Pastorek responded: 鈥淭here鈥檚 no doubt in my mind that the federal government will ensure that we live up to the terms of our plan. Even if I get run over by a truck tomorrow, we have to comply with this plan regardless and there are plenty of safeguards in place to make that happen.鈥�
Educators in Louisiana increasingly will have to prove their worth 鈥� quite literally 鈥� to advance in their careers, according to the nearly 200-page application submitted last month to President Barack Obama鈥檚 Race to the Top grant program.
Teachers will be evaluated partly on their students鈥� test score growth. Principals will be judged based on how many successful teachers they hire. Schools of education could be financially rewarded 鈥� or closed 鈥� depending on the performance of their graduates. And professional development programs could be expanded 鈥� or scrapped 鈥� based on whether they produce measurable results.
In sum, data will drive decisions in Louisiana鈥檚 schools to an unprecedented degree. Education officials have praised Louisiana鈥檚 application for the preciseness of its goals. Here鈥檚 just one example: The number of log-ins to an online system allowing educators to track their students鈥� progress will increase from 350,000 this school year to 2 million annually.
But as in other states, the Race to the Top effort must contend with critics on both sides of the political aisle. On the right, some worry that winners could wind up with unprecedented federal intrusion into their local schools. On the left, some fear that the program overemphasizes charter schools and could upend teacher union contracts.
Louisiana, which applied last month for $315 million through the program, is widely considered a strong contender for some portion of the $4 billion-plus pot. Decisions on the first round of grants will probably come in April.
While many of Louisiana鈥檚 69 traditional public school districts voted not to sign on to the application, state officials garnered the support of 28 traditional school districts and nearly all of the state鈥檚 independently operated charter schools. It also received a nod from the Louisiana Federation of Teachers.
Only a fraction of the 40 states that applied for the grants will likely win in the first round. But it鈥檚 increasingly clear to many educators and officials, in Louisiana and elsewhere, that Race to the Top represents more than a one-time competition; that, directly or indirectly, the program鈥檚 focus on charter schools, relentless use of data, and common standards reflect the Obama administration鈥檚 education priorities.
Steve Monaghan, president of the Louisiana Federation of Teachers, said his organization has 鈥渟erious reservations鈥� about certain parts of the state鈥檚 proposal. But our goal was 鈥渢o stay fully engaged in the application and shape it as much as we possibly could.鈥�
Chas Roemer, a member of the state board of education, said he has 鈥渃onsiderable concern about what role the state and federal government will play in our education system.鈥�
鈥淲e should already be doing what鈥檚 outlined in this application rather than going to get additional federal money,鈥� he said. 鈥淲hat are we doing with the $8 billion we鈥檝e already spent on our schools if not using it to ensure teacher quality?鈥�
Measuring Students鈥� Learning
The cornerstone of Louisiana鈥檚 application is the quick creation of a 鈥渧alue-added鈥� system for measuring teacher performance. Such an approach would judge teachers on growth they make with individual students, not simply the students鈥� absolute test scores.
鈥淲e spend a lot of time looking at inputs: Does the teacher cover rigorous material? Does a teacher engage students effectively in the classroom?鈥� said State Education Superintendent Paul Pastorek. 鈥淏ut those are really inputs. 鈥榁alue-added鈥� is designed to create an objective way to measure the learning that a teacher effects.鈥�
He added that, in schools that have tried it, teachers tend to like seeing value-added results.
State officials plan to work collaboratively to develop the model, and then pilot it in a few traditional school districts and charter schools later this year. They must figure out how, or whether, to weigh external factors like a student鈥檚 socioeconomic background or disability in measuring a teacher鈥檚 performance. They will also have to develop a way to grade teachers whose students do not take the state鈥檚 standardized tests: the LEAP and iLEAP.
Following federal guidelines, they plan to develop at least four 鈥渞atings鈥� for teachers, ranging from 鈥渆xperts鈥� who make at least a year and a half of growth with their students annually to 鈥渋neffective鈥� teachers who make less than a year of growth.
