State School Boards Research Articles

The Disruptive Power of Policy Erasure: How State Legislators and School Boards Fail to Take up Trans-affirming Policies While Leaning into Anti-LGBTQ+ Policies

Since 2017, hostile anti-LGBTQ+ educational bills rapidly expanded. Using traditional and critical policy analysis across three Midwestern states, we examine (1) whether state and local policymakers ( n = 60) adopted trans-inclusive protections aligned with the 2017 federal Whitaker ruling, (2) the spread and scope of state and local educational policies concerning LGBTQ+ people, and (3) relationships between LGBTQ and critical race theory (CRT) curricular bills. We find policy erasure in states without pre- Whitaker gender-inclusive nondiscrimination laws and expanded efforts to ban LGBTQ+ students from educational opportunities, spaces, and curriculum. LGBTQ+ and CRT curricular bans overlapped. We discuss the implications of policymakers leaning into exclusion over gender reforms.

An Examination of State Statutes and School District Policies Addressing Minors With Do Not Resuscitate Orders

Due to advances in medical treatments, students with terminal illnesses are more likely to attend public schools, increasing the possibility that they may die on school property. However, educational health plans often fail to consider end-of-life care decisions. In the absence of federal or state statutes, school boards are left to navigate the issue of minors with Do Not Resuscitate Orders while at school. We examine state statutes and school board polices for minors with Do Not Resuscitate Orders attending or wishing to attend school. Themes from school district policies are discussed, and recommendations for federal, state, and local policymakers are made.

School board directors’ information needs and financial reporting’s role

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine whether Washington State school district financial reporting and budget reporting meet the information needs of school board directors charged with governance.Design/methodology/approachWashington State school board directors were surveyed and asked to rank information items’ usefulness in carrying out their governance role. School district annual reports, budgets and websites were examined to determine whether the identified information was reported and easily transparent to those charged with governance and the public.FindingsDirectors rank information on strategic oversight, budget planning and student outcomes as more useful, consistent with the strategic role of new public management. Follow-on analysis of district annual financial reports, budgets and websites reveal that the availability of the information ranked useful by directors is limited. The findings suggest an information gap exists between directors’ information needs and school district reporting. Annual reports and budgets, when provided, often provide typical financial statements and variance data, respectively, rather than reporting on mission-aligned performance measures. The main consequence of the information gap may be compromised decision-making effectiveness.Originality/valueBy directly asking those charged with governance what information they identify as useful and then examining whether the information is reported in the annual report, budget or website, the study links user information needs to information transparency.

The Point of No Return? Interest Groups, School Board Elections, and the Sustainment of the Portfolio Management Model in Post-Katrina New Orleans

Context Given the growing popularity of the portfolio management model (PMM) as a method of improving education, it is important to examine how these market-based reforms are sustained over time and how the politics of sustaining this model have substantial policy implications. Purpose of Study The purpose of this article is to examine important patterns and trends in the relationship between campaign contributions to local and state school board elections and the sustainability of the PMM in urban districts. We provide a descriptive analysis of the role of interest groups in education reform in post-Katrina New Orleans and document how the PMM changed the landscape of education politics, with a focus on the actors, both local and national, that sustain the PMM. Research Design We describe the creation of Act 35 and the evolution of educational governance changes in New Orleans to determine whether the same interest groups that played a role in the origin of the PMM also contributed to its sustainment. We analyze how these educational governance changes influenced the politics of education reform using data from the Louisiana Ethics Commission on campaign contributions to both state and local school board elections. We apply several non-board and board governance theories to examine interest group behavior. We also conduct interviews with stakeholders throughout the educational system to inform our discussion of the evolution of educational governance and the politics of education reform in post-Katrina New Orleans, as well as the categorization of candidates in school board elections. Results We find that in the post-Katrina era, there was a diversification of actors in the interest group landscape. These groups influenced educational governance through unprecedented levels of campaign contributions to the state and local school board elections. The influence of interest groups, especially out- of- state actors, contributed to an emerging shift in political control from “traditional” school board candidates to an increase in “pro-reform” board members. Conclusions The PMM is accompanied by heightened interest as well as an influx of out-of-state actors in educational policy making and the provision of public education. Unprecedented levels of campaign contributions suggest that state and local school board elections may be one of the primary mechanisms through which interest groups influenced post-Katrina educational governance. Out-of-state campaign contributions were mostly in support of pro-portfolio candidates. There appears to be tangible national support for the PMM that may play a crucial role in sustaining these reforms.

