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Saturday, January 16, 2010

Make a Resolution To Improve Schools

By Moises Venegas
Director, Quinto Sol
          We all make resolutions: "I will lose weight," but by summer we are still gorditos.
        In 2010 we should dedicate ourselves to improving education and moving the state up from that 48th ranking. It's a difficult task, but we must work together to improve student performance in the classroom. We can't keep putting this off until next year.
        Graduating from a New Mexico high school should mean that you are proficient in reading, math and other core subjects and that you are ready for college or the workforce.
        Let us start to improve the school system first by placing our resources in the classrooms. Do we need the Hispanic Education Act? Probably not.
        Here are some goals by which we could improve the education system: • We should work with all 89 school districts to narrow the achievement gap. The proficiency rate in math and science under New Mexico Standards Based Assessments should improve by 5 percentile points yearly for those schools that have less than 50 percent of their students at proficiency. The achievement gap, which now averages between 20 and 30 percentile points, should be narrowed by 3 to 5 percentile points per year.
        • The Public Education Department and all the schools in the state know exactly the level at which every student is performing. The state must target students and classrooms that are in need of improvement.
        • Teachers are the people most responsible for student learning in our educational system. There is a need to create accountability and a rating system for evaluating teacher effectiveness. The time has come. There is no question that student learning and growth should be part of teacher evaluation.
        There may be many things that the schools do for our children, but the most basic is academic growth based on the status of the student at the time of enrollment. The value-added assessment measures teacher effectiveness based on student growth.
        Should value-added be the only teacher assessment? No. The teacher, principals, parents and peer groups would have to be part of the process. In New Mexico, we should look at the Tennessee Value-Added System as a model.
        As parents, we are always looking for the best teacher for our children. It is time to make those great teachers known, and to help others reach their potential as well through more professional development.
        • Next on the list for improvement in 2010 are charter schools.
        We need a time-out, a moratorium on charters. The chief concern right now among legislators, educators and the general community is money and the state's budget deficit of $650 million this fiscal year and a possible $550 million for the upcoming year. If we cannot afford our public schools, how can we keep adding more schools?
        We should assess student achievement in charter schools, too. Are charters a good source of competition and innovation for New Mexico? Not if the measurement for success is improving achievement.
        A 2009 Stanford University report stated that "New Mexico charter schools tend to be performing significantly worse than their traditional school counterparts." I have found the same results with my research of student achievement in charter schools.
        As a proponent of the choice movement for the last 20 years, I want improvement, not a replication of failure.
        Where in Albuquerque would you enroll your child in a charter — the South Valley, Northeast Heights, northwest or southeast?
        My hypothesis is that there has not been a significant gain for students as they move to charters. If students were at a 60 to 70 percent proficiency level at Eldorado and Manzano, then they will be about the same level at East Mountain Charter High School. Would it also be the same for El Camino Real in the South Valley?
        • Finally, do not create new bureaucracies.
        A Department of Hispanic Education is not necessary. We should keep our resources in the classrooms and provide incentives for teachers and schools that are accelerating student achievement.
        We might still be gorditos in 2010, but let's work hard on strengthening something far more vital to our existence — our educational health.
        Moises Venegas is executive director of Quinto Sol, a community development and research organization.
       

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