CEC Policy Insider

Does Obama’s Win Signal Changes for Education in Second Term?

Last night’s election results – which secured wins for President Obama, Senate democrats and House republicans – have us all speculating what the next four years will hold for education policy issues.  Here are a few initial observations:

• Education Funding will Still Face Hurdles: Although President Obama has been historically supportive of increasing funding for education programs, we cannot forget that Congress is the branch of government that actually sets funding levels and the impact of the political split between a Republican-led House of Representatives and a Democratic-led Senate will likely result in a continuation of the recent fiscal debates. 

Presidential Candidates Invoke Education into Foreign Policy Debate

It was an education policy wonk’s dream: presidential candidates fighting to talk about education during a presidential debate!

That’s exactly what happened during Tuesday’s foreign policy debate between President Obama and Governor Romney.  Education, a topic that is rarely mentioned during such public debates, was discussed numerous times during the last debate between the two candidates.

While the candidates spent most of the 90 minutes focused on issues abroad, significant references were made to domestic policy, including education.  The most heated exchange came when moderator Bob Schaffer asked both candidates to explain how they see our role in the world. Below are excerpts from both candidate’s answers which referred to education:

• Gov. Romney: “You can’t have kids coming out of college, half of whom can’t find a job today, or a job that’s commensurate with their college degree. We have to get our economy going.”
  
  “…we’re going to have to have training programs that work for our workers and schools that finally put the parents and the teachers and the kids first, and the teachers union’s going to have to go behind.”

• Obama: “… let’s take an example that we know is going to make a difference 21st century, and that’s our education policy. We didn’t have a lot of chance to talk about this in the last debate. You know, under my leadership, what we’ve done is reformed education, working with governors, 46 states. We’ve seen progress and gains in schools that were having a terrible time, and they’re starting to finally make progress. And what I now want to do is to hire more teachers, especially in math and science, because we know that we’ve fallen behind when it comes to math and science. And those teachers can make a difference.
  
  Now, Governor Romney, when you were asked by teachers whether or not this would help the economy grow, you said, this isn’t going to help the economy grow. When you were asked about reduced class sizes, you said class sizes don’t make a difference. But I tell you, if you talk to teachers, they will tell you it does make a difference.
  
  And if we’ve got math teachers who are able to provide the kind of support that they need for our kids, that’s what’s going to determine whether or not the new businesses are created here. Companies are going to locate here depending on whether we’ve got the most highly skilled workforce. And the kinds of budget proposals that you’ve put forward — when we don’t ask either you or me to pay a dime more in terms of reducing the deficit, but instead we slash support for education, that’s undermining our long-term competitiveness. That is not good for America’s position in the world. And the world notices.”

• Gov. Romney: “…about education, because I’m — I’m so proud of the state that I had the chance to be governor of. We have, every two years, tests that look at how well our kids are doing. Fourth graders and eighth graders are tested in English and math. While I was governor, I was proud that our fourth graders came out number one of all 50 states in English and then also in math, and our eighth graders number one in English and also in math — first time one state had been number one in all four measures. How did we do that?
  
  Well, Republicans and Democrats came together on a bipartisan basis to put in place education that focused on having great teachers in the classroom.”

• President Obama: “But that was 10 years before you took office.”  “… And then you cut education spending when you came into office.”

• Gov. Romney: “The first — the first — and we kept our schools number one in the nation. They’re still number one today. And the principles that we’ve put in place — we also gave kids not just a graduation exam that — that determined whether they were up to the skills needed to — to be able to compete, but also, if they graduated in the top quarter of their class, they got a four-year tuition-free ride at any Massachusetts public institution of higher learning.”

• President Obama: “That happened — that happened before you came into office.”

• Gov. Romney: “That was actually mine, actually, Mr. President. You got that fact wrong.”

Okay, maybe the candidates bickered more than debated education policy.  But let’s be honest, it felt good to have education injected into the foreign policy debate!

Want more information about the education policy platforms of the two candidates and political parties?  Check out CEC’s I Educate, I Participate: 2012 Presidential Election Voter Education Guide.which has the candidate’s positions on education, voter registration information, a polling place locator, classroom resources and more!

