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Joe Nathan’s Weekly Newspaper Columns
( 7 items )
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List All CSC Publication
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With
the assistance of Humphrey Institute graduate students, the Center for
School Change has prepared numerous publications, categorized as
follows: Family Involvement , Teacher Quality , School Choice , and Reform Issues .
CSC's newsletter,  Fine Print 297.04 Kb
is evolving into a quarterly e-mail bulletin called "School Change
News". To be added to the distribution list, please send your e- mail
address to: thao0165@umn.edu
To
order copies of any of the listed publications, please write to the
following address and include a check to the University of Minnesota
for the exact purchase price of the publication(s):
Center for School Change - Publications
Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs
University of Minnesota
301 19th Avenue South
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455
Questions regarding how to order publications? Please contact Sheena Thao: thao0165@umn.edu
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Reform Issues
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Schools and Communities Working Together:
A Survey of Minnesota's Teachers Of the Year: Their Experiences with Schools, Districts, and Colleges of Education
December 1992
By: Lisa Hinz and Joe Nathan
Price: $5.00
Summarizes
survey of 20 Minnesota Teachers of the Year. Three of the last 15
Teachers of the Year had been laid off due to low seniority. Less than
half had been asked to teach a course at a college or a university.
None had been asked to teach such a course more than once. Eighteen of
20 had been asked to address parent/community groups about school
improvement, but 18 of 20 had NOT been asked to meet with local school
board or superintendent to discuss ways to improve schools. Includes
recommendations to more effectively use these outstanding educators'
talents.
Celebrating School Change in Rural Minnesota with Strategies for School Reformers
Download options:
Entire Handbook 4.15 Mb
Chapter by Chapter:
Front and Back Covers 61.68 Kb
Introduction 35.51 Kb
Front and Back Covers 36.15 Kb
Deserved, Defensible Diplomas: Lessons From High Schools With Competency-Based Graduation Requirements
May 1995
By: Joe Nathan, Jennifer Power, and Maureen Bruce
Price: $9.00
Reports
on a survey of 29 high schools which are, or are working toward,
awarding high school diplomas based on demonstrated skill and knowledge
rather than accumulation of credits. The report makes several
recommendations: 1) Colleges and universities should change admission
requirements or develop optional admissions requirements that recognize
knowledge rather than credits. 2) The list of required skills should be
kept relatively short so schools can concentrate on the most important
knowledge. 3) Studies should be conducted to compare success in college
and later in life of students who graduate from credit and
competency-based high schools. 4) Families and students should have
options among different kinds of high schools, including those that use
different systems of graduation.
Facts, Figures, and Faces: A Look At Minnesota's School Choice Programs
November 1993
By: Mike Malone, Joe Nathan, and Darryl Sedio Price: $6.00
This
report describes the growth in the number of students, schools and
districts participating in Minnesota within and cross district school
choice programs. It shows that more than 115,000 students "actively
chose" their school in the 1992-93 academic year. This is far more than
the number of students sometimes listed as participating in Minnesota
choice programs. More than half of the 115,000 students are
participating in "within district" choice programs. The number of such
options has increased dramatically in the last five years. The report
also includes quotes from educators and students using various options.
How Level a Playing Field?: The Search For Equity In Charter School Funding
July 1998
By: Cheryl Mandala
Price: $5.00
Presents
findings of an analysis of funding disparities existing between charter
public schools and traditional public schools and traditional public
schools in Minnesota. School district revenue data from the 1995-96
school year were analyzed for fourteen public schools and the
traditional public schools in the districts in which the charters were
located.
Learning to Lead
A new report from CSC. This report summarizes 24
interviews about leadership development done with CEO's and senior
executives in many respected companies, ranging from Cargill, Carlson,
Hallmark and Target to Ken Davis Barbeque and Latino Communications
Network. The report also explains how lessons learned from these
interviews are being used to help carry out the Minnesota Leadership
Academy for Charter and Alternative Schools.
