ICT role in 21st century education and it's challenges.
NCSL Session
1. Leading Education Reform
in an Era of Limited Resources
National Conference of State Legislatures
Rethinking Resources
for Student Success June 14, 2012
2. Agenda: An Interactive Exploration
1. Restructuring Priorities 60 Minutes
2. School Budget Hold „em Game 40 Minutes
3. Discussion: Takeaways & Action Implications 20 Minutes
Education Resource Strategies National Conference of State Legislatures 2
3. Education Resource Strategies: Who we are
ERS is a non-profit dedicated to helping
school systems spend and organize time,
talent and technology to create great
schools at scale
Education Resource Strategies National Conference of State Legislatures 3
4. Prior to the economic downturn, spending
had more than doubled, but the basic
structure of schooling has remained the same
100%
90%
All other non-staff
80%
70% Increase in Benefits Rate
60%
Increase in SPED staff
50%
40% Increase in number of
Non-Teachers
30% (excl. SPED)
20%
Increase in Number of
10% Teachers (excl. SPED)
0%
Growth in Per Pupil Expenditure (1970 to 2005)
Source: The Parthenon Group, 2007 from NCES; Educational Research Service; Parthenon Analysis
Education Resource Strategies National Conference of State Legislatures 4
5. Public education jobs have continued to
grow through recessions and are only now
starting to fall
Source: Marguerite Roza
Education Resource Strategies National Conference of State Legislatures 5
6. Budget gaps will continue due to a
fundamental cost structure that continues to
rise regardless of revenue
Source: Marguerite Roza, November 2011
Education Resource Strategies National Conference of State Legislatures 6
7. Meanwhile the context demands new
systems...
• New compensation, work place organization and job design
• Common Core learning standards
• Revamped Teacher Evaluation
• New technologies and different models of instructional
delivery
Education Resource Strategies National Conference of State Legislatures 7
8. Typical responses preserve current
structures and attempt to do less with less
Furlough days Across the board cuts
Frozen salaries Incremental staffing
ratio adjustments
Education Resource Strategies National Conference of State Legislatures 8
9. We know what it takes to create high
performing schools
Strategic
School Design
• Effective Teaching Teams
• Targeted Individual Attention
• Maximized, Flexible Academic Time
Aligned Standards, Curriculum, & Assessments
Education Resource Strategies National Conference of State Legislatures 9
10. Too often, schools have to work around
district and states to create these models
FUNDING
inequitable, unintelligible, rigid
TEACHING COMPENSATION
& JOB STRUCTURE
discourage effectiveness
SCHOOL DESIGN
antiquated schedules and staffing
INSTRUCTIONAL SUPPORT
A Few not strategic
High Fliers LEADERSHIP
unsupported, underinvested
CENTRAL OFFICE SERVICES
inefficient, unresponsive
PARTNERS & TECHNOLOGY
underleveraged
Education Resource Strategies National Conference of State Legislatures 10
11. To make exceptional schools the norm, we
need new systems…
FUNDING
equitable, transparent, and flexible
TEACHER COMPENSATION & JOB STRUCTURE
linked to contribution
SCHOOL DESIGN
schedules and staffing match needs
INSTRUCTIONAL SUPPORT
High-Performing
strategically aligned
Schools at Scale
LEADERSHIP
supported and rewarded
CENTRAL OFFICE SERVICES
accountable, efficient
PARTNERS & TECHNOLOGY
leveraged
Education Resource Strategies National Conference of State Legislatures 11
12. The four highest priorities for restructuring:
1. Restructure job and compensation structure to attract needed expertise,
promote teamwork, and link to contribution
2. Rethink standardized class size model to target individual attention by
strategically raising class sizes and rethinking one-size-fits-all class size
models for providing individual attention
3. Shift special education spending toward early intervention and targeted
individual attention in general education settings where possible
4. Optimize existing time and extend where needed to meet student and
teacher needs
Education Resource Strategies National Conference of State Legislatures 12
13. High-performing schools are about team,
not just individual performance
Deliberate assignments
to teaching team
Each school‟s
specific
School-based Collaborative
curricular, planning time
expert support
faculty, and
student needs
Formative
assessments
Education Resource Strategies National Conference of State Legislatures 13
14. Extra teacher time is typically “unspecified”,
with little structure over how that time is
used
*Release time not addressed in collective bargaining agreement
Source: The New Teacher Project, “The Widget Effect” 2009
Education Resource Strategies National Conference of State Legislatures 14
15. A typical district devotes less than 2% of all
teacher compensation spending to reward
increased contribution or performance
120%
$500 Million
100%
24%
Benefits
80%
>1% Responsibility & Results
60% 27% Longevity
7%
40% Education
20% Base
42%
0%
District with Senior Teacher
Force
Source: ERS Analysis
Education Resource Strategies National Conference of State Legislatures 15
16. Longevity driven compensation can also
create odd investments across position
types…
Average Salaries and Ratios
0.4 0.6 1.0 1.1 1.6 2.0 2.8
Teaching Secretary Teacher Coach AP Principal Dir of Dpty Supt
Assistant $34k $57k $64k $90k $114k Literacy for T&L
$25k $116k $160k
Salary Ranges
10% of Secretaries make
more than the average
Secretary Salary Range: $20k-$75k
Teacher; highest paid
Secy makes almost 2x as
Teacher Salary Range: $40k-$105k a new teacher.
