Al Quie and Martin Sabo, Dec. 11, 2009--Put parents first, not the educational institution--Both of you have strong views, the chair came in. But what I’ve heard from you is not new. What kind of changes would be helpful in solving the long-term problem?

            “Education is a must,” Quie said, beginning with pre-k. “You cannot have an education system where students are lost in the early years.” And the size of schools. “When you see Minneapolis Public Schools closing some buildings to fill others, that’s putting the institution first. Parents aren’t involved. The community is not a part of the schools. Going into some schools the security is like a prison—but not for some schools, like Hiawatha Leadership Academy that I visited last year.” He emphasized the need for local, community-based parental leadership in schools.

            Quie suspects there are ways to staff differently, more creatively. As the Governor must put the state first, education leadership must put the students first—ahead of the system. He recalled becoming the president of a non-profit organization. “As I walked around with the CFO  looking at the flow of the organization.” It was obvious, it was obvious we could redesign. We could cut three employees and serve people better. “When you are protecting the institution you don’t see that.”

Tim Penny, former member of Congress, July 17, 2009--Priorities needed on education--You are asking the right question if you're wondering whether early childhood, K-12, and higher education ought to all be treated alike, or if one should be given higher priority, he said.   He likes emphasis on accessibility for early childhood and on alternatives to traditional school districts.  He said it appears the Legislature has decided to let higher education tuition rise, without sufficient financial aid for the needy.

State Sen. Terri Bonoff, July 10, 2009--Developments in "Teach for America"--Diane Flynn, who lives in the Bay area of San Francisco, near Stanford University, said that 40 percent of this spring's Stanford grads have no jobs.  She cited great job opportunity in "Teach for America".  Teach for America (http://www.teachforamerica.org/mission/index.htm) recruits outstanding recent college graduates and working professionals from all backgrounds and career interests to commit to teach for at least two years in urban and rural public schools.

C.  Conversation with Terri Bonoff--The group moved on to discussion with State Sen. Terri Bonoff, Minnetonka.  Verne and Paul introduced Bonoff, Democrat, who was elected to the State Senate in a special election in 2005.  A resident of Minnetonka, and graduate of Clark University, Bonoff formerly served on the Minnetonka Planning Commission.  She is a former marking executive with Navarre Corporation.   Bonoff had agreed to meet with the Civic Caucus to discuss education during the 2009 legislative session, but a family emergency made it necessary to postpone meeting with the Civic Caucus.   During Bonoff's comments and in discussion with the Civic Caucus the following points were raised:

State Sen. Terri Bonoff, July 10, 2009-- Improving education--Bonoff said she carried a Teach for America bill, which passed the Senate but died in the House.  She blamed opposition from the teachers' union.   Bonoff said that the business side of school districts needs significant improvement.  You'd not see every Target store applying its own unique structure for keeping track of revenues and expenditures, but something similar to that prevails in schools, where school districts all have different revenue-expenditure systems, Bonoff said.

Dane Smith, president, Growth and Justice, May 1, 2009--Growth and Justice at the capitol--The group is working on two initiatives presently, at the capitol. The first has to do with their 2008 report Smart Investments for Minnesota Students, represented in the House and Senate by HF1188 and SF954, respectively. Traces of each are found in the E-12 omnibus bills.

Their second initiative this session involves promoting the notion that there are no silver bullets to our state’s economic problems but, getting back to the idea of system-design, there are strategies.

On education a Caucus member notes that their call for implementing proven strategies “presupposes you have an education program that can be responsive.”

“Very true,” Dane responded, adding that “Results of our public education system are impressive” outside of the most dire spots. He said that he is encouraged by movements to “de-institutionalize” schools, opening up online options in addition to other forms of innovation. He is unsure to what degree information technologies can be a solution.

Dane cited a report recently released by Public Strategies Group (PSG) out of Saint Paul, outlining ideas for improving government. The report was commissioned by local foundations in response to the economic crisis, and can be found at: www.citizensleague.org/bottomline.

State Rep. Mindy Greiling, April 24, 2009--Support for customized learning--Responding to a question about greater use of computers to provide customized learning, Greiling said she has read Clayton Christensen's book Disrupting Class.  A modest provision to support on-line learning is included in the House bill, she said.   She senses more support for on-line that provide essential supplements for some students, instead of replacing teachers with on-line learning.

Curt Johnson, Education|Evolving, April 10, 2009--An unconventional approach to innovation--Today's discussion for education invites readers to adjust their thinking.  It's a cooperative proposal that invites school boards, the administration, and the teachers union to agree in advance.  Under this proposal no one is ordered to do anything. It’s all about opportunity.  Under the proposal advanced by Education|Evolving, innovative, relatively autonomous schools are authorized but may be set up only with the consent of the local school board, the administration and the local teachers union. 

