorial giving Alonso high marks for what he’s acomplished–and for not being Michelle Rhee, whose reform agenda, the paper notes, “is in many ways indistinguishable” from his.  Unlike Rhee, Alonso has won “the support of teachers, principals, parents and students as well as virtually the city’s entire political establishment,” the Sun observes.

There’s little doubt that the personal style of both Rhee and Alonso how shaped how their reform agendas have been received, the editorial observes, but notes the only important question is, “Which leadership style is more likely to produce the kind of improvements in student achievement that people in both cities want?”

We’re betting on Baltimore getting there first, if for no other reason than that Mr. Alonso’s style seems to mesh better with the players in a city that also seems to have fewer structural obstacles in the way of reform than comparable urban school systems. It’s freer from political meddling, enjoys a more harmonious relationship with its unions and is outside the national spotlight that magnifies – and possibly distorts – everything a Washington school superintendent does.

To the Sun’s point Claus Von Zastrow at Public School Insights points out that Baltimore should be “thankful for its relative obscurity” but also spanks the national media for positioning Rhee as the last great hope for urban schools.   “It’s a bad idea to pin all our hopes on one reformer or a handful of reform strategies,” he concludes. ”It’s even worse to turn one lightning-rod superintendent into the sole standard-bearer for school reform. Let’s not forget that there are other people out there, like Baltimore’s Andres Alonzo, Aldine’s Wanda Bamberg or Atlanta’s Beverly Hall, who can help light the way forward for urban schools.”

Two more supes you probably wouldn’t recognize on the train.

Hurry-Up. Offend.

Published by Robert Pondiscio on October 14, 2009 in No category. 1 Comment

Veteran eduscribe Richard Whitmire argues in a Wash Post op-ed that DC Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee has “no choice but to play hardball” with teachers, unions and politicians.  

Running a hurry-up education offense is the only way Rhee can maintain a viable-sized school district that has dwindled to a mere 44,000 students, while the city’s charter school population is expected to grow to 28,000 this year….In the District, charters continue to attract more new students than Rhee’s schools. If Rhee can’t stanch or reverse that trend, her district slumps into irrelevancy, a fact of life that her union opponents seem incapable of grasping. If Rhee falters, the layoffs will continue.

I get the math, but not the logic.  If DC schools face an “existential threat” from charters (which Rhee supports), doesn’t it make more sense to make allies, not enemies of teachers unions?   The pitch is simple:  work with me or we’re both out of jobs.

You Are a Highly Skilled Teacher If….

Published by Robert Pondiscio on August 23, 2009 in Education News and accountability. 21 Comments

…you never have more than five instances of “inappropriate or off-task behavior” by students within a half-hour of class time.

…you respond to students’ correct answers by “probing for higher-level understanding” of the idea being discussed at least three times every half hour.

…you lose no more than three minutes of teaching time to poor organization or planning.

Who says so?  Why, Michelle Rhee says so.

Achievement Gap or Proficiency Gap?

Published by Robert Pondiscio on July 15, 2009 in Assessment and Testing, Curriculum, Education News and accountability. 5 Comments

Lots of coverage of the latest NAEP scores and what it means for efforts to close the achievement gap.  Results show efforts to close the gap “may have a limited shelf life for kids,” notes USA Today’s Greg Toppo. 

“Since the early 1990s, schools have helped minority elementary schoolers close the achievement gap in basic math and reading skills, with real progress showing up recently on a federally administered test given to thousands of kids around the time they’re in fourth grade. But by the time they get to middle school, it seems, their progress all but vanishes.”

“Some of the scores are higher than ever, some show no gains over time,” observes Diane Ravitch, a former member of the National Assessment Governing Board, which oversees and sets policy for NAEP.  “A closer look reveals that the rate of progress is no greater than–and in some cases, less than–the pre-NCLB years.

In the New York Times, Sam Dillon fixates on evolving regional differences.  “The nation’s most dramatic black-white gaps are no longer seen in Southern states like Alabama or Mississippi,” he notes, “but rather in Northern and Midwestern states like Wisconsin, Nebraska, Connecticut and Illinois.

