Compass Point
A Weekly Collection of Data, Articles and Insights from the Commonwealth Educational Policy Institute
A project of the Center for Public Policy
State & Local Education News
VDOE: Complaints about special education ‘unfounded’
The Franklin News-Post
April 27, 2016

llegations of intimidation, segregation and breaches of confidentiality were laid to rest Tuesday, as the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) released its report on the investigation into Franklin County public schools’ (FCPS) special education department.

“Franklin County Public Schools has received an investigation report from the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) and is very pleased with the result of the investigation,” said Superintendent Mark Church Tuesday afternoon. “The VDOE investigation was conducted over approximately seven months and resulted in a 90-page report. FCPS is very pleased that the VDOE concluded that the allegations, which led to the lengthy investigation, were unfounded.”


RISC community group meets to address education issues, joblessness
Richmond Times-Dispatch
May 2, 2016

Monday evening, the majority of the seats in lower level of the St. Paul’s Baptist Church sanctuary were full at the Great Nehemiah Action Assembly, which was set on tackling education issues in Henrico County and joblessness in the region.

The goals of the meeting, consisting of members of 17 congregations across the region, were to implement a pilot program in hopes of boosting literacy rates in Henrico’s schools and a job training and placement program through the area’s hospital systems.

Virginia judge rules to release testing data after 2-year battle
Education Dive
April 29, 2016

In a new ruling, a circuit court judge in Richmond, VA has said Loudoun County Public Schools must release all student growth percentile scores.

The ruling settles a lawsuit that was filed in 2014 by Brian Davison, a parent from the district, requesting data he said would better illustrate a student's progress while also identifying teacher performance.

According to Loudon Now, Davison is plan to publish the information about teacher performance on a VirginiaSGP Facebook page.

National & Federal Education News

U.S. Education Secretary criticizes Legislature for inaction on DPS
Michigan Live
May 3, 2016


The U.S. Secretary of Education blasted the Michigan Legislature on Monday for inaction regarding Detroit Public Schools' financial troubles, expressing frustration with Lansing in an ongoing crisis that critics say could negatively affect Detroit children.

The remarks from the U.S. education chief add a new level of criticism regarding the pace of negotiations in Lansing to bring stability to the state's largest school district, which has been under state control for most of the 2000s.


In an on-the-record Q-and-A at the Education Writers Association conference in Boston, which Bridge Magazine attended, John B. King Jr. said he was uncertain whether the Legislature would to take action to resolve the financial crisis by June 30, after which DPS officials say the district will not be able to pay many teachers and staff.


"The lack of concern for people is disturbing," King said, in reference to the legislature.

 

Local policymakers hold the key to school desegregation, U.S. education chief John King says
Chalkbeat
May 2, 2016

John King wants the nation’s schools to be less segregated — but there’s a limit to what he can do about it. 

That was the new federal education secretary’s message on Monday in a presentation to journalists, where he said local policymakers are the ones with the real power to integrate schools.

Speaking in Boston, he ticked off a number of strategies that states and districts can use to promote integration, all of which have been added to their toolkit since he took over the federal education department earlier this year. They can apply for new federal grants aimed at bringing high- and low-income students into the same schools; they can count student diversity when they rate schools; and, soon, they might be able to use federal funds to treat integration as a school improvement tool.

Study finds reducing teachers' stress leads to higher-quality classrooms
Phys.org
May 3, 2016

Teachers who regularly use stress-reducing strategies increase their abilities to cope with the demands of the career and are positioned to do a better job educating students, according to results from a program administered by the University of Virginia's Curry School of Education.

Teachers in New York City public schools who participated in "Cultivating Awareness and Resilience in Education," or CARE, a mindfulness professional development program, not only felt an improvement in their own well-being, they also improved the quality of their classroom.

"Today, many teachers are not well-prepared for the social and emotional demands of the classroom," Patricia "Tish" Jennings, associate professor and lead researcher on the study, said. "While spending a great amount of cognitive energy on the content of their lessons, teachers are also constantly managing a classroom of students, some of whom have difficulty attending to learning activities, sitting still or getting along with their peers."

For every teacher, these conditions increase anxiety, depression, emotional exhaustion, sleep problems and stress. What differs from teacher to teacher is how well they know and exercise the tools needed to cope with such a cognitive and emotionally demanding environment.

Over the school year, 224 teachers from 36 New York public elementary schools located in the Bronx and Upper Manhattan participated in a series of five six-hour sessions. Between sessions, teachers received individualized phone coaching through two 30-minute calls over two weeks. The program content consisted of: emotion skills instruction; mindfulness/stress reduction practices to promote self-regulation of attention and non-judgmental awareness; and caring and listening practices to promote empathy and compassion.

 

 

Where does the public stand on career focused high school?

First off, happy Teacher Appreciation Week!  Thanks to all the teachers out there!


To celebrate, we thought we would start off by sharing a couple links:
This week we focus our newsletter on the recent movement (and resulting debate) around whether high schools in Virginia should be restructured to provide a greater emphasis on multiple paths for college and career readiness in later years of high school.  A recent op-ed by educator Maggie Thorton argued for caution in moving forward with this idea citing concerns that the idea is "a well-intentioned effort but will have the unintended consequence of further segregating our schools if it’s not carefully implemented."

