Reinventing America's Schools: Creating a 21st Century Education System Hardcover – September 5, 2017

When Paul Mort studied the spread of successful innovations in public schools (early 20th-century), he found it took about 50 years, on average, for a new method to be widely implemented. Today, almost 25% of those applying to the U.S. Army fail its admission tests, more than a third of those who go on to college are unprepared for 1st-year coursework, and half of college students never graduate. Only one-third of middle- and high-school students rate their school culture positively. Among developed nations, we rank 18th or worse in high-school graduation rates and in the bottom half in math, science and reading proficiency. Overall, the U.S. workforce is now among the least well-educated in the world.Anything more than incremental change is almost impossible when school leaders can't fire failing teachers because they have tenure, and school boards are limited in what they can do because employees and their unions retaliate at the polls. (Turnout in school board elections is often under 10%; over 70% of K-12 teachers in traditional public schools belong to unions or associations similar to unions.) Since 1970, 17-year-olds' scores on the NAEP have not budged. At the same time, we spend more/pupil than any other developed nation, and have nearly tripled inflation-adjusted per-pupil funding since the early 1970s.Vouchers have been offered as a cure. However, most private schools are not accountable to any public body and cannot be shut down if students aren't learning. Louisiana and Indiana have taken a major step in the right direction by making private schools that accept vouchers subject to standardized tests and public accountability. Another problem - those who can afford it will add their own money to the voucher and buy more expensive educations, stratifying the education market by income.Osborne asks, 'If we were creating a public education system from scratch, would we organize it as most now are? Would we give teachers lifetime jobs after their 2nd or 3rd year of teaching? Would we let schools survive it, year after year, half their students dropped out? Would we send children to school for only 8.5 months/year, six hours/day? Would we assign pupils to schools by neighborhood?' Few would answer 'Yes' to each of those questions, yet, change is fiercely fought by those already benefitting from such policies.A few U.S. cities (most notably, New Orleans, Washington, D.C., and Denver) have replaced centralization of school management with decentralization, accountability for following rules to accountability for producing results, and monopolies with competition, Per author Osborne, they have also produced the fastest academic growth in the nation. His 'Reinventing America's Schools' describes in depth those cities' reforms - including the political struggles involved, what worked and what didn't, and how failures were addressed. He also points out that while this is not a book about 'charter schools,' it is about treating every public school like a charter school.New Orleans received an opportunity to start over. After 2005 Katrina, all (over 100) but 17 of the city's public schools were handed over to the state's Recovery School District - created two years earlier to turn around failing schools. Over the next 9 years, the RSD gradually turned them into charter schools operated by independent organizations free of most state and district rules but accountable for performance. In 2017 the old elected Orleans Parish School Board decided to transition its last four traditional schools to charter status. The district has improved faster than any other in the state, possibly the nation. New Jersey followed New Orleans' lead in 2013 Camden.Washington, D.C. also started with a clean slate. In 1996 Congress authorized nonprofits to start schools. After 20 years, the Public Charter School Board has performance contracts with 65 organizations to operate about 120 schools, and 46% of public school students attend them. Poorly performing charters are closed or replaced, and the best are encouraged to expand. Despite receiving some $6,000 - $7,000 less/pupil than district schools, low-income and African-American student performance has improved and exceeds that in the public schools.In Denver, a decade ago the elected school board, frustrated by poor academic growth, embraced charters - giving most space in district buildings and encouraging those successful to replicate as fast as possible.Stanford University's Center for Research on Educational outcomes (CREDO) show that, on average, students who spend at least four years in charter schools gain an additional two months of learning in reading and more than two months in math every year, compared to similar students in traditional public schools. Urban students gain five months in math, and 3.5 in reading. On five key characteristics (teacher quality, school discipline, expectations for student achievement, safety, and development of character), 13 percentage points more charter school parents were 'very satisfied' than traditional school parents in 2016.How did most major education practices originate? In the late 19th-century, political machines controlled many urban school boards. Some had ward boards, which hired and fired teachers and principals. To stop the machines from firing teachers of the opposite party and hiring their own party members, reformers invented teacher tenure, strict pay scales determined by longevity, and protections of seniority. On the other hand, in the 1890s there was one staff member in state departments of education for every 100,000 pupils - in 1974 one for about every 2,000.New Orleans: Leslie Jacobs, CEO of the family insurance business - one of the largest in the South, was key to the New Orleans revolution. Her radicalization point came in 1995 while working as a school-board member judging high school students' college essays as part of a scholarship program. The authors all had straight A;s, but their essays were terrible. There were schools where 100% couldn't pass their first attempt at a 7th-grade level graduation exam. The new governor (Mike Foster) wanted to focus schools on character education. She convinced him to instead pursue accountability - statewide standardized tests, school performance scores based on test scores, attendance rates, and graduation rates, forced reconstitution of schools rated failing for four years in a arrow, and 'distinguished educator' help for schools with low scores.The new tests were given every year from 3rd through 8th grades, while high school students took graduate exit exams (GEE; now year-end tests in English, math, science and history).   