Getting Ready for 2019!

Since 2013, Tennessee Education Report has provided in-depth coverage of education news and detailed analysis of how policy change impacts our schools, teachers, and students.

As we turn toward 2019 with a new Governor and a vastly different legislature, TN Ed Report will be there — covering the proposals, policies, and changes that impact our state’s schools.

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Wishing you the best in 2019!

Andy

 


 

A Teacher’s View of TDOE

One teacher offers her view of why TDOE can’t seem to make TNReady ready.
The repeated problems with TNReady testing over the last three years have resulted in many calls, especially from legislative leaders, for the resignation of Commissioner of Education Candice McQueen. The fundamental problem with TNReady – and other education issues in Tennessee – is not the Commissioner of Education; it is the Department of Education. The action of replacing the commissioner while ignoring the employees yet expecting the department to perform better is analogous to giving a car a new paint job instead of rebuilding the engine, then expecting the car to run better.

McQueen has been commissioner since January 2015. Many TDOE employees have worked there longer than the commissioner. Some employees have worked through several commissioners. Although the commissioner makes the headlines, the TDOE employees are responsible for the department’s daily activities. Not all of these daily activities are known by the commissioner and not all would be approved by the commissioner if she did know about them. Therefore, while a change of commissioner would certainly get headlines, there is no guarantee the change would result in improved TDOE employee actions with TNReady implementation.

I have experienced several concerning TDOE employee actions over the last few years, and I am only one of the 66,000+ teachers in Tennessee.

About 8-10 years ago, I attended a webinar training session by TDOE for special education teachers whose students were taking the TCAP alternative assessment. During the webinar, special education supervisors and teachers from across the state were able to ask questions of the TDOE presenter. One question that several people brought up was a likely unintended outcome by following a TDOE directive, and suggestions were made for modifying the directive. The presenter cut off the suggestions by stating “That’s just the way it has to be done. Too bad, so sad! Next question?” This employee is still working at TDOE, and the commissioner of education has changed twice since this incident. If other employees share this attitude toward constructive feedback from teachers, it is not a surprise that TNReady has continued to have problems.

In June of 2014 I attended a professional learning session by TDOE at Spring Hill High School in Maury County. Approximately 400 special education teachers from middle Tennessee attended this session. Late in the morning the presenter’s laptop battery died before she had completed her powerpoint presentation. As several TDOE employees in the front of the auditorium were trying to diagnose and fix the problem, she said (with her microphone still on) “Well, how was I supposed to know I needed to bring my power cord.” This TDOE team had been presenting the same session to groups of teachers across the state for several weeks. All of the teachers attending the sessions were under Tennessee’s teacher evaluation system. Not a one of those teachers would have scored well if they had reacted that way to a technology problem during an observation lesson. This employee also still works at TDOE. If other TDOE employees take no responsibility for advance preparation, it is not a surprise that TNReady problems have been repeated over several years.

On January 28, 2016, I made a public records request to TDOE’s Records Custodian, the Director of Communications. I repeated the request on February 23, 2016 because I had received no response. I repeated the request on March 4, 2016, explaining that I needed the information before April 14. On March 14, 2016, I received an email informing me that they would provide the records as soon as they could. On April 27, 2016, I sent an email pointing out that it had been three months since my original request, and that the date I needed the information by had already passed, but that another need-by date of May 6, 2016, was approaching. The following day I received an email that the department was working on my request. On May 3, 2016, I once again requested the records, and was informed that they were working on obtaining them. Finally, on May 10, 2016 at 2:35 pm, I emailed Commissioner McQueen and included all of my previous emails to TDOE. She replied by email at 3:10 pm that the director of communications was working on it and would send me the records shortly. At 3:51pm the director of communications emailed me the records I had requested 13 weeks earlier. The department employees caused the problem; the commissioner solved the problem in 76 minutes when she was made aware of it.