No Contractual Obligation to Improve Education: School Boards and Their Superintendents

Since the passage of No Child Left Behind, public schools have felt pressure to emphasize equitable academic outcomes. We investigate whether contracts agreed to by school boards and the superintendents they employ include academic and equity criteria to judge the performance of superintendents. Data come from the universe of 2013‐14 school superintendent contracts in North Carolina. Only nine of the 115 contracts include academic goals of any kind, and none include equity‐related criteria. Similarly, the universe of model superintendent contracts provided by state school boards associations (N = 20) rarely mention such criteria. Findings suggest that one reason for the relatively static equity and achievement outcomes in American public schools since the national introduction of accountability‐oriented reforms is that local school boards refuse to use academic and equity criteria to evaluate superintendents. The political science literature on elections and accountability suggests possible explanations.Related Articles Patrick, Barbara. 2016. “” Politics & Policy 44 (): 1116‐1157. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/polp.12185/full Webber, David J. 2010. “.” Politics & Policy 38 (): 81‐95. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1747-1346.2009.00229.x/full Patrick, Barbara. 2012. “” Politics & Policy 40 (): 593‐628. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1747-1346.2012.00370.x/full

The status of basic technology in Cross River State Junior Secondary Schools, Nigeria

The purpose of the study was to ascertain the status of basic technology in Cross River State junior secondary schools. Descriptive survey design was adopted for the study. The study was guided by three (3) research questions. The population for the study comprised of one hundred and twelve (112) basic technology teachers employed by the state school board Calabar. The sample for the study consisted of sixty (60) basic technology teachers from the three zones. Proportionate stratified random sampling technique was used to select the sample. The instrument for data collection was a researcher’s structured questionnaire titled. “Status of Basic Technology Inventory (SOBTI). The data collected were analysed using mean and standard deviation to answer the research questions. The study revealed that there was inadequacy in instructional materials for teaching basic technology in junior secondary school in Cross River State and even when materials are made available for teaching the students some teachers seem to lack experience in handling the equipment for teaching of practical class. It was further recommended that adequate instructional materials should be provided for the teaching of basic technology in junior secondary schools in Cross River State and in-service or on the job training should be given to teachers in this subject area for professional growth among others. Keywords: Technology, Basic Technology, Junior Secondary School

ID in the Courts: Anti-Evolutionism for the 21st Century

This article, included in special issue - Essays in Honor of Professor Erwin C. Surrency, discusses the ongoing state of anti-evolutionism. Professor Larson identifies three phases of the creation-evolution legal controversy. The first phase was categorized by a national religious crusade to outlaw teaching the Darwinian theory of human evolution in public school. The second phase was marked by state statutes and school board regulation mandating that, to counterbalance Darwinian instruction, schools also teach the biblical account of creation or, if the bible could not be taught, then the scientific evidence alleged to support the bible be taught. Courts stuck down these efforts. Nonetheless, many Americans remain skeptical about Darwinism and reject the idea that it should be the only theory of origins taught in public schools. This skepticism spawned the intelligent design (ID) movement and ushered in the third phase of the controversy which is characterized by challenges to the adequacy of purely naturalistic theories of evolution, by programs to open science education to teaching evidence of ID, by claims that Darwinism is only a theory, and by calls to focus instruction on the controversy over evolutionary naturalism. Larson traces the origins of ID, discusses the disclaiming of Darwinism in the deep South, identifies Congressional efforts regarding ID, reviews legal challenges, and examines efforts to proclaim academic freedom for ID.