had to achieve at least grade-level score in English language arts or math, and an 'approaching basic' score in the other to move from 4th to 5th grade and 8th to 9th. (Summer school was available for those who failed.) To graduate, high school students had to pass the GEE  (now one English, exam, math exam, and a biology or American history exam). (Alternate assessments are available for students with disabilities.)In 2000, only one in four public school students scored basic or above on the new tests. For the next five years, scores improved at about the same pace as the rest of the state - but there were 8 superintendents between 1997 and 2005 and enrollment fell 25% between 1995 and 2005 while private school enrollment grew. Corruption led the federal government to threaten taking away Title I money if the state did not intervene - a receiver was appointed, 24 district leaders indicted, and the board chairperson went to prison for taking $140,000 in bribes.In 2003, the valedictorian at Fortier High failed the GEE, despite five attempts. The principal said he didn't understand what the fuss was about, and wasn't fired. Jacobs had moved to a state-level board; she proposed creating a special district to take over failed schools - and helped push through the constitutional amendment (two-thirds vote in the legislature, majority on a statewide ballot). When Katrina hit, the board was already searching for a line of credit to meet payroll. When the N.O. school board announced it was not reopening any schools that academic, Jacobs proposed the Recovery School District take over all schools with performance scores below statewide averages, then reopen them as charter schools. After Katrina, the governor learned the U.S. Dept. of Educ. had $30 million of charter startup money, and convinced them to make most of it available for new charters in N.O. The New Orleans Parish School Board (OPSB) decided to charter 7 (then 10) schools that had not flooded. A former Louisiana TFA director arranged for that group to bring in 215 - 250 new teachers. Each school's charter was for only five years. The first day of school 30% of the pupils didn't show up, by spring of 2007 that increased to over 50%.The average charter-school entrant was four years below grade level. The length of the school day and school year were both increased. Thousands of staff were laid off - as parents flocked to the charter alternatives. The number of school facilities dropped from 127 to 87, with rebuilding funded by FEMA. Discipline became a reality - reinforced by requiring students walk on separate sides of the halls. Teachers were available by phone during the week until 9:30 for students; they began each year with home visits. Collegiate High Schools: Two hours of homework became the norm for high-school. During the first week of 9th grade everyone visited a college, and by the middle of their junior year they had toured at least 20, in seven states. Every morning every student got a feedback slip - with merits and demerits for behavior, as well as feedback on participation in every class. Suspensions and expulsions were dramatically reduced - after visiting other programs. Its Sci Academy became the highest-scoring nonselective high school in the city, and in 2015 53% of students scored a 20 or higher on the ACT. In 2012, its entire first graduating class went on to college (all but 3% to four-year colleges), including special education students.Because failing schools were replaced by new ones, the entire system also evolved. In 2011, a year-round program was created for former droupouts at Clark High - 20% were involved in the judicial system, 20% homeless, and 20% either pregnant or already a parent. 2012 brought another - Crescent Leadership Academy, for 7th through 12th-graders. During its first four years, 14 students were murdered. Then Accelerated High School - for dropouts and over-age students 16 - 21. Special schools for Hispanic and Vietnamese immigrants. KIPP's Renaissance High tracks graduates' GPAs, working hours, career goals, etc. while in college.In 2009, only 31% of public school parents said schools had improved since Katrina; in 2011 66% did. Both charter and public schools considerably improved their performance. All major subgroups, including special education and ELL, were at least as well-off after the reforms. By 2017-18 New Orleans had about 80 charters, and at least 22 had closed or changed hands. Weeding out the worst schools is far more effective than trying to turn the worst ones around. The Obama administration spent $7 billion to turn around schools in the bottom 5% of their state, through School Improvement Grants. The Center on Reinventing Public Education found that about 40% of those remained there for three years in a row. In New Orleans, none stayed at that level for three years - they disappeared. To minimize cheating, charter schools up for renewal must arrange independent monitoring of state tests by a third party approved by the board. By July 2018, New Orleans will be the first large city to convert all its schools to