Research shows charter policies fail to ensure accountability
In an August policy brief, education expert William J. Mathis maintains that charter sector policies -- reflecting a model favoring minimally regulated, market-based schooling -- are not providing adequate public accountability and protection for students and other public education stakeholders. The brief,Regulating Charter Schools, summarizes and sources critical claims that have been leveled about accountability practices in charter schools and identifies options for revising charter policies to address these concerns. Examples of such charges include corruption, fiscal exploitation, weak academic performance, and intentional segregation. The brief was published by the National Education Policy Center (NEPC), and is the tenth in a series of concise research summaries aimed at offering ideas and guidance for policymakers. Mathis groups and documents charter sector accountability concerns under four broad domains: academic performance, equal opportunity and non-discrimination, financial solvency and stability, and safety.
GAO: ED should study waiver oversight to prepare for ESSA
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is urging the Department of Education (ED) to study its oversight of the NCLB waiver program in order to better implement the new Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). According to a new GAO study, 12 of 43 waiver states faced multiple challenges in implementing one or more of the three major waiver requirements: college- and career-ready standards and assessments; district and school accountability systems; and teacher and principal evaluation systems. "Although 12 states faced multiple challenges throughout the Flexibility waiver initiative, Education has not yet evaluated its process for reviewing, approving, and overseeing Flexibility waivers," the report concludes.
ED responded in a formal letter to GAO that it took continuous improvement steps during waiver implementation, including the creation of the Office of State Support (OSS), and that it was currently applying lessons learned from waivers to ESSA oversight. For example, ED said that it is piloting aspects of a new performance review system this year, including quarterly calls between OSS program officers and individual states. ED added that OSS is "implementing a pilot fiscal review in 2016 of eight States focused on the components of the ESEA that do not change significantly between NCLBA and the ESSA."
Draft supplement not supplant proposal now online
ED posted a draft of its proposed supplement not supplant rules online yesterday. The proposal seeks to implement the Every Student Succeeds Act's (ESSA's) version of the long-standing ESEA requirement that Title I funds supplement state and local funds, not supplant them. A negotiated rulemaking committee was unable to develop a consensus proposal in this area in April, which led to ED developing its new proposal.
NEA President Lily Eskelsen GarcÃa issued a statement in response to the proposed rules. Eskelsen GarcÃa said NEA is committed to ensuring that regulations implementing ESSA promote the new law's goal of ensuring that all students, regardless of zip code, have equal access to a great public education, adding that:
The Department's proposed regulations demonstrate its willingness to listen to practitioners given the additional flexibility and workforce protections. However, the proposal does not address all of our concerns. The proposed regulatory language, as compared to the original proposal, minimizes but does not eliminate the practical limitations and unintended consequences that may arise during implementation.
ED's proposal will soon be formally published in the federal register, and will have a 60 day comment period.
ED announces preschool Pay for Success competition
ED launched a $2.8 million preschool Pay for Success (PFS) grant competition using funds from the FY 2016 Preschool Development Grants program. The pilot program will support feasibility studies to determine whether PFS is a viable funding method for preschool programs. According to ED, the completed studies will be shared publicly to help inform communities considering PFS financing.
PFS is a relatively new and untested funding mechanism in which the government contracts with an entity to provide a social service, and agrees to payments based on the achievement of objective, measurable outcomes. Promoted as a way to fund social services at little or no risk to the government, NEA is concerned that PFS is complex and costly to implement, proposes to divert to private investors savings that should accrue to taxpayers, and jeopardizes public oversight and accountability for publicly funded services.
NCES report shows persistent student achievement gaps
The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) released a report, Status and Trends in the Education of Racial and Ethnic Groups 2016, providing detailed student demographic, education participation, persistence, and achievement data by race and ethnicity. While the report shows progress over time for racial and ethnic groups in terms of the numbers completing high school and enrolling in college, significant academic achievement gaps persist. For example, looking at NAEP reading scores, scored on a scale of 0 to 500, the report states:
- At grade 4, the White-Black gap in reading narrowed from 32 points in 1992 to 26 points in 2013; the White-Hispanic gap in 2013 (25 points) was not measurably different from the gap in 1992.
- At grade 8, the White-Hispanic gap narrowed from 26 points in 1992 to 21 points in 2013; the White-Black gap in 2013 (26 points) was not measurably different from the gap in 1992.
- At grade 12, the White-Black achievement gap in reading was larger in 2013 (30 points) than in 1992 (24 points), while the White-Hispanic reading achievement gap in 2013 (22 points) was not measurably different from the gap in 1992.
For information on the 2015 NAEP reading scores visit this NAEP page.
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