Education News in Alabama

January 30, 2007 (archive)

By Sallie Owen

CHILDREN LEARN MORE WHEN TEACHERS PAID INCENTIVES LINKED TO STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT

Schoolchildren benefit when effective teachers are rewarded for their hard work, according to new research from economists at the University of Florida.

“We demonstrate that students learn more when teachers are given financial incentives to do a better job.” says professor David Figlio.

Student achievement was measured using standardized test scores. The increase was about the same as that shown when mothers have three more years of education.

Incentives for teachers had more impact on student learning than some other reforms, researchers learned after reviewing data from some of the few U.S. public schools with incentive pay.

Researchers, however, could not determine if incentive pay caused scores to go up or if better schools opted for merit pay.

Only about one in five public schools have incentive pay programs, Figlio says.

Their work has been accepted for publication in the peer-reviewed Journal of Public Economics.

In Alabama, teachers are paid according to their level of education and years of teaching experience. That means that effective teachers earn the same salary as their less-effective colleagues. Several Alabama school systems have expressed interest in developing a way to compensate teachers for doing an effective job.

The Governor’s Commission on Quality Teaching has recommended a pilot program to financially reward teachers who take hard-to-fill jobs and teachers whose students learn the most. The pilot would affect a few school systems.

Information about the Governor's Commission on Quality Teaching is available under the resources tab at http://www.aplusala.org.

TEACHERS WANTED

There’s a national shortage of teachers, and Rena Havner gives Press-Register readers a look at what that means for Mobile and Baldwin county schools in “Where have all the teachers gone?” (http://snipurl.com/tshortage)

Most of Alabama’s 131 school systems reported teacher vacancies. With a bachelor’s degree, starting pay for teachers in Alabama’s public schools is $33,737 this year.

The Alabama State Department of Education and the Alabama Education Association have teamed up to recruit future teachers among high school students. Students can earn college credit for activities such as grading papers, reading with students and assisting with class projects.

Interest-free student loans are another recruitment tool. Gov. Bob Riley recently announced the creation of a new loan program to help recruit schoolteachers. For each 12 months the graduate works as a certified, K-12 teacher in an Alabama public school, a year’s worth of interest will be forgiven. Interest-free loans are also available for nurses and certain National Guard members. More information is available from http://snipurl.com/intfree or http://snipurl.com/BNintfree.

CERTIFICATION DOES NOT GUARANTEE EFFECTIVE TEACHING

Certified teachers are not necessarily better teachers than their colleagues who enter the profession through other routes, according to researchers.

A teacher’s certificate is a professional license typically earned after graduating from a traditional teacher preparation program at a college or university. Researchers analyzed job performance of certified teachers versus their colleagues, who had either alternative certification or no certification when hired. Job performance was measured using student scores in math and reading.

Certification showed little impact on student learning, but teaching experience had a significant effect.

The findings, which have already been echoed by a second study, were published in Education Next, a peer-reviewed journal published by the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. The full article is available here http://snipurl.com/tcert.

In Alabama, some reforms are already in process to improve teacher prep programs. The Governor’s Commission on Quality Teaching has recommended teaching standards, which the state school superintendent expects higher education to meet this fall.

The commission could explore certification changes in the future.

PRE-K MAKES A DIFFERENCE

If you want to understand the impact of pre-kindergarten classes, just ask 4-year-old Jeremy Seitz. He is featured in a Birmingham News article, “Shelby pre-K program gives poor pupils an edge,” available here http://snipurl.com/Shelbyprek.

Jeremy goes to Shelby Elementary School, which pays for pre-K with some of its federal funding.

On its editorial page, The News backed a statewide, voluntary pre-K program in “Groundwork for early learning” (http://snipurl.com/BNprek).

The A+ Education Partnership is part of the Alabama School Readiness Alliance (http://snipurl.com/Alsra), which is working to expand voluntary pre-K offerings.  Advocates say pre-K helps give children a solid foundation, so they can grow up to become part of a solid community and contribute to society.

SIMPLE STEP TO HELP CHILDREN DEVELOP

Charlie Colvin, executive director of River Region United Way in Montgomery, wrote something for the Montgomery Advertiser that explains a simple, concrete thing that everyone can do to help children.

“Brain architecture” is a term used to describe the brain’s structure. Doctors have learned that if a baby does not have the right kinds of interactions during its first few years, the baby’s brain architecture does not build itself properly.

