Roy's Blog on Schools - ED in '08

Hoover Institution says Americans give schools poor marks

2008-08-20T10:45:17-04:00

I wanted to take a few moments to share with you the findings from the Hoover Institution's 2008 Education Next survey.

The report is troubling. The data collected clearly demonstrates the American public simply does not believe our public school system is performing at the level necessary.

As the report shows, 80 percent of those surveyed give our public schools a grade of C or worse, 26 percent of whom graded public school performance as a D or an F. These marks fall even more when graded by African-American and Hispanic respondents. 31 percent of African-Americans and 32 percent of Hispanics gave our public schools a D or an F.

These numbers lie in start contrast to the marks respondents gave other local services. More than 60 percent of respondents gave local police and post offices an A or B. Teachers, those who spend a significant portion of each day with students, also gave better marks to the police force and post office than they did to public schools – 74 percent of teachers graded the police force an A or B, while a whopping 77 percent gave an A or B to the local post office.

Interestingly, while the numbers improve slightly, this disapproval applies to respondents' local schools, as well. Twenty-five percent of all respondents give their own local schools a D or F. For African-Americans, that number is 32 percent, while 33 percent of Hispanics gave the same grade.

In Washington, pundits often talk about how voters disapprove of Congress, but generally support their member of Congress. This report demonstrates that when it comes to schools performance, Americans believe we're not doing the job we need to nationally or in their own back yard. Sixty percent of respondents gave local schools a C or less. In other words, a growing number of Americans are not just saying certain schools are underperforming, they are saying, "My child's school is underperforming."

To remedy this, respondents to the survey also made clear their desire to hold schools accountable by enacting strong standards that demand the best from our students. In the survey, 69 percent of respondents support one test and standard for students. The survey divided respondents in two groups, asking alternatively if standards should be set by the federal government or by state governments. While some may disagree about how standards should be implemented, there is a consensus building that we need high standards in order to bring our schools out of the status quo.

This is the second year the Hoover Institution has undertaken its public opinion survey. Unfortunately, this year's numbers are even lower than last year's. For instance, while 27 percent of African Americans graded schools an A or B in 2007, today that figure is 20 percent. Meanwhile, Hispanics giving schools a poor grade (a D or F) doubled from 16 to 32 percent in the past year.

Please take some time to read the Hoover Institution's findings. As you will see, the "consumer confidence" Americans have in public schools is low – and falling. But there is, hopefully, a light at the end of the tunnel. More and more Americans realize that we can improve our schools by holding them accountable and demanding strong standards that expect the best from our students and prepare them for the challenges ahead.

Test your knowledge in math and science against 8th graders throughout the world

2008-08-15T10:00:00-04:00

I wanted share with you something we've added to our webpage to demonstrate the growing math and science learning gap.

Many of you have seen the television show "Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?" On the show, grown-up contestants try to answer more questions correctly than 5th grade students. While the show is meant to be funny, it also highlights how the American education system is broken – adults who have graduated high school and even college are outwitted by grade school students.

By going to and taking the 8th grade math and science tests, you will see how our eighth graders are falling behind their peers in forty-six countries throughout the world, including eighth graders in countries such as Japan, Estonia, Hungary and South Korea.

These questions are taken from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) “Dare to Care” quiz, which is composed of sample questions from The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).

I hope you’ll spend a few moments to take the test and visit the forum. The test is not easy, but that’s the point. Our students not only deserve to have the best expected of them, they need to have the best expected of them. We know students in countries like China and India are excelling in math and science, and if we want to lead the next generation of engineers and scientists, we must afford to do better.

You can take the quiz at StrongAmericanSchools.org. Share your thoughts on the quiz and what we should do to improve America's place in international standings in the Great Schools community forums. We have partnered with Great Schools to engage parents from around the country in a discussion about our schools. The site profiles more than 90,000 public elementary, middle and high schools in the United States.

I would especially encourage parents to have their children take these two ten question tests. It will help our students understand how well many of their peers are doing in math and science – and why we need to improve.

In addition, when you take the test, please take time to visit the Parent Community Forum. The forum allows parents to share ideas on what can be done to improve our education system. This week’s topic is "What should our schools do to make sure our students can compete in the global marketplace?"

It's a serious question, one that underpins the very challenges we face in education.

Strong American Schools launches effort in Colorado

2008-08-14T17:41:47-04:00

Earlier today I was at the Colorado State Capitol to join a broad coalition of political and business leaders to launch our effort in Colorado to raise awareness about America’s education crisis and demand more from our nation’s leaders on the issue of education reform.

I’m proud to join Governors Bill Ritter and Richard Lamm, United States Senator Hank Brown, Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper and Colorado Senator Nancy Pence on the Colorado Strong American Schools steering committee – along with private sector leaders such as Megan Ferland, President of the Colorado Children’s Campaign; Joe Blake, President of the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce; John Hefty, Executive Director of the Colorado Association of School Executives (CASE); Jane Barnes, President of the Colorado Association of School Boards; Liane Morrison, President of Great Education Colorado and Public Education and Business Coalition President Rosann Ward.

