Month: August 2009

Is Stimulus Stimulating Our Schools?

Eduflack accountability, Arne Duncan, RTT, stimulus

Back in March, we heard how our public schools were in desperate need of the quick injection of cash made available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.  We heard how the $55 billion in new education spending would be quickly distributed to the districts, with the majority of State Fiscal Stabilization Fund dollars distributed this spring, Title I and IDEA dollars quickly moving to the states through formulas, and the remainder of the SFSF funds getting out there this summer, after the states’ stimulus plans were approved by the U.S. Department of Education.  To some, all that is left to disseminate is the $5 billion or so available through Race to the Top and the Innovation Fund.

Originally, the money was supposed to go to immediate and one-time funding needs.  We thought the dollars would go into textbooks and computers and the purchase of “stuff.”  But according to the Association of American Publishers, spending in the school publishing market is down 24 percent for the first six months of the year, compared to last year.  Much of this can be attributed to California’s budget woes, but it seems most states and districts simply aren’t spending, either because they don’t have the dollars or they don’t have the approved budgets.
We’ve also heard how the money had to get into the states immediately to avoid teacher layoffs.  Although the money wasn’t intended to pay long-term costs like salaries, exceptions were made to ensure that teachers stayed on the job.  We heard about the need in Georgia, where they are talking two-week furloughs.  South Carolina said not taking the stimulus money would cost the state thousands of teacher slots.  But here we stand today with little evidence that the economy has cost teachers their jobs … and even less evidence that ARRA funding helped states avoid it.
The simple fact of the matter is it is hard to find ARRA having a real impact on school districts yet.  We aren’t hearing about teachers being paid or long-delayed textbook adoptions going through because it just isn’t happening.  If the stimulus intended to have an immediate impact on our schools, it isn’t showing itself.  If we expected to see a trickle-down from the feds to the states to school districts in need, there is no trickle.  In fact, it doesn’t seem like the spigot is on at all.
Each month, ED provides an accounting of how education stimulus dollars are being spent by the states.  So let’s look at the big board.  ARRA provides $55 billion in education spending.  As of August 1, $12.4 billion has been distributed to the states.  More than 77 percent of that high-need money is still sitting in the Treasury, untouched by the states as we head into the 2009-2010 school year.  Thats $42.7 billion in education money that the states haven’t tapped yet.
When we take a closer look, the numbers are even more disturbing:
* In Florida, they still have $2.9 billion of their $3.1 billion available
* In Georgia, $1.5 billion of their $1.7 billion is still available
* In Illinois, $1.2 billion of a total $2.4 billion is still available (so the home team has figured out how to spend half of what they have coming to them)
* In Louisiana, $816 million of the possible $840 million is still there
* In Michigan, as Detroit Public Schools prepare for bankruptcy, $1.4 billion of their $1.9 billion is available
* In New Jersey, $1.2 billion of a total $1.5 billion is available
* New York’s $3.8 billion is relatively untapped, with $3.7 billion still available
* Despite all of their state budget problems, Ohio still has $1.9 billion of their $2.1 billion in federal education dollars available
* Similarly, Pennsylvania still has $677 million of its $750 million unclaimed, as they continue to work through the state budget
* In Texas, $4.4 billion of the $4.6 billion is still available
Even for California, the poster child for state budget woes, there is still $1.9 billion of the possible $6.7 billion available.  These are all states with real education needs, particularly in their urban areas, and real opportunities with federal stimulus dollars.  Yet few are taking full advantage of what is available to them.  Why?  Is the financial need in K-12 not as real as we think?  Hardly.  School districts need the funds, particularly as property values stand where they are.  Has the state figured out alternative ways to get additional dollars to schools in need?  I think not.  Are we waiting for a rainy day when we really need this money?  I hate to point out, but is close to pouring these days.
Across the nation, we have school districts in urban and rural settings who have long put off the purchase of textbooks because they simply can’t afford it.  Seems this is an opportune time to open the ARRA wallet and buy students the new textbooks they need for today’s classroom.  We are talking more and more about teacher quality.  Seems the perfect moment to spend some of those stimulus gold coins on professional development programs for teachers in our struggling schools.  With teachers and students in such need of resources, how is it we can’t get the money intended for them actually to them?
Or maybe ARRA is just so six months ago, and we are looking for the latest trend.  The majority of states, including many of those on the list above that have left the majority of their stimulus funds on the table to date, are hopeful of winning RttT grants this fall or winter.  Seems to Eduflack that ED should put an additional requirement on RttT determination.  States can only get these additional dollars for innovation and improvement AFTER they have spent the first $55 billion intended for school improvement and a general shoring up of our classrooms.  Instead of worrying about their share of the $4.4 billion RttT fund (likely to be in the neighborhood of $295 million per state, spread over four years), shouldn’t Florida spend the $2.9 billion already available to them to race to the top right now?  What about Georgia and its $1.5 billion, can’t that be used to avoid teacher furloughs?  New York can’t find a need for its $3.7 billion in available dollars?  Even the District of Columbia still has $111 million of its obligated $115 million available.  MIchelle Rhee doesn’t know what to do with $100 million right here and right now to help struggling kids and schools in our nation’s capital?
In a perfect world, all of these federal dollars are meant to offer states a building block approach to school improvement.  ARRA goes to shore up the foundation and make sure funding remains on par with years past.  Proposed budget increases ensure that key programmatic dollars are flowing back to the states and districts, watering the improvement gardens.  And a select group of states will get RttT money to help accelerate their building and successfully build on what is already happening.
How can we distribute RttT funds if ARRA hasn’t taken hold?  How can we fund proposals from the states on needed improvements and innovations if they haven’t finished building the original house yet?  We are already seeing states scurrying to change their laws and policies to align with RttT draft guidance.  If that was the intent, why not just attach those regs to SFSF funds?  And at the end of the day, how do we know what was responsible for driving student achievement?  Was it ARRA or RttT, or another factor?  Until we have effective measurements in place, all of this could just be more of the same building on a flood plane that we see too often in education.