Join the Special Education Teacher Evaluation Discussion: What’s Happening in Your School?

  It’s possibly the most contentious education debate occurring in states across the country:  how to revamp teacher evaluation systems? 

Today, CEC unveiled its position on special education teacher evaluation which provides guidance to assist in the creation of evaluation systems.  The position reflects both the complexity of educating a student with disabilities and the often varying role a special educator plays throughout the day.  To craft this position, CEC received the input of CEC members and dozens of national experts. 

But we want the conversation to continue.  Tell us…

• If, and how, special educators are being evaluated in your school?
• How are teacher evaluations incorporating student performance?
• How are special education teachers responding to the evaluation system?
• How is implementation going?  Is it impacting the rights of students with disabilities?

We look forward to your comments!

5 Reasons We Are Discussing New Teacher Evaluation Systems

Today, CEC is releasing its new Position on Special Education Teacher Evaluation. Many CEC members have been involved in this process and helped CEC draft this Position but others may wonder why are we discussing this now? Here is how we got to this point in 5 key bullets:

• Recent research demonstrated that teachers are the most important school based factor. In the mid-2000’s several studies demonstrated that teachers are the most important school-based factor in determining student achievement – confirming what educators and parents have known for years!
• At the same time, research also demonstrated that many teacher evaluations were not meaningful.  In 2009, a study called The Widget Effect looked at teacher evaluations in 12 school districts across 4 states. The study’s authors surveyed 15,000 teachers and 1,300 administrators and determined that in districts that used binary evaluations (satisfactory/unsatisfactory) 99% of teachers were rated satisfactory. In districts with even more ratings, say up to 4 categories, 94% of teachers were rated satisfactory. These results combined with survey results from teachers demonstrated that evaluation systems of this kind were not offering real and meaningful feedback or making real and meaningful distinctions.  Thus, these evaluations were not helping teachers improve.
• Policymakers noticed these results and created federal incentives to revamp teacher evaluation systems. Shortly after the inauguration President Barack Obama, his administration began to offer federal incentives to states and districts that committed to revise their teacher evaluations. Two main programs that incorporated these new objectives were the Race to the Top competition and the waiver application for relief from ESEA/NCLB requirements.  Based on these, many states began working on new teacher evaluation systems.
• Including special education teachers in these systems has been difficult and is a work in progress – especially in terms of “objective measures of student performance” is concerned. Federal initiatives that called for revamping evaluation systems also required that new systems include “objective measures of student performance” or link student performance to teacher performance. This has been very difficult in practice for all teachers, but most especially for special education teachers. Special education teachers work in many different roles in schools, with students who display complex learning patterns and their work does not neatly translate to this new paradigm. As a result, CEC has increasingly heard concerns from its members about how their impact on students is being measured and included in their new evaluations.
• In response to these concerns and the needs of the field, CEC worked with members and outside experts to create a position for special education teacher evaluation. You can read CEC’s Position on Special Education Teacher Evaluation here. You can also check out our Background Document which goes into greater detail about this history and gives examples of a few different systems being tested out right now. 

Tell us what you think! What is happening in your school or district? Share good ideas and bad by commenting on our blog. We want to hear from you.

Election Day is In 53 Days, First Debate in 3 Weeks; Get Ready with CEC’s Guide to this Presidential Election

Election Day is in only 53 days – that’s less than 2 months! In the meantime, there are still plenty of opportunities for you to learn more about the candidates, their platforms and their visions for America and education. The first debate is a mere 21 days away. That’s just 3 weeks until the first debate.

Presidential Election Debates and Topics:
October 3 -- Domestic Policy (University of Denver)
October 11 -- Vice Presidential debate (Centre College)
October 16 -- Town Meeting Style (Hofstra University)
October 22 -- Foreign Policy (Lynn University)

As Election Day approaches, get ready with CEC’s I Educate, I Participate: 2012 Presidential Election Voter Education Guide. This guide is complete with party platforms and candidate positions on education, classroom resources and information about voter registration and polling places, and will be your one-stop shop to prepare for November 6.

CEC is non-partisan and does not support or oppose any political party or candidate.