The Parent Professor: Why should learning be a BLAST?

Check out this new blog! If I know Dr. Walker (and I know Dr. Walker!) her posts will be fun and informative. Follow this blog!

The Parent Professor: Why should learning be a BLAST?: "If you’ve heard rumors that I’ve been a little space-y lately, I must admit they’re absolutely true! I just returned from delivering a key..."

Social Media for Family Engagement

The research is pretty conclusive. Family engagement leads to positive outcomes for students. So how do we get there? The foundation of effective family engagement starts with relationships. Families and schools should have a relationship and feel like they are part of a strong community that supports their kids. The relationship begins with schools having a culture that honors and respects the contributions of all families.

Once parents have connected with the schools the work is not over. We know that the type of family engagement that has the most significant impact on student achievement is the type that takes place at home. Parents and other caregivers do not ever need to step foot in a school building to give students the educational benefits that result from family engagement. Families just need to understand the role they can play. That is where social media can help you accomplish your goals.

Many parents have access to technology. In fact, with the advent of smart phones and affordable hardware, the technology gap is shrinking rapidly. So, how can you take advantage of the Internet to increase family engagement? Did you know that there are over 500 million active users on Facebook and over 50% of them check the site on any given day? Consider having a couple of workshops for families in your school computer lab and show them how to connect to your class Facebook page. Did you know that over 77% of all Internet users read blogs? Introduce them to blogging and then show them how to read your blogs and post comments or questions. There are over 300,000 new Twitter users set up each day and 37% use their phone to tweet. Consider setting up a classroom Twitter page and then tweeting homework assignments or strategies for parents to help with homework.

Most families are already active on the web. Give them the content that will connect them to your classroom to keep them engaged in their children’s learning. If you are interested in additional resources, Google it!

Research Based Programs Offered By Alabama PIRC

The following services are available from the Alabama PIRC for schools in Alabama. With the exception of NNPS (which charges an annual membership fee) all services are free for Title I schools and schools in improvement in Alabama.

Family Friendly Walk Through (FFWT):

A Family Friendly Walk Through assists in identifying areas of strength, emerging practices and areas for improvement. Schools receive a final report that highlights the promising practices schools currently implement and provides research-based recommendations for removing existing barriers identified in the process. During a Family Friendly Walk Through, the following areas are assessed:

• · Customer Service.
• · School Environment.
• · School Website.
• · Community Partnerships.
• · School Documents.
• · School to Home Communication.
• · Parent, Teacher and Principal Surveys.

Academy for Parent Leadership Engagement (APLE):

The APLE is a yearlong leadership Academy for teams of parents and teachers. Participants receive intensive training and develop a leadership project to involve parents of student’s not meeting state standards at their own schools. APLE teaches participants how to:

• · Identify and overcome barriers to parent involvement.
• · Understand school report cards.
• · Use a team approach to solve problems.
• · Involve other parents.

National Network for Partnership Schools (NNPS): $200 for schools $300 for districts and organizations

NNPS invites schools, districts, states, and organizations to join together and use research-based approaches to organize and sustain excellent programs of family and community involvement that will increase student success in school. NNPS also guides district leaders to help their schools develop goal-oriented programs of family involvement and community connections, and to meet NCLB requirements for parent involvement.

Family Engagement University (FEU):

The Family Engagement University was created to help professionals, paraprofessionals and community leaders learn best practices in engaging families. The University consists of quarterly training sessions with information related to the research behind family engagement as well as specific strategies schools can use to engage more families. Participants who complete ten hours of training will receive a Family Engagement Specialist Certificate from APEC.

The Alabama PIRC also has a vast array of books and materials for families and schools related to family engagement and student success. Many of the tipsheets and bulletins we print are provided online as well. For more information on these and other PIRC materials contact the Alabama PIRC today. You can reach us at 334-567-2252 or visit our website at www.alabamaparentcenter.com

Engagement Is Better Than Involvement

"When it comes to a breakfast of ham and eggs, the chicken is involved but the pig is committed." This humorous quote captures the differences between parent involvement (the chicken) and parent engagement (the pig). It can also serve to describe the struggles facing schools working to build strong family partnerships.

