Experts calls for 10th-grade college entry test

Parents' Social Lounge
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<p>Articles in the Chicago Tribune - "Panel: Revamp U.S. high schools" and Inside Higher Ed - "Seeking a New Skills Revolution" on the Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce new report that calls for higher education reform that would end America's four-year high school and replace it with a more European-style model. The proposals advocate a sweeping change that would dramatically alter American high schools by allowing students to apply to college once they have passed a board exam, probably at age 16. "The juniors and seniors left in high school would either be teens in remedial classes working to pass the exam or youngsters who chose to stay and pursue challenging academic work so they could attend elite institutions."</p>

<p>The surge in interest in high school reform during the last several years was "fueled by philanthropist Bill Gates and a National Governors Association summit in February 2005 that drew attention to the need for higher standards to better prepare students for college or work."</p>

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Of students who have taken the exam at 16, the commission members expect 35 percent of students to then go on to a two-year program that is equivalent to an international baccalaureate, or advanced European high school degree. After the two years, these students would then apply to selective universities. The other 60 percent would enter a two-year community college or technical college, and then take another exam to qualify for entrance to a four-year institution. Of course, some students would fail out and then enter the work force, but Tucker said the outcome would be much better than current standards where almost one third of Americans do not complete high school.</p>

<p>“We’re shooting for a 5 percent dropout rate, versus around 33 percent which is what we have today,” he said. The country will not succeed unless everyone has at least two years of college 18. Tucker added that this new plan gets at least 95 percent of the population ready for a college by age 18, with many kids ready before that.</p>

<p>“The community college system is the most adaptive in higher education,” said Paul Elsner, a commission member and former chancellor of the Maricopa Community College District. “Still, I think they are going to be in shock by this.”</p>

<p>The commission calculates huge savings — $67 billion — for the country’s educational system both from sending kids to college at a younger age, but also by cutting down on the need for costly remedial education. One place they plan to reinvest these dollars is teacher training.</p>

<p>Taking a cue from the British, the commission asks for states to set up an agency that will handle teacher recruitment and manage state money for teacher training. Tucker said that the agency would try to draw teachers from the top one-third of college graduates instead of the bottom third as happens now. Perhaps most controversial, the plan calls for the agency to send money only to institutions that have a proven track record for turning out quality teachers.</p>

<p>Charles Reed, a member of the commission and the chancellor of the California State University System , said that he was not put off by this suggestion. The system he runs trains most of the teachers in California. “I like competition. I think we can prove ourselves. Performance counts.” Reed said that he approves of the plan and hopes that it will be passed.</p>

<p>“It won’t work if you cherry-pick sections of it, because it will fall apart,” said Elsner. “I think it will be tough, but it will probably have to be done.”

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Chester E. Finn Jr., president of the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation, praised the report for a blunt approach that could shake up the education establishment. He compared it to the groundbreaking "Nation at Risk" report of 1983, which paved the way for many educational reforms.</p>

<p>"There is something to offend everybody, and that approximates my own definition of consensus—a uniform level of pain felt by everybody," Finn said.

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<a href="http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2006/12/15/skills%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2006/12/15/skills&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p><a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/custom/newsroom/chi-061214schools,1,6259557.story?track=rss&ctrack=1&cset=true%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/custom/newsroom/chi-061214schools,1,6259557.story?track=rss&ctrack=1&cset=true&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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<p>NYTimes: "Expert Panel Proposes Far-Reaching Redesign of the American Education System"</p>

<p><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/15/education/15school.html?_r=1&oref=slogin%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/15/education/15school.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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<p>and in Business Week: "Lesson Plan for Education Reform"</p>

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If it can be done at all, it will take 15 years and cost billions in new and reallocated funds, but the U.S. has no choice, according to the report. "There is a real sense of urgency at this point," says Caroline Hoxby, Harvard economist and director for the National Bureau of Economic Research's Economics of Education Program. "We don't have any time to waste."</p>

<p>If implemented, the commission's recommendations—signed by 26 members from all corners of the corporate, nonprofit, education, and political worlds—would revolutionize the way children are educated in this country. Among the ideas: a set of Board Examinations allowing all 10th graders to place into college; improved compensation and incentives to attract better quality teachers; an overhaul of the American testing industry; contract-run schools instead of schools run by school boards; improved education for all three- and four-year-olds; standards for state-run funding instead of local funding; legislation for continued education for adults; a new GI Bill; and regionally focused job training. ...</p>

<p>But if experts in the field of education don't agree with one of the commission's recommendations, they are likely to agree with a slew of others. Educators agree that the report will serve as a necessary tool for policy makers thinking about future education reform. How feasible all of the 10 recommendations will be—considering the strong interest groups that would resist such a radical rethinking of American education—is at this point not entirely clear. But economists and scholars would agree that the report does a better job than any other attempt so far at re-envisioning an education system that produces the kinds of entrepreneurial thinkers the U.S. needs to stay afloat in a global market...</p>