charters.Washington, D.C.:  In the late 1960s, D.C. Public Schools had 150,000 students, falling to 78,648 in 1996. Congress passed legislation creating D.C.'s Public Charter School Board in 1995. At the time, half of all students dropped out, only 9% of 9th-graders graduated from college within five years, and almost two-thirds of teachers reported violent student behavior interfered with their teaching. Board members often used their positions as steppingstones to higher office, engaged in patronage hiring, and got involved with every nitty-gritty detail. By 2007, DCPS had less than 53,000 pupils, and many buildings were half full. DCPS tied for the worst reading scores among the 11 big cities tested under NAEP, yet spent more/child than almost every other big city. Charters educated almost 20,000, and they were outperforming DCPS. Michelle Rhee convinced the city council to convert her central office staff to at-will employment, then began laying people off. She concluded only 70 of the 144 schools operating were needed, and close 23 her first year. When she laid off hundreds of teachers, thousands rallied at protests organized by the AFL-CIO, the AFT, and the WTU. By the time she left in 2010, only half the principals who had been there when she arrived were still in place. Only 8% of 8th-graders were proficient in math and 12% in reading, yet 95% of teachers were rated 'satisfactory' or better. Rhee created a new evaluation system, called IMPACT (developed primarily by Jason Kamras) that used pupil improvement on test scores and observations by principals and master teachers as the most important rating factors. Those rated 'ineffective' were subject to immediate termination, minimally effective had one year to improve or lose their jobs. At first the union stonewalled her offer of more money and significant bonuses in return for giving up tenure. When she began firing teachers anyway, based on their IMPACT ratings, it made them realize they didn't have the protections they thought they had. In 2010 the union agreed to performance pay for all teachers. Within months she handed out $45 million in pay increases to 650 teachers rated 'highly effective, fired 165 rated 'ineffective,' and put 737 rated 'minimally effective' on notice. Overall, she fired about 400 teachers for performance during her 3.5 years at the helm; Roughly half departed through terminations, layoffs, resignations, or retirements. She recruited high-performing principals, some from the charter sector, existing teachers rated lower than 'effective' lost their jobs if the new principal did not want them, while those rated 'effective' or higher who were not hired could retire with a pension boost, take a $25,000 buyout, or remain on salary for a year at a temporary assignment while looking for a permanent one. More than 1,000 new preschool seats were created, as well as 13 'catalyst schools - eg. STEM, 'world cultures,' intensive arts focus, and contracted with charters to operate four failing district schools. Upon leaving, the 50-year enrollment decline (thanks to preschool enrollments), test scores were moving up (mostly in math - almost no progress in reading), but lagged charters. (The latter continued to take students away.)Rhee's firing of numerous African-American teachers did not go over well, and her sponsor (Mayor Fenty) lost the primary. Fortunately, Rhee's replacement (Kaya Henderson) had helped Rhee craft her initiatives and continued them, was herself African-American, and less confrontational.  After a year of community input and discussion, she closed another 15 schools - without incident. Henderson continued using IMPACT to terminate about 100 teachers/year (value-added measures based on student test scores went from 505 of a teacher's score to 35%, teachers were allowed to appeal directly to her, and hired school-based coaches to help teachers improve, and implemented a separate system for principals. Teachers now receive five detailed evaluations/year, typically 5 - 7 pages each. Until 2016-17, three were by the principal and two by 'master educators' from the teacher's academic specialty who did evaluations and mentored teachers full-time. (Previously it was very rare a teacher would be observed by their administrator, never by someone from outside the year.)Only about 15% of teachers teach math, reading or ELA in grades covered by D.C.'s standardized test (PARCC). Thus, a majority of teachers are scored on the basis of learning goals and assessments suggested by teachers and agreed to by their principals - given 15% of the weight in their evaluations. (Those teaching PARCC subjects are also judged by learning goals and assessments - 15% of the weight.)Teachers rated 'highly effective' receive bonuses of up to $25,000, and those with consecutive ratings of 'highly effective' are also eligible for salary increases of up to $28,832. Those rated 'ineffective' once, 'minimally effective' two years in a row, or 'developing' three years in a row lose their jobs.Henderson also continued Rhee's practice of firing principals at failing schools, and firing replacements if their schools didn't show improvement within two years. This, when combined with retirements,  produced a 25% annual turnover. An 18-month program run by Georgetown University's Business School has trained nearly half the principals hired in recent years, and outperformed the district's other principals - per Henderson. A recent innovation (from charter schools) is having a director of operations - allowing the principal to focus on academics. She also set a more demanding curriculum, aligned with Common Core standards - eliminating the prior practice of allowing each school to set its own curriculum. Finally, the school day was lengthened at 41 schools and the school year (by 20 days - from 180 to 200) at 11 high-poverty schools. (About half the charters use a 200-day school year.) DCPS is now the most expensive