A study of Edison Schools, the largest for-profit manager of public schools in the USA, has been carried out by the Rand Corporation. It is the most comprehensive evaluation so far of Edison’s whole school improvement model, looking at its strategies and their effect on student achievement.

Founded in 1992, Edison primarily runs “partnership” public schools, in which the company enters into a contract with the local school district plagued by low-performing schools. It also establishes and runs charter schools. In 2004-05 Edison managed 103 schools, enrolling approximately 65,000 students in 18 states and the District of Columbia.

The Rand evaluation concludes that student achievement at Edison schools is on a par, and sometimes exceeds, comparable district-run schools – but it takes time. Edison schools took at least four years to match or exceed gains in reading and math. Where Edison took over a low-performing district school, the study shows that student achievement generally dropped during the first year and students took five years to catch up. The authors say this is consistent with other major school reform efforts.

The study says that if the Edison model is wholly implemented then achievement trends move upward. As the results are not uniformly positive, the evaluation includes recommendations to improve the likelihood of a successful partnership. In brief, the recommendations are:

For Edison

• Provide improved support and oversight during the first year.
• Apply value-added assessment methods to identify which schools and teachers have been most successful at improving the performance of individual students and which schools and teachers appear to need more assistance in this regard.
• Continue to promote a comprehensive vision of the curriculum.
• Take further steps to ensure the development of principals’ instructional leadership skills.
• Avoid compromises to the design that may undermine the professional environment in the schools.

For Clients and Prospective Clients

• Manage the transition with care.
• Give Edison full authority to implement its design.
• Ensure that teachers and principals support the model.
• Do not expect instant improvement.
• Develop data systems that facilitate assessment of individual students’ achievement gains over time to permit better understanding of the performance of each Edison school.
• Carefully consider the incentives created by state and local accountability systems.

Read a research brief on the evaluation, and download the full report: Inspiration, Perspiration, and Time: Operations and Achievement in Edison Schools.

(Source: Education Week, Oct. 19, 2005)

SCHOOLS: FOCUS ON LOS ANGELES

• A number of nonprofit organizations and financial institutions have joined forces to create a $36 million (£20.3 m*) fund, headed by ExED (Excellent Education Through Charter Schools), to build five to seven charter schools in low-income neighborhoods. Charter schools are publicly funded and independently managed.
  
  For the first time contributors to the fund (such as Citibank Community Development, City National Bank, Prudential Financial and Wells Fargo & Co) can receive federal income tax credits for their investment. To cover operational costs, the schools receive a grant of around $400,000 (£226,000*) from the Broad Foundation in addition to loans at well below market rate. The fund may prove to be a model for investment in charter school infrastructure elsewhere in the country.
  
  Charter schools, although only a fraction of the public school system in California, are becoming increasingly popular. There are now 511 in the state where their biggest hurdle is finding affordable real estate, especially in a city like Los Angeles.
  
  Read a fact sheet on the Los Angeles Charter School New Markets Loan Fund.
  
  
• Three national organizations are working with the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) to raise achievement and help get high school students ready for further education or the workplace.
  
  The Institute for Research and Reform in Education (IRRE), Talent Development High Schools (TDHS) and Architects of Achievement will assist four large high schools with instruction methods and a support network to improve achievement.
  
  The LAUSD is the nation’s second largest school district serving more than 735,000 highly diverse urban students. In June the LAUSD board approved a plan requiring high school students to follow the new ‘A-G Curriculum’ in order to graduate. The new, more demanding, curriculum is required for admission to the University of California and the California State University systems. Only 54 percent of students completed the 15 course curriculum, and of those only 46 percent passed. The above organizations, with funding of more than $7.4 million (£4.2 m*) hope to improve those statistics.
  
  IRRE will implement First Things First, its signature framework for K-12 reform; TDHS will focus on curriculum and professional development; and Architects of Achievement will implement small learning communities.

* Nov. 2005 exchange rate: US$1.77 = 1GBP

(Sources: Los Angeles Times, June 9 2005; Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Nov. 4, 2005)

Why do some schools serving low-income students outperform schools with similar demographics? The latest report to look at the phenomenon of high-poverty high- performing schools has been released by EdSource, a California-based educational research organization.

According to EdSource, their report differs from previous studies on this topic “primarily in its scale, standards-based content and targeted yet comprehensive approach.” EdSource surveyed 257 elementary school principals in California to determine what most affected student achievement.