The end of exceptionalism in American education: the changing politics of school reform

Over the past fifty years, the special status of education decision-making has been eroded. Once the province of local and state school boards, decisions about schools and schooling have begun to emerge in every level and branch of government. In The End of Exceptionalism in American Education , Jeffrey R. Henig traces the roots of this tectonic shift in school governance. Carefully reasoned, astutely observed, and thoughtfully presented, this volume promises to become a classic work in our understanding of education policy and an invaluable resource for those seeking to influence its future trajectory.

Seven Legitimate Apprehensions About Evaluating Teacher Education Programs and Seven “Beyond Excuses” Imperatives

Background Via the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act (HEA), stronger accountability proponents are now knocking on the doors of the colleges of education that prepare teachers and, many argue, prepare teachers ineffectively. This is raising questions about how effective and necessary teacher education programs indeed are. While research continues to evidence that teachers have a large impact on student achievement, the examination of teacher education programs is a rational backward mapping of understanding how teachers impact students. Nonetheless, whether and how evaluations of teacher education programs should be conducted is yet another hotly debated issue in the profession. Purpose The purpose of this project is to describe how one of the largest teacher education programs in the nation has taken a lead position toward evaluating itself, and has begun to take responsibility for its impact on the public school system. This research also presents the process of establishing a self-evaluation initiative across the state of Arizona and provides a roadmap for how other colleges and universities might begin a similar process. Setting and Participants This work focuses on the Teacher Preparation Research and Evaluation Project (T-PREP) that spawned via the collaborative efforts among the deans and representative faculty from Arizona State University (ASU), Northern Arizona University (NAU), and the University of Arizona (UofA). The colleges of education located within each respective university are the colleges that train the vast majority of educators in the state of Arizona. Participants also included other key stakeholders in the state of Arizona, including the deans and representative faculty from the aforementioned colleges of education, leaders representing the Arizona Department of Education (ADE), and other key leaders and constituents involved in the state's education system (e.g., the state's union and school board leaders and representatives). Research Design This serves as a case study example of how others might conduct such self-examinations at the collaborative and the institutional level, as well as more local levels. Conclusions This work resulted in a set of seven “beyond excuses” imperatives that participants involved in the T-PREP consortium developed and participants at the local level carried forward. The seven key imperatives are important for other colleges of education to consider as they too embark on pathways toward examining their teacher education programs and using evaluation results in both formative and summative ways.

Perception of Teachers of Agriculture about Supervised Agricultural Experience Programmes (SAEP) in Secondary Schools in Ekiti and Ondo States Nigeria

<p style="text-align:justify">The study investigated the perception of teachers of agriculture about Supervised Agricultural Experience Programmes (SAEP) in secondary schools in Ekiti and Ondo States. The population used for the study consisted of 520 teachers of agricultural science in all the secondary schools in Ekiti and Ondo States. The sample used for this study was 136 teachers of agricultural science drawn through a proportionate stratified sampling technique to pick four(4) teachers from each of the 34 Local Government of the two states. The Instrument used was a structured questionnaire to investigate the extend to which the teachers agreed on disagree with statemenst regarding SAEP. The questionnaire were test and re-tested yielding a reliability co-efficient of 89. (Cronbach alpha). The data for the study were analyzed using mean, standard deviation t-test and two tailed probability statistics. The probability level was set at P<0.05. Thirty eight items were generated for the study. The study found out among others that the teaching of agriculture needs improvement; that though SEAP related contents are in the agricultural science curriculum the teaching and learning of agriculture are not vocationally oriented in Ekiti and Ondo States. It was recommended among others that agricultural programmes in all schools should include supervised agricultural experience programmes, while the State School Boards in collaboration with relevant Ministries should conduct informational workshop and orientation on SAEP for educational planners, administrator and teachers of agriculture in Nigeria.</p>

Retaining and Developing Quality Teachers: Critical Issues for Administrators in Nigeria Secondary Schools

