2007 Wrap-up: Tackling the Big Goals

Abstract

SORTING through the hundreds of state actions in education at the end of any year is always a challenge. Should I look for trends by adding up the level of activity within categories? Scan for interesting approaches? Skim the surface or look for levers of meaningful change? This year I took a different lens to my normal end-of-year analysis and asked, What did state legislators do in 2007 to meet some of the goals that we know are most important to accelerating student learning? But what a law intends might fail in implementation, so I took a second lens to this year's enactments and tried to determine whether each bill targeted meaningful ends or mere compliance. Below, I offer some of what I found under five headings. 1. Help teachers get a year's growth from all the students they teach. Michigan S.B. 70 requires that, in order to advance to professional certification, teachers complete a course of study, with appropriate field experiences, in the diagnosis and remediation of reading disabilities and differential instruction. The course of study may be completed as part of a preservice program or during the first six years of classroom teaching. S.F. 277, a landmark bill in Iowa, also known as the compensation law, makes big changes to the Student Achievement and Teacher Quality Program. One part of S.F. 277 makes district eligibility for funding to improve student achievement and teaching quality contingent on the creation of a teacher quality committee, which must have an equal representation of teachers and administrators. According to guidance issued by Iowa in September, the law allows for the following use of funds: salaries beyond the normal negotiated agreement, substitute teachers, professional development materials and speakers, and professional development content. Districts are using professional development funding in a variety of ways: to create collaborative meeting time for teachers to engage in collective learning, to develop lessons that support and extend learning from professional development experiences, to provide time to analyze student and data related to the learning that occurs as a result of professional development, and to create release time for teachers to observe in one another's classrooms. The goal of the law is for professional development to be focused and ongoing throughout the school year, so that teachers can develop the skills necessary to transfer what they learn to the classroom. S.F. 277 provides $20 million for professional development, $250,000 for new administrator mentoring and induction, $1.8 million to expand the Teacher Development Academy, $4.4 million for mentoring and induction programs, $1 million for pilot planning grants for a career ladder or performance-based pay, and $3.3 million to take account of market factors in pay. 2. Help leaders learn what they need to know to accelerate student learning--and provide them with the authority to act. One section of Georgia S.B. 72 attempts to help principals focus on curriculum and instruction by authorizing local districts to hire school administrative managers in lieu of or in addition to assistant principals. These managers need not be certificated by the professional standards commission but must have at least a bachelor's degree and meet qualifications set by the local board. Their duties are to manage the school's financial and business affairs, while the principal retains authority over curriculum and instruction. This new position is not forced upon any local board of education, and school councils have a strong role in deciding whether to utilize such personnel and in recommending individuals for the job. Iowa S.F. 277 creates an administrator quality program based on the Iowa Standards for School Administrators. In support of these standards, mentoring and induction plans, evaluation processes, and professional development plans are to be created. …