Click the link to read the report: Learning to Lead
Looking Back, Moving Forward 5-Year Report 1990-1995
By: Center For School Change
Price: $6.00
This
report contains contributions from outside evaluators, educators and
students. It attempts to answer questions received from educators,
parents, legislators, business people and foundation executives: What
have we learned that can help young people? What mistakes have we made?
What are our key accomplishments?
Positive Directions For Schools and Communities
By: Lisa Hinz
Price:No Price
Powerful Messages: Educational Coverage on Minneapolis-St. Paul TV Newscasts
August 1993
By: Mike Malone, Joelle Hoeft and Joe Nathan Price: $6.00
Analyzed
113 newscasts for over eight weeks from four major Minneapolis/St. Paul
TV stations; found far more attention was given to high school
athletics than to academic achievement; relatively little coverage
about any education news (less than 4% of the time available was used
to cover education). This report also summarizes research showing
television's impact on the opinions of young people. The central idea
is that many youngsters are getting a message that athletic
accomplishment is much more important than academic accomplishment.
Sharing Facilities: Schools and Communities Working Together
1991
By: Jessica Clarke and Joe Nathan
Price: $5.00
Summarizes
survey of 302 Minnesota districts about their use of shared facilities.
Vast majority of superintendents report benefits far outweigh problems.
More than half of the districts are not sharing space with social
service agencies. District officials asked for greater flexibility from
the legislature in creating collaborative library facilities.
Summarizes information from eight districts around the country that are
using the shared facility concept. Summarizes a conference involving
educators, parents and social service personnel on this subject.
Smaller, Safer, Saner Successful Schools
Download PDF Version 1.68 Mb
Purchase a hardcopy:
Minnesota residents:
To order, please send a check
for $8.00 per copy to:
Center for School Change
Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs
234 Humphrey Center
301 19th Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55455
Please make checks payable
to University of Minnesota.
Out-of-state and bulk orders
September 2001
By: Joe Nathan and Karen Febey
Price: $10.00 ($8.00 MN Residents)
The
federally-funded report Smaller, Safer, Saner Successful Schools shows
how urban, suburban and rural communities have modified existing
buildings or constructed new elementary, middle and high school public
buildings to help increase student achievement and safety. The report
was written by Dr. Joe Nathan, who directs the Center for School
Change, and Karen Febey, a Humphrey Institute graduate student. The
report offers twenty-two case studies illustrated by dozens of color
pictures, and a summary of research showing how shared facilities and
small schools have increased achievement and safety, while developing
stronger community support and involvement in the schools. The case
studies describe how schools have used small size or shared facilities
(or both) to dramatically improve achievement, attendance and behavior.
Sourcebook On School and District Size, Cost, and Quality
1992
By: Center for School Change and North Central Regional Educational Laboratory
Price: $10.00
Six
authorities were asked: How do you think quality in education should be
defined? What is the relationship between school size, cost and
quality? What is the relationship between school district size, cost
and quality? Based on answers to these questions, what recommendations
would you make to educators, school board members and state
legislators? Papers were prepared by Herbert Walberg, David Monk, Paul
Nachtigal, Al Ramirez, Tom Gregory, and Bethany Rogers (with Ted Sizer).
Strengthening Schools and Communities through Collaboration
Download PDF version 607.42 Kb
January 2001
By: David M. Scheie, with T. Williams, Rainbow Research, Inc.
Rainbow
Research evaluated the community engagement and community impact
dimensions of 20 rural school/community collaborative projects
supported by the Center for School Change (CSC) between 1997 and 2000.
The CSC work was supported by major grants from the Annenberg and
Blandin Foundations. We conducted site visits to 10 sites, including
multiple visits to five sites, and analyzed survey data from parents,
teachers, students and administrators at multiple sites. We found these
to be an inspiring network of innovative projects. Our core conclusion
is that carefully developed collaborative efforts can achieve
meaningful benefits for students, schools and the broader community.
Students As Entrepreneurs: Building Academic Skills and Strengthening Local Economies
February 1995
By: Lisa Hinz, Monishae Mosley and Jennifer Power
Price: $7.50
Describes
a variety of school based entrepreneurship projects going on in
Minnesota schools; explains rationale for school based entrepreneurship
and gives some national resources.