The study explored the art of retaining and developing quality teachers, with emphasis on critical issues for school administrators in Nigeria. In a country where there are hues and cries everywhere about the falling standard in education, supported by ample research evidence, it becomes pertinent to review literature on teacher retention and development, a factor that is accepted globally to influence school environment and thus goal attainment in education. This will bring again to the limelight critical issues and their implications for better school outcomes as it affects teacher-staffing. It will enable stakeholders in Nigeria education to have a re-think about the way and manner teachers are handled in Nigeria secondary schools and begin to do the things they ought to do to redeem the school system. In this light, relevant literature was reviewed on theoretical retention strategies; the importance of comprehensive induction on teachers’ retention and development; how improved working conditions can retain quality teachers; the role of administrators in teachers’ retention and development; problems facing school principals in teachers’ retention and development; support needed by school principals in the retention and development of teachers, and what the Nigerian teachers need to be retained in schools. Based on this discourse, it was recommended that government in collaboration with school principals should provide comprehension induction to teachers; school principals should ensure that the school climate is supportive of teaching and learning, encourage interpersonal relationship between staff and students, promote school/community relationship, involve teachers in decision making, ensure a manageable student-teacher ratio, and reduce teachers’ workload; State School Boards should enforce policies that provide for equitable distribution of learning materials to teachers and students in schools; government should grant additional incentive to teachers in rural and isolated schools and train school principals to be familiar with the available resources to support the diverse needs of students and staff.

Tying Early Childhood Education More Closely to Schooling: Promise, Perils and Practical Problems

BackgroundOver the past decade or so, the idea of joining early childhood education (ECE) and schooling has gained currency in the educational reform arena. Numerous education reform proposals and plans include ECE as a component. Scores of school districts around the country have added preschool classrooms to at least some of their elementary schools. National organizations representing governors, chief state school officers, school boards, and principals have all called for public school systems to include and integrate ECE into plans for school improvement.Purpose/ObjectiveOne specific framework for bringing ECE and schooling closer together is “prek-3rd.” The broad goal of prek-3rd is to encapsulate formal learning experiences in the 3–8 years age period and create a distinct, coherent whole out of them. In this article, I use prek-3rd as a vehicle for exploring the implications of more closely linking ECE and schooling, focusing especially on philosophical and practical issues raised by this objective. I will examine the reasoning of proponents and raise questions about their assumptions.Research DesignAnalytic essay.Conclusions/RecommendationsThe example of prek-3rd suggests that there are many positive aspects to the idea of bringing ECE and early schooling closer together. These include an extended time frame for holding on to a developmental orientation; a complex view of the child, and sensitivity to individual differences; the longitudinal perspective on learning and mastery; the balance in attention to teaching and learning; and the broadened time frame for considering the transition to school. Yet, at least in the American context, it is not such a good idea to bring ECE and schooling closer together. Initiatives like prek-3rd will provide one more opening for downward pressures on early childhood providers. The schools (as a whole) have a history of failing to respect the integrity of other institutions that join them in efforts to better meet children's needs. Thus far, all that has been accomplished by tying ECE more closely to schools making ECE less early-childhood-like. The needs of schools are just too powerful and end up overwhelming the identity of institutional partners. Ultimately, the risk in binding ECE and schooling more closely together derives from a set of related cultural problems. The first can best be described as losing the present to the future—the very problem with school readiness as the central goal of ECE. The second problem is a misunderstanding of the processes at the heart of child development. Children are not raw human capital to be carefully developed through schooling to meet the demands of a globalized labor force. Americans urgently have to rethink how they wish to account for children, the virtues that are important to nurture, and the role of adult institutions in the process. There is a clear risk in extending the line that already connects schooling to global competitiveness down into early childhood, asking ECE to address not only the achievement gap but the global achievement gap as well. If the school for young children has to be preparatory and provide continuity with the elementary school, then we as educators are already prisoners of a model that ends up as a funnel … It's [the funnel's] purpose to narrow down what is big into what is small. — Loris Malaguzzi, interview with Carolyn Pope Edwards (cited in Drummond, 2007, p. 211).