27% of Teachers make Coach Salary Range: $45k-$108k
more than the average
Coach
AP Salary Range: $75k-$140k
Principal Salary Range: $88k-$152k
10% of APs make more
than the average
Principal
Education Resource Strategies National Conference of State Legislatures 16
17. What can districts and schools do to
optimize job structure and compensation
spending?
Limit compensation directed towards steps and
lanes
Actively manage low performers out of the
Start Now system using existing evaluation tools
Build new evaluation systems to accurately
measure teacher effectiveness
Increased time for team collaboration
Build Toward Compensation for increased responsibilities and
contribution
Flexibility in teacher assignment
Education Resource Strategies National Conference of State Legislatures 17
18. The four highest priorities for restructuring:
1. Restructure job and compensation structure to attract needed expertise,
promote teamwork, and link to contribution
2. Rethink standardized class size model to target individual attention by
strategically raising class sizes and rethinking one-size-fits-all class size
models for providing individual attention
3. Shift special education spending toward early intervention and targeted
individual attention in general education settings where possible
4. Optimize existing time and extend where needed to meet student and
teacher needs
Education Resource Strategies National Conference of State Legislatures 18
19. Typical districts have opportunities to target
class sizes to priority subjects and students
In these districts class sizes for core subjects are higher than non-core
AVERAGE CLASS SIZE BY COURSE TYPE
9th Grade Core Class Size* 12th Grade Non-Core Class Size
27
21
18 18
District T District L
*Core class defined as ELA, Math, Science, Social Studies; Non-core defined as Art, Computer Literacy, Vocational, Foreign Language
Source: District A and B 9th and 12th grade course data (internal – Resource Mapping presentation)
Education Resource Strategies National Conference of State Legislatures 19
20. Districts have more teaching staff, but use
them for specialist positions outside of the
core classroom and planning during the day
GENERAL EDUCATION CLASS SIZE VERSUS
STUDENT-TEACHER RATIO
ERS Estimated Average General Ed Class Size Average Total Student-to-Teacher Ratio
25 26
22 22 22
20
18
16 15
14 14 14
13 12
District A District B District C District D District E District F District G
Source: ERS analysis and district data
Education Resource Strategies National Conference of State Legislatures 20
21. Special education placements and delivery
models vary widely across states
SPECIAL EDUCATION PLACEMENTS
(AGES 3-21 AS PERCENT OF PUBLIC SCHOOL ENROLLMENT)
25.0
20.0
15.0
10.0
5.0
0.0
Note: A recent nation-wide estimate of education placement in urban settings put the national average and the urban average at 12%.