When you "involve" parents, ideas and suggestions come primarily from the school. The school typically identifies priority areas and recruits parents to assist, based on these priority areas. Parents who are involved serve the school's agenda by- volunteering, parenting in positive ways and supporting student learning at home.

When schools engage parents, ideas come primarily from the families and communities based on their needs and priorities. The parent is considered a leader who is critical to identifying a shared vision and goal. When we engage parents, we have the potential to create a shared community, where families and educators work alongside each other to support and enhance student learning.

The Alabama PIRC is committed to working with schools and families across Alabama to ensure that all of our students achieve success. We help schools give families the tools that they need to be fully engaged. We work with families to help them understand the importance of the role they play in their children’s education. If you would like more information about the Alabama PIRC and the services we provide, call us today at 334-567-2252 or visit our website at www.alabamaparentcenter.com.

Special thanks to AZPIRC for contributing the first three paragraphs! Read their blog at http://azpirc.blogspot.com/

Dire Consequences For Alabama's Underfunded Schools

State budget cuts and low tax revenues are leading nearly one in five school systems in Alabama to borrow money just to make monthly payroll.

Two districts -- Coosa and Sumter counties -- face financial intervention from the state. At least three other districts already are borrowing on a line of credit to pay workers, and at least 20 more face having to do so in the next month or so, said Craig Pouncey, assistant state superintendent of financial and administrative services.

Pouncey, who was in back-to-back meetings Monday, did not have the list of school systems with him and could not say whether any Birmingham-area systems are among those borrowing or preparing to borrow money.

"The current positions of these systems isn't because of mismanagement of funds," Pouncey said. "It's because of a lack of tax revenue and cuts because of proration."

The state education budget is in its second year of proration -- across-the-board budget cuts -- and could suffer an additional cut before the fiscal year ends Sept. 30. Pouncey said the state's financial condition could dictate that proration continue into the 2011 school year.

"If there was another declaration of proration, it would be a huge burden on these school systems," Pouncey said. "This is a sign of our economic times, and there are several school systems that could find themselves in this position."

Both Sumter and Coosa county schools have wiped out their reserves, cut personnel and expenses and still are struggling, even with bare-bones budgets, Pouncey said.

Sumter County needs about $900,000 to get out of the red, while Coosa is in the red by $350,000 but needs an additional $600,000 to $700,000 to make it through the rest of the fiscal year, Pouncey said.

Coosa County schools tried to extend a revolving line of credit recently but the system was denied. A state intervention would mean the Alabama Department of Education could receive a line of credit on the system's behalf.

Sumter is in a slightly better position because the school system owns vacant surplus property it can sell.

None untouched
No system has been left untouched by proration. Systems across the state -- including the usually immune Mountain Brook -- have made adjustments, including offering early retirement to employees, laying off employees, cutting departmental expenses and cutting extracurricular activities.

Birmingham city schools will consider declaring a reduction in force this afternoon, which would allow layoffs among its tenured employees. The system has a $20 million line of credit with Regions Bank, which Chief Financial Officer Arthur Watts said helps during these economic times.

Mountain Brook in April secured a $3 million line of credit with BBVA Compass Bank as a precaution.

The state hasn't had to take over a school system since 2002, when it intervened in Dale County schools, Pouncey said. Jefferson County and Bessemer city schools were under state takeover at the beginning of the decade.

Since state Superintendent Joe Morton has been at the helm, no district has been taken over. That's in part because of the school Fiscal Accountability Act of 2007, which requires that school systems report to the state their financial positions. It also requires that school systems have a reserve fund equal to one month's operating expenses in case of emergencies.

Nearly half of the state's 132 school systems lack the required amount in their reserves.

"With the Fiscal Accountability Act, we recognize earlier now when districts have issues," Pouncey said. "We work closely with those systems before it comes to the point of intervention."

In the case of Coosa and Sumter counties, the state Department of Education long ago partnered with the districts to help them overcome their financial burdens. Both systems have requested intervention, Pouncey said.

