Compelling Case Slides

1. Compelling Case Slides Created by Mike Mattos Please use for only personal use--do not post on web.

2. Our Mission… To assure high levels of learning for all students!

3. Never in our nation’s history have the demands on our educational system been greater or the consequences of failure as severe. Beyond the high-stakes school accountability requirements mandated by state and federal laws, the difference between success and failure in school is, quite literally, life and death for our students.

4. Today, a child who graduates from school with a mastery of essential skills and knowledge is prepared to compete in the global marketplace, with numerous paths of opportunity available to lead a successful life. Yet, for students who fail in our educational system, the reality is that there are virtually no paths of opportunity.

5. The likely pathway for student who struggle in school is an adult life of poverty, incarceration, and/or dependence on society’s welfare systems.

6. -- Dropouts on average earn about $12,000 per year, nearly 50 percent less than those who have a high school diploma-- 50 percent less likely to have a job that offers a pension plan or health insurance -- They are more likely to experience health problems --Rouse/Muenning, 2005: www.centerforpubliceducation.org Poverty…

7. According to a US government report, The State of Literacy in America, over 90 million US adults, nearly one out of two, are functionally illiterate or near illiterate, without the minimum skills requiredin a modern society. Poverty… Larry Roberts, Illiteracy on the Rise in America http://www.wsws.org

8. 44 million cannot read a newspaperor fill out a job application. Another 50 million more cannot read or comprehend above the eighth grade level. Poverty… Larry Roberts, Illiteracy on the Rise in America http://www.wsws.org

9. Poverty…43 percent of people with the lowest literacy skills live below the government's official poverty line Larry Roberts, Illiteracy on the Rise in America http://www.wsws.org

10. Incarceration Russia and the U.S. are now the world leaders in incarceration, with imprisonment rates 6 to10 times that of most industrialized nations. http://www.proliteracy.org/downloads/ProLiteracyStateOfLiteracy%2010-25-04.pdf

11. Incarceration Across the United States, 82% of prison inmates are dropouts Ysseldyke, Algozzine, & Thurlow 1992 http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2248/is_n126_v32/ai_19619426/pg_4

12. Incarceration According to the report, Literacy Behind Prison Walls, 70 percent of all prison inmates are functionally illiterate or read below a fourth-grade level. http://www.proliteracy.org/downloads/ProLiteracyStateOfLiteracy%2010-25-04.pdf

13. Incarceration 85% of juvenile offenders have reading problems.http://www.literacybuffalo

14. Incarceration Youth in Correctional FacilitiesAverage age: 15Average Reading Level: 4th Grade (30% below this level)www.edjj.org

15. Incarceration and Special EducationThe incidence of learning disabilities among the general population based on U.S. Dept. of Education and local service providers is around 5%. This is in sharp contrast with the number of LD students in the criminal justice system, estimated to be as high as 50%. Bell, 1990: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2248/is_n126_v32/ai_19619426/pg_4

16. Incarceration and Special EducationOnly 57% of youth with disabilities graduated from high school in the 2001-02 school year, according to the U.S. Department of Education (2002)http://www.ncset.org/publications/viewdesc.asp?id=3135

17. Social Costs75% of those claiming welfare are functionally illiterate. http://www.covinaliteracy.org/facts.htm

18. Social CostsOne study conducted by a University of California, Berkeley economist found that a 10 percent increase in the graduation rate would likely reduce the murder and assault arrest rates by about 20 percent Moretti, 2005: www.centerforpubliceducation.org

19. Social CostsThe same study found that increasing the high school completion rate by just one percent for men ages 20-60 would save the United States up to $1.4 billion per year in reduced costs from crime.Moretti, 2005: www.centerforpubliceducation.org

20. With such high stakes, educators today are like tightrope walkers without a safety net, responsible for meeting the needs of every child with little room for error.

21. Our Mission… To assure high levels of learning for all students!

22. What do we mean by “high” levels of learning?

23. Is a high school diploma enough for our current students to be competitive in the global marketplace?

24. “The high school diploma has become the ticket to nowhere.”James Waller, Face to Face: The Changing State of Racism Across America

25. Education and Lifelong Earning:High School Drop Out: $608,000High School Graduate: $802,000Some College: $922,890Associate Degree: $1,062,130Bachelors Degree: $1,420,850Masters Degree: $2,142,440Doctorate: $3,012,300 James Waller, Face to Face: The Changing State of Racism Across America

26. 2006 College GraduatesUS: 1.3 MillionIndia: 3.1 MillionChina: 3.3 Million

27. What do we mean by “high” levels of learning? “High School + Plus”

28. If our mission is high levels of learning for all students, the question is: Is it possible?

29. “There are simple, proven, affordable structures that exist right now and could have a dramatic, widespread impact on schools and achievement—in virtually any school. An astonishing level of agreement has emerged on this point” --Mike Schmoker, 2004

30. Schools Do Make a Difference Effective Schools Research of Ron Edmonds, Larry Lezotte, Wilbur Brookover, Michael Rutter, and others concluded that: • All Children Can Learn • Schools control the factors to assure that students master the core of the curriculum

31. Schools Do Make a Difference An analysis of research conducted over a thirty-five year period demonstrates that schools that are highly effective produce results that almost entirely overcome the effects of student backgrounds Robert Marzano, What Works in Schools, 2003

32. Schools Do Make a Difference 90/90/90 Schools --Doug Reeves

33. Then why aren’t most schools getting these results? We must stop doing what we have done for 100 years…

34. Our Dilemma: Our traditional US school system was not designed to ensure that all students learn at high levels

35. Traditional US school system: -- Professional isolation (1 room schoolhouse) -- Failure is OK… -- Few students went to college (10-15%) -- Our job was to “sort” students (bell curve)

36. Agricultural Jobs in AmericaIn 1870, half of the US population was employed in agriculture. As of 2006, less than 1% of the population is directly employed in agriculture.

37. Agricultural Jobs in AmericaAs of 2004, the median hourly income was $7.70 for farmworkers planting, growing and harvesting crops.

38. US Manufacturing Jobs:Fifty years ago, a third of U.S. employees worked in factories. Today, a little more than one-tenth of the nation's 131 million workers are employed by manufacturing firms. --USA Todayhttp://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/2002-12-12-manufacture_x.htm

39. US Manufacturing Jobs:1950: 34%2002: 13% --USA Todayhttp://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/2002-12-12-manufacture_x.htm

40. Pension Benefits: “Pensions are becoming a thing of the past…”Rene Syler Pension Promises: The Death of the American Dream? http://www.businessandmedia.org/news/2006/news20060118.asp

41. Health Benefits:--Nearly 47 million Americans, or 16 percent of the population, were without health insurance in 2005. The number of uninsured rose 2.2 million between 2005 and 2006. --Over 8 in 10 uninsured people come from working families - almost 70 percent from families with one or more full-time workers http://www.nchc.org/facts/coverage.shtml

42. "We embrace explicitly the proposition that effective practice and popular practice are very likely two different things." - Dr. Douglas Reeves