I Challenge You to a Dual…Enrollment

Over the summer, Community College of Vermont received a grant to design and implement a

Courtesy of CCV

website for the Vermont State Colleges Dual Enrollment Program. We would like to share it with all of you, so that you can use it as a resource for answering students’ questions about the program.  Dual enrollment is the formalized arrangement of a high school student enrolling in college courses in addition to high school courses.

The link to the site is www.gotocollegevt.org. You will see several questions and answers animate the screen, and then you can choose to view the information as a student, parent or guidance counselor. Whichever view you choose, there will be a “Contact Us” link.

Read, enjoy, share with students. Thanks to DOE’s John Fischer for this update.

Commissioner Vilaseca Checks Out Advanced High School Program

The Brattleboro Reformer has a great article about their Windham Collegiate High School program, which gives high school students college credit for work they complete in advanced high school classes.

An excerpt: “This has been a dream of mine for over 40 years,” Vilaseca said after Stahley and project director Tom Yahn talked about the program. “This is exactly what we are talking about when we talk about transforming high school. This is a way to make school relevant.”

Check out the full article here.

Have Transformation, Will Travel

Vermont Education Commissioner Armando Vilaseca recently hit the friendly skies for a visit to Colorado with his fellow education commissioners to discuss “the Complexities of Transforming Education in the Country”. This gathering was the annual Summer Institute of the Council of Chief State School Officers held in Broomfield, Colorado.  See, we told you we didn’t make this transformation thing up.

Here is the complete release from CCSSO:

CCSSO Chiefs Convene to Discuss the Complexities of Transforming Education in the Country

CCSSO Holds 2009 Summer Institute

Washington, DC, July 23, 2009—Yesterday the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) concluded its annual Summer Institute meeting in Broomfield, Colorado. The institute welcomed nine new chief state school officers, with 44 states in attendance overall. With a theme of “Summer of Opportunity: From Promise to Action,” the institute had three goals for members: understand, lead, and communicate the imperative to transform the educational system; exposure to practical approaches to transforming education systems in light of the Council’s strategic focus areas (standards, assessments and accountability, next generation learners, educator workforce development, and comprehensive data systems); and networking with colleagues.

 Chief state school officers, corporate partners, and invited guests were challenged and informed by speakers and thought-leaders such as author and Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School Clayton Christensen, Co-Director of the Change Leadership Group at the Harvard Graduate School of Education Tony Wagner, U.S. Department of Education Assistant Secretary for Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development Carmel Martin, former state and national teachers of the year, and a panel of recent Colorado high school graduates.

 “This is a critical juncture for a dynamic change in public education. The challenges chiefs are facing to transform education in their states and for the nation are overwhelming and complex,” stated CCSSO Executive Director Gene Wilhoit. “This meeting provided our members the opportunity to be inspired by some of the greatest minds in the country, and vet solutions for the many complex challenges they are facing.”

 Three key and timely advocacy issues discussed at length at the conference were the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), the Common Core State Standards Initiative, and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, including the Race to the Top fund. Regarding ESEA reauthorization, task force members updated the membership at large on the timeline and Council agenda for addressing reauthorization. Regarding the Common Core State Standards Initiative, chief state school officers were provided the draft mathematics and English language arts college- and career-ready standards and asked for state education agency feedback. The Race to the Top fund was further clarified in a conversation with the U.S. Department of Education including proposed requirements for criteria and timeline issues.

 “We must challenge our systems and embrace disruptions to better support each learner. We have our focus areas—comprehensive data systems, educator workforce development, next generation learners, standards, assessments and accountability—as defined by CCSSO and the U.S. Department of Education,” said CCSSO President and Maine Commissioner of Education Susan Gendron. “We are committed to seizing the unprecedented opportunities to lead, as states, the transformation of public education in our country.”

 The Summer Institute meeting is held annually and is the only meeting with chief state schools officers as the exclusive invitees. The Council’s 2009 Annual Policy Forum will be held in Naples, Florida, in November.