Marie Leach Alabama Schools Borrow Money to Make Payroll [Internet]. The Birmingham News July 13, 2007 available from http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2010/07/alabama_schools_borrow_money_t.html

Building Reading Habits

Most children learn how to read, but not all children acquire the habit of reading. Parents play a large role in helping their children develop good reading habits. The following tips may be helpful to you:

Talk with your children about reading. Ask your children to tell you about books and stories they have read. Tell your children about your own reading. Make reading the topic of family discussions.

Visit the library with your children. Visits to the library can be a great family activity. Enjoy browsing with your children. Be sure your children know how to use a library card.

Make time for family reading. Family life can be very busy, leaving little time for reading. Make reading a family activity by occasionally setting aside 30 minutes or more for everyone to read. Turn off the television. Let each family member select his or her own reading material. Enjoy quiet time reading together.

Give books as gifts to your children. Books make wonderful gifts for birthdays and other special occasions.

Read aloud with your children. Children are never too old to read aloud. Parents often read to their children when the children are small. When children first learn to read, they read aloud to their parents. But when children get older, they often stop reading aloud with their parents. Keep alive the enjoyable activity of reading aloud. Share favorite passages with your children.

Use the newspaper as a tool for encouraging the habit of reading. Talk about the newspaper with your children. Show young children the different sections in the newspaper. Clip articles and share them with your children. Encourage your children to clip articles to share with the family.

Encourage children to read to prepare for family activities. Before a family vacation, outing, or special event, ask your children to read about the location or activity and to report the information to the family.

From Solid Foundation, © Copyright 2008, Academic Development Institute

Alabama Receiving More Than $58 Million for Turnaround Schools

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan today announced that Alabama will receive more than $58 million to turn around its persistently lowest achieving schools through the School Improvement Grants (SIG) program. These funds are part of the $3.5 billion that will be made available to states this spring from money set aside in the 2009 budget and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

"When a school continues to perform in the bottom five percent of the state and isn't showing signs of growth or has graduation rates below 60 percent, something dramatic needs to be done," said Duncan. "Turning around our worst performing schools is difficult for everyone but it is critical that we show the courage to do the right thing by kids."

The $58,052,413 made available to Alabama is being distributed by formula to the state and will then be competed out by the state to school districts. In order for a school district to apply for these funds, it must have a state-identified "persistently lowest achieving" or a Tier III school -- a school that has failed to meet annual yearly progress for two years and is not identified as a persistently lowest achieving school.

However, Tier III schools can only receive funds once all of the state's persistently lowest achieving schools have received funds. Alabama's application, which includes its list of persistently lowest achieving schools, as defined by the state, can be found here: http://www2.ed.gov/programs/sif/summary/index.html.

School districts will apply to the state for the funds this spring. When school districts apply, they must indicate that they will implement one of the following four models in their persistently lowest achieving schools:

• TURNAROUND MODEL: Replace the principal, screen existing school staff, and rehire no more than half the teachers; adopt a new governance structure; and improve the school through curriculum reform, professional development, extending learning time, and other strategies.
• RESTART MODEL: Convert a school or close it and re-open it as a charter school or under an education management organization.
• SCHOOL CLOSURE: Close the school and send the students to higher-achieving schools in the district.
• TRANSFORMATION MODEL: Replace the principal and improve the school through comprehensive curriculum reform, professional development, extending learning time, and other strategies.

Once schools receive SIG funds, they will be able to begin to spend them immediately to turn around schools this fall. States may apply to the Education Department for a waiver to allow them to spend funds over a three-year period. An additional $545,633,000 has been provided for SIG in 2010 and will be awarded to states to fund additional schools in the 2011-12 school year. The department has also made a request for an additional $900 million for the program in the 2011 budget.

The article above is from a press release issued by the U. S. Department of Education on April 21, 2010.