 Curt Johnson, Education|Evolving, April 10, 2009--Stimulating zones of innovation within school districts--The vanguard of educational improvement around the nation is now shifting to emerging innovation in new kinds of schools set up within school districts around the county, Johnson said.  This is happening across the country, from Boston to Los Angeles, he said. Education|Evolving is working on setting up a national meeting later this year that will, for the first time, bring together in one place the best examples of innovation within school districts.

 Curt Johnson, Education|Evolving, April 10, 2009--Opening up school districts in Minnesota to more innovation--Johnson has seen plenty of evidence of what he calls "impulse and temptation" but not enough action within Minnesota.  He then outlined an initiative by Education|Evolving that is being considered by the 2009 Legislature (HF 751 and SF 486).  This bill, which is totally voluntary for school districts, would allow new self-governed schools to be established by school districts and be exempt from the same laws as are charter schools.  If this legislation is enacted, agreement would be necessary by the local school board and the teachers' union.

Johnson said that a number of legislators have emerged as major champions for a more innovative approach to Minnesota schools; Rep. John Benson, R-Minnetonka and Rep. David Bly, D-Northfield have been key players in the House, with consistent support and cooperation from Education Finance Committee chair Mindy Grieling. In the Senate, Sen. Kathy Saltzman, D-Stillwater has emerged as a major player. Johnson also commended Commissioner Alice Seagren and her staff, as well as the governor’s legislative team for their assistance in advancing this initiative.

            Johnson said much of the energy and enthusiasm for this bill comes from teachers who declare they want to start and run schools themselves. The authority that a teacher-governed school within a school district must receive was imbedded in a 2005 site management law, but that law only described a process and addressed only converting existing schools to a different model.  This year’s bill spells out what autonomy means:  including selection of staff, decisions about what learning model to use, control over money and budget, and how schools are to be judged on performance and achievement.  Such schools would be closed if they failed to live up to their agreements. And if a board were to arbitrarily close such a school without cause, the school would have the right to become a chartered school and continue operations – sort of a poison-pill provision to assure good faith agreements. Teachers would continue to be employees of the district, operate under state tenure laws and would continue to be members of the teachers union.

   Curt Johnson, Education|Evolving, April 10, 2009--Some school districts are ready to go--Considerable support is present in Minneapolis, Johnson said, where the school board, administration, and teachers union are ready to go, with group of teachers ready to propose new self-governed schools.  In addition to considerable support from Minneapolis, Johnson said that superintendents in several suburban school districts have indicated their support, as have several superintendents (and teachers) in rural Minnesota, especially in districts enduring declines in enrollment where there is a strong sense of a need for a richer diversity of learning opportunities.

Curt Johnson, Education|Evolving, April 10, 2009--Need for non-governmental new schools agency--Both for charter schools and new district schools there is a need for a new non-governmental statewide agency to conduct research, raise funds, and provide technical assistance to new school start-ups, Johnson said.  Most funds for such an agency would be raised privately, he said.  EE’s bills call this new agency NewSchoolsMinnesota.

Curt Johnson, Education|Evolving, April 10, 2009--  Reference made to Disrupting Class--In response to a question Johnson said he indeed was heavily involved as co-author with Clayton Christensen, Harvard professor, in writing the book Disrupting Class, which outlines in detail how individualized learning by computer is rapidly spreading across the nation.  Johnson also made mention of Century of the City, a book just published by the Rockefeller Foundation, co-authored by Neal Peirce and Johnson.

Curt Johnson, Education|Evolving, April 10, 2009--New kinds of motivation for teachers--Teachers who have the opportunity to run their own schools work harder than they ever imagined they would but do so with great satisfaction, Johnson said.  He urged people to take note of Who Controls Teachers' Work? Power and Accountability in America's Schools, by Richard Ingersoll, professor, Graduate School of Education,  The University of Pennsylvania.     

            A chart prepared by Ingersoll reveals that the rate of teacher turnover varies inversely with the amount of influence teachers have over student discipline and tracking.

Curt Johnson, Education|Evolving, April 10, 2009--Important policy changes in Minnesota--Johnson reviewed significant changes for school choice in Minnesota, beginning in the mid-1980s with giving high schoolers the opportunity to take college courses, continuing on with open enrollment and then to the first charter school law in the nation in 1991.   The new schools initiative this year, he said, can open an entirely new chapter on effective schooling.  Unfortunately, the national discussion seems to focus more on standardization.

MN House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher, Feb. 6, 2009--Education and the session: Q-Comp, legislation--There is not enough data available yet, Kelliher said, to assess the performance of Q-Comp. In a time of budget crisis though, the Governor wants to continue to fund--and expand funding--for this program. That doesn't make sense.  The Governor has proposed major expansion of Q-Comp, a voluntary program that allows local districts and exclusive representatives of the teachers to design and collectively bargain a plan that meets the five components of the law.

            The chair brought up legislation from Education|Evolving, reflecting a major initiative for new school creation. In four bills it places primary emphasis on giving districts tools to create new schools, with autonomies similar to the charter sector. All bills will be introduced by the middle of the month. All legislation is bipartisan.