Education Resource Strategies National Conference of State Legislatures 21
22. Traditional pull-out/resource model doesn’t
maximize resources for small group support
Avg ~2 SPED
Elementary K 20 17 students/class
school
with SPED 1 20 19 SPED Resource 1
firewall
2 22
Pull
out SPED Resource 2
3 20 19
4 23
GenEd Resource
5 29
Costs of Pull-out models vs. Push-in models
Small-group instruction disconnected from core
More difficult to match teacher expertise to student need
Flexible, skill-based groupings more challenging to implement
SPED students not in LRE
Education Resource Strategies National Conference of State Legislatures 22
23. Aligning SPED and GenEd resources
facilitates push-in model at same resource level
Implementation Imperatives:
Elementary school
Templates & support for flex.
without SPED Firewall
groupings and strategic class
K 20 17 size organization
Push-in
Specialist 1 Revised staffing process to
1 20 19
better coordinate SPED & Gen
2 22 Ed staffing
Push-in
3 20 19
Specialist 2 Processes to support strategic
student groupings
4 23
Push-in Increased collaborative
5 29 Specialist 3 planning time
Dual certification for SPED and
Gen ED teachers
Education Resource Strategies National Conference of State Legislatures 23
24. Systems with low fill rates may be able to
reallocate toward earlier intervention w/out
impacting outcomes or compliance
Fill rate is a measure of efficiency of instructional staffing
Fill rate
Example District staffing policy If the teacher only has 7
says 10:1 of her 10 “spots” filled
student:teacher ratio with students, the class
1 teacher of FT Autism fill rate is 70%
ES students
Self-Contained and Resource Fill Rates Across Sample Districts
Education Resource Strategies National Conference of State Legislatures 24
25. What can districts and schools do to rethink one-size-
fits-all class model and redirect special education
spending to targeted individual attention for all?
Highlight class size vs. teacher quality trade-off
Strategically raise class sizes when appropriate
Start Now Reduce SPED spending on subscale programs and
compliance
Move away from class size mandates
Investments in early intervention
Build Toward Clear rules on maintenance of effort spending
SPED funding incentives for more integrated services
Education Resource Strategies National Conference of State Legislatures 25
26. The four highest priorities for restructuring:
1. Restructure job and compensation structure to attract needed
expertise, promote teamwork, and link to contribution
2. Rethink standardized class size model to target individual attention by
strategically raising class sizes and rethinking one-size-fits-all class size
models for providing individual attention
3. Shift special education spending toward early intervention and targeted
individual attention in general education settings where possible
4. Optimize existing time and extend where needed to meet student and
teacher needs
Education Resource Strategies National Conference of State Legislatures 26
27. Typical schools and districts still allocate
time in rigid blocks that don’t change based
on need or priority
TYPICAL DISTRICT PERCENT OF STUDENT TIME
BY GRADE & SUBJECT
100% PE
80% Electives
60% Foreign Language
Science
40% Social Studies
Math
20%
ELA
0%
ES 7-9th 10-12th
Source: ERS Analysis
Education Resource Strategies National Conference of State Legislatures 27
28. Carnegie Units, based on hours, reinforce
the traditional definition of “class” that
inhibits creativity and flexibility…
Larger Class
vs.
Larger Class Larger Class
Education Resource Strategies National Conference of State Legislatures 28
29. What can be done to optimize the use of
student and teacher time?
Longer blocks in key subjects for struggling students
Measure mastery of course content in smaller
Start Now increments
Regularly adjust time and staffing according to student
progress
Leveraged technology to redefine instruction
Ensure schools with the neediest students get more
Build Toward resources and increase schools‟ flexibility to organize
time and staff
Extended school day in the lowest performing schools
(while ensuring the right staff)
Education Resource Strategies National Conference of State Legislatures 29
30. By taking on tough choices, schools can
move toward transformed practice
For the same cost a typical 25,000 student urban district can:
Pay the top contributing
Reduce class sizes
grades 4-12 by 2
OR 15% of teachers 10K
more
Add 60 minutes to the
Allow benefits spending school day in the 25%
OR lowest performing
to increase by 10%
schools
Provide half-day pre-K
Give all teachers annual
step increase OR for 50% of Kindergarten
students
ERS’ District Reallocation Modeler (DREAM)
Education Resource Strategies National Conference of State Legislatures 30
31. Now it’s time to play …
School Budget Hold‟em Hold „Em Experience
An interactive game to help districts Rochester, NY
make thoughtful trade-offs as part of
Duval County, FL
the budgeting process
Prince George‟s County, MD
Encourages transparency and
accessibility Memphis, TN
Aspen CFO/CAO network
Council of Chief State
School Officers
PIE Network
Education Resource Strategies National Conference of State Legislatures 31
32. Why a card game?
Removes us from the traditional budget process of fighting for
resources within silos
Focuses on investing in district priorities by freeing resources from
low value- added “historic” uses
Enables teams to engage in open exploration of a range of options
available to the district in a low stakes environment
Builds understanding of relative size of different options
Playing cards frees “non-spreadsheet” types to interact in new ways
with the budgeting process
Education Resource Strategies National Conference of State Legislatures 32
33. ERS Resources:
School Budget Hold 'em is more than a game …
... it's an interactive exploration of the thoughtful trade-offs school
administrators have to make in these challenging budget times.