Why does the achievement gap persist?  “African-American students are less likely than their white counterparts to be taught by teachers who know their subject matter,” Ed Trust’s Kati Haycock tells the Associated Press.  “They are less likely to be exposed to a rich and challenging curriculum,” she said. Meanwhile Richard Whitmire, citing Haycock,  points out that states that focus on early literacy skills are making more progress. 

In a non-NAEP post over at Flypaper, Mike Petrilli tosses off an interesting and provocative comment on what we mean — or what we should mean — when we say “achievement gap.”  Mike’s eyebrows went up when he heard DC Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee say that if present trends continue “within six years we will have completely eliminated the achievement gap between black and white students in the District.”  Says Petrilli:

Now that’s quite a statement. To the man on the street, it surely sounds miraculous. You mean black students in the District of Columbia, most of whom live in abject poverty in places like Anacostia, are going to be learning at the same level as the handful of white students in the system, most of whom come from affluent, well-educated families clustered on Capitol Hill and the upscale neighborhood of Chevy Chase, where houses start in the $750,000 range? Wow! Except that’s not what she means at all. She’s referring to the proficiency gap—and by boosting the percentage of black students getting to “proficiency,” she is automatically closing said gap because almost all of the white students are already over that bar. But that doesn’t mean that the average black student will be achieving at the same level as the average white student, which is what “eliminating the achievement gap” sounds like.

Talk of closing the achievement gap is “sloppy and misleading,” Petrilli notes.  “Let’s stop talking about the achievement gap entirely, and instead focus on raising achievement across the board,” he concludes. ”It’s more honest, and, in my view, more equitable, too.”

One, Two, Three All Eyes on Rhee

Published by Robert Pondiscio on June 15, 2009 in Education News. 2 Comments

Fame can backfire.  Money doesn’t always talk.  Politics matter.  Beware of unintended consequences.  The Washington Post’s Bill Turque sums up the lessons learned by Washington, DC’s lightning rod Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee.   “Two years into the job, Rhee has lost none of her zeal,” Turque reports.  “But those who know her well say she’s found that converting conviction into sustainable change requires more patience, indulgence and attentiveness to politics than may come naturally to her.”

Turque’s piece opens with Rhee being called on the carpet by D.C. Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray over her decision to pose for the cover of TIME Magazine holding a broom.  “What does it get you, to constantly bash those you’re trying to get to help you? he asked her (a question also asked by this blog).  Turque’s piece describes how Rhee’s “rising celebrity alienated key constituencies at home” including teachers and parents.   He also reports that Rhee “expected to be hailed as a hero last summer by the Washington Teachers’ Union” for her proposal to raise pay into the stratosphere for those willing to forego tenure.  And although he notes Rhee has earned points for more tactful recent management of her relationship with the City Council and other constituencies, she still sounds unrepentant:

If I go down at the end of the day because I didn’t play the political game right, that’s okay with me,” she tells the Post. “At least when you’re making decisions that you believe are in the best interests of kids, you may not win in the end, but at least you can operate with a good conscience.”

“By major measures of progress, the jury on Rhee remains out,” Turque concludes.  “It will take at least three sets of annual standardized test scores to assess whether her changes are making a difference in classrooms, experts say. The second set is due this summer.”

At Teacher Beat, guest blogger Liana Heitin focuses on Rhee’s status as an outsider to DC and education politics, concluding “it’s possible she will continue to remain ‘outside’ as long as she stays pinned to a self-imposed agenda, resists collaborating with stakeholders, refuses to sugarcoat the dismal realities of the system, and aims recruitment efforts at a ‘new breed’ of idealists who are willing to sacrifice their personal lives to make a splash themselves.”  Finally, the Post’s Jay Mathews says Turque nails the list of Rhee’s “lessons learned” and invites readers to add on their own.  The comments predictably fall into two categories:  “You go, girl!”  or simply ”You, go.”

Update:  Eduflack, engaging in expectation management, predicts a downturn in DC test scores this summer.