Article from the Public Education Network Weekly Newsblast

As part of his sweeping healthcare overhaul, President Obama has made the federal government primary lender to students, the Associated Press reports. A final set of tweaks to the healthcare bill created an opening for the far-reaching legislation, the largest rewrite of federal college assistance programs in four decades. About half of undergraduates receive federal student aid, and nearly 8.5 million students attend college with the help of Pell Grants. Under the measure, private banks will no longer get fees for acting as middlemen in federal student loans, and the government will use the savings to boost Pell Grants and make it easier for loan repayment. In addition, some borrowers could see lower interest rates and easier approvals. The president has promoted the changes as a way to make college more affordable for students, with a debt load more manageable after graduation. "This reform of the federal student loan programs will save taxpayers $68 billion over the next decade," Mr. Obama said in his weekly address. "And with this legislation, we're putting that money to use achieving a goal I set for America: By the end of this decade, we will once again have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world."

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/mar/30/obama-to-sign-student-loan-legislation-in-virginia/

Blueprint Missing Key Ingredient

President Obama introduced his blueprint on education recently, and now that health care reform is behind us, it will likely begin to move forward. The Blueprint focuses on five key elements: college and career ready students, great teachers and leaders in every school, equity and opportunity for all students, raising the bar and rewarding excellence, and promoting innovation and continuous improvement.

While these are great goals, the devil is in the details. It is striking that in spite of recent research there is no mention of family engagement. Research tells us family engagement has a ton of protective factors and results in students who are better behaved, attend school more regularly, are more likely to enroll in higher level classes, and get better grades and test scores. Nobody believes that family engagement is the only factor that will ensure a student's success. As Dr. Karen Mapp points out when she likens education to baking a cake, good instruction is the flour, but family engagement is the baking soda.

In the past, schools have struggled with how to engage families in ways that will benefit students. We have certainly come a long way since parents were expected to bake brownies or make copies in the office, but we have a long way to go. For many years Federal legislation has required that families participate in meaningful ways in schools that receive Title I funding. Looking at the monitoring reports for almost every state shows schools still don't understand the best way to do this. Parent Information and Resource Centers (PIRCs) have evolved into a technical assistance office within each state to help schools understand what the most effective type of family engagement looks like and how to achieve it in their schools.

The fact that the proposed blueprint contains no language around family engagement and eliminates the PIRCs altogether is troubling. If we truly want to have students who leave school college and career ready, the research tells us family engagement is a key factor. History tells us its hard work and schools need help in getting it done.

Failing Schools Say They Need More Parent Involvement

This article from Central Coast News appeared on March 8, 2010. Special Thanks to NYS PIRC for posting it initially.

Greenfield, Calif- Laura Zavala started teaching first grade at Greenfield Elementary 5 years ago. She's frustrated the school is seen as consistently under achieving, We are trying our best and I can see it in my class I can see the growth. You know when the kids come in they are at a particular level and when they leave I see so much growth and it's frustrating when I see the scores are not there," said Zavala.

Zavala told Central Coast News she needs more programs to help get her students on track. She also said more parents need to get involved, "They don't speak English or they work. They work from like five in the morning to six o'clock at night so when they get home they are tired and some of the kids are with a baby sitter and in the after school programs, so they don't talk to their parents as much," said Zavala.

Zavala believes if the students are really going to succeed the parents need the tools to help, "It's very important to read to write to do their work at home and we need to involve them. We need to teach the parents how to teach their kids," said Zavala.

Greenfield Union School Districts Superintendent Elida Garza says she thinks her schools can overcome the language barrier and get back on track with the states education requirements, "My parents did not have a formal education but they instilled in us the value of an education. The value that if you work hard and study hard it is what's going to break that cycle of poverty," said Garza.

Social Networks

This week I have been spending some time with the fantastic staff of the Indiana PIRC. This trip was a perfect opportunity for us to share our resources and skills in ways that will help us all to grow and provide better services.

The Indiana PIRC has long been admired for their parent leadership Academies. They have worked hard for years to develop an outstanding model that leads to increasing student success through effective parent engagement. Anyone involved with the Alabama PIRC Academy for Parent Leadership and Engagement knows that we have been using the IN PIRC materials for years. This week, they have introduced us to their revised materials so that we can update the ones we are currently using. Additionally, they shared information about Books on Board (BOB, an early literacy program they developed) and the Path to College. You can find information about their fantastic programs at www.fscp.org

While I was here, I helped them get more connected to families, schools, and other organizations by working with them to develop a social networking plan. You can now find the Indiana PIRC on Twitter (@inpirc) Facebook (Indiana PIRC) and blogging at Posterous (http://indianapirc.posterous.com/) Why would they bother joining the social networking bandwagon? Maybe this video will explain...

