State board of education offers support for education reform plan

Dec 15, 2009 — Dover Post

Doug Denison

Dover, Del. -

The state Board of Education last week took its first crack at reviewing a collection of proposals put forward by Gov. Jack Markell’s administration that would make substantial changes to Delaware’s public education system.

At its monthly meeting Dec. 9, the board discussed a slate of draft regulations crafted to put Delaware on track to receive as much as $75 million in federal Race to the Top grant money next year.

The proposals discussed by the board would impose tougher standards for teacher evaluations and establish a strict framework for reforming schools that fail to hit yearly student performance targets.

Secretary of Education Dr. Lillian Lowery reported that the regulations, drafted after a series of meetings over the summer with education stakeholders statewide, would be revised and refined even further over the next month. The board is scheduled to take final action on the regulations at its Jan. 14 meeting.

Board members were generally supportive of the changes, but some did raise questions about certain elements of the proposals.

Dr. Terry M. Whittaker asked about a provision that allows schools that miss their student progress goals for five or more consecutive years and then shut down and reopen as charter schools.

“It seems to me that [the charter school] would be inheriting some of the same problems,” Whittaker said.

Lowery said a charter school has a lot of room to innovate in ways traditional schools cannot.

“There’s total and complete flexibility,” she said. “They can do many kinds of things to that school, they have complete freedom.”

Because of that freedom, Lowery said charter schools can hire staff differently, sometimes without participating in union contracts.

Other board members wanted to make sure parents of children in schools that could become charters or that are considering other restructuring plans would have ample notice.

Lowery said the federal No Child Left Behind law governing parent notification of school reorganization still applies, and that parents can always take advantage of Delaware’s school choice program if they want to move their students to other schools.

However, board President Dr. Teri Quinn Gray said it’s also important that plans to fix failing schools be undertaken quickly.

“I can’t stress enough the urgency of this for our kids,” she said. “Implementation is the key.”

The board also offered its support of a proposal that would forge a stronger link between teacher evaluations and student achievement.

Those revisions would preclude teachers from being deemed “effective” in their evaluations if their students don’t make a year’s worth of progress or more while in their classrooms.

To determine student progress, the state most likely would use standardized test results from the assessment program designed to replace the DSTP, which begins piloting next school year.

However, Lowery stressed that teacher evaluations will include other student data — indicators to be determined by the department before the changes would take effect in July 2011.

Board member G. Patrick Heffernan said the evaluation policy would hold teachers accountable, but not be unfair.

“The goal of this is not to punish teachers,” he said.

Lowery said the belief that Delaware should expect its teachers to foster consistent student achievement is sound.

“If a child shows up and goes to school all year long, there should be student growth,” she said.

Next meeting:

Delaware State Board of Education

When: 1 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 14

Where: John W. Collette Education Resource Center, 35 Commerce Way, Dover

On the agenda: Changes to state regulations governing under-performing schools and teacher evaluations

Email Doug Denison at doug.denison@doverpost.com.