<p>The commission's 10 recommendations would gradually transform locally run public schools into privately owned projects run by contractors. These contractors, made up of experienced teachers, universities, nonprofits, and public and private organizations, would operate in a more entrepreneurial manner than the school districts we know today. According to this system, contractors will be held accountable by school boards who control whether their contracts are renewed. Funding for these schools will come from the state and will depend on student need in each school, rather than property taxes. In return, principals would be granted more autonomy to decide how their schools needed to best spend the money.</p>

<p>"If you align the incentives properly," says Joel Klein, chancellor for New York City Public Schools and commission member, "you will see much more dynamism, much more entrepreneurship, and much more differentiation, which is not what you see in public education."
Sweeping Transformation</p>

<p>This year, New York City schools offered principals a similar system, with more autonomy and accountability. Schools were given the opportunity to sign performance agreements that gave principals control over how their school's money is spent, while simultaneously making them more accountable should they botch the responsibility. The principals of the 321 schools that signed up were given control over 81% of their schools' budget. "If New York City can do it, anybody can do it," says William Ouchi, professor of the UCLA Anderson School of Management who has gathered data on nearly 500 schools in decentralized districts.</p>

<p>Redirecting spending is a main issue the group tackles. By shortening the amount of time students spend in high school, the money saved could be directed toward other efforts. How to do this? A set of board examinations similar in structure to the Advanced Placement test given to all 10th graders would allow passing students to progress to college at an earlier age, the commission suggests. Students passing this exam could go on to earn two-year vocational degrees or continue their high school education and take a second set of more involved exams. Allowing students to take the exam repeatedly until they pass would minimize dropout rates, although skeptics like Rotberg worry about such a test's impact on widening socioeconomic gaps.</p>

<p>The commission estimates that $50 billion could be saved as a result of moving students to college at an earlier age. The savings, however, are based on the assumption that most students would pass the exams their first time around. But "to do that," the report says, "would require a wholesale transformation of the system," which the commission says would "cost little, if anything in dollars," but would require sweeping reorganization.

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<p><a href="http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/content/dec2006/bs20061214_250756.htm%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/content/dec2006/bs20061214_250756.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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<p>The proposal of tests reminds me of the French Baccalaur</p>

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<p>Oh, boy. Marc Tucker of the NCEE rears his sneaky head again--Hillary's good buddy. When she's President there will be a huge push for this total restructuring of our education system, we can count on it. Conservatives will go nuts. This should be fun! (Edit: only "fun" for me to watch because my kid will be out of the system. Phew. :))</p>

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<p>Well. I'm a conservative, and I think the idea has real potential, certainly merits debate.</p>

<p>I do see one big practical problem right away, though. If 16 year olds just started going to community colleges that are organized as they are today, how would they get there? And how would they fill hours between classes? Most 16 year olds do drive, but some don't, and many more would need to drive if they were attending a community college with only a few hours of class a day. Outside of cities with good public transportation systems, this would be a real issue.</p>

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<p>There will always be a fight in this country over the principle of rigidly sorting kids at age sixteen. True, the idea appeals to some conservatives, too, like Chester Finn and people like the members of the Governor's Round Table, who have business goals at heart. But the idea is anathema to most conservatives, I believe.</p>

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<p>HH, why would Hillary push for a complete restructuring of our education system? Would it not be easier for her to borrow a page from her husband's playbook and IGNORE education altogether (as he did) or dump the entire project into the lap of a commission doomed to fail because of his choice of a non-elected and despised leader (as he did with healthcare)?</p>

<p>Further, for a complete restructuring to be successful, it will require getting to the heart of the problem: the combination of the abject stronghold of the unionized teachers and their refusal to accept performance evaluation and the absence of competitive forces in the K-12 education. </p>

<p>Do we expect Hillary to face the unions? Do we expect Hillary to shed her ultra-liberal views on the role of government? </p>

<p>Hoping that positive changes in education will come from a leftist government is an absolute pipedream. Do nothing and blame others --the liberal typical modus operandi-- won't yield any results.</p>

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<p>From the Washington Post "Schools Report Urges Drastic Change, Higher Salaries":</p>

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[quote]
The 170-page report, "Tough Choices or Tough Times," is the result of a year-long study by the panel, which includes New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg; Joel I. Klein, chancellor of the New York City public schools; former Michigan governor John Engler, president of the National Association of Manufacturers; Roderick R. Paige, former secretary of the U.S. Department of Education; Marc H. Morial, president and chief executive of the National Urban League and former mayor of New Orleans; and D.C. School Superintendent Clifford B. Janey. It was funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and the Lumina Foundation for Education.</p>

<p>Implementing all the recommendations, commission members said, would cost about $60 billion.</p>

<p>Education experts expect the study to spur public debates in legislatures and school board chambers across the country, much like the groundbreaking 1983 report "A Nation at Risk."</p>

<p>The report will prompt "constitutional changes, cultural shifts and changes in political will," said Andrew Romanoff, speaker of the Colorado House, who plans to introduce a measure incorporating a recommendation to increase offerings of early childhood education programs. "The report will provide the basis for our conversation."</p>