Social Networking Video

Turning Around the Bottom 5 Percent: Remarks from Secretary Duncan

These are remarks made by Secretary of Education Arne Duncan on June 22, 2009. The secretary introduced his speech with an overview of his Listening and Learning Tour and a summary of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. He occasionally deviated from this prepared text. The remarks are particularly notable as he repeated many of the same ideas at the 2010 National Title I Conference. This gives us a clear indication of how the US Department of Education is planning on addressing our neediest schools as we continue to talk about the reauthorization of the ESEA.

Today, I want to focus on the challenge of turning around our chronically low-achieving schools. These schools have failed to make progress year after year. In some of these schools, the leadership has been replaced, but it hasn't made a difference. Many good teachers have left them and too few good teachers have replaced them. And many dedicated parents and ambitious students have also left and found other options.

The social and physical conditions around some of these schools are horrific. They're often unsafe, underfunded, poorly run, crumbling, and challenged in so many ways that the situation can feel hopeless. That is, until you meet the kids, talk to them, and listen to their dreams of the future. I went to Detroit where two out of three students drop out. However, the seniors I met are all going to college. They know what they want to be and they don't want to waste a minute. I went to a high school on an Indian reservation in Montana where 80 percent of the adults are unemployed. They could name just one student from their school who had completed college in the past six years. I talked to the ninth-graders and they begged to be challenged. They think everyone's given up on them. No one expects them to succeed. Yet, despite bleak conditions, they still believe in the redeeming power of education.

There are approximately 5,000 schools in this chronically underperforming category, roughly 5 percent of the total. About half are in big cities, maybe a third are in rural areas, and the rest are in suburbs and medium–sized towns. This is a national problem— urban, rural, and suburban. I won't play the blame game, but I also won't make excuses for failure. I am much more interested in finding ways to fix these schools than in analyzing who's at fault. States and districts have a legal obligation to hold administrators and teachers accountable, demand change and, where necessary, compel it. They have a moral obligation to do the right thing for those children—no matter how painful and unpleasant. Yet, few districts in America have risen to the challenge. Too many administrators are unwilling to close failing schools and create better options for these children. There are some exceptions: Hartford, Pittsburgh, Denver, New York, Oakland, and D.C.

In a few isolated cases, failing schools were taken over by charter organizations, such as Green Dot in L.A. and Mastery Charters in Philadelphia. Some of these turnarounds are showing real promise. Finally, in a number of cities and states—Alabama, Tennessee, New York, Chicago, Miami, and Baltimore—affiliates of the NEA (National Education Association) and AFT (American Federation of Teachers) have taken over failing schools

I closed about 60 schools in Chicago, some for low enrollment and some explicitly because they were failing academically. We reopened about a dozen of these schools with new leadership and staff. Some are run by the district, and some are run by the Academy for Urban School Leadership, a non–profit partner. All of them use union teachers. Today, these schools are doing much better. Our first two turnarounds—Dodge and Williams—have more than tripled the percentage of kids meeting standards in five years. Sherman Elementary saw a five-point jump in the percentage of students meeting standards in the first year. Harvard reduced absences by five days per student in the first year. And Orr High School saw a 15-point jump in attendance in its first year.

Turnarounds aren't easy. It requires you to build trust with parents. The way it plays in the media can polarize people. Some adults are still protesting me back in Chicago for closing schools, but it was the right thing to do. The parents in these turnaround schools now talk about their kids “looking forward to school for the first time,” coming home and “talking about their teachers.” They say it's “a totally different atmosphere” even though it's the same schools with the same kids and the same socioeconomic conditions. It gives you hope that anything is possible with enough effort and determination and the right people. That's what we need in schools all over America. The fact is there are still way too many schools that don't pass the “would we send our own kids there?” test. And some of them, by the way, are charter schools. The charter movement is one of the most profound changes in American education, bringing new options to underserved communities and introducing competition and innovation into the education system. All across America we see great charter schools, from Noble Street in Chicago to IDEA Academy in Texas, Inner–City Education Foundation and Partnerships to Uplift Communities in Los Angeles and Friendship Public Charter Schools in D.C. What I like most about our best charters is that they think differently.

