Rural and Small Schools--In The News
FACILITIES
Small schools, rural schools, and schools in the central region of the country are more likely to be under-enrolled and less likely to be over-crowded than other schools. They are also the least likely to have portable (temporary) buildings, although small schools that have portables are more likely than other schools to have troubles with the temporary buildings that interfere with instruction. The National Center for Education Statistics has released a report, Public School Principals Report on Their School Facilities: Fall 2005 that provides information on the condition of school buildings.
The report finds that schools with “percent minority enrollment” of more than 50% and schools where at least 75% of students quality for free or reduced-price lunch are more likely to have facilities problems than other schools. The most common environmental problems for all types of schools tend to be related to air-conditioning and ventilation.
SMALL URBAN SCHOOLS
A recent study of 14 small New York City high schools, all of which were started with support from the Gates Foundation, found that the schools had much higher rates of attendance and graduation than large schools and that a high percentage of students are attending college. You can read the report, developed by WestEd, here.
TEACHERS
A number of organizations, politicians, and others are urging states and districts to create “pay-for-performance” or “merit pay” programs that pay teachers based on the level of achievement of their students. Sometimes these programs reward teachers with more pay when student test scores increase at rates higher than they were predicted to; some programs reward teachers when student test scores are high or meet specific targets. And, some programs give teachers more money for working in hard-to-staff schools or subject areas. There’s not yet a single definition for this type of salary arrangement. But a variety of interests are seeking to shake up the traditional salary schedule that pays teachers based primarily on their degrees and their years of experience. Texas and Florida have instituted state performance-pay programs, a number of districts across the country are experimenting with alternative pay arrangements.
In Houston a pay-for-performance program is drawing fire, in part because some teachers who are recognized as outstanding—including the teacher named national 2007 Bilingual Teacher of the Year by the National Association for Bilingual Education—did not earn the bonuses. See this article in Education Week for more information.
The Bush administration is also pushing for more funding through NCLB for the Teacher Incentive Fund to provide grants to districts to provide financial incentives to teachers who improve student test scores. You can read more here and here.
Pay-for-performance systems may get another boost if the Commission on No Child Left Behind gets its way. The Commission recently released a report, Beyond NCLB, which makes a number of recommendations for changes to the federal education law when it is re-authorized. The report devotes an entire chapter to teachers and principals and recommends putting all public school teachers of core subjects on performance pay plans. Specifically, the Commission wants to see the Highly Qualified Teacher (HQT) requirements revamped so that Highly Qualified status is granted on the basis of student test scores in addition to whether the teacher has met the law’s current rules on subject matter competency (the equivalent of a major in each subject taught). The Commission recommends additional federal funding to help states develop the data systems to track student test scores with teachers. The bottom 25% of teachers in each state would have to get additional professional development and get out of the bottom 25% in order to earn Highly Qualified Effective Teacher (HQET) status. Teachers who did not obtain HQET status within seven years should not be allowed to teach in Title I schools, according to the report.
Beyond NCLB makes a number of additional recommendations for changes to the federal education law. You can read the chapter on teachers here.
This highly readable article in USA Today explores some of the issues with the Commission’s teacher recommendations.
NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND
President Bush has submitted his education budget to congress. The budget targets more money to high school and calls for expanded high school testing; creates vouchers that students can use at private schools, reduces funding for special education, increases funding for the Teacher Incentive Fund in order to increase grants to districts to create performance-pay programs, and increases funding for Title I districts and schools in AYP trouble. A February 14th Education Week article describes the President’s budget.