On January 10, 2017, I contacted TDOE stating my concern that a TDOE employee had violated departmental policy, and his actions had caused professional harm to me. I asked for a simple statement clarifying that the employee had violated policy that I could then use to repair the damage to my professional reputation. This request was forwarded to TDOE’s general counsel the same day. I received no response until 3-13-2017 when the General Counsel sent an email that the problem was caused by me because I had used a TDOE resource incorrectly by contacting the vendor instead of contacting my administrator. This contradicts the manual provided during TDOE’s initial training for using this resource that specifically stated to contact the vendor directly. If TDOE employees continue to give conflicting information, it is no surprise that TDOE has experienced problems with two different vendors for TNReady. It is also no surprise that TDOE claims that this summer’s problems with uploading of evaluation portfolios were the teachers’ fault.

On May 26, 2017, I contacted TDOE’s Assistant General Counsel for Special Education with a simple yes/no question about special education law. I received no answer so I contacted Congressman Marsha Blackburn’s office who obtained the information from the US Department of Education within a day. An internet search shows that the Office of the General Counsel plans staff birthday celebrations and matching costume days; an internet search shows that the parent of a student with special needs also couldn’t get timely answers from this office. If TDOE employees ignore the taxpayers who pay their salaries, why would they listen to the legislators or the commissioner or the vendors?

There are good employees at TDOE. The fundamental problem is that the employees seem to have lost sight of their primary purpose which is to support public education in Tennessee. TDOE employees are making decisions and giving directives for an environment with which they are no longer familiar. Although some of the employees have teaching licenses and teaching experience, most of them have not been in the classroom for several years. That situation, however, can have a simple and effective solution: If every TDOE employee had to substitute teach for two days a year, one day each semester, their perspective relative to their decisions and decrees would change drastically. School systems struggle with finding enough substitute teachers, and TDOE employees could be used for planned teacher absences, such as doctor appointments and professional seminars. Since these employees are already being paid, the local school districts could save a little money. Would there be weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth in response to this suggestion? Yes, there would. But that leads to the question of why would we want people making decisions for our students who didn’t want to spend a day with our students? Visiting schools by stepping in the door of a classroom for a few minutes does not give you the perspective that spending a day by yourself in a classroom of students would give. No information is as clear as what you see and experience for yourself. When Jim Henry was asked to lead the troubled Department of Children’s Services, he “implemented a new requirement that all staff (including himself) spend a day with a caseworker to ‘see what life is like when you’re not sitting in the ivory tower.’.” [The Tennessean 8-21-2013] This policy helped DCS develop a change of culture within the department and improve employee focus on the department’s core mission. Implementing a similar policy at TDOE would improve not only the issues with TNReady, but would focus employees on their core mission of supporting local school systems in providing the optimum education for students.

Perhaps the governor or the legislators or the commissioner herself could implement this requirement quickly as a first step toward improving the root cause of the TNReady problems – the TDOE employees. Please don’t seek a new paint job when the real need is a rebuilt engine.

Teachers: What’s your story? Share at andy@tnedreport.com

 

For more on education politics and policy in Tennessee, follow @tnedreport

 

 

Audit: TDOE Failed in TNReady Implementation

A new audit from the Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury reveals what many have known for some time: The Tennessee Department of Education’s failure to adequately supervise a testing vendor was a large part of recent TNReady testing problems.

Here are key items from the Comptroller’s audit of the 2018 TNReady testing cycle:

The Tennessee Comptroller’s Office has released a performance audit of the Tennessee Department of Education detailing many of the problems that led up to the difficulties in executing the spring 2018 TNReady tests.

The online student assessment tests were plagued with numerous issues including login delays, slow servers, and software bugs. The first signs of trouble began on April 16, 2018 and continued through the end of the month.

Auditors determined that many of these issues occurred primarily because of Questar Assessment, Inc’s performance and updates to the student assessment system. Auditors also found the Department of Education’s oversight of test administration fell short of expectations.

The performance audit’s nine findings include five issues surrounding TNReady. These findings include:

• the department’s lack of sufficient, detailed information on its Work Plan with Questar rendered it less effective as a monitoring tool to ensure Questar met all deadlines.

• Questar’s decision to make an unauthorized change to text-to-speech software without formally notifying the department. This change contributed to the online testing disruptions.

• Questar’s failure to sufficiently staff customer support, resulting in lengthy call wait times and high rates of abandoned calls.

• a failure to track, document, and provide status updates to districts to let them know when students’ tests would be recovered, leaving districts unaware if their students completed the required tests.

• inadequate evaluation and monitoring of internal controls implemented by external information technology service providers, such as Questar.