            The Speaker remarked that she had not yet seen the legislation, but is very interested.

            Kelliher commented that charter schools have their own problems, and are in cases not living up to their lofty rhetoric. Some have had management problems. A Caucus member suggested that this would call then for a strengthening of sponsors, as opposed to a moratorium on future creation of new schools. “We are dealing with people,” though, Kelliher responded. We cannot afford to fail with new schools.

The study, published by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement, shows that Minnesota's students are outperformed by only four of 36 countries in fourth-grade math, five of 49 countries in eighth-grade math, one of 36 countries in fourth-grade science and four of 49 countries in eighth-grade science.

The most encouraging results are the fourth-grade math scores, Bartholomew said. Minnesota's fourth-graders improved their performance at more than three times the rate of the entire United States.

Math gains are due to rigorous state math standards that are based on international standards of what kids should be taught, and increased time spent on math instruction, he said.

While the international test results are promising, other recent results have been cause for concern.  State test results released in August showed that only about four of 10 Minnesota students can be labeled "proficient" in science. And educators statewide have been concerned about the state 11th-grade math test, where only one-third of students were deemed proficient last spring.

 For more information on the study, go to:  http://www.mnbp.com/news.cfm?nid=43.

During questions Bartholomew said that the study was based on a representative sampling of students throughout the state.   One reason for improved math performance between 1995 and 2007 is that teachers are using the state’s math standards which help focus and provide consistency in what is taught, he said.

 Jim Bartholomew, Minnesota Business Partnership, Dec. 19, 2008--High school graduation rates illustrate a serious problem in achievement—Statewide, Minnesota high school graduation rates for the class of 2007 were 73.1 percent.  However, the racial-ethnic breakdown of that data illustrates a significant problem, with one grouping, American Indians, one-half the statewide rate, Bartholomew said. 

                                                                        2007 graduation rate

            Statewide, all students                           73.1 percent

            White, non-Hispanic                             79.5 percent

            Asian                                                    65.8 percent

            Black                                                   40.5 percent

            Hispanic                                               39.8 percent

            American Indian                                   36.8 percent

Source:  http://www.tccompass.org/education/key_measures.php?km=HighSchoolGraduation

Bartholomew said the data indicate to him that we've not sufficiently customized our instructional practices to meet the needs of all kids. A Civic Caucus member wondered whether too much attention has been focused on giving students a college experience, instead of preparing all students for the job market.  Is technical training being downplayed, the member asked?

Jim Bartholomew, Minnesota Business Partnership, Dec. 19, 2008--Recommendations expected within 45 days from business group cooperative study—Bartholomew said that the MBP, in cooperation with the Itasca project, a business-related group, will likely issue their new report on aligning Minnesota’s K-12 system with international best practices within the next 45 days.  Bartholomew outlined a few findings of the report to date:

                        a.  It’s not fundamentally about money—The main problem isn’t how much money is being spent on education, Bartholomew said.  The USA spends much more money than many other countries that are performing better on education.  The problem lies in how the money is spent.

                        b.  Changes needed in quality of teachers and leadership of schools—Schools need well-articulated goals and expectations, and well-qualified teachers in classrooms.   Achievement is only limited by the qualified people who work with the kids, he said.  It's not that kids, regardless of background, can't learn, he said

                        c.  Need to link experience with the best schools—The problem isn’t one of finding where education is working.  We know where the best schools are.  The missing link is how to create the changes that need to occur to emulate those schools. 

                        d.  Pre-K is very important—Bartholomew agreed with others who are contending that early childhood education is very important in preparing children to learn.

                        e.  Customization is important—Schools have not adapted well to changing demographics.   He said he's not sure specifically whether customization should follow a model recommended by Clayton Christensen in his book "Disrupting Class".  Bartholomew acknowledged that online learning is exploding and will play a critical role in the near future.  He cited what is happening in higher education, with Capella University as an example.

Jim Bartholomew, Minnesota Business Partnership, Dec. 19, 2008--Four key ingredients identified--In developing education policies, Bartholomew said the MBP uses four key principles: (1) defining expectations (2) measuring progress (3) giving flexibility to design of curriculum, and (4) giving families choices.

            Questioned further about characteristics of great schools, internationally, Bartholomew said the schools are primarily, but not uniformly, public schools.  Pre-school education is important.  In response to a question, he said he didn't know specifically how special education is handled those schools, relative to Minnesota.

Tim McDonald, Education|Evolving, Dec. 19, 2008--Is education the only area responsible for closing the achievement gap?--A Civic Caucus member asked whether other areas such as housing and health care aren't important in helping all students succeed.   Many children are behind the starting line when they first come to school, and we expect education by itself to bring everyone up to speed, the member said.   McDonald said that one can't expect the schools to become social service agencies.  But what we do know is that with smaller schools, with teachers empowered, and with parental and community involvement, that students can learn, regardless of background.

