Tag Archives: K-12

Teacher Compensation Work Group Convenes

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After two years since the passage of legisation to examine and potentially modify how teachers are paid in Washington, the Compensation Technical Working Group convened for the first time this week.

The Compensation Technical Working Group, a fifteen member group, was established in HB 2261 in 2009 and modified through HB 2776 in 2010.  The focus of the group is to examine the current enhanced salary allocation model (SAM) for teachers and compensation issues related to classified staff and administrators.

The Work Group is charged with recommending details of an enhanced model that aligns state expectations for educator development and certification with the compensation system and providing an implementation schedule.  The law requires the Work Group to make recommendations on several issues, including:

  • How to reduce the number of tiers within the existing model
  • How to account for labor market adjustments
  • How to account for different geographic regions and recruiting/retention challenges
  • The role of and type of bonuses available
  • Ways to accomplish salary equalization
  • Fiscal estimates for implementing recommendations

The Work Group faces a demanding schedule over the next 18-months. The recommendations and report of the Work Group are due to the Governor and Legislature by December 1, 2012.

Consortium Receives Funds; Benefits Washington

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Washington will benefit from Race to the Top Funds, announced today, as a member of a national consortium.

The federal government awarded the SMARTER Balanced Assessment Consortium – of which Washington is a member – $160 million to build on the fast growing movement toward national learning standards for K-12.

The goal of the Consortium is to ensure that all students leave high school prepared for post-secondary success in college or a career through increased student learning and improved teaching.

To achieve this goal the Consortium is expected to use the funds over the next four years to develop an assessment system with the following major deliverables:

  • Online computer adaptive summative assessments that give a snapshot of student performance without a “one size fits all approach.” This assessment can be used to describe student achievement and growth of student learning as part of program evaluation and school, district and state accountability systems. This assessment will measure English language arts and mathematics in grades 3-8 and 11 across the full range of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS).
  • Optional interim and formative assessments that help teachers identify the specific needs of each student so that they can help the students progress toward being career and college ready.
  • Opportunities for Professional Development. Teachers will be involved at all stages of item and test development, including item writing, scoring, and the design of reporting systems. This will ensure the system works well and that teachers can learn from national experts and from each other as they evaluate students’ performance.
  • An online tailored reporting system that supports educators to access information about student progress toward college and career readiness

The SMARTER Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) is a collection of 31 states that have been working collaboratively since December 2009 to develop a student assessment system aligned to a common core of academic content standards to apply for a Race-to-the-Top Assessment grant.

Jobs Bill Saves Thousands of Washington Teacher Positions

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Last week President Obama signed into law the Jobs Bill. The bill provides $26 billion to states to support education jobs and fund Medicaid budgets.

The U.S. Senate approved the bill on August 5, followed by the U.S. House of Representatives on August 10.

Washington is expected to receive $530 million. The state will receive $320 million for Medicaid and $208 million to pay salaries for 3,000 teachers who were in line to lose their jobs.

According to the U.S. Deparment of Education over the last two years the federal government has been able to support 300,000 education jobs through stimulus funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).

To date, seven states have drawn down 100% of previously allocated funding under the State Fiscal Stabilizatioon Fund, while 18 states have drawn down 80% or more. According to the Center on Education Policy 75% of school districts that received stimulus funds expect to cut teaching positions in the upcoming school year.

Guidance and applications for the federal dollars have been sent to Governors.

Race To The Top Finalists Named…Washington Not One of Them

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This afternoon the Obama Administration named eighteen states and the District of Columbia as finalists for Race to the Top dollars. Washington was not a finalist.

Of the 36 states that competed for the dollars, the following states and the District of Columbia were named finalists: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinios, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and South Carolina.

Finalists will make formal, in-person presentations before a judging panel in August. Winners will be named in September.

The U.S. Education Department used a panel of outside judges to score each applicatioon based on 19 criteria, including willingness to open charter schools, efforts to link teacher evaluations to student achievement and dedication to transforming the lowest-performing schools.

During the 2010 supplemental session Washington developed and passed legislation to put into place the necessary structures and policies to support the state’s Race to the Top application. Washington’s application requested $250 million to support these efforts through Race to the Top dollars.

U.S. House Passes Supplemental Spending Package, Benefits to Higher Education

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On Thursday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2010 (H.R. 4899). The Act is a mixed bag for higher education.

H.R. 4899 included a provision to provide $10 billion to help school districts avoid educator layoffs. Though this is good news, the funding provision comes at the cost of reductions ($800 million) to several of President Obama’s key education initiatives. 

The initiatives vulnerable to reductions have been referred to as “new discretionary grant awards”. Among these awards includes a reduction of $500 million to the Race to the Top Round 2 awards. Washington is one of thirty states competing for Race to the Top dollars in the second round.

On a more positive note, the House bill includes $4.95 billion to pay down most of the $5.7 billion Pell Grant shortfall. The $4 billion included in the bill is not based on new estimates regarding the Pell Grant shortfall, but is the most the bill’s authors could include into the package of spending and offsets. If the package passes the Senate with the Pell Grant funding included there still remains a $717 million shortfall in Pell funding.

Finally, the Act passed by the House included a budget enforcement resolution that would limit discretionary spending for FY11 to $1.12 trillion, which is $7 billion less than the President requested in his budget in February.

The Act passed by the U.S. House must still be approved by the U.S. Senate.  As the Senate considers the Act, it is expected to face pressures from the education and higher education sectors, the U.S. House, and the White House which has indicated that the President would likely veto any final bill that includes reductions to education reforms.

