Achieve to Post Summit Responses on Web Site, Plans National Forums on Toughest Challenges

Majority of States Stand Firm on Standards In Responses to Education Summit

WASHINGTON - April 12, 2000 - At a time when some are questioning our nation's resolve to raise standards in America's schools, a vast majority of states have indicated that they remain committed to the standards agenda. Thirty-eight states met a six-month deadline set at the 1999 National Education Summit to detail their strategies for making high academic standards a daily reality in their schools, according to Achieve, Inc., principal sponsor of the Summit. More states are expected to file their responses in the coming weeks.

At the Summit, governors, educators, and business leaders identified three key challenges facing U.S. schools - improving educator quality, helping all students reach high standards, and strengthening accountability - and agreed to specify how each of their states would address these challenges. The responses, which provide the most up-to-date look at state education reform strategies available, are being posted on Achieve's Web site (www.achieve.org) to allow policymakers and the public to compare initiatives in different states.

"From coast to coast and across every region, states are sending a message that they are not backing down from using high standards as a lever to raise achievement. They are moving forward to support the necessary improvements in teaching and learning in the classroom," said Robert Schwartz, president of Achieve. "There is much work to be done, but states are telling us that the standards movement is alive and well." 

Key Findings

Close examination of the plans by Achieve reveals that rather than turning away from standards and testing, many states are recognizing the need to continuously improve these tools. This is notable given the time and effort involved in creating standards and assessments in the first place. Eight states reported adding standards or improving upon their existing set, and 15 states are designing or revamping their assessments.  

The true test of implementing standards will be how states will tackle the much more difficult - and closely connected - tasks of ensuring that the nation's teaching force is adequately prepared to teach to higher standards and that the nation's students receive the programs and supports they will need to achieve high standards. While states recognize that bold steps are necessary to recruit highly qualified candidates to enter the field and to ensure they have met higher standards and passed tougher licensure tests, less attention is being paid to giving the existing teacher force the quality professional development and supports they need to help students achieve.

To prevent children from falling behind, a growing number of states are introducing early literacy initiatives and making summer school and tutoring more available to students struggling to achieve higher standards.

Improving Educator Quality

States' submissions reflected that they have been picking up the pace to ensure that all students have teachers with strong content knowledge. 

Much of states' recent activity has centered on raising standards for new teachers. For example, 10 states reported new, enhanced or proposed requirements for teacher testing. But while a growing number of states are putting in place tests that prospective teachers must pass to enter the classroom, far less is being done to hold teacher preparation programs at universities accountable for the graduates they produce. Only six states responding to the Action Statement (Alabama, Colorado, Georgia, Kansas, Ohio, and Utah) mentioned holding colleges accountable for teachers' preparation.  

Meanwhile, six states reported efforts to revamp or establish new alternative routes into teaching, with many states (19) indicating they have existing programs filling this need.  

A notable trend is that not only are states providing more incentives to recruit top quality people into the teaching profession, they are targeting these efforts toward low-income or shortage areas. Of the states submitting plans, new initiatives are being launched or proposed in California, Florida, Georgia, and Ohio to provide higher pay for teachers in specialties experiencing shortages or for those who teach in troubled schools.  California, for example, proposes to introduce incentives to attract teachers into disadvantaged schools and will work to bring retired teachers back into the classroom without interrupting their pensions.

While a growing number of states are recognizing the importance of providing teachers with ongoing professional support, usually through targeted budget allocations, as yet there are few strong examples of how to make sure that the professional development teachers receive is firmly connected to the academic standards states have set for students.

To provide additional motivation for educators to ensure that students are achieving high standards, states are supporting group performance by providing monetary rewards to school staff. Some 13 states have new programs or proposals to reward highly successful schools. Wisconsin, for example, plans to provide monetary rewards for educators who raise schoolwide performance from year to year.

In addition, a large number of states are providing individual performance incentives to teachers by supporting certification by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. Already 15 of the responding states provide support for National Board certification that recognizes and rewards highly accomplished teachers, and new programs are being planned or implemented in three other states. 

Meanwhile, five states (Arizona, Delaware, Florida, Indiana and Pennsylvania) reported introducing or seeking to introduce differentiated pay based on skills or performance. For example, Pennsylvania offers incentives to school districts to create pay-for-performance programs for their teachers and other professional staff. In January, three school districts received grants to implement such programs.

Other interesting initiatives in this area included:

• Florida will require every school district to adopt a performance-based pay plan for outstanding teachers by end of the year. Another proposal calls for experienced teachers to receive a double salary for agreeing to mentor others.

• Ohio is implementing this year new rules for alternative certification that align with new teacher preparation requirements that will go into effect in 2002 for graduates of education schools. Prospective teachers entering through both paths will have to pass the same content-knowledge test, for example.

• Arizona is working with the Milken Family Foundation to pilot new school structures that will reward the best teachers for staying in the classroom and reduces the significance of seniority alone in salary structures. 

Helping All Students Achieve High Standards

Responding to concerns by parents and educators to ensure that all students have the necessary support and interventions needed to achieve high standards, states are providing additional learning time, tutoring and summer school opportunities. 

Ten states reported creating new or enhanced initiatives to provide special programs and additional learning time for students who are falling short of standards, joining 13 reporting programs already underway. Six states also reported new, enhanced or proposed summer school programs.

Because reading is such a critical skill for success in all other subject areas, 16 states reported efforts to ensure that students can read in the early grades, including six states with new, enhanced or proposed initiatives.