The report suggests that the most important factors are: setting high expectations; implementing standards-based curricula; using data from state assessments to improve instruction; having up-to-date teaching materials; and having experienced teachers.

According to the survey, less important factors are: parental involvement, student behavior, teacher collaboration and professional development.

For more information, read Similar Students, Different Results: Why Do Some Schools Do Better?

(Sources: The Education Gadfly, Nov. 3, 2005; Education Week, Nov. 2, 2005)

A program which aims to close the achievement gap between minority and white students and increase the participation of under-represented groups in gifted and talented classes has expanded into 12 school districts in North Carolina.

Project Bright IDEA (Interest Development Early Abilities) trains teachers to develop in their students the characteristics for learning which gifted individuals are thought to possess: flexibility, persistence and an ability to grasp the larger concept. Teachers, who are intensively trained, promote “intelligent behaviors” and the “big idea” behind all their lessons.

Schools with large minority populations and which were already receiving federal assistance were chosen for the project. Students were not screened beforehand.

The results of the initial three-year pilot project were promising, with English and math scores showing gains. This prompted the US Department of Education to award a $2.5 million (£1.4 m*) grant as part of its gifted and talented education program to expand the project. Thirty-six schools in total are now taking part in Project Bright IDEA.

The North Carolina Public School System's School Improvement Division provides more information on its school reform initiatives to close the achievement gap, including Project Bright IDEA.

* Nov. 2005 exchange rate: US$1.77 = 1GBP

(Source: Education Week, June 15, 2005)

Concern over US students’ abilities in math and science has been fueled by weak results in international comparisons, such as the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), which show US students performing lower than their developed country peers.

There is also worry at the decreasing number of students pursuing sciences and engineering at college level and the increasing demand for qualified math and science teachers at a time when recruitment is shrinking.

Some recent initiatives to tackle the problem have been:

• policymakers are calling for an interest in math and science to be fostered in the early school years;
• the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) focuses on testing in math and now science, forcing schools to pay more attention to those subjects, and some states require students to take more years of math in high school;
• USFirst supports a national robotics competition;
• Project Lead the Way provides curricula to prepare students, particularly girls, for college level work in engineering (and links into USFirst competitions);
• the congressional Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) caucus aims to build support for those fields of study;
• some states offer incentives to encourage more students to become math and science teachers;
• the US Department of Education awards Mathematics and Science Partnership grants to states to enhance the content knowledge and teaching skills of classroom teachers (to allay criticism that students are often taught these subjects by under-qualified teachers).

A recent report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) looks at the effectiveness of federal programs to encourage more participation by students in higher education STEM fields. For more information download and read the extensive Federal Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Programs and Related Trends.

The business sector has taken an interest in student achievement for some time, but more recently corporations have turned their attention to math, science, engineering and technology in schools.

The Business Roundtable, a coalition of 15 business groups*, has released an action plan aimed at increasing student achievement and doubling the number of graduates in the above fields over the next 10 years. The coalition, concerned that the USA’s competitive edge in the global marketplace will wane unless this issue is addressed, cites that the number of students taking engineering degrees dropped by one-third between 1992 and 2002.

A number of businesses are already involved in this area:

• GE Foundation plans to donate $100 million (£56.5 m**) over five years to raise math and science scores in up to five school districts where the need for a structured curriculum and professional development for teachers has been identified.
• IBM International Foundation offers 100 of its employees the chance to re-train as math and science teachers in K-12 schools.  Each employee receives $15,000 (£8,475 **) for tuition and stipend.

* includes US Chamber of Commerce, the Business-Higher Education Forum, the Information Technology Association of America and the Council on Competitiveness.

** Nov. 2005 exchange rate: US$1.77 = 1GBP

(Source: Education Week, Aug. 10, 2005; Sept. 14 and 28, 2005; Oct. 19, 2005; NACAC Research Update, Nov. 4, 2005)

Maine could be one of the first states to test its high school students using the SAT college entrance exam.

The SAT, a voluntary test administered by the College Board, is required by most colleges and universities for admission. About 2.3 million students pay to take the test annually.

Currently high school students in Maine sit the Maine Education Assessment, the state’s own standardized test. The state is proposing to replace this with the SAT and pay for its high school students to take the test at least once. The SAT would be taken in 11^th grade (at age 17), and students would not be required to pass in order to graduate high school.

