Year: 2015

Communicating in the Garden State

Eduflack PR, Woodrow Wilson

It has been a few weeks, and I’ve thus been negligent in sending major thanks to the good folks over at the Public Relations Society of America – New Jersey. Earlier this month, PRSA-NJ named me its communicator of the year. 

It is great to be back home in New Jersey, making a real difference to improve educational opportunities. It is great to be recognized for all of the terrific communications work we are now doing at the Woodrow Wilson Foundation. And it is even greater to be recognized by my peers at PRSA-NJ for this work. 

Thanks to all who made it possible. I have a lot to live up to, but I look forward to the opportunity. 

  

A Real STEM-winder

Eduflack 21CS, Achievement gap, Science, STEM, Students

On a fairly regular basis, Eduflack reads some voice on social media lamenting that we are spending far too much time, as an education community, focused on discussions of science, technology, engineering, and math (or STEM) education). What about the humanities? What about passion? What about love? What about what about?

But we can’t overlook the importance of STEM education in our global, digital economy. Even the most romanticized of today’s poets need some STEM skills to remain relevant. One doesn’t need to be a rocket scientist or a surgeon to know that STEM literacy is just as important these days as literacy itself.

Over at US News & World Report, there is a new STEM Index for our reading, review, and reflection. Developed in partnership with Raytheon, the USNWR STEM Index “measures science, technology, engineering and mathematics activity in the United States relative to the year 2000.”

  • Additionally, USNWR offers a wealth of analyses and opinions of what the numbers tell us. Some of the more noteworthy facts include:
  • While the number of STEM bachelor’s degrees earned by Black college students increased 60 percent since 2000, the share actually shrunk compared to the overall number of bachelor’s degrees earned by Black students;
  • STEM degrees earned by white students increased 10 percent, compared to overall bachelor’s degrees;
  • Women still lag behind men in number of STEM degrees earned, exam scores, and general interest in STEM; and
  • White and Asian students and college graduates overwhelmingly outperformed Black, Hispanic, and American Indian students in STEM degrees earned, exam scores, and general interest in STEM.

You can read more about the trends here.

The portfolio of STEM info from USNWR is definitely worth the read. And it is a further reminder of why STEM literacy is so important, whether one wants to be a physicist or a playwright.

Good Teaching Trumps All

Eduflack Achievement gap, Teacher Education, teachers, turnaround, Woodrow Wilson

It is impossible to seriously improve student achievement without focusing on how we prepare teachers for the classroom. Over at the American Youth Policy a Forum blog, I recently talked to AYPF about the new for effective teacher prep and the impact it can have on student achievement, particularly in high-need schools. 

“If you have a good teacher in charge of a classroom to do what is necessary to educate the kids, the kids learn. There’s no getting around that,” said Riccards. “As policies change, as instructional approaches change, we know that good teaching trumps all.”

Give it a read. You won’t be disappointed. 

What Our Edu-Tweets Say About the Debate

Eduflack Social media

In our quest to find hidden meaning in those 140 characters that dominate modern-day social engagement, Education Next has a new analysis of what Tweets are saying about the education debate. 

The piece from the Fordham Institute’s Mike Petrilli is definitely worth the read. In analyzing the Tweets of those who were designated “top education policy Tweeters” in last year’s Education Next, Petrili looks at what our posts say about our emotional, social, and thinking behaviors. 

EdSec Arne Duncan is Upbeat and Arrogant/Distant (the latter isn’t what one thinks, it means tweets show one is well read and smart, but the tweeter limits the online socializing). 

Educators like Jose Vilson are Upbeat. Randi Weingarten and Michelle Rhee are both Upbeat and Plugged In. Advocate Campbell Brown is Angry. The reporters on the list don’t share a common profile. They all seem to come at Twitter differently. 

And yours truly? Eduflack is branded as both Worried and Arrogant/Distant. Boy, did they nail that!

While I don’t want to give Twitter more credit than it deserves, Petrilli’s analysis is quite interesting. Definitely worth the read. Check it out!

Accolades and Gratitude

Eduflack Uncategorized

Allow me a few moments of self-congratulation here on the pages of Eduflack. In recent weeks, I’ve learned that my book, Dadprovement, has been recognized by two major organizations as part of their 2015 book awards.