            The tendency has been to add on: counselors, social workers, breakfast, before and after school programming, extended day and calendar. We are making a system that is already heavy and inefficient even more so. He said that this approach is not financially viable, or efficient. These financial problems we face are a symptom of a problem with design. The root problem of perennial deficits has never been legislative appropriation. What is ‘adequate’ funding? Operating expenses of district K-12 have been rising at three times the CPI for at least a decade. The business model is no longer viable. We have been focusing efforts almost entirely on the symptom, not the disease.

Joe Nathan, HHH Institute, University of Minnesota, Dec. 12, 2008-- There's no mystery to improving educational achievement--We already know enough to bring virtually all low-achieving, disadvantaged minority children up the achievement level of whites, Nathan said.  No change in theory is involved, just changes in expectations and practice, he said, citing the work done in Cincinnati Public Schools between 2000 and 2007. As described in an October, 2007 Star Tribune column and an Education Week column in January 2008, the district

·         Increased overall high school graduation rates by 10% and

·          Eliminated the graduation gap of almost 20% between white and African American students. 

More info available at

www.centerforschoolchange.org/gates-high-schools/gates-cincinnati.html 

Cincinnati’s progress involved a number of things, including clear, focused, explicit goals, learning from the most effective schools serving low income students, whether district or charter public schools, strong collaboration between schools and other community groups including businesses, universities and others, competition from the charter movement, collaboration with the local teachers union, willingness to hold building principals accountable, focused, ongoing staff development, and some outside funding to help make the above possible.

               Nathan also cited as “extremely valuable, a New York Times Sunday Magazine article by Paul Tough,   “What It will 
Really
take to close the Achievement Gap” that appeared in the New York Time Sunday Magazine, November 26, 2006  
(www.nytimes.com/2006/11/26/magazine/26tough.html Excerpts from the article:

Referring to the “small but growing number of successful schools like KIPP and Amistad,” Tough wrote

"The evidence is now overwhelming that if you take an average low income child and put him into an average American public school,

he will almost certainly come out poorly educated.  What the small but growing number of successful schools demonstrate is that the public school system accomplish that result because we have built it that way. We could also decide to create a different system, one that educators most (if not all) poor minority students to high levels of achievement….it is within reach."

The KIPP, Amistad/Achievement First schools “are not racially integrated.  Most of the 70 or so schools that make up their networks have only one or two white children enrolled, or none at all…the schools “tend to follow three practices:

·         They require more hours of class time than a typical public school.

·         They treat classroom instruction and lesson planning as much as a science as an art.  Explicit goals are set for each year, month and day of class, and principals have considerable authority to redirect and even remove teachers who aren’t meeting these goals

·         They make a conscious effort to guide the behavior and even the values of their students by teaching what they call character…the schools are in the end a counterintuitive combination of touch feely idealism and intense discipline.

 Joe Nathan, HHH Institute, University of Minnesota, Dec. 12, 2008--No one tool will do the entire job--Just as is building a house, Nathan said, no one tool will do the job.  He highlighted changes in Minnesota that have helped, including post-secondary options, school choice, and charter schools.

Joe Nathan, HHH Institute, University of Minnesota, Dec. 12, 2008--Key characteristics for success--Nathan outlined key characteristics of schools exhibiting significant student achievement:

                        --Small in size

                        --Clear, formal, explicit objectives that are understood by everyone

                        --Involving the students in some kind of community service

                        --Partnerships with community institutions, such as universities

                        -- Accountability for results

                        -- Strong development of character in students as well as academic learning

 Joe Nathan, HHH Institute, University of Minnesota, Dec. 12, 2008--Examples of successful schools--Nathan distributed a 68-page booklet, "Smaller, Safer, Saner Successful Schools" authored by Nathan and Sheena Thao of the Center for School Change that describes 22 schools around the country, including City Academy, St. Paul; Minnesota New Country School, Henderson, MN; Northfield Community Resource Center, Northfield, MN; Perham Area Community Center, Perham, MN, and School of Environmental Studies, Apple Valley, MN  He singled out a few other schools in the report from elsewhere in the nation:

             Frederick Douglass Academy, Harlem, New York City, a grades 7-12 district  school with 1,450 students, from which 90 percent graduate within four years, compared to a city-wide average of 50 percent           

            Withrow University High School, Cincinnati, OH, a district public school with no admissions requirements with more than 700 students, about 90 percent of whom are African-American and about half are low income.  Test scores and graduation rates at this school top many suburban schools.

            KIPP Academy, Bronx, New York, with 250 students, grades 5-8. KIPP schools,

including one in Minneapolis that started in 2008, are free, open-enrollment, college-preparatory public schools with a track record of preparing students in underserved communities for success in college and in life, according to the KIPP website.  The Minneapolis school, at 1601 Laurel Avenue, is partly supported by the Pohlad Family Foundation.