 

 

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SCORE Gets “New” Leader

From SCORE (Statewide Collaborative on Reforming Education):

Beginning January 1, 2019 current SCORE President David Mansouri will become the President and Chief Executive Officer of SCORE, Senator Bill Frist announced, to help ensure a decade of progress in Tennessee student achievement is supported and extended far into the future.
“No one is better prepared than David to lead the organization going forward and to help accelerate the work in making Tennessee’s students the very best in the nation. And in the best of both worlds – we are blessed that Jamie will continue to support the organization as a senior adviser,” said Senator Frist.
In a letter to SCORE partners, Senator Frist highlighted Jamie Woodson’s eight years of tremendous leadership and what has been accomplished for Tennessee students under her vision. Jamie Woodson wrote that because of the collaboration around improving student achievement, she is confident Tennessee’s progress will continue.
For more on education politics and policy in Tennessee, follow @TNEdReport


 

Voucher Backers Earn Leadership Roles

While it is certainly clear that incoming Governor Bill Lee is a supporter of using public money to fund private schools by way of vouchers, it’s also worth noting that top leadership in both legislative bodies have a record of supporting school vouchers and receiving support from pro-voucher groups.

Soon-to-be House Speaker Glen Casada has long been a proponent of vouchers and has received thousands of dollars in campaign funding from groups like Students First/TennesseeCAN and the Betsy DeVos-backed Tennessee Federation for Children.

Likewise, newly-elected House Republican (and Majority) Leader William Lamberth has consistently received backing from pro-voucher groups.

Over in the Senate, the Lt. Governor’s spot continues to be held by Randy McNally, a long-time supporter of voucher schemes.

The number two job in the Senate again falls to Ferrell Haile of Sumner County, who between 2012 and 2016 was among the largest recipients (more than $20,000) of campaign backing from pro-voucher groups. Haile has also co-sponsored voucher legislation in spite of his local School Board opposing the measure.

The bottom line: The hot topic in the 2019 legislative session figures to be school vouchers.

One key fact to keep in mind as this debate rages: Vouchers don’t work.

What’s more, Indiana’s experience with what started as a relatively small voucher program quickly ballooned into millions of dollars in public money diverted to private schools:

Reports suggest this provision means Indiana is spending some $54 million supporting private schools — money that would not have been spent without the voucher program:

A report on the program released by the Department of Education shows the program costs $54 million.

“If the idea behind a voucher program is we’re going to have the money follow the student, if the student didn’t start in a public school, the money isn’t following them from a public school, it’s just appearing from another budget,” [Researcher Molly] Stewart said. “And we’re not exactly sure where that’s coming from.”

Vouchers, then, create $54 million in new expenditures — an education funding deficit — in Indiana.

So, even as our state’s policy leaders are squarely in the corner of voucher schemes — some bought and paid for by voucher backers, others, like Bill Lee, among those doing the buying — it’s important to stay focused on the facts. Vouchers are expensive and vouchers don’t work.

 

For more on education politics and policy in Tennessee, follow @TNEdReport


 

 

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Moore Honored by TN Principals

From a press release:

At the 2018 Tennessee Principals Conference in early December, TPA presented Dana with a unique honor—dubbed the DM (Difference Maker) award—for her commitment to advancing K-12 education in Tennessee. Dana is an enthusiastic champion of TPA’s mission to support, empower, and connect school administrators across the state, and she works tirelessly to connect its members to influential leaders in Tennessee’s education community.

“Dana and ENA make us a better organization,” says Nancy Meador, TPA’s executive director. “Her efforts have made a tremendous difference in the quality of professional development that TPA provides its members.”

The TPA board recognized Dana’s above-and-beyond support with a one-of-a-kind award: an antique, refurbished school desk, complete with a gold placard that reads “Thanks for making a difference!”

“It’s one of the coolest gifts I’ve ever received!” says Dana. “I was completely surprised, and I feel so honored that the board put this much thought and effort into finding an antique schoolhouse desk just for me.”

Congratulations, Dana, on your well-deserved recognition! ENA is privileged to have a difference maker like you on our team.

