Vision Network Schools Receive Grants to Increase Student Achievement

Grants to 10 schools in the Vision Network totaling $295,000 will support school projects addressing Vision 2015 recommendations. Ranging from $17,000 to $30,000, with additional support for site visits, the grants will enable the first cohort of Vision Network schools to begin implementing the instructional approaches they developed during their first year of training.

Read the media release.

The News Journal, July 17, 2008 "Grant money to be shared by 10 schools" 

Delaware Business Leaders Pledge $400,000 to Vision Network

In an announcement last week, members of the Delaware Business Roundtable pledged $400,000 to continue to support the Vision Network. The grant will specifically support the following initiatives:

• On-going operations of the Vision Network, through which district staff and school leadership teams benefit from intensive training, coaching, and other support focused on student performance.
• Continuing evaluation of the Vision Network to ensure the effectiveness of the activities. The American Institutes for Research, an independent evaluation firm, will continue its evaluation for a second year.

"The investment of the business community in the Vision Network demonstrates our commitment to the future of every Delaware child, as well as the future of Delaware's economy," said Ernie Dianastasis, Managing Director, CAI, and Chair of the Delaware Business Roundtable.

Read the media release.

Achievement Gap Closing... Slowly

Hundreds of educators and policymakers shared national, state, and district policies and practices that support the work of school leaders at the Sixth Annual Policy and Practice Institute in Dover on June 24 and 25.

Two of the featured presenters-- Kati Haycock, director of The Education Trust, which researches approaches to closing achievement gaps within the U.S. school system, and Andreas Schleicher of the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD), which administers OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA)-- discussed the need for education reform in the United States and compared achievement data of students in Delaware, the U.S., and around the world. They cited research showing that while achievement gaps between white and minority students are closing at the elementary level, more work needs to be done with high school students.

Haycock praised Delaware for narrowing the achievement gap between African American and white students. From 1998 to 2007, African American students in Delaware improved their NAEP scores 24 points, the greatest increase in the nation. The next closest state was Florida at 22 points, and the national average was 11 points.

View Kati Haycock's presentation, "Closing the Achievement Gap Takes Leadership"

View Andreas Schleicher's presentation, "Seeing the U.S. School Systems through the Prism of International Benchmarks"

The News Journal, June 28, 2008 "World Class Schools Differ fundamentally"

VISION-aries

"It causes you to definitely rethink attitudes toward high school and the job we're doing at that level... I've always felt we're very competitive with other countries, but when you take all the other factors out, our students are not performing at a high enough level."

-- Caesar Rodney Superintendent Dr. Kevin Fitzgerald, commenting on Kati Haycock's presentation at the Sixth Annual Policy & Practice Institute

Did You Know?

Similar grades don't necessarily represent similar levels of achievement. Referencing a study by ABT Associates, research by Kati Haycock finds the importance of high standards for all students. Research indicates that students in poor schools receive "As" for work that would earn "Cs" in affluent schools. Students in high-poverty schools receive "As" for work in the 35th percentile, while students in low-poverty schools received "Cs" for work up to the 41st percentile. The research illustrates the need for high standards for all students in every schools, says Haycock.

Source: ABT Associates, Prospects: Student Outcomes

Research

Kati Haycock of The Education Trust and Andreas Schleicher of the OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), both emphasize the need for education reform in the United States, citing the following points:

• Performance on international assessments by U.S. students shows an alarming downward trend. In 2006, the U.S. ranked 22nd in mathematics and 19th in science out of the 26 OECD countries participating in PISA.
  
  
• Achievement gaps persist in the United States, especially at the high school level. African American, Latino, and Native American high school students are less likely to be enrolled in a full college preparatory track: only 39% of white, 25% of African American, 22% of Latino, and 21% of Native American students are enrolled.
  
  
• Poor and minority students in the United States are more likely to have an inexperienced teacher: 20% of teachers in high poverty schools are inexperienced vs. 11% in low poverty schools, and 21% are inexperienced in high minority schools vs. 10% in low minority schools.

Haycock and Schleicher also were united in their conclusions about what should be done in the United States to address these challenges, based on successful reform strategies in other states and countries:

• Institute high expectations for all students. At Frankford Elementary School, whose student population is 76% low-income, 100% of African American and white students are proficient in 5th grade reading. High expectations of these students has made a great difference among students and educators.
  
  
• Place high value on good teachers and ensure they teach the students who need them most. New York City, for example, has cut its teacher quality gap between high and low poverty schools in half over the last 5 years by greatly decreasing the number of newly hired uncertified teachers and through an influx of teachers with strong academic backgrounds via the Teaching Fellows and Teach for America programs.
  
  
• Give school leaders greater autonomy over staffing and compensation decisions and implement a standards-based, external examination system. Schools that exhibited both of these characteristics achieved the highest scores on PISA's 2006 science assessment.

Sources: Closing the Achievement Gap Takes Leadership: Lessons from Schools and Districts on the Performance Frontier, Kati Haycock, 2008.
Seeing the U.S. School Systems through the Prism of International Benchmarks, Andreas Schleicher, 2008

Vision 2015 Policy Updates

LEAD Committee Work to Continue
The House of Representatives passed House Concurrent Resolution 72, which supports the work of the Leadership for Education Achievement in Delaware (LEAD) Committee and strongly recommending the next Governor reappoint the Committee by Executive Order.

In January 2008, the LEAD Committee released a cost efficiency study that identified up to $158 million in our state’s public education budget that could be better spent to impact student success. Vision 2015 leaders recommend that these funds be redirected to key areas: early childhood education, expanding the Vision Network, more math and science teachers for high need schools, and high-quality professional development for teachers. We will continue to work with our state and local leaders toward full implementation of the LEAD Committee's recommendations in the coming years.

Delaware Stars Becomes Law
Governor Ruth Ann Minner signed Senate Bill 222 on July 11, making the Delaware Stars for Early Success quality rating and improvement system part of Delaware law. Delaware Stars provides early child care and education providers with hands-on technical assistance and financial support to improve the qualifications of their staff and the quality of facilities, curriculum, and other program components. The goal is to include over 75 early childhood education programs and serve over 5,000 Delaware children by the end of 2008.

Student Assessment Task Force Continued
Both houses of the General Assembly passed on June 5 House Concurrent Resolution 58, which extends the Delaware Student Assessment System Task Force. With representation from Vision 2015, as well as educators, parents, and legislators, the Task Force is focused on alternatives for a new statewide student assessment system that measures each child’s academic growth over time, and returns faster and more useful results to teachers, parents, and students.

Contact

To get the latest information on how to become involved with Vision 2015, please visit our web site: www.vision2015delaware.org or e-mail us at info@vision2015delaware.org.