large district in the U.S.On the charter school side, about five have been closed/year. Over the first 20 years (1996-2016) 46 were closed. A computerized assignment system prohibits requiring applicants submit essays and transcripts, or revealing whether they have a disability. Marketing materials are similarly screened. Charters now have a 15.4% special education enrollment - slightly higher than DCPS. Suspensions have declined to just above DCPS rates, and expulsions declined from 186 in 2012-13 to 81 in 2015-16. The new Schools Venture Fund developed six standards for effective governance and created a program of training, coaching, and tools for boards, as well as recruit potential board members. It was also found that teachers who initiated face-to-face meetings with parents (included 'What are your expectations of me? What did you like/dislike about your own school experiences?), and sending information home on how to support student learning had higher student test scores. Since 2007, somewhere between 82 and 85% of public school students were African-American, falling to 70% by 2015-16. White enrollment has grown from about 5% to 9.7%, Hispanic from 10.5 to 17%. Charters get less money per student - estimated at $1,600 to $2,600/pupil in operating funds. From 2007-08 through 2010-11, CREDO found charter students gained an average of 72 more days learning/year in reading than demographically and prior achievement public-school pupils. A more recent CREDO study (2015) showed similar and higher results. In recent years, charters have grown by 2,000 - 3,000 students/year, while DCPS schools have grown by less than 1,000, on average.combined with retirements,  produced a 25% annual turnover. An 18-month program run by Georgetown University's Business School has trained nearly half the principals hired in recent years, and outperformed the district's other principals - per Henderson. A recent innovation (from charter schools) is having a director of operations - allowing the principal to focus on academics. She also set a more demanding curriculum, aligned with Common Core standards - eliminating the prior practice of allowing each school to set its own curriculum. Finally, the school day was lengthened at 41 schools and the school year (by 20 days - from 180 to 200) at 11 high-poverty schools. (About half the charters use a 200-day school year.) DCPS is now the most expensive large district in the U.S.On the charter school side, about five have been closed/year. Over the first 20 years (1996-2016) 46 were closed. A computerized assignment system prohibits requiring applicants submit essays and transcripts, or revealing whether they have a disability. Marketing materials are similarly screened. Charters now have a 15.4% special education enrollment - slightly higher than DCPS. Suspensions have declined to just above DCPS rates, and expulsions declined from 186 in 2012-13 to 81 in 2015-16. The new Schools Venture Fund developed six standards for effective governance and created a program of training, coaching, and tools for boards, as well as recruit potential board members. It was also found that teachers who initiated face-to-face meetings with parents (included 'What are your expectations of me? What did you like/dislike about your own school experiences?), and sending information home on how to support student learning had higher student test scores. Since 2007, somewhere between 82 and 85% of public school students were African-American, falling to 70% by 2015-16. White enrollment has grown from about 5% to 9.7%, Hispanic from 10.5 to 17%. Charters get less money per student - estimated at $1,600 to $2,600/pupil in operating funds. From 2007-08 through 2010-11, CREDO found charter students gained an average of 72 more days learning/year in reading than demographically and prior achievement public-school pupils. A more recent CREDO study (2015) showed similar and higher results. In recent years, charters have grown by 2,000 - 3,000 students/year, while DCPS schools have grown by less than 1,000, on average.DPS practices adopted from Denver charters  include home visits by teachers, uniforms, teacher leaders (half-time teaching, half-time leading and coaching other teachers), and a planning year for principals who start new schools.Results: Through 2014, the percentage of students scoring at or above grade level in basic skills increased from 33 to 48%, far faster than the state average. (Colorado switched to PARCC tests in 2015, comparisons to previous years are no longer possible.) DPS tripled the number passing AP courses, and the passage rate is now 45%. Among low-income students, the passing rate went from 21 to 31% between 2014 and 2015. The College Board named DPS as the national leader among districts with 50,000 or more pupils in expanding access to AP courses while also improving exam performance. Average ACT scores have risen from 16 to 18.6, twice as fast as statewide scores. Studies of scores from 2010 through 2014 by economists at MIT and Duke found Denver's charters produced 'remarkably large gains in math,' large gains in writing, and smaller but statistically significant gains in reading vs. DPS schools. Most of the top-performing schools are charters.Despite striving for equity, charter teachers are not eligible for ProComp bonuses that average almost $7,500 for a second-year teacher, and they also get less district-funded transportation. Overall, about 19% less money.Why have 'innovation schools' in Denver not done as well as charters? Charters face more consequences for poor performance - the district often filled innovation schools that didn't meet enrollment targets, not so at charters. So far, no failing innovation school has been closed. Second, most charters are run by entrepreneurial leaders, most innovation schools by principals from within DPS. Finally, charter schools have more freedom to innovate, and their own boards to protect them from DPS meddling. In 2005, DPS negotiated a districtwide performance pay agreement with teachers. No one in Denver thinks performance pay has made much difference in student outcomes, but most agree that charter schools (not eligible for the taxpayer-funded performance pay) have made a large difference. Indianapolis: This is the only American city where the mayor authorizes charter schools. All use IPS school buildings, have independent boards.  