The book is a finalist for the 2015 Next Generation Indie Book Awards in the parenting category, and will be recognized at a ceremony at the end of the month.

And I’ve just learned that Dadprovement is also a finalist in the 9th Annual Indie Excellence Awards in the personal growth category.

I honestly wrote the book as a form of therapy. I had been telling the first part of the story for years, the part about how our family came to be, and folks would regularly tell me that I should write it down before I forget it all. So I finally took them up on it. But as I was writing that story, a whole new story came out of me. Chapter after chapter, I was better understanding how my role as a father and husband was evolving. And it seems just as important a part of the story. Consider it how we came to be to what we can become.

When Turning Stone Press wanted to publish the book, I was beside myself. Now, when I hear that someone has read the book or that they learned X about themselves or when I am asked to write or speak on the topic of fathers and parental engagement, I am reminded just how lucky I am. Lucky to have the family that I have, and lucky that I’ve learned what I’ve learned before it is too late.

So to now have groups like these decide that Dadprovement was one of the best books of the year on topics like parenting or personal growth, I am just moved beyond words. And I am very, very grateful to all of those who have helped make it possible, both for me as an author and as a person.

Focusing On Family … And Winning

Eduflack Uncategorized

Most readers of the Eduflack blog know that I am both a proud father and an author of a book about the adoption of my children and the evolution of my view on what a good dad truly means. That book, Dadprovement, was the topic of my SXSWedu speech in Austin earlier this year, and it is a big part of my writing and my thinking each and every day.

Folks are noticing this call for more engaged fathers. Exhibit One? This month’s issue of WorldClass magazine.

Yours truly is actually on the cover of the issue (yes, I realize that means it is unlikely to sell many copies). But the content of the piece is one that is particularly touching. The full article can be found here, but let me give you a taste:

Riccards emphasizes that balance in our lives brings us greater happiness and health, as individuals, and it benefits our children, as well. For example, he points to a study that shows that “in those households where daughters saw their fathers washing dishes at home, those daughters were going to be more ambitious and were going to push and achieve more in their own lives.” That kind of yin and yang between the personal and the professional is important for everyone in the family, both genders.

“We have been hearing for years now . . . that if women want to truly be a professional success, then what we need is for them to behave more like men, and they need to focus on their careers and not so much worry about the personal or worry so much about the family. At the end of the day, we are selling everybody this horrible lie,” Patrick Riccards.

Riccards explains that, too often, men become overly intimidated by the fatherhood process, “We need to recognize, we are going to make far more mistakes than we are going to get things right. What is important is that we continue to push that, continue to try. Mistakes make better fathers, make better families.”

I hope you will take a few moments and give the article a read. I promise you won’t be disappointed.

Following the CT Charter Money

Eduflack charter schools, Connecticut, reform

Up in Connecticut, they are slogging it out over the future of charter schools. As part of education reforms signed into law in 2012, the most significant school reforms legislated in the state’s history, lawmakers pledged to both increase the number of charter schools and available charter seats. At the same time, they put in place a plan to increase the per-pupil payment to said charter schools, bringing financial commitments closer to the per-pupil costs of the traditional public schools in those cities.

The financial realities set in. In 2014 and again this year, Connecticut has experienced lighter state coffers than anticipated. Reductions in revenue have meant cuts to budgets. And charter schools have been on the block for such cuts.

It is important to note, though, that when the ed reform law was originally passed, there were only 17 charter schools in 10 cities across the state. Those schools educated less than 2 percent of the total K-12 public school population.

Anyone who has followed the education reform battles knows that charter school advocates do not go quietly when their programs are slated for cuts or even freezes. And Connecticut is no different. In today’s Hartford Courant, ed reporter extraordinaire Kathleen Megan, along with Matthew Kauffman, has a great piece that looks at where the charter school funding comes from. In a small state like Connecticut, when millions of dollars is spent to advocate for less than 2 percent of the public school population, following the dollars becomes an important and necessary exercise.

Full disclosure, Eduflack served as CEO of one of the groups that Megan and the Courant write about. In fact, I led the ed reform org when we helped pass those major gains for reforms and overall school improvement. And I led both a 501c3 and a 501c4 in the process.

Those who know Eduflack know I’m never one to shy away from a question. So while it seems the CT ed reform community doesn’t want to talk about the “follow the money” storyline, I was happy to oblige.

