Talking to Journalists in the Windy City

For the past few days our campaign has been at the 2008 Unity Journalists of Color Convention in Chicago. The Unity Convention brings together thousands of minority journalists from across the country to talk about issues and opportunities relating to journalism. At our booth we distributed some of the latest information about our campaign as well as recent reports and statistics about the current crisis in our education system.

Besides having a booth at the event, Janet Murguía, national steering committee member of Strong American Schools and President and CEO of the National Council of La Raza, participated on a panel discussing "What's Next for Generation Next in Education?" 

Calling on the journalists at the convention to support education, Murguía highlighted some of the latest polling that illustrates that 94 percent of Latino voters said that education is extremely or very important to them, coming in above health care, and the economy.

Below is a picture of one of our staffers at our booth in the exposition hall in Chicago.

Cycling Across Iowa for Strong American Schools

It's going to be light blogging this week as I'm taking some time off to spend with the grandkids. However, even though I'm on vacation, the campaign has a busy week ahead. 

Strong American Schools is sponsoring a team of bike riders who will be cycling across Iowa to raise awareness for the need for K-12 education reform. The team of community activists will be riding in the Des Moines Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa (RAGBRAI) and will be appearing in Ames, Iowa tomorrow.

The cyclists on the team are posting their thoughts on our Voices from the Campaign blog; you should check it out.

Iowa is one of the states that we're focused on for this campaign season and I wanted to share with you some education facts about the state after the jump:

Tough Math Questions from Japan

With the launch of our new television commercial this week we're talking a lot about American standards compared to those of the international community. A member of our staff passed along this Web site which provides the public with access to the mathematics and science standards used in several high-performing Asian nations. The site was created by the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation which promotes economic development, trade, and investment across 21 Pacific Rim countries.

One of my favorite parts of the website is that you can take some practice questions from Japanese sixth and ninth-grade math exams.  I've included two of the problems below and as you will see, we need to start raising our expectations of our students at all levels and subjects.

Try the questions out and tell me what you think are the correct answers in the comments section below.

6th Grade and 9th Grade Math Problems:

Another look at our campaign ads

I mentioned on Monday that the campaign launched an ad campaign in crucial general election states. Also on Monday, I featured our television ad on this blog. You can view all the ads here [edin08.com/media], but today I wanted to feature our radio spot. Like our television commercial, actress and author Jaime Lee Curtis lends her voice to describe the current educational crisis our country is facing. Click below to listen to our radio ad and view our print ads  on our media page.

Listen to One Nation Left Behind radio advertisement:

Boston Bound

Today, I'm in Boston addressing the State Higher Education Executive Officers' annual meeting. My address entitled "Can We Survive with 20 Other Nations Surpassing us in Math and Science?" is meant to draw attention to the fact that we're slipping behind when compared to our international peers.

The statistics that I'll be sharing with the group today are startling and I'd like to also share a few of them with you:

• Out of 23 countries, the U.S was the only country that showed no increase in its postsecondary graduation rate between 2000 and 20005.
• Many college freshmen have to take remedial classes to learn what they should have learned in high school. More than one in three college freshmen enroll in at least one remedial course, a figure that rises to 42 percent in the nation's community colleges which educate a rapidly growing number of America's undergraduates.
• California State University system reported that 56 percent of freshmen who enrolled in the fall of 2006 had to take remedial courses in English or mathematics.

Yesterday, I described how California is working to combat this crisis by raising their expectations and standards for eighth grade mathematics. This is a great start. However, unless we have leadership from the national level, working together with governors and other local leaders, it will be difficult to end this problem across the country and raise our global standing.

Before I head off, I wanted to let you know that we are working on a new study on the scope and cost of remediation. Look for it at the end of August.

California to Make Algebra Mandatory for 8th Graders

I've been following with interest the news that the California Board of Education has passed Governor Schwarzenegger's proposal for mandatory eighth-grade algebra. This has made California the only state to set algebra as the standard for eighth-grade mathematics.

According to the L.A. Times:

California Council on Science and Technology Board Chair Karl Pister said, "Making algebra the standard for eighth grade students was a strong step towards enhancing the rigor of our school standard."

California State University Chancellor Charles Reed said the following about the new requirement, "In today's economy, going to college is more important than ever. A college degree is a ticket to a better job and a better future. It can improve the economic situation of both individuals and their communities. […] Proficiency in Algebra I and II has been demonstrated as at he surest pathway to higher achievement as well as success in college."

I agree with both Chancellor Reed and Mr. Pister.

If we're going to raise the achievement of our students so that they can compete globally with students from around the world then we need expect more of them in elementary, middle, and high school. I applaud California's efforts to raise their eighth grade math standards. In setting the bar higher for their students, the state is working to make sure that those that graduate are better prepared for college, work, and life. 

Launching a New Ad Campaign

Some of you might already know from yesterday's Washington Post that our campaign has launched a new advertising campaign.. The new ad campaign, One Nation Left Behind, will be running in 16 markets in seven states including: Colorado, Iowa, Missouri, Ohio, New Mexico, Virginia and Wisconsin. Ads are also expected to run later this summer in Minnesota. Actress and children’s book author Jamie Lee Curtis provides the voice of the ads that speak to Americans about the ominous state of America’s public education system and urges them to become advocates for improving the country’s schools.

The full press release regarding the new ad campaign is available here.

You can view the television commercial below or view all the ads on our media page. Don't forget to share your thoughts on the new spot in the comments section!