Horses and Carts

Published by Robert Pondiscio on April 15, 2009 in Education News. 0 Comments

Over at Public School Insights, Claus von Zastrow wonders why Eli Broad, in a Detroit Free Press op-ed piece, lists Washington, DC among urban school districts that “have successfully turned around after producing abysmal student outcomes.”  Broad is “confusing the implementation of his favored reforms with their success,” Claus writes.   Perhaps we should chalk it up to the power of advertising. 

“Rhee herself argued quite reasonably that it would take a few years for her reforms to show results,” Claus notes.   Indeed.  How is claiming victory prematurely different than being happy with the status quo?

“A Great Free Education!”

Published by Robert Pondiscio on April 9, 2009 in Education News. 0 Comments

The Washington Post takes note of a radio ad campaign aimed at “stemming the decline in public confidence” in DC schools:

“Did you know,” the announcer intones on the ads, which aired last month on WPGC (95.5 FM) and are scheduled to run again next month, “that the only school in D.C. to earn a national ribbon for excellence last year was a D.C. public school? Go public and get a great free education!”

The ribbon of excellence bit refers to Key Elementary, which as one commenter on the Post’s piece notes, is not a demographically typical DC school, with only 9% eligible for free lunch, and 16% Latino and African American compared to a 92% average for District schools.

 ”It ain’t bragging if you can do it,” the great Dizzy Dean once quipped.  But the bragging is supposed to come after the doing it. I want to see Washington, DC’s schools go from worst to first as much as anybody, but claims about a “great free public education” are a tad premature.   If you’re providing a great free public education, you won’t need a radio campaign to spread the word. 

PR 101:  Underpromise and overdeliver.  If there’s a problem, tell people how you’re addressing it, not that there’s no problem.

Kinder, Gentler Michelle Rhee

Published by Robert Pondiscio on February 9, 2009 in Education News. 5 Comments

Washington, DC schools chancellor Michelle Rhee takes to the Washington Post Op-Ed page today to “set the record straight with students, parents and, especially, teachers” — the poor performance of the city’s schools, she says, is not the fault of teachers. 

I often speak of our district’s performance data with sadness and outrage. The situation for our city’s children is dire. Yet while I acknowledge the seriousness of the work we face, I want to be clear about something: I do not blame teachers for the low achievement levels.   I have talked with too many teachers to believe this is their fault. I have watched them pour their energy into engaging every student. I know they are working furiously in a system that for many years has not appreciated them — sometimes not even paying them on time or providing textbooks. Those who categorically blame teachers for the failures of our system are simply wrong.

What follows is a lengthy discussion of the proposed teachers contract.  Eduwonk downplays Rhee’s shiny gold star for teachers saying “I suspect this will be seen as the ”new Rhee” but this is basically what she’s been saying for a while.”  Personally the op-ed reads to me like a standard PR tactic to rally public support for the contract.  Countering the union line that Rhee favors a “scorched earth” brand of reform, including teacher evaluation, seems almost secondary here. 

As for teachers the chancellor will almost certainly find that regardless of what she has meant these many months, her ready, fire, aim rhetorical style has certainly created the perception that she holds teachers in less than high regard.  And it may take more than a single op-ed to change that.

Michelle Rhee Turns Down Her Bonus, However…

Published by Robert Pondiscio on January 30, 2009 in Assessment and Testing, Education Practice and Teaching. 2 Comments

D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee had the good sense to turn down an “earned bonus” of up to 10 percent of her $275,000 base salary, the Washington Post’s D.C. Wire blog reports, thus avoiding the kind of PR nightmare afflicting various erstwhile Masters of the Universe on Wall Street.  But the Post’s blog item lets slide a curious thing. According to the terms of her contract Rhee’s bonus is based on…

 …effectiveness in ‘Student Academic Achievement and Improvement; Financial Systems and Management; School Facilities Maintenance, Improvement and New Construction; Student and Staff Safety and Security; Staff Improvement; Communications with Community and Families; and Technology.’”

Given the single-minded focus on student achievement associated with her tenure, and her oft-stated desire to tie teacher pay to test scores, why is Rhee’s bonus triggered by so many different factors other than academic achievement and improvement?