Grad Rates in the City of Angels

Eduflack accountability, Achievement gap, assessment, High School, LAUSD, NGA

Yesterday’s Los Angeles Times included the boastful headline, “Dropout Rate Declines Almost 17% in L.A. Schools.”  Officials at Los Angeles Unified School District crowed that the latest data demonstrated “the results of three years of work.”  Part of the credit goes to duplicate student records which accounted for extra enrollees who never saw graduation.  But part of the credit also goes to specific interventions put to use by LAUSD to ID and work with at-risk students.

Overall, the drop-out rate for the 2007-08 school year was 26.4 percent in the City of Angels, down from 31.7 percent a year ago.  The LA Times reports that it was one of the largest improvements in the Golden State here.

I don’t want to take anything away from the educators out in Los Angeles.  I applaud them for recognizing the long-term problems caused by the city’s drop-out factories and a history that only had two of every three high schoolers graduating.  They should be encouraged by these first year numbers, spurred on to believe that major improvement is possible when one dedicates the time and resources to it.  But it send a dangerous signal when we are slapping each other on the backs and declaring mission accomplished because of one year of promising data.
It all begs an important question — how do you recognize progress while recognizing that the end result is still far in the offing?  How do we applaud the first sprint in what is going to be a marathon race?  And how do we “prove” our work is genuine?
Don’t get me wrong, reducing the drop-out rate by 5.3 percent is recognition-worthy.  But in doing so, we lose sight of the fact that more than 25 percent of LAUSD students are not graduating from high school.  If we do a deeper dive into the numbers, I’m sure we will find that a vast majority of those drop-outs come from historically disadvantaged homes.  They are kids from black, Hispanic, and low-income families who most benefit from a high school diploma, but are least likely to earn one.
Readers of the LA Times should be horrified that a quarter of students are dropping out long after they are pleased with a 5.3 percent reduction in the number of drop outs.  The true test will be next year and the year after that, once those phantom registrations are off the books.  Does the drop-out rate continue to fall, or does it remain steady, cemented in the notion that our urban high schools are regularly failing anywhere from a quarter to a half of all students?
Good data collection is a first step.  The LA Times notes that the drop-out rate is calculated based on four years of data, but does not track individuals.  It also doesn’t track those students who leave one LAUSD high school for another school.  Why not?  How can a state or school district effectively track graduation rates if the data is not linked to individual students?  In an era where most realize we can manipulate data points to say just about anything,  But grad rates that are “estimations” and guesstimates shouldn’t be allowed in today’s era of data quality and data systems, particularly in a district like Los Angeles where money is scarce, the stakes are high, and principal (and superintendent) jobs are on the line based on student performance measures … including graduation numbers.
Calculating a graduation rate should be an easy thing.  Back in 2005, all 50 states, including California signed onto the National Governors Association’s common graduation rate formula.  Last year, the U.S. Department of Education passed Christmas Eve regs requiring states to adhere to that formula.  Yet we only see a fraction of those 50 states put the formula into practice.  And many of those states — including Michigan and North Carolina — had to deal with a perceived “increase” in drop outs because they were calculating the graduation rate effectively for the first time.
It is relatively easy math.  Take your number of ninth graders, subtracting those students who transferred out or otherwise may have left the school district.  Then look at the number of kids who graduate four years later.  Divide the latter by the former, and you have the graduation rate.  Subtract that rate from 100, and you have the drop-out rate.  It doesn’t take high school calculus to determine the percentage of graduates — and drop outs — in a given state or a given school district.
In its pursuit of Race to the Top dollars, California officials (including the Governator) are claiming that they can effectively track student achievement data with individual teacher records.  School districts like Long Beach claim they are already doing so.  But how can we expect a state like California to effectively use individual student data to incentivize individual educators when it still struggles to accurately calculate graduation rates in districts like Los Angeles?  If LAUSD is still “estimating” grad rates, do we really expect them to manage a RttT grant that financially rewards teachers for the achievement of their students?  It seems like we need to learn how to walk before we can run this latest race. 