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School Choice
( 0 items )
Access To Opportunity: Experiences
of Minnesota Students In Four Statewide School Choice Programs 1989-1990
December 1990
By: Joe Nathan and Wayne Jennings
Price: $7.50
Summarizes parent and participating students' response to the Post-Secondary
Options law and "second chance" choice laws. Shows that the
"second chance" choice laws helped bring thousands of students
who had dropped out back to school, and helped many youngsters increase
their educational aspirations.
Achieving Excellence at Scale: State Support for High-Performing Charter
School Expansion
This is a 2009 issue brief written by the NGA Center for Best
Practices and CSC about what states can to to help expand high
performing charter public schools.
http://www.nga.org/Files/pdf/0904CHARTERSCHOOLEXPANSION.PDF
Charter School Handbook,
Second Edition. A Comprehensive Guide to Charter School Development
Minnesota Association of
Charter Schools and The New Twin Cities Charter School Project, Center
for School Change, 1998
Price: $10.00
Practical guide for parents,
educators, and community people who have developed a vision to create
a charter school to transform the way children achieve. Will guide charter
planners through the process of starting a new school. Handbook is divided
into three sections: First Steps describes what a prospective
charter operating group needs to do prior to drafting a charter proposal.
Elements of a Strong Charter Proposal discusses the steps toward
creating a strong charter proposal. After Approval addresses
what needs to be done after approval to start and run a successful charter
school. Contains useful and updated materials that will also be of interest
to current charter school operators.
Charter Public Schools:
A Brief History and Preliminary Lessons
October 1995
By: Joe Nathan
Price: $7.00
Provides a brief history,
offers a rationale, and explains critical features of charter public
schools. Concludes with key lessons learned at charter schools in several
states.
Charter Schools: What Are
They Up To? A 1995 Survey
August 1995
By: Alex Medler and Joe Nathan (Co-sponsored by Education Commission
Of the States and Center for School Change)
Price: $10.00
Survey of 110 charter public
schools in seven states. The report found that charter school officials'
"number one" request of policymakers is that charter schools
be given real autonomy in exchange for their responsibility to improve
education. The report also describes lessons learned so far by charter
schools, including advice officials would give to policymakers and people
considering establishing a charter school.
Expanding the Circle: Charter Schools and the News Media
Download a copy of Expanding the Circle: Charter Schools and the News media
This 2004
publication was written by Gary Larson, Vice President of
Communications for the California Charter Schools Association, and Joe
Nathan, Center for School Change Director. The publication includes 10
Principles for Communicating with the News Media, a discussion of
messages schools may want to use, advice about drafting a press release,
working with editorial boards, and dealing with negative news. The
publication is intended to be extremely practical. Readers are welcome
to copy all or part of the booklet.
Expanding the Circle was produced with the support of the Shirley and
Barnett Helzberg Foundation, the Johnston Education Fund of the
Minneapolis Foundation, The Cener for Innovative Education in New York
City, the Bloch Family Fund and an anonymous donation.
Making a Difference? Charter
Schools, Evaluation and Student Performance
Download a copy of Making a Difference:makeadifference
March 1998
By: Stella Cheung, Mary Ellen Murphy and Joe Nathan
Price: $12.00
Examines the questions: How
are charter schools assessing student achievement? What are charter
schools doing to meet accountability requirements? Are charter schools
improving student achievement? Thirty-one charter schools in eight states
were interviewed. Twenty-one charter schools in the sample have administered
at least two rounds of the same test and appear to be making academic
gains. This report summarizes the success of these 21 schools. It also
discusses the methods used to assess student achievement and other aspects
of accountability such as student behavior and attitudes, parental involvement
and school climate.
