Florida Formula for Student Achievement: Lessons for Improving Student Learning John L Winn

1. Florida Formula for Student Achievement: Lessons for Improving Student Learning John L Winn

2. Damage of Low Expectations +70% 75% 85% 90%

3. Average Earnings by Education: 2009 $73,798 $56,665 $30,627 $20,241 Advanced Degree High School Diploma No Diploma Bachelor’s Degree Source: US Census Bureau, Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2012

4. An Era of Excuses

5. FORCES AGAINST REFORM • Not the schools’ fault • You don’t understand the kids we serve • Everyone is working hard • Why now? No local demand for reform • Parent satisfaction with child’s school • Education groups resist interference • The real problem is lack of money • General aversion to conflict?

6. WHY REFORM EDUCATION? • Low student achievement • Inequities in education quality • Poor public and parent understanding • Lack of credible performance measures • Lack of accountability for performance • Few or no choices for families • Low public support for education

7. Culture of Education Reform

8. Florida’s Diverse Student Population • 2.7 million students • Majority minority student population • Large population of students learning English as a second language • About half of students are eligible for free and reduced priced lunch

9. Florida Reforms 1999-2011 • A – F School Grades based on student learning • Rewards for High and Improved Academic Results • Alternatives to Attending Failing Schools • Promotion and Graduation Requirements • A Laser Focus on Reading • Added Support for Teachers and Students • Incentivizing Educators for High Performance • Choices, Choices, Choices (charter, private, digital) • Strong Interventions for Failing Schools

10. Florida’s Education Reform • Create incentives for rigor and college readiness • Reward teachers with cash bonuses for every student who passes an Advanced Placement exam • Provide free PSATs for all 10th Graders • Increase access to Advanced Placement courses for minority students.

11. Florida Rising in the Ranks 1st 3rd Largest gains for students with disabilities 4th 5th Since 2003, when all states began participating in NAEP

12. FLORIDA’S PROGRESS ON NAEP

14. Modernizing the Teaching Profession Evaluate teachers based on student learning Initiate performance based teacher pay Professionalize hiring and retention practices Replace life-long guarantee of employment with annual contracts Alternative paths to certification Reform 2.0: Effective Teaching 14

15. CHOICES FOR FLORIDA FAMILIES Charter Schools

16. Reform 2.0: Digital Learning • Student-Centered Education: • Own style • Own pace • Anywhere, everywhere • Anytime, all the time

17. CHALLENGES • The desire to water down or soften accountability seems to never go away • Missteps produce opportunities for opponents • Educators scare parents and students and blame accountability for putting too much pressure on them • As metrics become more complex, more tweaks are introduced to lower standards • Constant demand to add features of schools that can be manipulated • Supporters grow weary of the continuous struggle