What is a Hold „Em Card?
Category Class Size 2.0% Investment or
Savings as % of
Description of savings budget
or investment option
Explanation
FYI: Additional
information
Education Resource Strategies National Conference of State Legislatures 33
34. How to play:
The Object of the Game
Use the Hold’em cards provided to create a “hand” of investment and
savings options to create a budget that moves toward improved district
performance while still meeting a budget reduction target of 5%.
Instructions
Step 1 Assign Roles and Review Process 5 min
Step 2 Read: Quickly read through the sample deck and create 10 min
piles for “yes,” “no,” or “maybe” for each option.
Step 3 Review priorities and select your investments: As a group 15 min
review the scenario and priorities presented and then
identify the top investments you would like to include in
your hand.
Step 4 Finalize your hand: Identify new budget total and find 10 min
savings to meet it.
Education Resource Strategies National Conference of State Legislatures 34
35. Discussion Questions
1. What were the biggest insights and/or surprises regarding opportunities for
district transformation during budget-cutting times?
2. What particular investments or savings would be feasible or challenging in
your state?
3. What role can the state play to achieve desired investments and savings?
4. What action will you take?
Education Resource Strategies National Conference of State Legislatures 35
36. Take Action
Play Hold‟em: holdem.erstools.org
– Encourage your network to consider a new conversation
around trade-offs
– Facilitators’ Guide allows groups to play independently
– Online version allows you to share your hand
Use your role in the legislature to advance reform
– Change the debate over how to navigate tough times
– Continue to advocate for changes in state laws that limit effective
resource use
Education Resource Strategies National Conference of State Legislatures 36
37. Want to play again?
1.
1 Play using the complete deck with 60 cards
that we will be handing out at the end
2
2. Play online at holdem.erstools.org
Please return the “mini-decks” to us!
Education Resource Strategies National Conference of State Legislatures 37
39. Please return the
“mini-decks” to us!
Education Resource Strategies National Conference of State Legislatures 39
Notas do Editor
Do you know the Chinese proverb “May you live in interesting times?”School system leaders are facing the worst financial pressures in more than 40 years. They’re accountable for meeting increasingly more demanding performance standards. And for taking their systems from an industrial age operating model to the information age. All at the same time.School system leaders are living in interesting times.Yet we believe that in crisis can come opportunity. We see a path here for systems not to hunker down and do less with less, but to advance their transformation through four major resource realignments. We know that transforming in these ways will be difficult and will require courage & resolution. We also know it will require guidance and support from you – and other partners at the State level to succeed.
So our job in our brief amount of time together today is help you step into the shoes of school system leaders to better understand the nature of the challenge:How did we get here?What does this transformation need to accomplish?What are the four most important restructuring priorities for system transformation right now in the context of extremely limited resources?With this as context, Genevieve will lead us through a simulation game that we’ve developed to help districts make thoughtful resource trade-offs as part of the budgeting process.We’ll end by stepping out of the system leaders’ shoes and back into our own to talk about what kind of guidance and support systems need from us and what that means for our specific next steps.
Source: ERS introduction onlyLocation: \\\\Minerva\\ers_data\\Internal ERS\\Slide Library Documents\\1-ERS SlidesWe are a non-profit firm dedicated to helping school systems spend and organize time, talent and technology to create great schools at scaleWe partner with system leaders to analyze spending, human resource, organization and student data to better align with high performance strategiesWe leverage insight from this work to provide lessons and tools for school leaders and those who support them Our work is grounded in over a decade of experience working with school districts across the country To be clear, we approach our work and the conversation today with respect & humility for the enormity of the challenge and the limitations of our expertise – which is foremostly at the district level. We’re really excited to be able to share with you our lessons and insights from districts to be able to foster and learn from a conversation about what this means States and State legislatures can do to guide and support.