ENA is a proud sponsor of TPA. Founded in 1939, TPA’s mission is to serve as the primary advocate for its members’ personal and professional development. The organization’s primary goals include raising the bar for principalships, expanding learning opportunities, and forming partnerships and collaborations with other groups.

 

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Teacher Top Ten List

Meghan Mangrum of the Chattanooga Times-Free Press has a Top Ten Wish List for teachers presented by the head of the Hamilton County Education Association at tonight’s school board meeting. Here it is:

10. Quality instructional materials

9. Real and relevant professional development and learning opportunities

8. Fewer whole system changes at once

7. Adequate resource for all

6. More individual planning time

5. A new Commissioner of Education who listens to practitioners

4. R-E-S-P-E-C-T and having a voice

3. Less time testing

2. Safe learning environment for students

1. Adequate funding of public education

 

 

Teachers, what are your thoughts? What items are on your 2019 wish list? Let me know in the comments or via email at andy@tnedreport.com

 

For more on education politics and policy in Tennessee, follow @TNEdReport


 

Knox School Board Says: NO VOUCHERS!

As it becomes ever more clear that incoming Governor Bill Lee plans to aggressively pursue a voucher scheme agenda that will undermine Tennessee’s public schools, the Knox County School Board voted 7-2 last night to urge the General Assembly to reject any voucher plan.

Here’s the text of the resolution sponsored by Board Member Jennifer Owen:

WHEREAS, the Knox County Board of Education is responsible for managing all public schools established or that may be established under its jurisdiction;

WHEREAS, there is pending legislation before the Tennessee General Assembly that would create a voucher program allowing students to use public education funds to pay for private school tuition (voucher programs also are known as “opportunity scholarships,” “education savings,” “tax credits” or similar terms); and

WHEREAS, proponents have spent millions to convince the public and lawmakers of their efficacy, yet, more than five decades after introduction, vouchers remain controversial, unproven and unpopular; and

WHEREAS, the Constitution of the State of Tennessee requires that the Tennessee General Assembly “provide for the maintenance, support and eligibility standards of a system of free public schools;” and

WHEREAS, the State of Tennessee has established nationally recognized standards and measures for accountability in public education; and

WHEREAS, vouchers eliminate accountability, by channeling taxes to private schools without the same • academic or testing requirements, • public budgets or reports on student achievement, • open meetings and records law adherence, • public accountability requirements in major federal laws, including special education laws; and

WHEREAS, vouchers have not been effective at improving student achievement or closing the achievement gap; and

WHEREAS, vouchers leave students behind, including those with the greatest needs, because vouchers channel tax dollars into private schools that are not required to accept all students, nor offer the special services they may need; and

WHEREAS, underfunded public schools are less able to attract and retain teachers; and

WHEREAS, vouchers give choices to private entities, rather than to parents and students, since the providers decide whether to accept vouchers, how many and which students to admit, and potentially arbitrary reasons they might dismiss a student; and

WHEREAS, the Knox County Board of Education provides numerous academic choices (magnet, STEM, International Baccalaureate, career/technical programs, community schools, etc.) and has a liberal transfer policy which allows students to attend other traditional schools in the district; and

WHEREAS, vouchers divert critical funds from public schools to pay private school tuition for a few students, including those who already attend private schools; and

WHEREAS, vouchers are inefficient, compelling taxpayers to support two school systems: one public and one private, the latter of which is not accountable to all taxpayers supporting it;

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Knox County Board of Education opposes any legislation or other similar effort to create a voucher program in Tennessee that would divert money intended for public education to private entities.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution shall be delivered to the Governor, each member of the Tennessee General Assembly, the Knox County Mayor and County Commission, the Knoxville City Mayor and City Council, and the Mayor, Vice Mayor, and Aldermen of the Town of Farragut.

ADOPTED BY THE ELECTED KNOX COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION, meeting in regular session on the 12th of December, 2018, with this Resolution to take immediate effect, the public welfare requiring it.

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Nine is Fine

I’ve written before about the disaster that is the Tennessee Fine Arts Portfolio. I’ve also published a guest column from an art teacher explaining the nightmare this process creates.

Now, after a semester of attempting to work with the state, Sumner County has opted-out of the Fine Arts Portfolio for this academic year. Sumner was the only new system to opt-in this year, a year that has seen the total number of systems participating drop to only nine.