<p>The most controversial recommendations include empowering school districts to sign contracts with companies and teachers to run the schools -- which would replace schools' administrative structures with something similar to that in charter schools -- and forcing teachers to give up pensions in exchange for large pay increases.</p>

<p>Districts, they said, should relinquish control to the most highly qualified contractors, who would be rewarded for successfully running schools -- or fired if student performance languishes.</p>

<p>The schools "would be like charter schools in one crucial respect: They would be highly entrepreneurial," said Marc Tucker, vice chairman of the commission and staff director and president of the National Center on Education and the Economy.</p>

<p>But Anne L. Bryant, executive director of the National School Boards Association, said hiring contractors to run the schools would create "a huge new set of enterprises that we have no evidence will work." Moreover, it would negate the administrative economies of scale provided by a central office and "add a great deal of costs to a school," she said. "We've seen that to an extent with charter schools."</p>

<p>Boosting teacher pay would draw better candidates to the profession, commission members said. They recommend that schools increase teacher pay by at least $20,000 -- to $45,000 for beginners and $95,000 for experienced ones working a regular school calendar. Teachers who work year-round, they said, would be paid $110,000.</p>

<p>Teachers would get the raises in exchange for giving up pensions and switching to 401(k) retirement plans.

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<p><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/14/AR2006121401532.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/14/AR2006121401532.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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<p>xiggi: You're not familiar with the famous Marc Tucker "Dear Hillary" letter? When I was researching schools for my son several years ago I found it was all the buzz on conservative internet sites. He's been in hiding for years, and I think it's interesting that he is choosing this time to unveil a new "report" on our latest education "crisis." ;)</p>

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<p>Also, we should remember that Hillary is WAY to the left of Bill, in spite of her continuing sham move to the center for broader appeal to win votes. If she has to step on some NEA toes once she's elected, she'll do it, and they'll probably end up following her wherever she goes. A Rodham/Obama administration? Watch out!</p>

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<p>Yes Bill is way to the right of Hilary to the point where I wouldn't be surprised he voted for GW- he is a republician ya know ( plus he brought up Texas several times in a recent speech saying washington ( state) education system should be more like).</p>

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<p>The President of Bard has been calling for college entry at age 14-15 for years, and there is a Bard in New York, that takes normal, average, (non-gifted), but motivated kids from NYC public high schools and enrolls them successfully in college classes at that age.</p>

<p>But what this proposal is really about is MONEY - shifting the the burden of education from taxpayers (read: businesses) and onto families (in college tuition), and for the reminder, contracting it out for profit. Neat trick, isn't it?</p>

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<p>Yep, Mini might have hit on it - he always says it better than I can hint ;). perhpas this is why a conservative thinks the idea is intriguing ;).
My points about transportation and filling extra hours are really about money - taking the costs of educating that child during the day and shifting from the schools to the parents, taking the "babysitting" duties from the schools and shifting them to the parents. Won't work.</p>

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<p>HH, I am reasonably familiar with Tucker, and I think we discussed his chameleon acts on CC. He is far from being my favorite person. Funny how that works with people with similarly sounding names (read Tucker/Thacker) laboring at questionable foundations. :)</p>

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<p>Well, it is called the "National Center on Education and the Economy". ;)</p>

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<p>This test is going be be bigger than the SAT. I guess we are really going to be teaching to the test.</p>

<p>I read this proposal and I see it as a way to keep the social strata of America the same.</p>

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<p>
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"The juniors and seniors left in high school would either be teens in remedial classes working to pass the exam or youngsters who chose to stay and pursue challenging academic work so they could attend elite institutions."

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<p>This caught my attention. The gender implications are huge. If posters commenting on slower blooming boys are correct, not only will high schools be filled with students either needing remedial instruction or students, at the other end of the educational spectrum, aspiring to top colleges, but they will become overwhelmingly male-populated.</p>

<p>The schools, as mentioned above, will become bimodal, with remedial classes at one end and APs at the other. Average students will see their educational needs even more neglected than they are now. </p>

<p>European high schools do not send students to university at 16. What they do in France is to allow 15 year olds to take an exam that will cap their general education AND launch them on a vocational education path. This can mean significantly more instruction in subjects such as math and science and ordinarily takes 3 years.
Students wishing to attend university, however, take another 3 years of academic instruction and must take two end of year exams (Bac 1 and Bac II).</p>

<p>In Britain, early school-leavers ordinarily take what used to be called O-Levels (now called something else, I believe) and university-bound students take A-levels. But 16 year-olds are not expected to start their university careers.</p>

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<p>Cangel has hit the nail on the head. This proposal is DOA! Consider the social ramifications: High school isn't just an educational tool - it's part of the social fabric of most communities. Where are the Texas high school football teams going to come from? Ya think loosing hordes of 16-18 years olds onto the streets won't affect the crime rate? Or maybe we'll just put them to work, right? Right. At this point we're still working on ways to keep the late teen/early 20's group occupied and out of trouble until enough of them are ready to become responsible members of society. Move the parole date up two years? I don't think so.</p>

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<p>And all those 16-year-olds heading off to "party hearty" at a residential college???? :eek: I don't think so!</p>