            Nathan also cited Minnesota’s pioneering Post Secondary Enrollment Options Law (PSEO). This law allows high school juniors and seniors to take college courses while still in high school, with state funds following them, paying their tuition, lab and book fees.  CSC research in 2005 found that more than 90% of participating students would do this over again, and thought very highly of the program. Many school districts have responded to the PSEO by increasing the number of AP, IB and College in the Schools courses.  CSC research also found that low income students and students of color are underrepresented in PSEO.  The “Stretching Minds and Resources: 20 Years of Post-Secondary Enrollment Options in Minnesota,” can be found at:

www.centerforschoolchange.org/post-secondary-options-awareness-and-opportunity/index.html

            With support from Pohlad, Wallin, and Best Buy Foundations and the University, the CSC has worked closely with a number of community groups to increase the # of students of color and low-income students participating in PSEO.  In the last 3 years, there have been double digit increases in participation rates (including almost 50% increase in number of African Americans participating). There is still a lot of work to do but the Center thinks this is a very valuable part of the way to help more low income youngsters afford and be ready for some form of post-secondary education.

 Joe Nathan, HHH Institute, University of Minnesota, Dec. 12, 2008--Importance of mentoring educators--Responding to a Civic Caucus member who noted that mentors can be very helpful to struggling students, Nathan agreed.   He went on to discuss another form of mentoring, that of mentoring educators.   The latest project for the Center for School Change is the "Minnesota Leadership Academy for Charter and Alternative Public Schools", which opened this fall in cooperation with the Minnesota Department of Education.   Each enrollee in the academy has two mentors, a successful business executive and a successful school leader.  The academy is described in a Washington Post article, December 4, 2008, "7 Habits of Highly Ineffective Principals".

www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/05/AR2008120500863.html

            A top executive at a major local corporation noted the importance of making a corporation's goals and means to achieve those goals absolutely clear to new employees, Nathan said.  The executive went on to say that a school leader must do more than simply hand a curriculum to a new teacher.  The teacher needs to clearly understand the system's goals and expectations at the outset.

 Joe Nathan, HHH Institute, University of Minnesota, Dec. 12, 2008--  Customized curriculum versus standardized curriculum--Asked to respond to a recent book, "Disrupting Class", by Clayton M. Christensen, calling for more on-line customized curriculums for students, Nathan replied that many schools are out-of-phase with their youth.   Although emerging technology has had many impacts on our culture, many schools still operate in much the same way they did 30-50 years ago. While there are exceptions, many schools still have 28-35 students in a class with a teacher; many schools still have computer labs (Nathan asked if it was appropriate to have a pencil lab – a room where students would go to use pencils?) Nathan believes technology is under-employed in many schools, to truly customize learning, as well as to enhance and increase what educators can do.

 Nathan is impressed with some on-line schools, which are attracting a growing number of elementary and secondary students.  However, he has not done a careful study of their impact, and does not know of research comparing how much progress schools make in conventional and on-line schools. 

 Joe Nathan, HHH Institute, University of Minnesota, Dec. 12, 2008--Concern over preserving innovation--Nathan said he fears that current budgetary limitations will prompt educators to pressure the Legislature scuttle innovations such as Post Secondary Enrollment Options and charter schools.   Nathan said the threat is very serious (reinforced by legislative testimony the following week from the state teachers’ union, school boards and superintendents organizations. One or more of these groups are asking for

* Not permitting any new charters in communities where there is discussion of consolidation or closing schools

* Moratorium on number of charters

* Requiring charter directors to be credentialed (describe the success of people like Eric Mahmond and Bill Wilson, who are not licensed administrators, and the success around the country of many other charters who do not have licensed administrators.

*   Some individuals and groups within education are extremely hostile to PSEO, open enrollment and charter public schools.  He asked Civic Caucus members who support these programs to contact him.

            To illustrate the importance of preserving innovation, Nathan cited an example of a high school student who was supervising 20 McDonald's employees and yet was being treated as a 10-year-old in the student's traditional high school.   The student decided to participate in Post-Secondary Enrollment Options, in part because he was treated as an adult.  CSC research 3 years ago found that more than 110,000 Minnesota students have used PSEO, and more than 90% of them say them would do it again if given the opportunity.  Minnesota school districts have responded to competition from PSEO by creating hundreds of new, challenging courses – AP, IB, College in the Schools, etc.  However, some high schools continue to resist PSEO, and have tried to limit it through legislative action.

Joe Nathan, HHH Institute, University of Minnesota, Dec. 12, 2008--Importance of coalitions--A variety of groups and interests ought to get together to fend off efforts to get rid of innovations, Nathan said.  He suggested that groups like the Citizens League, the Civic Caucus, the Leagues of Women Voters, the Chambers of Commerce and other business organizations and groups representing and advocating on behalf of low income families and families of color should work together in 2009.

Joe Nathan, HHH Institute, University of Minnesota, Dec. 12, 2008--Doing more to train and retain top teachers--Its extremely unfortunate that schools must use seniority as a basis for layoffs, Nathan said, when the result is that top-flight teachers are among the first to go.  He cited some CSC research about state teachers of the year, which showed 3 of the 20 teachers of the years they surveyed were laid off due to low seniority.  He's anxious to work with the Bush Foundation and others who are working to improve the quality of the teaching staff. 