School Wellness Policies: Effects of Using Standard Templates

Public school policies related to physical activity and nutrition recently have become the focal point for policymakers to evaluate the effect of regulations on the childhood obesity epidemic. State school board associations have begun to provide school districts templates for wellness policies, and little research exists that evaluates the effect of a template on the strength and comprehensiveness of these policies. To determine the strength and comprehensiveness of school wellness policies developed using a standard template when compared to those that do not. In 2011, a random sample of wellness policies from school districts in Virginia (ten locally developed wellness policies and ten template-based policies) was coded using a previously validated audit tool for strength and comprehensiveness. Data were reduced to a scale ranging from 0 to 1, with higher scores representing stronger and more-comprehensive policies, and compared using t-tests. Overall, only 17% of school wellness policies met all federal requirements. On average, locally developed policies met five of six federal requirements, whereas VSBA policies met four of six, t(2, 21)=2.161, p<0.05. Both types of policies were ranked on a scale from 0 (weakest) to 1 (strongest); both types were weak (M=0.16±0.13) and only mildly comprehensive (M=0.37±0.16). There was a difference in policy comprehensiveness and strength between locally developed policies and template-based policies. Locally developed policies were stronger, t(2, 21)= -1.82, p<0.05, and more comprehensive, t(2, 21)= -2.5, p<0.05, than template-based policies. In this sample, locally developed policies were stronger than template-based policies. If replicated in large studies, these findings suggest that further research is needed about how best to support schools that wish to develop school wellness policies.

Addressing Physical Activity, Obesity, and Wellness in Schools

Mens sana in corpore sano (a sound mind in a healthy body)—Satire X by the Roman Poet Juvenal School Wellness Policies: Effects of Using Standard TemplatesAmerican Journal of Preventive MedicineVol. 43Issue 3PreviewPublic school policies related to physical activity and nutrition recently have become the focal point for policymakers to evaluate the effect of regulations on the childhood obesity epidemic. State school board associations have begun to provide school districts templates for wellness policies, and little research exists that evaluates the effect of a template on the strength and comprehensiveness of these policies. Full-Text PDF Physical Activity During School Recess: A Systematic ReviewAmerican Journal of Preventive MedicineVol. 43Issue 3PreviewInterest has increased in examining the physical activity levels of young people during school recess. Identifying correlates of their recess physical activity behaviors is timely, and would inform school-based physical activity programming and intervention development. The review examined the correlates of children's and adolescent's physical activity during school recess periods. Full-Text PDF

Making “Health in All Policies” a Reality Requires You!

Making “Health in All Policies” a Reality Requires You!

School board member professional development and effects on student achievement

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to focus on the issue of professional development education for school board members. The research question that guides this mixed study is: does school board member professional development have an effect on student achievement?Design/methodology/approachThe standardized protocol for this study was to send a developed questionnaire to 50 directors of state school board associations. An inductive analysis was made of the state school board directors' responses on whether they felt professional development had a positive effect on student achievement. Their responses were then compared with Education Week's 2009 rating of state education systems.FindingsFrom the response from the 26 responding state directors, the study found that most states do not require professional development for school board members. State board directors did feel that school board professional development had a positive effect on student achievement. Of the states that did require school board professional development, they received an overall rating of B or C according to the Education Week 2009 rating, while those states that did not require professional development received a rating of C or D.Research limitations/implicationsMixed research such as this adds to the conversation of the need for required school board professional development but the findings need to be re‐analyzed with all 50 states responding.Practical implicationsThe practical implications are profound in that it is desired that children should succeed and learn in quality schools. School board members' lack of education (i.e. they only require high‐school diploma or GED) has an effect on student achievement. School board members need to take required professional development in all areas of public schooling so that quality decisions can be made for children's education.Social implicationsThe social implications are that school board member professional development sends a message to students that continued adult learning is necessary in all walks of life for the USA to continue its leadership in the world.Originality/valueSchool board members with the barest qualifications are elected to, in essence, run public schools. Little research has been done about the effects of school board member education on student achievement. This paper explores the voices of state directors in relation to professional development for school board members in US public school discourse and fills some of the gaps in the research.