There are approximately 5,000 schools in this chronically underperforming category, roughly 5 percent of the total. About half are in big cities, maybe a third are in rural areas, and the rest are in suburbs and medium-sized towns. This is a national problem—urban, rural, and suburban.

The Denver School of Science and Technology serves grades six to 12 . They take the sixth–graders on college visits. Those children spend years choosing a college— instead of months—and 100 percent of their graduates go on to four–year colleges and universities. North Lawndale College Prep is in one of Chicago's most violent neighborhoods, yet they cut security staff and hired social workers instead. That extra personalization is one reason that more than 90 percent of their graduates are going to college. I was just at the North Star Academy Charter School in Newark (N.J.), where they have reversed the achievement gap. Their kids are outperforming others in the state and every single graduate was accepted into a four-year college. These results speak for themselves.

So, I'm a big supporter of these successful charter schools and so is the president. That's why one of our top priorities is a $52 million increase in charter school funding in the 2010 budget. We also want to change the law and allow federally funded charters to replicate. But the CREDO (Center for Research on Education Outcomes at Stanford University) report last week was a wake–up call, even if you dispute some of its conclusions. The charter movement is putting itself at risk by allowing too many second–rate and thirdrate schools to exist. Your goal should be quality, not quantity. Charter authorizers need to do a better job of holding schools accountable—and the charter schools need to support them—loudly and sincerely. I applaud the work that the Alliance is doing with the National Association of Charter School Authorizers to strengthen academic and operational quality. We need that, and we also need to be willing to hold lowperforming charters accountable. I closed three charter schools in Chicago and turned away more than 100 proposals because they were not strong enough. There should be a high bar for charter approval, and in exchange for real and meaningful autonomy there must be absolute accountability.

In some states—and the CREDO report singles out Arizona, Florida, Minnesota, New Mexico, Ohio and Texas—accountability is minimal. That's unacceptable, and instead of hearing it from me or from CREDO, the education community should hear it from you. Just as the American Bar Association polices the legal community and the AMA (American Medical Association) does the same for the medical profession, you must get more serious about accountability. I want to salute the California Charter Schools Association, which recently announced an accountability proposal that links charter renewal to student achievement and growth. We should watch this closely and see if it can become a model for other states.

We also need to work together to help people better understand charters. Many people equate charters with privatization and part of the problem is that charter schools overtly separate themselves from the surrounding district. This is why opponents often say that charters take money away from public schools, but that's misleading. Charters are public schools, serving our kids with our money. Instead of standing apart, charters should be partnering with districts, sharing lessons, and sharing credit. Charters are supposed to be laboratories of innovation that we can all learn from. And charters are not inherently anti-union. Albert Shanker, the legendary head of the American Federation of Teachers, was an early advocate. Many charters today are unionized. What distinguishes great charters is not the absence of a labor agreement, but the presence of an education strategy built around common-sense ideas: More time on task, aligned curricula, high parent involvement, great teacher support, and strong leadership.

All of these qualities exist in good traditional schools as well. We know what success looks like. I see it the moment I enter a school. It's clean, orderly, the staff is positive and welcoming, and the kids and the classroom are the focus. I see award-winning school work on the walls. I see discipline and enthusiasm in the children. I see parents engaged and teachers collaborating on instruction. The hard part is to replicate those conditions everywhere, and you need to challenge yourselves and challenge each other to turn one success into a hundred and a hundred into 200. At the same time, when you see charter schools that are not measuring up don't defend them or make excuses for them. Admit that the adults in that building, for whatever reason, just can't get it right and something has to change.