Joe Nathan, HHH Institute, University of Minnesota, Dec. 12, 2008--Analysis versus anecdote: One CC member asked if Nathan relied too much on anecdotes, and not enough on hard data.  Nathan responded that he tried to find the best available research and share that, as well as help generate useful data.  His experience through writing newspaper columns and testifying is that the public often responds best to a combination of anecdote and data.  That is what he tries to provide.  But he also thinks careful evaluation is vital – including that showing some charters are not succeeding.  This is part of the reason he favors replicating outstanding district and charters.  He has seen many examples of how this was done, in ways that benefit youngsters.

John Hamann and Joann Knuth, MN Secondary School Principals Association, Dec. 5, 2008--Are changes needed?--A Civic Caucus member inquired whether, if the system isn't working, is more money needed or a change in how students are being educated.  Knuth said that more money is needed.  The coalition of education organizations, PS Minnesota, commissioned a report on our state’s public education funding.  It expanded the work of an Education Task Force, appointed by Governor Pawlenty, which determined that Minnesota schools are under-funded by $2 billion per year.  Greiling’s and Bonoff’s bill, the new “Minnesota Miracle,” addresses this funding shortfall in a systemic way over time. Knuth replied that education is not a separate entity outside of the political, economic, and social realm.  She thinks that education will probably be asked to share in the challenge of balancing the state’s budget deficit.

John Hamann and Joann Knuth, MN Secondary School Principals Association, Dec. 5, 2008--Is curriculum customized or standardized?--Hamann was asked about the claim by Clayton M. Christensen in his book "Disrupting Class" that public schools aren't sufficiently customizing the curriculum for students and that, consequently, more and more young people are turning to on-line courses, outside the public schools, to receive a customized curriculum.   Hamann replied that customization already is going on.  In a typical classroom of 20 students, there probably are seven or eight methods a teacher is using, depending upon the individual student. 

            He also said that schools in southwestern Minnesota, where his school is located, are using computers to implement long distance learning for special classes such as Chinese that a few individual students want but can't receive at their own school.

John Hamann and Joann Knuth, MN Secondary School Principals Association, Dec. 5, 2008--Developing small communities within a larger school--Responding to a question, Knuth said that both Minneapolis and St. Paul already have created small communities within larger high schools.  The “4R’s” are central to the academic success of students: rigor, relevance, relationships, and results.  She believes that relationships are most critical to student success and are a key goal of smaller learning communities, as found in St. Paul, Minneapolis and other districts with large secondary schools.  These schools seek to personalize the learning environment.

John Hamann and Joann Knuth, MN Secondary School Principals Association, Dec. 5, 2008--Creative proposals for the future--Knuth highlighted a report published by MASSP entitled “A Bridge to High Learning: A New Vision for Minnesota’s High Schools in the Global Information Age.”  Its vision is that Minnesota secondary schools prepare every student to earn a credential or a degree at a postsecondary educational institution—whether it is a technical school, two- year college, or four-year college or university.  This is an ambitious goal, but necessary for maintaining the vitality of our state’s economy, according to Knuth.  The report details 10 building blocks that provide the framework for transition from schools that focus on postsecondary success for some students, to postsecondary success for all students.  (available online at www.massp.org)  “Minnesota’s Promise: World-Class Schools, World-Class State” is a report developed by a small group of superintendents in partnership with the Minneapolis Foundation and the University of Minnesota that identifies ten strategies for achieving world-class schools.  The “essential elements of high performance” are:

                 --Investment in early childhood education

                 --Emphasis on high quality teachers and principals

                 --Rigorous academic standards

                 --Involvement of parents and the community

                 --Support and involvement of all cultures

                 --Good data and research

                 --Funding that is predictable and sufficient

                 --Schedules and calendars to help all students reach high standards

                 --Strong support for special education

                 --Ensuring that students come to school physically ands mentally ready to

                    learn

Peter Hutchinson, president, Bush Foundation, Oct. 17, 2008--Increasing educational achievement—Over the next 10 years Bush has a goal of helping produce a 50 percent increase in the number of Minnesota youngsters on track to receive a degree after high school.  Today only 25 percent receive a post-high school degree.

            Bush’s emphasis isn’t about charter schools, childhood education, or curriculum redesign, all major reforms in their own right.  Bush’s focus is on the effectiveness of teaching, and nothing else.  Hutchinson said that over the last 50 years we’ve reduced the pupil-teacher ratio substantially, but we’ve not seen change in results.   He used as an example that fourth grade reading results are about the same today as they were 50 years ago. 

            Improvement in the effectiveness of teaching has at least four major components, the recruitment of prospective teachers, the education of prospective teachers, their placement in schools, and the support they receive once placed.  We know teaching matters, but we are less clear on the characteristics of effective teachers, he said. 