Policy Makers' Views On
the Charter School Movement
April 1996
By: Joe Nathan and Jennifer Power
Price: $5.00
Explains why the Charter
Public School Movement has spread in less than five years to almost
half of the states. Fifty legislators and policy leaders in seven states
were asked why they had proposed charter legislation. Major reasons
cited are to help youngsters who have not succeeded in existing schools,
provide opportunity for educational entrepreneurs, expand the range
of schools available, increase student schools available, increase student
achievement and pressure the existing system to improve. Policymakers
have five central recommendations for strengthening charter laws: 1)
Give charter schools the same per pupil allocations as other public
schools; 2) Permit more than one organization to sponsor charter schools;
3) Eliminate the cap on the number of charter schools; 4) Give charter
schools a great deal of independence; 5) Provide some start-up funds.
Smaller, Safer, Saner, Successful Schools
http://www.ncef.org/pubs/saneschools.pdf
The report provides brief case studies of 22 public school buildings in 11 states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Conneticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island, and Texas. These buildings house almost 50 schools and social service agencies. The profiles that follow represent urban, suburban, and rural communities throughout the United States. These schools serve a vast array of youngsters. They are united in their ability to improve achievement and behavior in safe, nurturing, stimulating environments.
What Really Happened? Minnesota's
Experience with Statewide Public School Choice Programs
Download a copy of What really happened - final version
May 2002
By: William Boyd, Debra Hare and Joe Nathan
Price: $7.00
A major new study of Minnesota's
Public School Choice Laws, conducted by Penn State University and University
of Minnesota educators, reveals important and sometimes surprising developments
that could have national implications. The two-year study examined Minnesota's
Post-Secondary Options, open enrollment, Second Chance and charter schools.
What Should We Do? A Practical Guide to Assessment and Accountability in Schools
intro chapter1 chapter2 chapter3 chapter4
Executive Summary by
Joe Nathan and Nicola Johnson
This report shows how families and
schools can have a more accurate picture of student achievement. The report
also presents a model program of academic accountability for each of the nation's
public schools. This two-year, federally funded project involved 21 schools
from 13 states. This is one of the first national projects that convened charter
public schools and district run schools to learn from each other.
The authors recommend that each
school have an explicit contract for improving student achievement between itself
and either a local school board or other supervising organization (such as the
state, a university or other entity). The project suggests six vital and three
valuable features for each accountability contract. The report describes how
schools have used these components to help produce clear, measurable improvements
in student achievement.
The vital components are:
- Clear, measurable outcomes for
each school
- Goals that are understood and
supported by families, students and educators
- Multiple measures, including
standardized tests and performance measures
- Measurement all students academic
work
- Assessments which measure growth
of students who don't speak English at home
- Use of assessment information
to inform school improvement efforts
The valuable features are:
- Using a person or persons outside
the school to help assess student work
- Measuring experiences and attitudes
of school graduates
- Creating a parent/educator/community
committee to supervise assessment efforts
The report shows how families and
schools can have a more complete accurate view of what students are learning.
The report offers practical, research based approaches for holding all public
schools accountable for results, and it shows how schools can do a better job
of informing, involving, and working with families.
Perhaps most important, this report
describes some of the most successful accountability and assessment practices
of successful schools. We can have higher student achievement, higher graduation
rates, and better student attitudes toward learning and active citizenship.
We hope this report helps educators, parents and community members see how these
goals can be achieved throughout the land.
Making
a difference?
Charter schools, evaluation and student performance
Executive
Summary
This report attempts to help answer
three critical questions people are asking about charter schools:
- How are charter schools assessing
student achievement?
- What are charter schools doing
to meet accountability requirements?
- Are charter schools improving
student achievement? This report is not definitive. However, it is possible
to begin answering important questions about student achievement. The answers
in this report come from 31 charter schools in eight states (Arizona, California,
Colorado, Georgia, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, and Texas). This study
found that:
- contracts have been renewed
for several charters because of evidence that the schools improved student
achievement. These charters are in California, Colorado, and Minnesota.
- charters use a variety of
measures to assess student achievement. The most frequently cited combinations
are standardized tests, student portfolios, and teacher evaluations.
- in addition to student achievement,
accountability plans include areas such as student behavior and attitudes,
staff development, parental involvement and satisfaction, school climate,
fiscal management, and program activities.