Justice Jackson and the Second Flag-Salute Case: Reason and Passion in Opinion-Writing

Justice Jackson and the Second Flag-Salute Case: Reason and Passion in Opinion-Writing DOUGLAS E. ABRAMS I. Introduction In 1943, the Supreme Court handed down West Virginia State Board ofEducation v. Barnette) With Justice Robert H. Jackson writing for the six-Justice majority, the Court upheld the First Amendment right ofJehovah’s Witnesses schoolchildren to refuse to salute the flag or recite the Pledge of Allegiance, state-imposed obligations that the children and their parents contended were acts of idolatry that violated biblical commands. Judge Richard A. Posner has said that Justice Jackson’s effort “maybe the mosteloquent majority opinion in the history ofthe Supreme Court.”2 Barnette reached the Court as the nation waged global war, a dire moment in history that Part II of this article describes. For its high drama and the endurance of its doctrine, the case continuesto engage historians and stu­ dents of the Court.3 This article concerns the singulareloquencepinpointedby Judge Posner and others.4 Justice Jackson adroitly balanced two ingredients—reason andpassion—that (as Part III describes) have marked assessments of rhetoric and human experience since ancient times, that guided the nation’s Founders and early Presidents, that have now moved Presi­ dent Obama in both of his memoirs, and that otherwise continue as dual touchstones fre­ quently applied in law and popular culture. Few cases summon the high drama that energized the Court in Barnette during wartime, but (as Part IV describes) focusing on reason and passion throughout the opinion­ writing process remains a usefuljudicial com­ pass today. Justice Jackson’s blend ofthese two ingredients, and his mastery ofthe written lan­ guage, bequeathed a decision whose bedrock JUSTICE JACKSON AND THE SECOND FLAG-SALUTE CASE 31 West Virginia State Board of Education’s resolution requiring all public-school students and teachers to salute the flag and recite the Pledge of Allegiance each day followed quickly after Pearl Harbor was attacked. First Amendment holding, according to Pro­ fessor Charles Alan Wright, “teems with vivid expressions and memorable statements” that still enrich the fabric of the law as statements of core American values.5 II. II. “Among the Darkest Times in Recent Memory” Barnette's record began in early January of 1942, barely a month after Japan attacked the Pacific naval fleet at Pearl Harbor. His­ torian David McCullough recalls these days as “[a]mong the darkest times in recent memory.”6 “Hitler’s armies were nearly to Moscow;... German submarines were sink­ ing our oil tankers off the coasts of Florida and New Jersey, within sight of the beaches, and there was not a thing we could do about it;... halfour navy had been destroyed at Pearl Harbor. We had scarcely any air force. Army recruits were drilling with wooden rifles. And there was no guarantee whatever that the Nazi war machine could be stopped.”7 General James H. Doolittle’s daring bombing raid over Tokyo and other Japanese cities would buoy American morale, but the raid was still a few months away (April 18). So too were the first great American victo­ ries, in the Battle of the Coral Sea (May 48 ) and at Midway Island (June 4-7). Without the reassurance of hindsight available to later generations who know the war’s outcome, Americans in mid-winter 1942 remained res­ olute and committed, yet aware that the nation faced an epic challenge to vanquish the Axis Powers in total war. In the weeks following Pearl Harbor, ap­ peals to patriotism summoning young and old spread quickly from coast to coast. On 32 JOURNAL OF SUPREME COURT HISTORY January 9,1942, the West Virginia State Board ofEducation followed a number of other state and local school boards by passing a resolu­ tion that required all public school students and teachers to salute the flag and recite the Pledge of Allegiance each day.8 The West Virginia resolution allowed no exemptions because, the state board found, “national unity is the basis ofnational security.”9 Noncompliance carried draconian pun­ ishment. Where West Virginia schoolchildren refused to salute or recite in their classrooms, their parents faced imprisonment for violat­ ing compulsory education acts and citation for child neglect, which might cause tem­ porary or...