Children have only one chance for an education. You're giving them that chance. That's an enormous duty and I am grateful for every one of you who willingly took on that responsibility. I'm especially grateful to those of you who are succeeding. But I came here today to ask you to do even more. We need everyone who cares about public education to take on the toughest assignment of all and get in the business of turning around our lowest–performing schools. That includes states, districts, nonprofits, forprofits, universities, unions, and charter organizations. I know your typical approach is to start new schools with a few grades and ramp up over time. I respect that approach. It's a smart, successful strategy and we don't want you to stop. The president and I have expended a great deal of political capital urging states to lift charter caps and allow more charters to open—and states are responding. Illinois raised its cap and Tennessee came back into session to pass a charter expansion proposal.

But over the coming years, America needs to find 5,000 high–energy, hero principals to take over these struggling schools—and they will need a quarter of a million great teachers who are willing to do the toughest work in public education. We will find them in the union ranks and the charter community, the business world and the nonprofit sectors. We won't find them overnight. I don't expect a thousand to show up next fall. We can start with one or two hundred in the fall of 2010, and steadily build until we are doing 1,000 per year. We have great charter networks like Aspire, KIPP, Achievement First and Uncommon Schools. You're steadily getting to scale. Today, I am challenging you to adapt your educational model to turning around our lowest–performing schools. I need you to go outside your comfort zones and go to underserved rural communities and small cities. We are asking states and districts to think very differently about how they do business. Your knowledge and experience can help shape their thinking.

Just as the American Bar Association polices the legal community and the AMA (American Medical Association) does the same for the medical profession, you must get more serious about accountability.

We have a lot of money to support this work. Aside from the $5 billion in the Race to the Top and Invest in What Works and Innovation funds, we have $3.5 billion in Title I school improvement grants. We're seeking another billion and a half in 2010. That's $5 billion specifically targeting turnarounds, providing hundreds of thousands of dollars above normal funding levels for every turnaround school. And with the support of Congress, we will have even more money in subsequent years to support this work. Leading foundations and the national education unions are both interested in turnarounds. Nonprofits like New School Venture Fund, Teach for America, the New Teacher Project and New Leaders for New Schools will also play a role. In the coming months, we will develop an application process that spells out exactly what we mean by turnarounds—but let me paint a rough picture for you.

At a minimum, for a turnaround to succeed you have to change the school culture. In most cases, simply replacing the principal is not enough. We want transformation, not tinkering. We have four basic models in mind. Some will work better in big cities while others are more suited to smaller communities. And we're still working this through, so we welcome your ideas.

The first option is based on what we did in Chicago. We awarded planning grants in the fall so new principals and lead teachers could develop and adapt curriculum to better meet the needs of the students. During the spring, they begin recruiting teachers and they take over the school in June. Under this model, the children stay and the staff leaves. Teachers can reapply for their jobs and some get rehired, but most go elsewhere. A few leave the profession, which is not all bad. Not everyone is cut out for teaching. Like every profession, people burn out. In our view, at least half of the staff and the leadership should be completely new if you really want a culture change, and that may very well be a requirement of the grants.

Our second option also involves replacing the staff and leadership and turning it over to a charter or for-profit management organization. As I mentioned, Green Dot, Mastery Charters and AUSL are doing this, but we need more of you to get in the game. I know this is tough work, but there is an upside. You start with a school full of kids so there is no student recruiting and you also get a building, which has been a big obstacle for many charter operators. Obviously, you need to build a full staff more quickly, but that can be done. I am confident that many charter operators will figure this out and succeed brilliantly. I also recognize that you won't always succeed. I accept that, but what I won't accept is a nation that turns its back on millions of children in failing schools while successful models are flourishing in the next community or the next town.

Our third turnaround model keeps most of the existing staff but changes the culture in the following ways. Again, we are open to input on this, but at a minimum:

• They must establish a rigorous performance evaluation system along with more support, training, and mentoring.
• They must change and strengthen the curriculum and instructional program.
• They must increase learning time for kids during afternoons, weekends, and in the summer, and provide more time for teachers to collaborate, plan, and strategize.
• And principals and leadership teams must be given more flexibility around budgeting, staffing, and calendar.