Preserving current systems and doing less with less – as most districts are doing - runs counter to the strategic position that most districts are in (whether they realize it or not)…21st century labor force demanding new approaches to compensation, work place organization and job designThe launching of Common Core learning standards Emphasis on revamping Teacher Evaluation raises profile of and need for systemic and coordinated effortNew technologies and understanding learning require different models of instructional delivery
And as a last resort, incremental changes to staffing ratios – which preserve the exact same structures, just with slightly larger class sizes, caseloads, etc.
Capture the synergy between “Teams, time, data & expertise”Leads to better instruction in the short term, since each indiviudal is leveraging collective expertise of team, and professional growth on longer term – consistent with adult learning theory
START NOW:- Stop or reduce increases for steps and ed credits to redirect compensation spending toward increased responsibilities and contribution- Actively manage low performers out of the system using existing evaluation tools- Develop and implement evaluation systems to accurately measure teaching effectiveness moving forwardNOTE:Evaluation is not simply about exiting low performers; it’s also about improving the existing workforce through linking evaluation results to PD.BUILD TOWARD:- Repurposed existing time and/or added time for team collaboration around instruction- Revised compensation structures that link pay to increases in responsibility and contribution as well as individual results- Revised work rules that ensure flexibility in teacher assignment- encourages the right match for team and school needsASK: 1) to what extent do you see evidence of these changes in your state? 2) as state legislators, what are specific levers YOU can use to guide and direct districts towards these changes? Our interactive Hold’em game is coming later in this session to highlight the budgetary impact of these decisions.
13% is the national average.
NOTES FROM DCPS PRESENTATION: But, way small groups are currently organized uses resources inefficiently.This is the way it works at Garfield, though pull-out model. Several costs of organizing staff w/in a pull-out model, vs. a model where pushed in.
NOTES FROM DCPS PRESENTATION: Possible for the same resource level to do this differently, but it takes aligning sped and gen ed so that intervention teachers don’t have to be scheduled school-wide. Full resource and school support implications on right. As we alluded to earlier, lower performing schools that need more frequent smaller groups may need more resources. And, small schools also face an added challenge here. At same resources per student, actually have fewer resources in every grade level, which makes scheduling and finding appropriate expertise more difficult.
START NOW- Highlight the class size vs. teacher quality trade-off- Strategically raise class sizes in non-core classes and later grades- Review special education spending to reduce compliance spending and unplanned extra spending on subscale programsBUILD TOWARD- Movement away from class size mandates in contracts and state regulations- Investments in early intervention and alternative supports for struggling students- Clear rules on maintenance of effort spending- Revisions to special education funding that create incentives for more integrated servicesASK: 1) to what extent do you see evidence of these changes in your state? 2) as state legislators, what are specific levers YOU can use to guide and direct districts towards these changes? Our interactive Hold’em game is coming later in this session to highlight the budgetary impact of these decisions.
START NOW:- Adapt schedules to add longer blocks in key subjects for struggling students- Measure mastery of course content in smaller increments rather than simply by course length - Assess student progress along the way and adjust time and staffing accordingly BUILD TOWARD:- Promote investment in pilot models that leverage technology as a way to rethink the definition of a course and the ways that students receive instruction - Consider changes to funding systems to ensure that schools with the neediest students get more resources to help them catch up and increase schools’ flexibility to organize time and staff- Extend the school day in the lowest performing schools (while ensuring the right staff)ASK: 1) to what extent do you see evidence of these changes in your state? 2) as state legislators, what are specific levers YOU can use to guide and direct districts towards these changes? Our interactive Hold’em game is coming later in this session to highlight the budgetary impact of these decisions.
It’s easier to let the left-hand side scenarios continue to happen if you’re in the dark about what you COULD be getting on the right-hand side.
GQG’s Speaking Notes:We created this game to support our partner districts in understanding the trade-offs inherent in the budget process. The goal is to collectively determine a hand that allows you to achieve a 5% budget reduction while making investments in resources that are most aligned with student learning. This encourages transparency on the relative cost of decisions and greater accessibility to people who are not immersed in the regular work of budget creation.