- the charter school and its
sponsor share responsibility for a reliable, valid assessment. In most
of the charters, but not all, this responsibility had been carried out
well.
- charters are showing that
they can improve student achievement. This report cites 21 charter schools
which have improved achievement including:
- Fenton Avenue Charter
School in Lake View Terrace, California enrolls 1295 students,
97.5 percent are students of color, and over 95 percent qualify for
free and reduced lunch. One of its initial goals was to raise reading,
math, and language scores by at least five percentile points. This
goal has been accomplished in many grades and subjects.
- New Visions School
in Minneapolis, Minnesota serves 180 inner city students, many
who had individual education plans and behavioral problems in previous
schools. Over the last five years, students have gained more than
one year of academic growth per year on average as measured by two
different norm-referenced tests.
- SABIS International
Charter School was one of the lowest performing schools in Springfield,
Massachusetts. Sixty-two percent of the students scored below grade
level when the school opened in 1995. At the close of the second year,
62 percent of the students tested at or above grade level.
- West Houston Charter
School serves 120 students, 41 percent of the students are classified
as "at risk", and 37 percent are identified as Special Education.
Results from the Wide Range Achievement Test – Third Edition
administered in the beginning and at the end of the 1996-97 school
year show that 89 percent of the students gained at least one year
of academic growth.
Is it possible for charters to improve
achievement of students from low income or limited English speaking families?
The results from these schools suggest that the answer is "yes."
Asking
the Right Questions: Minnesota Teacher Supply and Demand
Executive Summary
Does Minnesota face
a shortage of public school teachers during the next decade? That is the question
this report was designed to help answer. Researchers examined data about the
number of public school teachers projected to retire and to leave teaching before
retirement. The number of people leaving teaching was compared with the number
of teachers who are being prepared in Minnesota. The report concludes:
- Minnesota currently does not face
an overall teacher shortage.
- Projected supply does not match
the demand for some specific curricular areas, such as special education,
math and science.
- As the state's enrollment becomes
more racially diverse, districts are expressing a desire to hire more teachers
of color. Supply of such teachers does not appear to meet the demand.
- Some districts in Minnesota may
encounter greater challenges in attracting teachers than other districts.
- Changes in state policy can have
a dramatic impact on the teacher demand/supply situation. For example, if
the state decides to significantly reduce elementary class sizes, this will
increase the demand for elementary teachers.
- The state loses almost twice as
many teachers to attrition as to retirement - that is, almost twice as many
teachers leave the profession for reasons other than retirement. The report
recommends:
- The state should examine ways
it can create incentives to attract teachers in "high demand" areas, including
those teaching certain subjects, and those representing certain racial/ethnic
groups.
- The state should conduct research
on the financial impact of projected retirements. This information should
be available to state and district decision-makers so they can make the best
possible choices about how the additional resources created by retirements
are used.
- The state should examine reasons
teachers leave the profession other than retirement.
- The state should analyze information
it already has about patterns of teacher retirement and early leaving, gather
additional information and publicize the findings.
- The state should regularly gather
information from school districts about their needs in particular teaching
areas and publish this data.
- The state should complete a five-year
projection on the need for teachers in certain curricular areas. This data
should be shared with colleges of education and with prospective teachers.
A report produced by the Center for
School Change, Humphrey Institute, University of Minnesota. Authored by Joe
Nathan, Debra Hare and Stella Cheung.
The
Need is Now
Executive
Summary
Hundreds of Minnesota urban, suburban
and rural principals had major problems when they tried to hire strong teachers
for the current school year. Their experiences and their suggestions about what
should be done to attract and retain strong teachers open this report. We offer
the views of 710 Minnesota public school principals, representing schools serving
more than 50% of Minnesota public school students.
More than 90% of the principals reported
a serious shortage of strong candidates in at least one curriculum area. Thus,
the possible future shortage of teachers discussed in several recent reports
is not just a projection. It's a reality, now, today.