Solution to Ed Policy Skirmishes “Bafflingly Obvious”

Published by Robert Pondiscio on January 13, 2009 in Educational Policy, Opinion and accountability. 4 Comments

Fix schools or fix communities?  “From an outsider’s perspective, one of the most frustrating aspects of the education policy debate is that both sides are right,” notes The Atlantic Monthly’s Clay Risen.  “It seems bafflingly obvious that change must come both inside and outside the classroom,” he writes on the Democrats for Education Reform blog.  It’s a must-read.

A backstory is required.  Risen wrote a major profile of Washington, DC Chancellor Michelle Rhee in last November’s Atlantic Monthly. In the new issue, there’s a letter from the University of Michigan’s Susan Neuman, a former Bush administration education official, arguing that Risen’s piece “left readers with the mistaken impression that [Rhee and other school leaders] must make a false choice between quality teachers and ‘extras.”   She also writes ”there is only so much a quality teacher, adequate classroom supplies, and caring administrators can accomplish.” 

The Atlantic typically allows its writers to respond to letters and Risen replied in print that Neuman is “undoubtedly correct that improving teacher quality and improving a student’s social milieu are not mutually exclusive, and are both important means to improve student outcomes. However, education policy is not made in a vacuum, and cannot be. This is where so much of education policy breaks down: there is, sadly, a broadening gulf between teacher-quality advocates and those aligned with ‘A Broader, Bolder Approach.’ Arguably, the answer lies in a mixture of the two. Whether we can find that answer depends much more on improving our education politics than on improving our edu­cation policy.” (ital mine)

Risen’s reply caught the attention of former newspaperman Joe Williams, now head honcho of Democrats for Education Reform.  Knowing that space is at a premium in print, Joe asked Risen to expand on his reply in the Atlantic’s letters section.  Risen notes that the “Broader, Bolder” group and the Joel Klein and Al Sharpton led Education Equality Project are both working toward the same goal and with policies that should be mutually compatible, yet find themselves at odds politically. Says Risen:

Rhee and Co. are, in my view, too eager to reject policies that addresses anything other than teacher quality and too hostile toward anything that smacks of establishment thinking, from unions to teacher colleges. And they’re not entirely wrong–I fear that while many of the signatories to EPI’s “A Broader, Bolder Approach” manifesto are well-intentioned (the list, after all, includes Education Secretary Arne Duncan), too often this wing of the education sector falls into the role of stalking horse for those who prefer the status quo to the disruptive changes that true reform would bring.

Thus a painful paradox: At a moment when education policy is making real strides, our education politics is stuck in a narrow, short-sighted, antagonistic framework in which each side would rather paint the other as anti-student than admit that it might actually have something to contribute. That’s the irony of Michelle Rhee: As a policy thinker and a force for change she is precisely what Washington needs, but she is so politically untuned, so antagonistic toward unions and teacher colleges and the City Council and anything else that might require negotiation and compromise, that she is preventing her policy vision from being realized.

Sound familiar?  In selecting Arne Duncan, who signed on to both ed manifestos as his Education Secretary, President-Elect Obama “understands the need to bring all sides to the table,” Risen believes, “not to minimize dissent but because everyone has something to contribute.”  But each side, he says will have to “concede certain policy principles.”

While teacher accountability is a vital element of reform, for example, it is vital to recognize that teachers are also workers, parents, and taxpayers, not automatons who can be expected to sacrifice everything to student achievement. Nor should we expect them to build lasting relationships with their students if they are spending all their time worried about their job security. While some aspects of teacher tenure and job protections should be relaxed, making them at-will employees is asking too much.  On the flip side, teachers need to recognize that they are not just another class of workers, and that they cannot always make the same demands that, say, teamsters do. Districts need the flexibility to demand a little extra from them, even if it means longer hours.

It’s a political truism that conservatives seek out converts, while progressives hunt down heretics.  The party labels notwithstanding, it sometimes seems the same is true in education debates–too much concern with heresy, not enough with efficacy.  Risen’s “bafflingly obvious” perspective deserves a hearing.  And kudos to Joe Williams and DFER for giving Risen the space to say what needed to be said.