Our own David Blount, in his final review of enacted education legislation from the recently concluded General Assembly session (lengthier excerpt below), notes the following bill which is relevant to the conversation:

HB 895 (Greason) and SB 336 (Miller) require the BOE to utilize stakeholders in developing and implementing a “Profile of a Virginia Graduate” that identifies the knowledge and skills students should attain during high school, with consideration given to critical and creative thinking, collaboration, communication and citizenship. Such profile also will emphasize the development of core skill sets in the early years of high school and establish multiple paths toward college and career readiness for students in the later years of high school. Each pathway shall include opportunities for internships, externships, and credentialing. New graduation requirements, which will remove existing provisions related to standard and advanced studies diplomas and standard and verified units of credit, will apply to students who enroll in high school as freshmen after July 1, 2018. 

The debate takes place at the intersection of two realities.  First, those who earn a college degree also earn significantly more over their working life - this graphic from the Brookings Institute provides a clear visualization.  This reality has pushed secondary education in past decades to focus on preparing all students to have a shot at college.


But only 46.6% of Virginians have an associates degree or higher and numerous jobs don't require a bachelors degree but do require specific technical training. The countervailing push is to make sure that those high-school graduates who don't go to college graduate with skills that make them ready for the workforce. 

Given this discussion, we thought we would review in our Poll Snapshot the state of public opinion on this general idea - in short, the public likes it.  Seventy-two percent of respondents favored a career focus in grades 11 and 12.  This data doesn't speak to the concerns about ideal implementation raised by Thorton, but it does suggest that we will continue to see more efforts moving in the direction of restructuring and reform.  

We hope you have a great week!


Sincerely,
CEPI
Poll Snapshot - Career Focus in Grades 11, 12
In our annual poll, we've consistently found a clear gap between perceived workforce readiness of high school graduates vs. college graduates.  But only 46.6% of Virginians aged 25-64 have an associates degree or higher and some policy-makers have questioned whether secondary education systems need to have a greater focus on preparing some students for an immediate career, potentially through technical education in high demand blue collar fields. One broad idea has been to have grades 9 and 10 focus on general skills and grades 11 and 12 focus on skills needed for a desired career path.  

In order to get a sense of public support or opposition for such changes we asked respondents of our annual poll whether they would favor or oppose such a change.  

There was broad support for restructuring high school.  More than seven in 10 (72%) respondents supported a transition from focusing on general skills in grades 9 and 10 to a desired career focus in a student’s junior and senior years.


The age of respondents shows a difference in how likely a person is to support the proposal - those aged 18-34 (78% in favor) and 35-44 (81% in favor) were more likely to favor this proposal than those aged 45-64 (67%) and those 65 and older (70%). This could be due to a different sense among generations as to what skills are needed to succeed in the workforce.

At the same time, those with higher education levels and incomes were less likely to favor such a restructuring. Those with a college degree or more (at 66%) were less supportive of the idea than those with some college (76%) and those with a high school diploma or less (75%). Similarly, those with an annual income of $100,000 or more (at 66%) were less supportive of the idea than those with incomes between $50,000 and $100,000 (75% in favor) and respondents with incomes below $50,000 (76% in favor).  

There were also significant regional differences in opinion on the idea of restructuring the high school experience. Respondents from those regions with a larger proportion of rural communities – the West at 81% in favor, the Northwest and South Central, both at 77% in favor) were more likely to be supportive of the idea than those in Northern Virginia (at 66% in favor) and Tidewater (at 67% in favor).

Read the full poll results, including breakdowns for all categories on  our website
General Assembly Update - Final Wrap Up
Excerpted from CEPI's General Assembly Update, written by Policy Analyst David Blount.  The update was published weekly during the General Assembly session.  This comes from the final issue summarizing legislation that was adopted and signed into law by the Governor.  

"Finance
HB 148 (Fowler) and SB 445 (McDougle) change from April 15 to May 15 the date by which a county, city or town is required to fix the real property tax rate for taxes due on or before June 30.


HB 557 (Orrock) and SB 502 (Locke) eliminate the 25% match required of local school divisions that request an efficiency review from the Department of Planning and Budget, in order to conform to the Appropriation Act, which requires school divisions to pay the full cost of the review. The bill also revises the operational areas examined by the review and provides that such review does not constitute an academic review that may be required by the Standards of Quality (SOQ).

HB 665 (Howell) creates a 21-member Commission on Employee Retirement Security and Pension Reform in the legislative branch to study and make recommendations on the financial soundness of the state and local retirement plans. The Commission’s initial focus will be on strategies for reducing unfunded liabilities under the plans. The Commission is set to expire July 1, 2021.

SB 589 (Obenshain) makes various clarifying, reporting and technical changes to the education improvement scholarship tax credit program.


Governance and Operations
HB 353 (Greason) and SB 250 (Black) authorize local school boards to enter into agreements with nonpublic schools to provide student transportation to and from school field trips; current law authorizes such agreements for transportation to and from school.

HB 357 (Loupassi) and SB 211 (Miller) requires school boards to implement programs that provide at least 20 minutes of physical activity per day or an average of 100 minutes per week during the regular school year for K-5 students.

HB 942 (Wilt) requires school boards to provide reasonable and appropriate access to school property to youth-oriented, community organizations, such as the Boy Scouts of America and Girl Scouts of the USA, and their volunteers and staff, to distribute and provide instructional materials in order to encourage participation in such organizations and their activities.

HB 954 (Keam) requires each local school division policies and procedures regarding the identification and handling of suspected concussions in student-athletes to include a "Return to Learn” protocol that requires school personnel to be alert to cognitive and academic issues that may be experienced by a student who has suffered a concussion or other head injury.

HB 1117 (Loupassi) allows the award of reasonable attorney fees and costs to any person who has a suit against him dismissed pursuant to immunity provided to him when appearing at a public hearing before the governing body of a locality or other local governmental entity."

(To read the full update, visit our website.)