One of the commitments made at the Summit was to make sure that all students have access to a rigorous curriculum aligned with state standards. States' responses indicate they are struggling to find new ways to address this essential ingredient. A few states, including Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland and Vermont, are using technology to provide teachers with access to high quality lesson plans and teaching materials aligned with state standards.  Indiana and Pennsylvania are sending toolkits to every teacher in the state to bring standards directly into the classroom. 

Other interesting initiatives in this area included:

• California is proposing to host summer Algebra Academies combining intensive professional development for teachers with instruction for middle school students who need extra help. After the summer sessions are completed, teachers would meet monthly throughout the school year to continue to learn and collaborate.

• Maryland just announced a comprehensive academic intervention plan that goes into effect in July. Under it, schools will have to provide an individualized learning plan that must include extended school time for students falling behind in reading or math. The plan also prevents students from moving from 8th grade to high school without demonstrating proficiency in reading and math. On another front, the state is enforcing new professional development requirements targeting reading instruction that go beyond the early grades to include high school and middle school teachers.

• Tennessee is beginning to provide special help to schools targeted specifically at aligning their lessons to the standards measured by "gateway" tests administered by the state and offers "extended contracts" to teachers who agree to teach summer school or tutor students after school.

Strengthening Accountability

While "report cards" about school performance have been in wide use, 12 states noted improvements they are making to better inform parents and the public. For example, a growing number of states are disaggregating achievement data by race and socio-economic status to allow the public to see how well all students are being educated.

It is not enough just to report performance. More states are taking steps to ensure that no child is trapped in a failing school. Some 15 states are introducing or planning to introduce new programs or enhance existing programs and 14 states already have existing efforts in this area.

An increasing number of states are providing incentives for students to focus on academics by introducing graduation examinations and tests for promotion from grade to grade. Eleven states reported new or enhanced efforts to implement high school graduation tests and 12 noted already having such an assessment in place. 

A few states have gone a step beyond, making strides to connect standards to the "real world", either by working to connect high school exit exams to college admissions or by using school records for hiring.  Oklahoma, for example, is eliminating all remedial courses in state colleges over the next three years, sending a clear message that they will only admit students prepared to do college level work. The state will offer high schools $500 for each graduate who completes its recommended "4x4" course of study. In Texas, officials of the state university systems are working to align entrance requirements with a revised high school exit exam. Arizona plans to replace the SAT as a requirement for college entrance with the state's 10th grade performance test that is closely based on the state's standards and curriculum.  Michigan offers college scholarships to students who perform well on its high school tests - an idea that California is also considering. These states join Oregon in its pioneering effort to align high school standards with university admissions.

To ensure that students are focused on achieving high standards throughout their high school careers, a growing number of states, notably Delaware, Maryland, and Washington, are moving forward in partnership with business to encourage employers to use high school transcripts in hiring decisions.

Other interesting initiatives in this area include:

• Colorado wants to offer transportation tokens to students in schools receiving D's or F's in the state's accountability system to facilitate school choice. Chronically low-performing schools will be turned into charter schools, and high performers will have the right to be designated charters automatically.

• Indiana has embarked on an effort to benchmark and improve their academic standards and tests. Using the results of an independent evaluation by Achieve, the state is thoroughly revising its standards to make them more rigorous and will adjust its tests to ensure that they measure the standards. 

Moving The Agenda Forward

With both business and education groups as co-sponsors, the Summit marked an important moment of consensus that governors, CEOs, and educators continue to push forward.

Business organizations are working to fulfill their Summit pledge to help states shape new competitive salary structures. Education groups are focusing on creating state-level alliances to advance their commitments to strengthen educators' practice and to improve reading and math achievement.

Achieve will follow through on its Summit commitment to publish the states' action plans on its Web site, which already is home to a database of states' academic standards. This access will allow the public to review the plans and compare the solutions they propose to the key challenges outlined in the Summit Action Statement.

That kind of comparison is in keeping with the spirit of the Summit, which included a vigorous exchange of ideas and examples by participants.

Achieve will strive to continue this dialogue and assist states in finding what is effective. The organization plans a series of national leadership forums to provide guidance to states as they move forward on what emerge as the toughest issues in implementing standards-based reform.

For example, their responses show that states are serious about providing teachers with professional development. What is less clear is that they know how to tie those efforts to their standards for students. Achieve plans a forum that will expose states to the best examples of state policy and local practice.

Another example is high-stakes testing. States are struggling to strike the balance between firmness that will keep pressure on schools and students to reach standards and fairness as they go about that work. Achieve will provide a forum to help share experiences from states furthest along with others.

In addition, Achieve will continue to work with states to help them benchmark and improve the quality and alignment of their academic standards, tests, and accountability systems. Achieve also will continue to work with a group of states through the Mathematics Achievement Partnership, offering them additional help in preparing middle school students to meet rigorous standards as well as a common measuring stick against which to benchmark their performance against other states and nations.

Achieve, Inc. is an independent, bipartisan, non-profit organization overseen by a board of six governors and six corporate leaders. Achieve's primary purposes are to serve as a resource center to states on standards, assessment, accountability, and technology; to help states benchmark their academic standards and assessments against the best national and international examples; and to provide sustained public leadership and advocacy to raise academic standards and improve student performance. Achieve has offices in Cambridge, Mass., and Washington, D.C.

The Summit co-sponsors included the Business Roundtable, the Council of Great City Schools, the Learning First Alliance, the National Alliance of Business, the National Education Goals Panel, and the National Governors' Association.

CONTACT:
Shep Ranbom
Joseph Garcia
(202) 955-9450