School Wellness Policies: Perceptions, Barriers, and Needs Among School Leaders and Wellness Advocates*

School wellness policies are a key component to the prevention of adolescent obesity. This national research study sought to understand the wellness environment in school districts across the country and to identify challenges districts face and needs they have in order to effectively implement, monitor, and evaluate school wellness policies. The study determined (1) perceptions, barriers, and opportunities regarding the development, implementation, and monitoring/evaluation of school wellness policies among school board members, state school boards association leaders, state public health nutrition directors, and school wellness advocates; (2) the readiness and capacity of survey groups to address nutrition and physical activity policies; (3) the extent to which survey groups collaborate; and (4) the acceptability of wellness tools. In 2006, over 2900 individuals participated in online surveys, focus groups, and key informant interviews. School board members represented 1296 school districts across the nation. School board members expressed the highest level of confidence among all survey groups that their district has the capacity to develop, implement, and monitor/ evaluate the wellness policy. The disparities among groups are most notable with regard to perceptions of district capacity to monitor/evaluate the policy. School board members are interested in school wellness policy tools and trainings. There is an opportunity for state school boards associations, state public health nutrition directors, and school wellness advocates to build their own capacity to provide training and resources to districts on wellness issues, particularly physical education/activity, school-based wellness initiatives, and strategies for implementing and monitoring/evaluating wellness policies.

Perceptions of Principals' Compliance with Implementation of State School Board Mandated Vending Regulations

Following the abstract presentation, participants will be able to describe barriers in implementing Mississippi beverage and snack vending regulations in the school nutrition environment, specific to the current economic climate.

Summing up a Career

The big decisions being made in Washington and state houses inspired me to look back, all the way to my first Washington Commentary. It was in September 1982 during President Reagan's first year in office, and I bluntly declared that the benign U.S. Department of Education had been turned over to ideologues. They were bent on eliminating it, or at least reducing it to being no more than a conduit for their research and statistics. So, not much more than a quarter century later, here we are with the largest infusion of federal dollars into education ever, the almost certain prospect that there will be national standards in a few years, and a federally induced mania for testing that is going to define teaching, just as it has student success. Why do I fear that none of these will work as well as promised? Scanning through many of the subsequent commentaries, I realized that the pushes and pulls, rhetoric and good reforms mixed with bad ones lead to questions, not answers. The American public education system is still below capacity, and I wonder why. Certainly, jagged-edged, rather than cutting-edged, policies often get in the way. But the questions that really stump me probe deeper than any law or reform, so I'm putting a few out there for this summer of heady decisions on education across the country. Why are education institutions--school districts, state policy agencies, teacher preparation programs--so inferior compared to the people who work in them? This idea is not original with me--I heard it from David Simon, the brilliant writer/director of the TV drama series, The Wire. As a beat reporter for the Baltimore Sun, he observed the corruption and mismanagement of local police and government (including the schools) and turned his insights into a series that is an indictment of American society, writ large. Simon's explanation that greed incubates inferiority doesn't exactly fit with education. The principal of Main Street High School has no illusions about being in the same league as a Wall Street CEO. But the issue of power backed by the misuse of statistics (another Simon theme) rings true for education. Everyone jockeys for power, whether it's administrators, unions, think tanks, or politicians, and he who lies best with statistics, wins. Meanwhile, talented or, at least, committed educators who want to do good for kids work inside inferior systems as best they can and for as long as they can stand it. The federalism that governed education for two centuries--evolving into shared responsibility among national, state, and local levels--is in shambles. Mayors, states, and federal officials are trying to move schools forward, but the feds are investing massive stimulus dollars in state finance systems that favor the wealthy and penalize the poor. How is this top-down approach going to change that? The stimulus regulations ask states to show how they're going to address the problems, but such politeness leaves the door wide open for the statistical liars. A related question has to do with leadership. What goes into the thinking of state officials, administrators, school boards, policy makers, and others who make decisions with public money and people's lives that causes them to come up with so many bad or, at least, uninformed choices? Sometimes, they seem like lemmings, determined to follow the latest fad or advice without realizing that it is leading them right over the cliff. I put charter schools (certainly vouchers) in this category. If the purpose is to improve student achievement, neither charters nor vouchers offers proof of working. …