Some Go-To Resources on that Internet Thingy

Eduflack Uncategorized

Yes, new media and social media are some of the hottest buzzwords these days.  But more and more, Eduflack is finding individuals and organizations who are struggling to find the “best in class” or those who have come before them (and done a good job) to model behaviors.  We all want to maximize the communications tools available to us, but we also want to avoid real mistakes that could set our efforts — particularly in education improvement — back.  As a result, inaction is often easier than trying to jump on the latest and greatest.

When I am out speaking to members of the education community, I am often asked if I can point them in the right direction.  What school districts are using Facebook well?  What education blogs do I read?  Who is actually using Twitter well?  
Over at Clear View Education, they have assembled a list of the Top 100 Blogs for Teachers of the Future.  This list provides a breakdown of go-to sites for Resources for Teaching, Technology, Blogging Teachers, Teachers as Students, Special Education Emphasis, Other Educators, Professional Education Blogs, News and Politics, and Policy.  It is worth checking out — www.clearvieweducation.com/blog/2009/100-best-blogs-for-teachers-of-the-future/.  And I don’t just say that because dear ole Eduflack is on the list.
And on Twitter, @alexanderrusso points us to an ever-expanding database of school districts who are using Twitter to communicate.  It is a great resource to see who is tweeting (and how they are doing it).  And if your district is on Twitter, but not listed, you can add yourself to the list.  Check it out at: spreadsheets.google.com/lv?key=0ArEWinLIvaYEcFdxOUVRVWNkVGZJZmUxcUJwTlp6RGc&hl=en      

40 Under 40

Eduflack Uncategorized

Several times each week, I take to this blog to opine on the good, the bad, and the ugly when it comes to education, ed reform, and school improvement.  In trying to look at the state of public education through a communications lens, I often try to separate the message from the messenger.  While I value the power of the individual, particularly one who is committed and a strong advocate, I recognize it is the idea that must take hold.  Long-term improvement comes from the incubation of good ideas and the demonstration that those ideas have tangible impact.  A strong communicator can help break through the white noise and amplify one’s results and impact, but a good communicator cannot and should not replace the data and the outcomes themselves.


I owe part of this philosophy to my parents, who instilled in me the notion that good work should be its own reward.  Part of its comes from my experiences on Capitol Hill.  I may have been an on-the-record spokesman for senators and congressmen, but my role was to speak for them.  Getting my name in the papers was the least of my concerns.  I needed to get my boss’ ideas, accomplishments, and agenda noticed by those audiences who could affect change or who would be effected by it.

So it is rare for me to toot my own horn.  Yes, I like to talk about the individuals, organizations, and issues with which I am involved.  I like to tout the good work of friends and colleagues in areas like STEM education, reading instruction, early childhood education, and closing the achievement gap.  And I regularly ask for your indulgence when it comes to proudly boasting of the physical and intellectual developments of my son and daughter, two toddlers that a father could not be more proud of (and two who are clearly among the most gifted and adorable of their age).

Today, uncomfortably, I write about me.  Today, it is about Patrick Riccards (or my alter ego, Eduflack, if you prefer).  Yesterday, PRWeek magazine released its annual 40 Under 40 feature, where they profile the top 40 PR and communications professionals in the nation under the age of 40.  Yours truly is on the list.  Somehow, with all of the terrific work being done in this country in PR, marketing, public affairs, communications, and advocacy, Eduflack ranks among the top PR professionals in the nation.  PRWeek’s write-up for me includes the following (along with a reasonably decent picture):

Patrick Riccards
CEO, Exemplar Strategic Communications, 36

Patrick Riccards spent the majority of the 1990s working for Congress members before holding leadership positions at two agencies and at Higher Ed Holdings.