Principals confirm that there is
not an overall shortage of strong candidates. The largest number of shortages
are in fields such as math, science, special education and industrial arts,
as well as teachers of color. In addition, principals are much more likely to
describe the average teacher leaving the profession as effective or highly effective
(57%), rather than ineffective (6%).
Principals made several suggestions
about what should be done. More than 80% of the principals responding endorsed
a variety of proposals, including
- loan forgiveness and scholarships
for people entering high need fields of teaching
- creation of mentor programs to
help retain people once they enter teaching
- higher placement on salary schedules
for people with specialties in high demand
- greater flexibility of salary
schedules
This report discusses recommendations
made in several recent reports. We also discuss Minnesota' experience with what
has come to be know as the "opportunity agenda." In some programs like Post
Secondary Options, the state legislature provided strong incentives for school
districts to improve their programs.
Our report concludes that the state
has not made improving student achievement the highest priority of public education.
This has led to significant problems in attracting and retaining enough strong
teachers.
The report concludes with eight key
recommendations. Our single strongest recommendation is that the Legislature
take further steps to create a public education system which makes it imperative
for school systems to attract and retain excellent teachers. At best, our
political and economic system rewards creativity and competence, while penalizing
mediocrity and failure. Our public education should do the same. This means,
for example, we should
- Hold individual schools accountable
for measurable improvement over a three-five year period
- Give individual schools 80-90%
of the resources and more authority to make key decisions about staffing and
salary levels, so that they can make the needed improvements
- Encourage school boards to see
themselves not only as employers of people in schools, but as organizations
which can contract with groups of educators for services, just as school districts
often contract for transportation, testing and other services.
We also recommend that the state
recognize unique problems of retaining educators who work with disabled students.
We urge creation of a state group - and possibly a national group -which develops
recommendations about ways to make special education teaching more rewarding.
One expert compares public education
to a pool with large leaks. Just putting more water into the pool, or increasing
public education funding, won't solve the problems. We urge plugging the leaks
to attract and retain the excellent educators every Minnesota student needs.
A copy of the full report can be
found on the Center for Rural Policy's
web page.
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Teacher Quality
( 0 items )
Thank you for
taking the time to complete this survey on your charter school's use of
consultants. In order to download the survey, you will need to have
Adobe Acrobat installed on your computer.
Download PDF version of Consultant Survey 19.51 Kb
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Family Involvement
( 1 items )
It's Apparent: We Can and Should Have More Parent/Educator Partnerships
October 1994
By: Joe Nathan and Betty Radcliffe
Price: $7.00
Reports
on a survey of approximately 1,900 educators from 29 states who
evaluated preparation they received to work closely with parents.
Forty-four percent rated their training "not at all effective", and 35%
rate it "somewhat effective". Only 17% rated it "effective", and four
percent rated it "extremely effective". This report also summarizes
parent involvement authorities\' recommendations for content of
training for teachers and administrators in this area.
Parent-Educator Partnerships: Acting On the Vision
(Conference Summary)
April 30, 1990
Price: $7.50
Minnesota Chapter, National School Public Relations Association conference report.
A Survey of Parent Involvement Course Offerings In Minnesota\'s Undergraduate Teacher Preparation Programs
April 1992
By: Lisa Hinz, Jessica Clarke, and Joe Nathan
Price: $5.00
Summarizes
survey of Minnesota\'s 26 undergraduate teacher preparation programs.
Results indicate that less than half of the programs offered courses
focused on parent/educator partnerships; the vast majority of courses
that were offered focused primarily on working with parents of
handicapped students. Provides rationale for increasing the number of
courses focusing on research and skills needed to work with parents of
all kinds of students.
Training For Parent Partnership: Much More Should Be Done
June 1994
By: Betty Radcliffe, Mike Malone, and Joe Nathan
Price: $7.50
Examines
the teacher/administrator preparation of all 50 states and the District
of Columbia in the area of parent involvement; shows that the vast
majority of states do not require teachers or administrators to learn
anything about working closely with parents. The report explains why
states should require all educators to learn how to promote
partnerships with parents.
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Publications 