State education officials say the plan is to encourage more students to think about a postsecondary education. At present 75 percent of Maine’s high school students pay privately to take the SAT.

The SAT has been recently amended to include expanded math and reading portions and an essay section in addition to its traditional multiple choice. The original test has been criticized for being easily coached and therefore favoring students from higher income families who can afford to pay for test preparation sessions. Critics also question whether it is a good measure of how well a student will perform in college or how much they have learned in high school. While opponents of the test claim that it is biased against women and minorities, supporters of the test respond that it levels the playing field by testing innate problem solving ability and is therefore not linked to a specific curriculum.

Colorado currently requires its high school students to take the ACT (a national college admission examination favored by the mid-western states), and Michigan is replacing its standardized test with the Michigan Merit Exam which will include either the SAT or the ACT.

(Sources: The Boston Globe, Aug. 31, 2005; Education Week, Sept. 14, 2005)

A recent report provides almost 100 examples of ways morals and ethics can be integrated into lessons to improve academic achievement and behavior. The report is the result of two years of analysis of 24 diverse high schools.

Read Smart and Good High Schools: Integrating Excellence and Ethics for Success in School, Work and Beyond from the Center for the 4^th and 5^th Rs (Respect and Responsibility)

(Source: Education Week, Sept. 21, 2005)

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) has issued its annual, congressionally-mandated, snapshot of education in the USA. Some highlights of the report include:

• Minority enrollment in public schools increased from 1972 to 2003, mostly due to growth in Hispanic enrollments. Total public school enrollment is expected to reach 50 million in 2014, with the western states seeing the most growth.
• The number of K-12 private school students increased from 1989 to 2002, though private school enrollments shrank slightly as a percentage of total elementary/secondary enrollments. Roman Catholic schools still represent the largest group in the private sector, although they are decreasing. Meanwhile, the percentage of students enrolled in "other religious" private schools rose from 32 to 36 percent, with conservative Christian schools experiencing the largest increase.
• The achievement gap persists: whites and Asians outperform blacks and Hispanics. Rural and suburban students outperform students from large urban public schools in reading and mathematics.
• The immediately-after-high-school college enrollment rate has held steady at about 64 percent since 1998. Between the mid-1980s and the late 1990s, the matriculation gap narrowed between blacks and whites but widened between Hispanics and whites.

Read more in the Highlights of The Condition of Education 2005 and download the full report.

(Source: The Education Gadfly, June 9, 2005)

Mesa Community College, Arizona, hosted A National Community College Conversation: What Does It Mean to Be Educated in the 21st Century? in May 2005. The event was one of a five-part series of national conversations sponsored by the Directorate for Education and Human Resources of the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Participants included faculty and administrative leaders and stakeholders representing business and industry, foundations, and higher education institutions. The goals were to:

• stimulate thinking about science literacy and what it means to be educated in the 21st century;
• set this thinking about science and science literacy in a global context;
• convert results of these discussions into a consideration of what changes are needed at the K-12/college nexus and in undergraduate education;
• modify NSF solicitations accordingly.

For more information, read the final report.

Education secretary, Margaret Spellings, has appointed a 19-member panel to develop a comprehensive national strategy on postsecondary education.

Known as the Commission on the Future of Higher Education, the panel will look at how to ensure that college is accessible and affordable and how well institutions are preparing their students for the 21^st century workplace.

Having focused on K-12 (primary and secondary) education during her first eight months in office, the education secretary is looking at developing a more focused policy approach to postsecondary education. K-12 education consumes 10 percent of the federal budget, while the federal government invests almost one third of its budget in higher education.

A final report from the Commission is expected in Aug. 2006.

For more information, read the US Department of Education’s press release and a fact sheet on the Commission.

(Sources: Education Week, Sept. 28, 2005)

Susan Sclafani resigned as assistant secretary for vocational and adult education. She has joined the newly established Chartwell Education Group, a consulting firm, headed by former education secretary Rod Paige.

The consulting team includes a number of former top education department officials and is marketing itself to state school chiefs and foreign leaders interested in the American model of education. It will advise on policies relating to the No Child Left Behind Act as well as broader education issues.

A permanent successor for the vocational and adult education position has not yet been named. Beto Gonzalez will assume the post in the interim.