The city's 35 schools on 40 campuses charters educated about a third (13,600 students) of public school students in the district in 2016-17, while innovation network schools educated another 10%. At least ten schools have been closed, and many more applications were rejected than approved. They've received about $4,200/pupil less than IPS schools.  On the 2014 tests, 71% of mayoral charter students were proficient in ELA, compared to 60% of IPS students; in math, the difference was 75 to 65%. In 2013, 35% of charters received an A or B rating from the state, 50% did in 2016 - compared to 18% at IPS. These findings are consistent with CREDO analyses. In the 1960s, IPS had over 100,000 pupils, only about 29,000 by 2016. In December 2011, The Mind Trust called for a switch from an elected school board to an appointed one - three members appointed by the mayor, two by the city council. It was rejected by the IPS superintendent, and the mayor chose not to pursue it. Reformers then pursued and won all four seats up in 2012 (creating a majority), and replaced the superintendent with someone who had elsewhere succeeded turning around a number of poor performing N.C. schools  - with total autonomy. The fact that the state was taking over failing IPS schools created urgency. The state teachers union suggested allowing traditional IPS schools to convert to innovation status and the legislature agreed. The principals and teachers are employed by a 501(c)3 corporation, not IPS. The board hires and fires the principal,, sets the budget and pay scale, and chooses the school design. When charter schools become innovation schools, they pay very low rent to IPS, most get free or reduced-price bus transportation, free utilities, free student meals, free custodial, maintenance, special education and IT services, and a nurse and social worker - worth about $2,000/year/pupil, and making an innovation school more attractive than opening a new charter school. The mayor's office and IPS are working on reports that cover all charter, innovation, autonomous, and traditional schools - information about attendance rates, suspension and expulsion rates, standardize test scores, and graduation rates, all broken down by gender, race, poverty level, and special education status.

Osborne’s book is a must read for school board members. As a current school board member who has served on three different school boards for more than a dozen years, I and my fellow board members are continually frustrated with how hard it is for school districts and schools to change in a way that results in higher academic achievement for all students AND closes/reduces the achievement gaps. The undercurrent at school board conferences is how powerless we as board members are in the face of a system that is ossified and unable to change. (Approving new board policies, hearing reports and approving hundred + page budgets is real work – but it is not leadership.) Osborne’s approach shows how a school board can show leadership and create significant positive change, do it without micro-managing, and empower teachers, principals and superintendents to make the change happen. Osborne’s in-depth look at the school districts where students are improving the fastest and his analysis as to why this is occurring is compelling. Equally compelling for school board members is their role in the success of the approach (e.g., Denver). If you believe your school district is full of competent, dedicated and caring people – and I bet it is – this book can provide you with a guidepost to empowering them to do the job in an (organized and accountable) way they think is best – it is not one size fits all. At the same time, this approach takes courage, first by board members and then by educators, because it moves the risks of failure from falling on children, to holding us accountable.

Osborne's book is a inspiring tale of the possibilities for K-12 education. Every page is filled with the personal accounts of the courageous leaders in New Orleans and DC who are working on behalf of the children of their communities to improve systems and outcomes. This book is deep dive into the policies of education reform, but a rich, story-filled version - making it a must-read for all parents, educators, activists and elected officials.

Don't believe what the entrenched teachers' unions will tell you. Don't believe the myth that charter schools is a Republican cause.Read this book.Just as Osborne's book, Reinventing Government, was revolutionary and brilliant, so is this one.

Outstanding analysis and writing. A plan for how to fix our schools

David Osborne has produced another important book on public policy. This time he has brought his strong intellectual gifts to the world of K-12 education. The book is divided into two parts. The first section offers important case studies on the successes he's seen in reforming urban schools. he covers the dramatic improvements in New Orleans, Denver and Washington, DC. His account of the improvement in the schools in New Orleans remains one of the most important, and undertold, stories in public policy. As good as the first part of the book is, the second is even better. For those interested in having a roadmap of sorts on how to improve our nation's schools, Osborne proves a valuable guide in leading readers through the complex and complicated issues of accountability and governance. I can't recommend this book strongly enough.