Criss-Crossing the Country

It’s been a busy week here at Strong American Schools as we prepare to criss-cross the country for multiple events. If you’re in the area make sure you come on out to one of these events:

Friday:

• Legislative Black Caucus, St. Louis – Our executive director Marc Lampkin will be  giving remarks at the event in the morning and then participating in a roundtable discussion in the afternoon.  SAS has sponsored a booth and the event is open to registrants.
• American Federation of Teachers Convention, Chicago - SAS has sponsored a booth in the exhibit hall.

Sunday:

• National Council of La Raza - Former West Virginia Gov. Bob Wise will be representing SAS and giving a keynote address to attendees.

Also, I wanted to share with you some pictures from yesterday at a Chamber of Commerce event in Des Moines, Iowa.  Strong American Schools’ spokesman, former Congressman J.C. Watts, Jr., addressed business and community leaders on how America’s economic prosperity is being jeopardized by the United States’ failure to keep pace with the education gains of other industrialized countries.
You can view them on our Flickr page.

Making an 'Impact' on Public Education

One of our staff members introduced me to a very interesting organization this week called Public Impact.  Public Impact is an education research and management firm in Chapel Hill, N.C., and they have posted research and reports on some issues that are very important to this organization. 

Public Impact focuses on a core set of four strategies for improvement:

• Expand the Supply of great public schools by opening high quality new schools and improving existing ones (strategies include charter schools, showcasing the Broad Prize, professional development)
• Create the Conditions in which great schools thrive, based on education and cross-industry best practices (strategies include pay for performance, teacher preparation)
• Equip states and districts to Act Strategically when schools under-perform even after years of interventions (providing tools to education leaders)
• Inspire and Equip Parents to choose schools well and contribute to school improvement

Public Impact is talking about some important reforms and why we need them now more than ever. Take some time to check out their site. They have links to various publications on performance pay, charter schools, as well as a variety of other topics.

Missouri and Ohio Women are Angry about State of Schools

I wanted to share some interesting campaign-sponsored poll results from Ohio and Missouri that came out today. The results show that 80 percent of women in both Ohio and Missouri define themselves as angry when informed of facts about American students' poor performance.

Across both Missouri and Ohio, those polled believe shortcomings in American schools will jeopardize the economic well-being of their children.  Seventy-five percent of respondents say that American children being unable to read at their grade level will have a dramatic impact on the economic future of the nation’s children. In addition, over 95 percent of women fear this educational failure will have an impact on their children’s economic future.

Other key findings reaffirm our goals here at ED in ‘08:

• Three-fourths of respondents would like to see the federal government have at least some responsibility in urging higher academic expectations for schools and students.
• While registered voters in Missouri and Ohio react very angrily when they hear about our nation’s education shortfalls, few have knowledge of them -  with about one-fourth knowing U.S. students rank in the bottom 10 in math and science compared to 30 other industrialized nations.
• Even with low knowledge of the details of the nation’s shortfalls, already nine in 10 registered voters say changes are needed in the U.S. education system.

Many respondents were surprised by the disappointing state of American education. Americans want their students to be competitive in the global marketplace. They recognize the quality of the nation’s schools must improve to ensure economic prosperity is passed onto future generations.  Our national and state leadership must respond to our education crisis and to the American people who are demanding education reform.

You can view the polling results here.

Maryland Districts Offer Incentive Pay

On the way in this morning, I came across an article in the Baltimore Sun, "Teacher Pay Set By The Results." As the article points out, school officials in districts across Maryland are beginning to offer teachers and principals extra pay or bonuses when they take on challenging assignments or improve student achievement.

The initiative is facing some resistance by those that think that incorporating this new bonus structure will lead to issues of unfairness, but Prince George's County Superintendent John Deasy said that teachers aren't judged only on whether their students pass tests, but also on how much progress their students have made over the course of the year.

In Prince George’s County, Md., they have tried to overcome fears of inequity by giving teachers additional pay for a variety of skills and tasks beyond test scores. For example, teachers will be given extra pay for teaching hard-to-staff subject areas or for taking on additional responsibilities, such as mentoring new teachers, writing grants, or helping to organize parents.

I'm encouraged by the reforms that Maryland and other states across the country are starting to undertake on this issue. Over the next eight years, the United States will need to recruit nearly 3 million new teachers due to teacher turnover, retirement and increased student enrollment. Rewarding teachers for their performance is one way to further recognize the importance of the profession and retain our most effective teachers.

Campaiging at the NEA Convention

This week, ED in '08 is exhibiting at the annual National Education Association Convention. We've had many visitors at our booth and they are extremely interested in the campaign.  The momentum that we are building is evidenced by the amount of support we continue to receive from students, teachers, former teachers, and education leaders.

In addition to hundreds of exhibitors, there are many NEA internal votes on resolutions and leadership, activities for members, and awards ceremonies. I'm particularly pleased to see that the NEA is recognizing governors who are playing a key role in education reform in their states.  Leadership at every level is fundamental to education reform, and I applaud the NEA for recognizing the efforts of governors who are committed to education.

Governors must take a larger role in the education system in their states, as they are critically important to the improvement of our schools.  Governors have played a huge role in education in the past, such as they did in the Education Summit of 1989, where reforms were proposed in response to reports that our education system was falling behind other nations and many of our students were not receiving an adequate education.  Many of the challenges set forth in 1989 have not been met and we are still falling behind. Now, as in the past, our education system is in need of serious reform and all of our nation’s governors must meet the challenge of devising and implementing reforms in response to a new set of challenges we and our students face.

I hope to see more recognition and support for governors who take on the challenge and responsibility of reversing the stagnation we have seen in our global competitiveness and our national progress in the classroom.

I hope you all enjoy your July 4th holiday weekend. I'll be back posting in this space next week. Until then, Happy Independence Day!