            We do know, he said, that 30 years ago more of the best and the brightest were entering teaching.  The overall intellectual quality of teachers has dropped considerably since then, he said.

            Much more can be done to recruit future teachers, he said, making reference to Teach for America, Inc., (http://www.teachforamerica.org/mission/index.htm) which is working to enlist the best of America’s future leaders to enter teaching. 

            In Minnesota twice as many persons are trained as teachers than there are jobs for them.   Moreover, one-half of those who do take teaching jobs are gone within five years.  Thus, Hutchinson said, we’re paying to train four teachers for ever one who still is on the job five years later.  A cynic might say that teacher-training tuition is going to support the higher education system, because volume matters over quality.

            We’ve been afraid to talk about the need to teacher quality issue, he said, but it is abundantly clear that 40 years ago the main occupations for high-ability college-trained women were education and nursing, which, of course, no longer is the case.

            The number of students entering teacher-training in Minnesota should be reduced by one-half.  The teacher-training institutions should guarantee the competence of their graduates.  Dollars saved by training fewer teachers can be invested in support of teachers once placed on the job.  Today, a new teacher once placed in a school, receives virtually no on-going support from the teacher’s higher education institution.  

            In response to a question, Hutchinson singled out Mike Miller, dean of education at Minnesota State University Mankato, as a leader on changing teacher-training. 

Peter Hutchinson, president, Bush Foundation, Oct. 17, 2008--Relevance of tenure in teaching—Returning to education, in response to a question Hutchinson said he never has felt that tenure is a problem.  Many tenured teachers, not fit to serve, were terminated when he was superintendent of the Minneapolis public schools, he said.  If you are only hiring effective teachers in the first place, you’ll not have a problem. 

Richard Oscarson and Fred Storti, school principals' association, Oct. 3, 2008--Need for national standards--Currently, under NCLB, each of the 50 states establishes its own agreement with the federal government based on each state's standards.  Minnesota's standards are higher than that of many other states, Storti said.  He suggested that the federal government could establish national standards for sciences, math and literacy.  States could supplement those standards as desired.  If you check out other countries such as Australia and the Scandinavian countries, you'll see nationalized curriculums.   In advocating national standards, Storti said he was speaking for himself and not stating an official position of MESPA, his principals' association.

            A Civic Caucus member inquired about the appropriate role for the federal government, given the major role that states play in education.  While states have constitutional responsibility for education, Storti and Oscarson said that the federal government must be involved in setting standards because of the importance of education in a global economy.         

 Fred Storti, school principals' association, Oct. 3, 2008—In response to a question about what school districts might do to economize without doing harm to education, Storti said—his opinion, not that of MESPA—that Minnesota could do with fewer school districts.  The state has 331 districts, of which 100 have fewer than 800 pupils.  But each district has its own superintendent and its own human resources staff along with other central administration.  You can keep the same number of individual schools while combining administrative units, he said.    The principal is the most critical individual in the school administration. 

Richard Oscarson and Fred Storti, school principals' association, Oct. 3, 2008  Need for a year-round school system—Speaking for themselves, Oscarson and Storti advocated that schools be organized year-round.   Students would attend perhaps 10-15 more days than they do now, but there’d be new ways of using resources more efficiently if you were working with a 12-month framework, they said.   Storti said education results are better as well.  Evidence elsewhere demonstrates that students enrolled in English as a second language programs do better in a year-round environment. 

Richard Oscarson and Fred Storti, school principals' association, Oct. 3, 2008--Encouraging innovation—A Civic Caucus member wondered whether school districts will automatically do a better job of innovation in helping students learn,  if there are fewer, but larger, administrative units, and if there is more funding.

Robert J. Brown, former state senator, Sept. 19, 2008--Importance of change in education--The discussion shifted from the elections process to education.   Citing problems with education of students in Minnesota, where some school systems have "imploded", Brown said the goal must be how to help children learn, not to protect the systems.   He said he is a strong advocate for competition.  Thus he is active in the charter schools movement.   He also believes much more must be done with early childhood learning. 

Robert J. Brown, former state senator, Sept. 19, 2008--Provide advocates for children--Every child needs an advocate, either parents or others who can step in where parents aren't advocating on behalf of their children.   Advocates can come from throughout the population, including youth and retired people.  Advocates must come from sources that are comfortable for the families involved.   Thus, they should come from neighborhood organizations where the families themselves participate or trust. 

            A Civic Caucus member said schools must make it easier for volunteers to come into the schools.  Currently, many people feel they are unwelcome--at least partly because of security measures.

Joe Graba, senior policy fellow, Education Evolving, July 25, 2008--  Turn to Disrupting Class, by Clayton M. Christensen--A full discussion of the change from standardized teacher-centered to customized student-centered learning is contained in a new book just published by McGraw Hill in 2008, titled Disrupting Class, Graba said. A co-author with Christensen is Curtis Johnson, an associate of Graba's at Education Evolving.  Not an author, but quoted in the book is Ted Kolderie, founder of Education Evolving.  