Quality Education Council Work Plan for 2010

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Yesterday, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Randy Dorn presented the Washington House Committee on Ways & Means with the Quality Education Council’s 2010 Work Plan.

The work plan is a product of the recent passage of state reform legislation for basic education and education funding. The legislation passed (H.B. 2661 and H.B. 2776) includes the following:

  • Requirements to identify funding and programs that close the achievement gap and improve graduation rates
  • All-Day Kindergarten included in basic education
  • Funding allocations and reporting on expenditures using a prototypical school model. Translates all major funding formulas to this new transparent structure by September 2011
  • Better transportation funding formula
  • Requirement to identify adequate levels for classified staff
  • Increased instructional hours once funded
  • Enhanced high school diploma requirements

With this in mind, the Quality Education Council has set forth the following work plan.

  • Identify measurable goals and priorities for the educational system utilizing the state reform plan and current performance data as a baseline
  • Recommend programs and funding to Close the Achievement Gap, Increase Graduation Rates, and Decrease the Dropout rate, including: recommend an improved Learning Assistance Program, including funding methodology; recommend an improved Transitional Bilingual Program, including funding methodology; review recommendations made by the Achievement Gap Oversight and Accountability Committee; and review recommendations made by the Building Bridges Workgroup
  • Implementation schedule for revised graduation requirements and increased hours of instruction
  • Making necessary reports to the Legislature regarding classified staffing adequacy and capacity of school districts to implement new funding including for class size reductions.

Finally, Superintendent Dorn spoke to the framework provided by the adoption of S.B. 6696 – Race to the Top legislation.

The legislation provides a framework for important changes that are required for the development of a comprehensive state reform plan.  The framework for this education reform plan is set out in three categories: (1) Goals, (2) Capacities, and (3) Outcome measures.

The framework identifies four goals for all Washington students,

  • Enter kindergarten prepared for success,
  • Compete in mathematics and science nationally and internationally,
  • Attain high academic standards regardless of race, ethnicity, income or gender, and
  • Graduate able to succeed in college, training, and careers.

In addition, in the area of outcomes, goals are set that highlight the link between pre- K12 and higher education. These include increasing graduation rates; increasing teacher and leader effectiveness; increase college readiness, attendance, persistence & completion; increase post-secondary degree and certificates; and increase work placements.

Potential Action on Federal Supplemental Legislation

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The U.S. House of Representatives may take up the U.S. Senate recently passed version of a supplemental appropriations bill soon. The move to take up the bill would bypass the more common practice of sending the bill through the committee process to be amended and changed by members.

The Senate’s version of the bill does not include $23 billion in education money intended to avert thousands of teacher layoffs at elementary and secondary schools.  Senator Tom Harkin noted that the Senate dropped this language because the 60 votes necessary to pass the provision were not there.

Another difference in the Senate version compared to the House version is the Senate bill does not include the $5.7 billion for Pell Grants in the House bill.

When asked about the differences between the bills, U.S. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said, “we’re going to work on it.”

The Race for “Race to the Top” Funds is On

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Thirty-five states, plus the District of Columbia, have submitted proposals for Race to the Top dollars in hopes of capturing some of the remaining $3.4 billion in funds leftover from the first round. Only two states, Delaware and Tennessee, were awarded grants in the first round out of 40 applicants.  

After the first round of funds, many states re-examined submitted proposals. While other states, such as Washington, tried to learn from the first round in order to strengthen their application in the second round of funding.

As a result many states changed laws to revamp teacher evaluations, increased efforts to gain support from districts and teachers’ unions, and intensified efforts to turn around low-performing schools. Washington drafted and passed new legislation in the 2010 supplemental session (SB 6696) that included several education reform measures (i.e. alternate routes to teacher education).

The results for the second round of Race to the Top dollars will be announced in September 2010.

Review of Released Common Core Standards Expected Soon in Washington

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Today State Superintendent Randy Dorn announced that the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) would begin review of the recently released Common Core State Standards during the next month before provisionally adopting the standards.

The Common Core State Standards were released earlier this week by the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and the Council of Chief State School Offices.

Washington is one of 48 states along with two territories and the District of Columbia that agreed to consider adopting the English language arts and math common core standards. The adoption of the standards are also a part of Washington’s Race to the Top application.

OSPI is required to deliver a detailed report in January 2011 to the Washington State Legislature including a comparison of Common Core and the current State Learning Standards for reading, writing, and math, and an estimated time-line and costs to the state and districts to implement the standards.

OSPI cannot officially adopt the changes to the state’s learning standards until after the 2011 legislative session. With this in mind, the roll-out plan for the Common Core State Standards will not be implemented in public school classrooms until the 2012-13 school year and will not be fully tested in schools until spring 2015.

Common Core State Standards Released

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This week the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) released a set of state-led education standards, the Common Core State Standards.

The standards built on the foundation of standards states have set. The standards were developed on behalf of 48 states, two territories, and the District of Columbia.

The standards are:

  • Aligned with college and work expectations;
  • Clear, understandable and consistent;
  • Include rigorous content and application of knowledge through high-order skills;
  • Build upon strengths and lessons of current state standards;
  • Informed by other top performing countries, so that all students are prepared to succeed in our global economy and society; and
  • Evidence- and research-based.

The release of the standards signals the start of the adoption and implementation process by the states.  In the coming months, each state will follow its own procedures and processes for adoption of the Common Core State Standards.