Colvin writes that talking to young children is a powerful way to help their brains build strong architecture. http://snipurl.com/talk2kids

WORTH REPEATING

“In the past several years, (Southern Regional Education Board) states have made solid progress in preparing more students for college and careers. But we now know how to accomplish this work more effectively. To lead the nation in educational progress, SREB states need to enact a college and career-readiness agenda.”

-- “High School to College and Careers: Aligning State Policies 2007,” a status report from the Southern Regional Education Board. http://snipurl.com/srebhs

SCHOOL OFFICIAL: MANDATORY START DATE BAD FOR KIDS

Again this year the tourism and summer-camp industries will likely ask the state Legislature to pass a law setting the first day of school, says Tommy McDaniel, the immediate past president of the Alabama Association of School Boards.

But setting a mandatory start date interferes with teaching and learning, he says, noting that tourism recently surpassed agriculture to become the top industry in the state.

It’s better for each school system, with input from teachers and parents, to choose a calendar that works best for the community, says McDaniel, who is a school board member in Cherokee County. Read his letter to the editor here http://snipurl.com/McDaniel.

STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION UPDATE

The Alabama State Board of Education met Jan. 25 in Montgomery for a work session. Such meetings are designed to prepare for upcoming meetings, and no votes are taken.

Board members Ella Bell, David Byers and Gov. Bob Riley were absent.

Members of the English Language Arts State Course of Study Committee, lead by Dr. Deborah Horn, presented their report. Horn is superintendent of Bessemer City schools. Committee members recommended several meaningful revisions:

• Emphasizing advanced skills to meet the challenge of the National Assessment of Educational Progress;
• Narrowing the focus somewhat, which allows educators to concentrate on making sure every child learns the most important concepts;
• Adding explicit requirements that starting in the early grades, students learn inquiry and research skills, including how to determine if a source is reliable.

“If the students learned these, the scores would shoot up,” commented Dr. Katherine Mitchell, assistant state superintendent.

State board members also reviewed the Alabama Quality Teaching Standards, which were recommended by the Governor’s Commission on Quality Teaching. State Superintendent of Education Dr. Joseph Morton said it is important for higher education institutions to quickly revise their courses to follow the proposed standards. College classes for future teachers should be revised by the fall, Morton said.

Information about the Governor's Commission on Quality Teaching, including the proposed teaching standards, is available under the resources tab at http://www.aplusala.org.

EXAMPLES OF EXCELLENCE

• Teacher Robert Benton leads a weekly “Breakfast Club” for older boys at Wylam Elementary School, a K-5 school in the Birmingham City system. "We are trying to create an environment that is conducive to learning. How you do that is by letting each boy know that he is special to us and to the school," said Benton. “We let them know we believe in them.” Each session features a discussion about topics such as character or leadership. (http://snipurl.com/bclub) America’s Promise Alliance (http://snipurl.com/13jsq) says children need relationships with caring adults to succeed in life.
• Coppinville Junior High School in the Enterprise City system organized an academic pep rally to honor 182 students. Students also heard from a Coppinville alumna who is now a prominent attorney. http://snipurl.com/peprally
• Parent involvement can help boost student learning, and it is important for schools to make parents feel welcome. Opelika City Schools are doing more than that with the third annual Extreme Parenting Expo. http://snipurl.com/pexpo
• Elementary school teachers throughout the state give a special reading test known as DIBELS during the school year to get a snapshot of how their students are progressing. The picture looked great in Jasper City schools, where teachers say the test helps them tailor instruction to their children. “I need to know what skills they need,” said Melanie Turner, who teaches at T.R. Simmons Elementary. “If I don’t, I’m teaching in the wind.” Read the Daily Mountain Eagle’s story here http://snipurl.com/snapshot. To learn more about West Jasper Elementary, check out http://snipurl.com/18tyi.
• Project-based learning is a sophisticated teaching method where students learn content (i.e., math or science) plus higher-order thinking skills (i.e., abstract thinking, teamwork, communication skills and project management).

Nearly 40 teams built nanotech robots for the FIRST Lego League state tournament, with top honors going to the Atomic Penguins from Challenger Middle School, part of the Huntsville system. (http://snipurl.com/pbl01 and http://snipurl.com/pbl02) 

During the National Engineers Week Future City Competition, student teams designed and built model municipalities that incorporated fuel cell technology. http://snipurl.com/pbl03

Meanwhile, two Huntsville engineers are recruiting groups for a model rocket contest called Team America Rocket Challenge. http://snipurl.com/pbl04

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The A+ Education Partnership, based in Montgomery, publishes Education News in Alabama twice a month. A+ is a nonprofit organization that advances policies, programs and initiatives in Alabama's K-12 education system that result in high achievement by every child.

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