They must use everything we know about how to create a successful school culture—but do it all at once—with enough resources to get the job done. This approach makes more sense in smaller communities where there isn't a ready supply of new teachers and leaders, and where the current staff won't have other job options. This model also gives unions an opportunity to take responsibility for fixing schools without replacing staff. We are beginning a conversation with the unions about flexibility with respect to our most underperforming schools. I expect they'll meet us more than halfway because they share our concern. They understand that no one can accept failure. But we should also be crystal clear: This model cannot be a dodge to avoid difficult but necessary choices. This cannot be the easy way out. It has to work and show results—quickly—in real and measurable ways in terms of attendance, parent involvement, and student achievement. All of these models assume a year or more of planning. We should be starting today to build teams that will take over schools in the fall of 2010. Schools and districts can use Title I funds right now to start the planning process.

The last of our four turnaround models is simply to close underperforming schools and reenroll the students in better schools. This may seem like surrender, but in some cases it's the only responsible thing to do. It instantly improves the learning conditions for those kids and brings a failing school to a swift and thorough conclusion. Now let me also make something very clear: Closing underperforming schools is a state and local responsibility. It's up to state and district superintendents and the political leadership. If they won't make these choices, I can't force them to do it. My job is to support the work—provide funding, help define success, and drive the public consensus toward the desired outcome. But the people who run our schools, and the parents who depend on them, must demand change if they want it to happen.

I came to Washington because I believe in education. I know that change is possible. I know we have the talent and the ideas to succeed. The only question is whether we have the courage to do what's right for kids. We've seen what happens when caution trumps courage. Nothing changes and kids lose. But we've also seen the opposite—where bold leaders have fought the status quo.

And this only works with the full support of the community—the faith-based, the political, the social service agencies, the police, the boys and girls club—and all of the other institutions that serve children and families. A principal can't do this alone. I came to Washington because I believe in education. I know that change is possible. I know we have the talent and the ideas to succeed. The only question is whether we have the courage to do what's right for kids. We've seen what happens when caution trumps courage. Nothing changes and kids lose. But we've also seen the opposite—where bold leaders have fought the status quo. We've seen traditional public schools where creative and dedicated educators built strong teams, boosted parental involvement, and raised student achievement. We've seen it in charter schools where gutsy entrepreneurs abandoned lucrative careers, staked a claim in struggling communities, and now are producing miracles.

There is no shortage of courage in this room. You wouldn't be here if you weren't risk-takers. So I'm asking you once again to put your reputations on the line and take on this challenge. I'm asking for your help because I believe in you. I'm asking because I am hopeful. I'm asking, above all, because our children need you and America needs you. We may never have an opportunity like this again—this president, this Congress, $100 billion, and a broad and growing consensus around the importance of education. So this is our time and this is our moment. This is our chance to transform the one thing in society with the power to transform lives. The path to success has never been clearer.

The education reform movement is not a table where we all sit around and talk. It's a train that is leaving the station, gaining speed, momentum and direction. It is time for everyone everywhere to get on board. Thank you.

You can also read these remarks on the US Department of Education website at http://www2.ed.gov/news/speeches/2009/06/06222009.html

Preparing for College: The New Streamlined FAFSA

Everyone who has children interested in attending college is interested in financial aid! Its never too early to start planning for paying for your children's college education. One important tool that parents need to use is the FAFSA or Free Application for Federal Student Aid. The FAFSA was designed to be used to determine how much money a family is expected to be able to contribute towards college expenses. The results of the FAFSA can determine the amount of money in student grants, work study and loans. (Scholarships must be applied for separately.)

The good news is that the process has been streamlined. In the past, the form was extremely complex, difficult to complete, and frustrating because the smallest errors could cause problems with aid or significant delays. Now, the US Department of Education has provided instant estimates of the Pell Grant and student loan eligibility so students and their families don't have to wait weeks for the notification. Also, the web-based form now has skip logic so that students and their families never see questions that are not relevant to their own application. Also, tax information is available directly from the IRS.

Every parent wants their children to grow up and live happy and productive lives. The ability to go to college is something that many parents struggle to afford. Streamlining the process to receive financial aid helps all families access the resources they need to help their children reach their fullest potential.

For more information on the FAFSA, go to www.fafsa.ed.gov