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The Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) is a nationwide, nonprofit organization of public officials who head departments of elementary and secondary education in the states, the District of Columbia, the Department of Defense Education Activity, and five U.S. extra-state jurisdictions. CCSSO provides leadership, advocacy, and technical assistance on major educational issues. The Council seeks members’ consensus on major educational issues and expresses their views to civic and professional organizations, federal agencies, Congress, and the public.

Education Reform’s Moon Shot

Chicago Tribune

The following op-ed by Education Secretary Arne Duncan appeared in today’s Washington Post:

Education Reform’s Moon Shot

By Arne Duncan
Friday, July 24, 2009

To every governor who aspires to be his state’s “education governor,” this is your moment. Today, President Obama is to announce the draft guidelines for applying for the $4.35 billion Race to the Top fund — by far the largest pot of discretionary funding for K-12 education reform in the history of the United States.

Since its inception in 1980, the U.S. Department of Education has traditionally been a compliance-driven agency with only modest discretionary funds available for reform and innovation. By contrast, the Race to the Top fund marks a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the federal government to create incentives for far-reaching improvement in our nation’s schools. Indeed, the $4.35 billion available in Race to the Top easily outstrips the combined sum of discretionary funds for reform that all of my predecessors as education secretary had.

For states, school districts, nonprofits, unions and businesses, Race to the Top is the equivalent of education reform’s moon shot — and the Obama administration is determined not to miss this opportunity. We will scrutinize state applications for a coordinated commitment to reform — and award grants on a competitive basis in two rounds, allowing first-round losers to make necessary changes and reapply.

What are we looking for? The president starts from the understanding that maintaining the status quo in our schools is unacceptable. America urgently needs to elevate the quality of K-12 schooling and boost college graduation rates, not simply to propel the economic recovery but also because students need stronger skills to compete in a global economy. As he has put it, “education is no longer just a pathway to opportunity and success — it’s a prerequisite for success.” Yet tragically, too many schools fail to prepare their students for college or the workforce.

Under Race to the Top guidelines, states seeking funds will be pressed to implement four core interconnected reforms.

— To reverse the pervasive dumbing-down of academic standards and assessments by states, Race to the Top winners need to work toward adopting common, internationally benchmarked K-12 standards that prepare students for success in college and careers.

— To close the data gap — which now handcuffs districts from tracking growth in student learning and improving classroom instruction — states will need to monitor advances in student achievement and identify effective instructional practices.

— To boost the quality of teachers and principals, especially in high-poverty schools and hard-to-staff subjects, states and districts should be able to identify effective teachers and principals — and have strategies for rewarding and retaining more top-notch teachers and improving or replacing ones who aren’t up to the job.

— Finally, to turn around the lowest-performing schools, states and districts must be ready to institute far-reaching reforms, from replacing staff and leadership to changing the school culture.

The Race to the Top program marks a new federal partnership in education reform with states, districts and unions to accelerate change and boost achievement. Yet the program is also a competition through which states can increase or decrease their odds of winning federal support. For example, states that limit alternative routes to certification for teachers and principals, or cap the number of charter schools, will be at a competitive disadvantage. And states that explicitly prohibit linking data on achievement or student growth to principal and teacher evaluations will be ineligible for reform dollars until they change their laws.

Neither I nor the president is naive about reform. I served as superintendent of the Chicago Public Schools for seven years — and saw firsthand that the system often served the interests of adults better than it did its students. Still, I reject much of the pessimism and age-old apathy about school reform. I have visited 23 states in the past six months and have met countless students, teachers, parents and administrators who hunger for change. I have seen high-performing schools and districts that are closing achievement gaps, raising graduation rates and shipping off to college kids who never thought it possible.

Since President Obama took office, numerous states have adopted reforms that would have been almost unthinkable a year ago. This spring, 46 states signed on to a state-led process to develop a common core of K-12 standards in language arts and math. At the same time, Tennessee, Rhode Island, Indiana, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Colorado and Illinois have lifted restrictions on charter school growth.

Despite the obstacles, I remain optimistic about America’s capacity for transformational change. The edifice of education reform may take years to build. But the Race to the Top starts today.

The writer is secretary of education.