Having the support of political leaders from both sides of the aisle and from Colorado business leaders demonstrates that fixing our schools is not a Republican or Democratic issue, nor is it something government can do alone; real education reform requires all of us to roll up our sleeves and find common-sense solutions together.

"Every leader understands the urgent need for public education reform," Governor Ritter told the crowd. "We need a thoughtful debate from our nation’s leaders about how we can provide every student in Colorado, and across America, with the opportunity to attend a world-class school. Education is just as important as health care, decreasing our dependence on foreign oil and climate change. It is time that all of America’s leaders make education a top domestic priority."

"Join us and take action to improve our schools," Governor Lamm said. "A strong Colorado depends on strong public schools. And, a strong America depends on well-educated students and high-performing schools. We should strive for gold when it comes to our schools, the same way we strive for gold medals at the Olympics."

"Education reform for our country must go beyond slogans. We must lengthen school days and school years; pay teachers based on the learning of their students; set real standards to pass students from one grade to the next; increase homework; and end the grade inflation that has served to cover up our failures. Becoming more competitive in the world economy must start in our classrooms," said former Senator Hank Brown, now President Emeritus of the University of Colorado.

Lastly, I wanted to share an opinion piece Governor Ritter and I wrote for today’s Denver Post. I hope you can take a moment to read it – I think you’ll agree with our conclusions – solving the education crisis in Colorado, and in the nation, must be a priority for all of us.

Businesses are always adapting, our schools are not

2008-08-12T10:00:00-04:00

I’m here in Colorado, spending time with my grandchildren, but I wanted to make sure you had the opportunity to read a recent article that Arthur Rothkopf of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce wrote for Politico.

In the article, Arthur begins by posing the question Jan Morrison of the Gates Foundation has asked, “Do our schools still look like they did in the 1950s – now ask yourself, do our companies still look like they did in the 1950s?"

I think you and I both know the answer – business continually changes and adapts, but our schools have not.

Arthur’s piece reads as if it came straight out of the Strong American Schools playbook. He correctly points out that our schools are outdated and causing us to fall behind the rest of the world academically.

The consequences we face as a nation are troubling. Arthur demonstrates this by using a statistic most Americans have not seen, one I wish the mainstream media would follow more closely. He notes:

With 77 million baby boomers getting ready to leave the workforce, we can no longer afford to be complacent. Our economic growth is directly tied to our ability to provide a high-quality education to each and every American child. We are failing in terms of both quantity and quality.

So why is nothing being done? Tragically, the biggest barrier to our competitiveness is the fear of competition itself. Entrenched special interest groups prefer the status quo, as it rewards longevity and bureaucracy over performance and innovation. It stands to reason that teachers and administrators with sedentary attitudes toward education will only continue to produce intellectually sedentary students.

Coming from the Chamber of Commerce, Arthur knows all too well that the price we pay for underperforming schools will be an economic one as the best jobs in industries such as engineering will go overseas.

I hope you will take a moment to read this important article. Trust me, it’s an eye-opening account.

Talking to Journalists in the Windy City

2008-07-28T15:40:41-04:00

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

2008-07-22T14:58:16-04:00

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:

Student Performance:
According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (2007):

% 4th graders proficient in reading: 36
% 4th graders proficient in math: 43

% 8th graders proficient in reading: 35
% 8th graders proficient in math: 35

According to the state’s own assessments (2007):

% 4th graders proficient in reading: 80
% 4th graders proficient in math: 81

% 8th graders proficient in reading: 73
% 8th graders proficient in math: 75

(Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/; U.S. Dept. of Education: http://www.ed.gov/nclb/accountability/results/progress/index.html)

High School and Beyond:

Nearly 20 percent of Iowa’s 9th graders do not graduate from high school with their peers.

If Iowa’s high schools graduated all students ready for college, the state would save almost $53.1 million a year in community college remediation costs and lost earnings.

By 2012 Iowa will have between 150,000 and 200,000 more jobs than workers; and at least half of these occupations will require postsecondary education or training.

But, only 57 percent of Iowa students who enroll in 4-year colleges after high school manage to earn a bachelor's degree within six years.

(Sources: Education Week, www.edweek.org/go/dc08; Alliance for Excellent Education, www.all4ed.org; Institute for Tomorrow’s Workforce, http://www.tomorrowsworkforce.org/fact-sheet.html; The NCHEMS Information Center, www.higheredinfo.org)

If you're in Ames stop by our booth and cheer our racers on. Find out more information about the campaign's activities in Iowa on our site.

Tough Math Questions from Japan

2008-07-18T11:22:08-04:00

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

2008-07-17T15:38:55-04:00

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

2008-07-16T12:15:47-04:00

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

2008-07-15T14:44:04-04:00

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.