Patrick Riccards, a former chief executive officer for ConnCAN, said that when he was there — from 2011 through 2012 — most of the funding came in equal parts from board members, the hedge fund community, and local foundations.

He said that in general many of the same names turn up as contributors to several education reform groups.

For many of those givers with an entrepreneurial leaning, Riccards said, it is far more appealing to fund new schools — charters — than to try to fix failing schools when there is so little agreement about how best to do that.

Riccards, who is now chief communications and strategy officer for the Woodrow Wilson Foundation, said he is convinced that ConnCAN’s donors were “true believers” who were donating funds because they believed they were improving education for children. “They don’t make any money off the schools,” Riccards said. “It’s one of those great urban legends. There’s no grand conspiracy.”

A fair assessment? Read the piece. Check it out. Let me know.
UPDATE: For more on the topic, also check out this piece from the Connecticut Mirror. 

Learning About Race From My Son

Eduflack accountability, Parents, Students

Those who have read Eduflack over the years know that my kiddos are an essential part of my life. And they know that my children are adopted from Guatemala, and that the edu-family is quite proud of that.

Over the weekend, as we celebrated my son’s ninth birthday, the unrest in Baltimore over #FreddieGrey was just starting to build. At my son’s party, though, I saw a group of kids undefined and unconcerned by race. Instead, it was just 20 kids having fun and enjoying their collective friendship.

At Education World, I opine on what I learned, wondering at what point we teach the sort of hate and racism we see too often in our society. I write:

On Sunday afternoon, I watched my son and his friends just have a grand time. Nearly two dozen kids–boys and girls–enjoying themselves and enjoying each other. Huge smiles, lots of physical contact (in a good way), and pure, childhood glee.

Of course, we expect to see that sort of fun at a party. If not, then why bother to come. But what struck me was the collection of kids. My two children were the Latino contingent. We had Black kids. We had Indian kids. We had Asian kids. And we even had a few white kids. While some of the adults may have noted race, none of the kids did.

So it begs the question for me–at what point do we teach racism? When do these kids become the ones singing racist songs at a frat party? When do they become the ones using the n-word? When do they become the ones who can’t grab a slice of pizza or shoot hoops with a friend because the skin pigment is different?

I conclude:

As we watch scenes like those playing out in Baltimore happen again and again, perhaps we as parents need to ask what we are doing. Maybe we need to ask what we are teaching our kids and why. And maybe, just maybe, we need to stop.

There is a great deal I still need to teach my son. But I can learn a great deal from this great little nine-year old’s view on race. He honestly couldn’t tell you a person’s race. He doesn’t see the difference between black or brown or white. He just sees friends.

I hope you will give the full piece a read.

#Studentdata and #highered

Eduflack accountability, assessment, eddata, higher ed, technology

We spend so much time talking about the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (or the replacement of NCLB, whichever term you prefer), that we can forget that reauthorization of the Higher Education Act is waiting in the wings as well.

Earlier this spring, Sen. Lamar Alexander, chairman of the Senate HELP Committee, issued a series of white papers on some of the top issues the Senate would consider as it began to dig into HEA reauth. One of those topics was consumer information, what many of us better know as student data.

Last week, I submitted a formal response to the Senate’s higher education student data call. In doing so, I noted: “As a nation, we have long said that information is power, using the call for greater knowledge to rally support for education. But our educational infrastructure itself has not provided the powerful information we need. Higher education has fallen short in its ability to both capture and apply data that can be used to improve how students learn, how they are taught, and how we measure it.”

This should come as no surprise. In talking about the work of the Woodrow Wilson Foundation and its focus on linking student outcome data to determine the effectiveness of its own programs I stated:

All have a right to know the difference between a successful school of education and a not-so-successful one. That difference really can only be revealed through the collection, analysis, and utilization of outcome data. It is not enough to know that future teachers entering schools of education bring a certain high school class rank, GPA, or SAT/ACT score into the process. Yes, the inputs are important. But far more important is what they do with those tools. And we cannot measure that impact based simply on academic performance leading to the award of a college degree. It requires post-graduation data that can be tracked back to the degree-granting institution.

My full statement, including responses to a number of specific queries from Senator Alexander’s staff can be found here. The initial white paper from the Senate HELP Committee on consumer information (and other topics like accreditation) can be found here.