An authority on education communications and policy at all levels, including No Child Left Behind, the Pennsylvania STEM Initiative, high school improvement, and reading instruction, he founded Exemplar Strategic Communications last year to serve the sector.

He is also founder and executive director of a Virginia nonprofit, founder and author of the Eduflack blog, and founder and chairman of online professional social network Educommunicators.

Recently, Riccards has begun a national advocacy push to ensure learning opportunities for historically disadvantaged groups.



For those who do not know, I actually do have a day job (I know, you’re shocked that writing Eduflack doesn’t pay the rent).  I am the founder and CEO of Exemplar Strategic Communications, a small PR and advocacy shop that specializes in education issues.  Each day, I have the privilege of working with a terrific group of client partners, including the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, AppleTree Institute for Education innovation, International Society for Technology in Education, KnowledgeWorks Foundation, National Governors Association, Pennsylvania Department of Education, Stanford University, Team Pennsylvania Foundation, WETA Learning Media, and many others.  I purposely work with a selec
t group of organizations so we can focus on delivering proven results.  Personally, I am not satisfied with merely hitting some subjective communications goals (like a pre-determined number of media hits).  Exemplar’s work is only successful when the organization’s overall strategic goals are achieved.  After all, isn’t that the intent of effective communications in the first place?

I am humbled and honored by the recognition from PRWeek, both for myself and for the education field.  I am the first honoree from the education sector ever selected for this award.  Typically, these lists are a who’s who of corporate PR, technology, healthcare, and consumer products.  Having the education sector on the list is a major step forward for our field.  In recent years, we have witnessed the transformation of education, as more and more people recognize the unbreakable ties between education improvement, a strong economy, and a strong nation.  Education — and the effective communication of education improvement efforts — is simply too important to our community’s future for it to be ignored.  I am incredibly proud to represent all of the education communications pros in the field who work hard so new ideas, new reforms, and new results can be heard, model, and exemplified.

I am also incredibly proud of the work we do at Exemplar, and really see this as a team honor, both for Exemplar staff and Exemplar clients.  When I meet someone new in the education sector, one of my greatest joys is when he or she finally pauses to note that I am not the typical flack (refreshing for most I work with).  I come in under the umbrella of communications, I talk like a policy pro, and I crunch (and know) the numbers like a ed researcher.  At that moment, folks finally see the nexus where all of this comes together, where policy, data, and communications meet to produce the messages and activities that will successfully reach the right audiences.  Where we move from simply informing stakeholders on an issue to driving them to specific change.  Where we use communication, advocacy, and public engagement as powerful levers in achieving lasting improvement. 

Before I yield the rostrum, I just wanted to offer up a few thank yous.  I thank Senator Robert C. Byrd, Senator Bill Bradley, and Congressman John Olver for giving me some of my first communications opportunities and allowing me to see that intersection between communications and policy and really develop my footing on that street corner.  To Widmeyer Communications and Lipman Hearne, for allowing me to pursue my passions, hone my model for effective communications and public engagement, and to help gain the knowledge and experience I needed to truly be successful.  To Kris Kurtenbach and the folks at Collaborative Communications Group, a terrific consulting shop with whom I have now had an eight-year relationship collaborating on some wonderful, impactful education issues.  To my mentors along the way, starting on Capitol Hill with Marsha Berry and continuing this past decade-plus with Phyllis Blaunstein, for empowering me, encouraging me, and teaching me how to constantly improve.  And, of course, to my family.  To my parents for planting the seeds; the eduwife for putting up with every twist, turn, and unforeseen challenge (including the client work on vacations, the many phone calls at dinner, the ongoing emails and tweets that fly 24-7, and just plethora the quirks connected to who I am), and the edukids for reminding me each and every day why I do what I do.

I would also like to thank all of the readers of Eduflack, who allow me this soapbox and encourage its frequent use.  I am constantly amazed by those who follow and appreciate what is posted here, along with what is put up on Eduflack’s Twitter page (@Eduflack).  The Twitter feed is now becoming one of those go-to sources in education, and I am thrilled I can be of some use.  And I cannot forget the hundred of education communications professionals who are helping to launch Educommunicators, an online social network designed to promote our collective work (and preparing for a Phase 2 relaunch this fall).  There is no much passion, talent, commitment, and good working happening in this field.  We need to keep acknowledging, sharing, and promoting it.  Hopefully, Educommunicators can play a role in doing that.

So to all of you who have helped me, guided me, advised me, worked with me, allowed me to work with you, inspired me (both the good and the bad), and generally given me the ability to develop my craft and find my voice, I thank you.  I thank you for this acknowledgment, for the work that led to it, and for the great work we will do together in the coming years.