GQG’s Speaking Notes: So now, it’s time to play … School Budget Hold ‘Em … an interactive game that ERS has developed to help districts make thoughtful trade-offs as part of the budgeting process. We created the game initially to support one of our partner districts – Rochester City Schools in upstate NY. We used the form of a card game because we wanted to change up some of the typical dynamics that we were seeing in the district’s “traditional budgeting process”1. Break through the silos > the traditional approach was for every dept. to make a 4% cut, so it was a cheese-slicer approach – a little from everyone. And we wanted to promote a more holistic view of budgeting that would look across the district as a whole.2. Budget cuts/investments should always be aligned to district priorities -> we believe that even in tough times, the goal should be for districts to be able to invest in their priorities by cutting low value-added areas3. Create a “low stakes” environment -> making budgeting decisions is hard, these are tough decisions and it’s important to create an environment that can allow for open discussion and exploration of ALL the options – even the tough politically unpopular ones …4. Understand the relative size of cuts/investments -> we often find that people are MOST surprised by how much certain cuts/investments cost. So a good example is that in one of the districts, the standard thing to do when a district was facing budget cuts was to cut the central office. But we showed that reducing 10% from the CO – which is a huge dramatic cut – would only amount to 0.1% of the district overall budget. Similarly with class size and teacher compensation- an increase of two students per classroom can free up a significant amount of money for innovative teacher compensation for increased responsibility and contribution. 5. And finally, wanted to create an interactive collaborative experience where everyone can engage in the process– often, budgeting discussions are run entirely off of spreadsheets which can be overwhelming …So the game was very successful in Rochester. We played it with the Superintendent and Executive Cabinet and it helped them determine budget priorities/cuts for the 2010-11 school year. We’ve used Hold ‘Em in a variety of other districts and organizations since, and we’re very excited to have the chance to share it with you today. Memphis Case Study -> used it successful.
Hold ‘ Em Screenshot #1
GQG’s Speaking Notes:-JT passes out the Hold’Em handout to each person and a mini-deck to each group-Everyone should have a handout with the instructions and each group should have a mini-deck. The object of the game is to create a “hand” of investments/savings that help District X meets its target budget reduction of 5% while still moving towards improved district performance.So in other words, you have to weigh the potential investments you want to make against the savings you’ll need to make to pay for them. At the end of the session, you need to have a subset of cards where the numbers at the top – the savings/investments amounts – net to a negative 5%STEP 1: So first, everyone will break into groups of 3-4. Each person will have a handout, but each group will share a deck of cards. We suggest that you assign roles and review the steps before you start. You’ll want to read the handout – which provides some basic info about District X- it’ll give you some ideas of where you might want to invest/cut as a district. STEP 2: Then read through the cards- you’ll see them divided into seven categories, most of which relate to issues Jonathan just spoke about: 1) Time, 2) Building and Land use 3) Leadership, 4) Teaching 5) Partners 5) Efficiency 6) Special Education 7) Class Size. We suggest that you first run through the entire set and create initial piles of “yes, no and maybe” to help you get started. STEP 3: First talk through the scenarios and priorities and determine the INVESTMENTS that you want to include.STEP 4: Then given the INVESTMENTS you want to make, you’ll have to figure out how to pay for it as well as cut 5% overall – by reviewing the SavingsWe’ll save about 20 minutes at the end for discussion.
EMPHASIZE THE NEED TO TELL THE STORY ABOUT MISALIGNMENTS AND TRADE OFFSREALLOCATE SCARCE STATE RESOURCESDrive resources - talent, time and dollars - to the neediest systems and schoolsInvest to build state and district capacityRestructure pension and benefit spending BREAK DOWN BARRIERS TO DISTRICT LEVEL OPTIMIZATIONRevise tenure, dismissal and other employment rulesRemove or loosen seat time and class size requirementsCombine categorical streams and/or move to dollar vs. staff basedENCOURAGE DISTRICT INNOVATIONHelp districts develop better teacher and student measurement systemsProvide opportunities to scale individual district effortsPromote new approaches and designsSupport investment in early intervention services
PLAY HOLD’EM: Members of your network likely include other legislators, contacts at your state’s Department of Education, staff in your district’s Central Office, and others concerned with their districts’ budgets.ADVANCE REFORM: State laws that constrain effective resource use include those related to work rules (hiring, assignment, layoffs); school funding; teacher compensation; class size (e.g. FL)…