            Christensen, a professor of business administration at the Harvard Business School, had originated an idea of "disruptive innovation" in a 1997 business book.  Christensen applies that concept in his current book, Graba said.  Education Evolving has been working with Christensen since 2001. 

            Christensen contends that it's impossible for large systems to fundamentally change themselves, Graba said.  He outlined several examples from various business sectors where major change started slowly outside established businesses, but then gathered steam, disrupted the businesses, and in many cases, led to their demise.  One example was that of Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC), a mini-computer company that couldn't accommodate itself to the personal computer, Graba said. 

            Just such a change is beginning to occur in education today, Graba quoted Christensen as saying.  That change has its beginnings in what Christensen calls "the non-competitive" parts of education.    Some classes just can't be offered in standardized schools, so individual students are beginning to take advantage of online customized courses.   The movement has started slowly.   It's still imperfect, and much better software is needed.  Only 54,000 students were taking such individualized classes in 2001, but that number had grown to 1 million by 2007, and Christensen projects that 50 percent of all elementary and secondary students could be receiving such individualized learning by 2018.

 Joe Graba, senior policy fellow, Education Evolving, July 25, 2008--Why change can't happen from the inside--Returning to the example of DEC, Graba said that the corporation was making 40 to 45 percent profit on large computers, so the culture of the corporation made it impossible to comprehend much smaller margins on personal computers--which at that time still were in their infancy.   Moreover, DEC customers wouldn't have permitted such a change.

            The same circumstances exist within education, Graba said.  The system favors the people who do the best, and they, including parents of the children who succeed as well as their school systems, resist change.   We can't expect that schools today will change from organizing themselves around teaching to organizing themselves around learning, he said.   

            Think, Graba said, about a school curriculum.   It's neatly divided among specific courses, all of which begin and end at the same time.   If one-third of the students in a class could do all the class work by December, they need to patiently wait out the rest of the year for everyone else.  Those students who need more than a September-May school year, just get pushed ahead, irrespective of whether they learned the material or not. 

Joe Graba, senior policy fellow, Education Evolving, July 25, 2008--  Interest from struggling school districts--Graba said that he and Bob Wedl, a former Minnesota Commissioner of Education now an Education Evolving associate, are working with an out state school district that has lost 300 students to surrounding districts under open enrollment.   The question is whether such a school district can customize learning for students, along the Chrsitensen model, he said.  The customized school will call for a radically different organization of teachers and students. 

Joe Graba, senior policy fellow, Education Evolving, July 25, 2008--Disruptive technologies are imperfect in early years--The disruptive technology of customized learning still lacks quality in many respects, Graba said.  That is almost always the case, he said, using again the analogy of the personal computer replacing the mini-computer.

Joe Graba, senior policy fellow, Education Evolving, July 25, 2008--Importance of motivating children to learn--Referring again to Christensen's book, Graba said that  students need to be internally motivated to learn, rather than simply being externally motivated by others.   It's not possible to develop excellence through regulation or command. 

 Joe Graba, senior policy fellow, Education Evolving, July 25, 2008-- Some openness to change among educators--Asked whether organizations of teachers, superintendents, principals or school boards will be supporting change, Graba replied that some individuals, rather than the organizations themselves, will be supportive.   Most organizations aren't change oriented, he said.   Unless public education finds a way to be fully involved in moving from standardization to customization, it already might be too late for the public education system to survive, he said. 

State Sen. Larry Pogemiller, Dec. 13, 2007--Education not changing quickly enough--Asked to expand on his point about difficulty in responding quickly to problems, Pogemiller said K-12 education is the best example.  K-12 education was built to last, but it has not changed quickly enough to meet the changing needs of children.

former Gov. Al Quie, Sept. 30, 2005--Low expectations in schools--Quie bemoans the high drop out rate in some school districts.  Teachers seem to have low expectations of their pupils in many such districts.   Many citizens don't realize the impact that low expectations has on children.

former Gov. Al Quie, Sept. 30, 2005--When referendums should be held--Quie said that when there's legislative gridlock, he'd support a limited initiative-referendum process.  He does not support the requirements for referendums in School Districts, especially for additional operating expenses.   School Board members should have the authority to increase property taxes.  Quie would have no problem with school boards making the decision if the school district fit the needs of the kids in the locality.    He's less certain that such authority should exist in large school districts.

former Gov. Al Quie, Sept. 30, 2005--How to inform and educate our young people on government--Quie agreed that it is a shame that children seem to get most of their information from television.  Quie, said he has serious problems with "post-modern" thought that encourages thinking with your feelings.  We need to work on increasing rational thought.   Schools also ought to teach history without running it through social science. 

John Brandl, professor, Humphrey Institute, Sept. 14, 2005--Improving the educational system--Brandl was asked, in light of the founding fathers' interest in an informed citizenry, how we can accomplish such an objective today.  Kids get most of their information from TV, which is a national media system.   Brandl agreed that this is a serious problem.