Louisiana鈥檚 application specifies that half of a teacher鈥檚 evaluation will be based on value-added data, with the rest based on a combination of other factors, including classroom observations.
Monaghan said his organization fought to include a provision that factors in impediments outside a teacher鈥檚 direct control, such as high rates of truancy or shoddy facilities.
鈥淲e are never going to go for a pure value-added evaluation,鈥� he said.
Roemer, on the other hand, wondered why only half of a teacher鈥檚 evaluation would be based on student growth. 鈥淕ranted, 50 percent is better than zero,鈥� he said.
Participating districts will have to use the evaluations to make decisions about teacher pay and retention, although it鈥檚 unclear at this point exactly how that will work.
Louisiana鈥檚 application also makes clear that principals will ultimately be judged at least partly on how many effective teachers they have in their building, and that districts will have to take steps to remove both teachers and principals who chronically underperform.
In its heavy reliance on test score data, the Race to the Top guidelines closely resemble No Child Left Behind, the signature education reform of the Bush administration. But while No Child Left Behind hammered whole schools for poor performance 鈥� labeling them 鈥渇ailing鈥� or 鈥渁cademically unacceptable鈥� if they failed to hit targets 鈥� the current proposals extend that further, honing in on individual classrooms.
However, the value-added approach is more nuanced and sophisticated than that of No Child Left Behind, which could soon be reauthorized. That law relies more on absolute comparisons of test scores, so it sometimes seems as if Ben Franklin High School, which accepts only high-achieving students, is measured on the same yardstick as schools in the state-run Recovery School District, where the average student starts well below grade level.
鈥淚n a nutshell, value added means being able to show where a student started, and how much they grew over a period of time,鈥� said Rayne Martin, a Recovery School District official who worked on the state鈥檚 application.
The 鈥榖ackbone of he state鈥檚 plan鈥�
The application repeatedly holds up the Recovery School District as a model for the rest of Louisiana, calling it the 鈥渂ackbone of the state鈥檚 plan to turnaround low-achieving schools,鈥� and recommending that it oversee most schools in New Orleans through 2014.
In the months after Katrina, the state took over dozens of New Orleans public schools, putting them in the district. More recently, the RSD has absorbed schools in Baton Rouge and Shreveport. The state board of education must decide later this year whether to extend the RSD鈥檚 jurisdiction over New Orleans鈥� schools beyond 2011 or return them to the Orleans Parish School Board.
Toward the end of the application, the authors recommend keeping all schools in the Recovery School District through the end of the grant period, or 2014. In New Orleans, the RSD currently oversees 37 charter schools and 33 traditional ones, although the district expects to charter or close many of its traditional schools in the next few years.
Pastorek said it will likely take the state three to five years to further stabilize the schools and devise a long-term governance structure.
Martin said the Recovery School District is already using some of the strategies pitched in the state鈥檚 Race to the Top application. Specifically, she mentioned the district鈥檚 quick firing or transfer of principals who do not produce strong results.
Notably, the Race to the Top application does not typically distinguish between the strikingly different management styles of the RSD鈥檚 charter and traditional schools. The state has given the charter schools full autonomy over curriculum, hiring and firing and budgets, while keeping its traditional schools on a much tighter leash. Although district officials have started to let the principals at traditional schools make their own hiring decisions, they are often far less flexible when it comes to curriculum, budgets and schedules.
Indeed, as evidenced by the RSD, the school reform movement currently emphasizes two seemingly contradictory trends: More top-down, dictatorial administration and setting of policies on the one hand, and unprecedented autonomy and flexibility for charter schools on the other.
Louisiana鈥檚 Department of Education would receive a significant share of the federal money if the Race to the Top application is successful, which state officials say they would use to directly assist schools with their work.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 question the intent, I question the outcome,鈥� Roemer said. 鈥淲e have a long history in this state of money not getting to where we want it.鈥�
Pastorek responded: 鈥淭here鈥檚 no doubt in my mind that the federal government will ensure that we live up to the terms of our plan. Even if I get run over by a truck tomorrow, we have to comply with this plan regardless and there are plenty of safeguards in place to make that happen.鈥�
