Early Graduation Scholarships: Clear 2011 policy trend

In a year where budgets are tight and hopes for postsecondary enrollment are high, it is perhaps only natural that one of this year's big policy topics is college scholarships for students who finish high school in fewer than 4 years. Legislation has already been enacted in South Dakota this session to create the Jump Start Scholarship Program. And so far this session, bills to create early graduation scholarship programs have been proposed in at least four other states: Nevada, Missouri, Indiana and Illinois.

These efforts are in addition to the existing programs in Utah, Arizona and Texas (summarized starting page 5 of this 2010 report), and the pilot program established in 2010 in Idaho.

Approaches to help students earn a high school diploma faster--for example, online courses, credit for demonstration of mastery, and credit for high school courses completed before grade 9--should ensure that students meet the same high expectations as students completing traditional diploma pathways. The aforementioned 2010 ECS report identifies best practices in all these areas.

New ECS report on governor efforts to consolidate agencies

Back from a long March break--from blogging, that is, not from working during a very hectic legislative session!

Today ECS released a new report by this blogger on 2 recent state trends documented here-- governors' interest in consolidating state agencies overseeing various education "silos", and interest in serving a more hands-on role in education governance.

The report also cites a 1993 report that confirms that the more things change, the more they stay the same. The authors of the report point out that there is no "best" state education governance structure, but that different structures (chief appointed or elected, chief a politician or professional educator) may serve differing but equally valid state education goals.

Kentucky: Incorporating best practice into teacher professional development

Came across an oldie-but-goodie (okay, not so oldie but still a goodie) in terms of teacher professional development, including in literacy. Kentucky 2009 S.B. 1 requires that K-12 professional development programs be made available to teachers based on teachers needs (rather than areas of interest that do not necessarily address student needs), and must include:

• Strategies to provide continuous progress
• Providing differentiated instruction
• Assessment literacy
• Integrating performance-based student assessment into daily classroom instruction.

The legislation as it previously stood permitted but did not mandate professional development in phonics. The 2009 amendments recast this passage to require that professional development programs (again, not just for primary grades teachers, but for K-12 teachers and based on need) include "instruction in reading", including not just phonics but also phonemic awareness, comprehension, fluency and vocabulary.

North Dakota: Also considering ed. governance overhaul

A resolution has been introduced in North Dakota that would create a single department of education to oversee early learning, K-12 and postsecondary education. The governor would appoint the director of the department for a three-year term, and would also appoint an 11-member educational council, with the advice and consent of legislative leadership.

If the resolution passes both houses of the legislature, it will go to voters in 2012, as the proposed actions would require that the state constitution be amended.

An article on a North Dakota news Web site points out that this measure would also effectively eliminate the state board of higher education.

Utah may also consolidate ed. governance under governor

A measure in Utah would transfer oversight of K-12 and higher education to the governor. Already passed in the Senate, the resolution will go to the House. If passed in the House, the proposal will go before Utah voters to make necessary changes to the state constitution.

According to a Deseret News article about the proposal, the resolution's sponsor has clarified that the bill would not abolish the state board, but would remove the board's constitutional authority.

Arizona: Bucking the trend in postsecondary governance?

The last blog post spoke to the recent trend in consolidating education governance, primarily under the governor. One more example in this vein is a new bill in Oklahoma, which would replace the state board of education with the governor, secretary of state and attorney general. It must be mentioned, though, that there are proposals out there to move away from consolidated education governance.

Legislation introduced in Arizona would abolish the board of regents and establish a governing board for each of the state's four-year institutions.

Governors seeking greater ed. oversight

It is clear that one of the biggest trends so far in 2011 is for governors to seek a more substantial role in overseeing education:

• Governor Kasich in Ohio has appointed a secretary of education.
• Governor Gregoire in Washington is seeking to consolidate early learning, K-12 and higher education under the authority of a gubernatorally-appointed secretary of education.
• Governor Kitzhaber in Oregon has issued an executive order creating an Oregon Education Investment Team to redesign education funding and governance from birth through higher education. Legislation has also been introduced that would make the governor the state superintendent, responsible for appointing a deputy
  

Not to mention that in their 2011 state-of-the-state addresses, several governors mentioned a redesign of education governance among their goals for the coming year. More about those proposals in a future post.