“Don’t let perfect get in the way of good,” U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan reiterated that mantra more than once during a roundtable discussion on Delaware education reform with about 40 stakeholders from across the state Friday.
Now halfway through the current school year, Delaware is examining its progress with Race to the Top initiatives put into practice this year and Duncan was in Wilmington to hear feedback, take questions and give encouragement to educators and private partners. (Read previous coverage on evaluating Delaware's RTTT efforts here)
U.S. Education Secretary visits to assess Delaware's Race to the Top progress.
U.S. Education Sec Arne Duncan and Gov. Markell offer their thoughts on Delaware's Race to the Top progress.
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“Delaware has been very aggressive,” said Duncan. “The eyes of the nation are on Delaware. There is a lot of hard work ahead of the state between now and the fall, but I’m confident the state will get there.”
Two years ago, Delaware and Tennessee were the first two states to receive federal Race to the Top funds. Delaware officials are now in the process of using the $119 million the state received over four years to address low-performing schools, student achievement gaps and supporting teachers and staff to make students career and college ready.
At the midpoint this year, state officials said they are “optimistic” initial goals will be met by year’s end.
Duncan said the RTTT funds were “not a gift,” that the state earned them through their commitment to reform and a vigorous plan to make changes to improve education.
“I feel better about that investment today than I did at that time,” Duncan said. Though he didn’t know the players in Delaware education when the funds were awarded in March 2010, the secretary has visited the state three times since and said he was impressed with the work already done.
He noted that stakeholders are working together, not fighting with each other or making too many concessions. “Singing Kumbaya around the status quo doesn’t move us forward.”
One of those difficult issues Duncan addressed during the roundtable and afterward, is the ongoing work to revise the Delaware Performance Appraisal System, the system by which Delaware educators are evaluated. At the roundtable, Gov. Jack Markell said the revised system will be put into place in its entirety in September. The student growth measure has been the sticking point and 400 teachers have been consulted on how to best measure student growth to hold teachers accountable. (Read previous coverage of Delaware's new teacher evaluation system here and here)
“In the end this isn’t our plan, this will be the teachers’ plan,” Duncan said. “We need to be about rewarding great talent and supporting those at the bottom.” He noted that two-thirds of teachers self-report they feel unprepared for the classroom. Through an effective evaluation system, and more so through better training, Duncan said he wants to raise the skill of teachers across the board.
Duncan was also asked Friday how to keep parents informed about the continuing changes in schools and how to get qualified teachers in hard-to-hire areas including science and math.
Duncan told Yvonne Johnson, president of the Delaware Parent Teachers Association, that leadership like hers is vital to keeping parents informed. The Delaware PTA was awarding a $40,000 federal grant to get parents up to speed on new Common Core Standards put into place this year.
“The move from adoption (of the standards) to implementation is where the real work is done,” Duncan said. He said leadership in schools, on the district and state level is vital.
Among Duncan’s goals, he said, is to erase the high school dropout rate and to have 100 percent success in graduating seniors.
High school graduates should be “college and career ready,” Duncan said. “Let’s not trap them as to which. Let’s give them the option. Everything else is a building block to that.” (Read previous coverage of Delaware's dropout rate here and here)
He invited additional conversations outside of the roundtable discussion, both with himself and between the stakeholders, whether from the public or private sector. Without an open exchange, Duncan said education reform wouldn’t be as successful as it could be in as few as five years from now.
Moving forward is key, recognizing mistakes and not accepting decades-old methods to education, he said.
“Please challenge us,” Duncan said at the end of the roundtable, recognizing mistakes will be made during the reform. “All we want is for you to be successful. If at the end of the day, you are successful, it’s worth it.”