In a letter to teachers, Sumner’s Assistant Director of Schools for Curriculum and Instruction Scott Langford notes:

Over the course of the last few months, our instructional coordinators have worked tirelessly to get information to you and to address issues that arose with the Tennessee Department of Education.

…Further, fine arts teachers from across the state did not receive their scored portfolios until November 2018 after TDOE extended the data several times.

Effective December 11, 2018, Sumner County Schools is opting out of the Fine Arts Portfolio.

The issues with the Fine Arts portfolios roughly mirror those with the Pre-K/Kindergarten portfolios.

This is yet another example of the failed leadership of Commissioner Candice McQueen, who will soon move on to even greener pastures.

Tennessee’s next Commissioner of Education must take immediate steps to right the ship on a range of issues from how teachers are treated and compensated to testing to establishing a modicum of professional respect for our state’s educators.

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SHOCKING!

Even though as early as 2016, Bill Lee was extolling the virtues of school voucher schemes and even though he’s a long-time supporter of Betsy DeVos’s pro-voucher Tennessee Federation for Children and even though he has appointed not one, but two voucher vultures to high level posts in his Administration, it is somehow treated as “news” that Bill Lee plans to move forward with a voucher scheme agenda in 2019.

Here’s what he wrote in 2016:

This is where opportunity scholarships come in. The Tennessee Choice & Opportunity Scholarship Act would allow families to take a portion of the funding already spent on their child’s education and send him or her to the private school of their choice. For children languishing in schools that are failing to meet their needs, especially in urban areas like Nashville and Memphis, this proposal represents a much-needed lifeline for Tennessee families.

This despite growing evidence that vouchers don’t actually help students and, in fact, may cause harms:

Writers Mary Dynarski and Austin Nichols say this about the studies:

Four recent rigorous studies—in the District of Columbia, Louisiana, Indiana, and Ohio—used different research designs and reached the same result: on average, students that use vouchers to attend private schools do less well on tests than similar students that do not attend private schools. The Louisiana and Indiana studies offer some hints that negative effects may diminish over time. Whether effects ever will become positive is unclear.

While rigorous academic studies tell a tale of a failed education policy, Bill Lee put his money behind Betsy DeVos’s pro-voucher group:

The Tennessee Federation for Children is our state’s affiliate of the American Federation for Children, a political organization funded in large part by Betsy DeVos and her family. The mission of TFC is clear: Divert public money to private schools.

Since 2012, DeVos has provided just under $100,000 to the Tennessee organization. She’s been joined by some key local donors, including Lee Beaman and Bill Lee. Yes, since 2012, Bill Lee has given $11,000 to the Tennessee Federation for Children, the state’s leading political organization supporting school vouchers.

In spite of years of evidence of where Bill Lee stands when it comes to supporting our public schools (he doesn’t), many school board members and county commissioners across the state supported his successful campaign. These local elected officials often touted his business acumen and support of vocational education as reasons to back him. However, it’s difficult to imagine these same officials just “didn’t know” Bill Lee backs a scheme to divert public money to private schools — a scheme that has failed miserably time and again in other states and localities.

More likely, they just didn’t care. Bill Lee was on the right team and spoke the right, religiously-tinged words and so earned the support of people who will look at you with a straight face and say they love Tennessee public schools.

The Tennessee County Commissioners Association provided an analysis of the potential cost to each local government of a modest voucher scheme. Here’s a look at the potential fiscal impact of a “small” voucher program:

Nearly 15,000 students who never attended public school suddenly receiving vouchers would mean a state cost of $98 million. That’s $98 million in new money. Of course, those funds would either be new money (which is not currently contemplated) or would take from the state’s BEP allocations in the districts where the students receive the vouchers.

Let’s look at Davidson County as an example. If three percent of the student population there took vouchers, and half of those were students who had never attended a public school, the loss to the district would be a minimum of $8.4 million.

You can’t have it both ways. You can’t support vouchers and also be 100% behind our public schools. It’s likely no mistake that more than 90% of all schools eligible to receive state voucher funds are private, Christian-affiliated schools.

Stay tuned for a legislative session focused on undermining our public schools. Brought to you by a Governor who has been advertising this desire since at least 2012.

 

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