By STEPHEN BARTLETT
Staff Writer
LATHAM — A nationwide moment of opportunity in education that hasn't existed in a couple of decades has presented itself, says U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan.
Proponents for increased teacher effectiveness and greater student achievement can break through or they can wait 20 more years for another chance, Duncan said, and Plattsburgh City School could help spearhead America's education reforms.
"Your leadership could help to shape national dialogue," Duncan told educational leaders from six school districts across New York state, including Plattsburgh.
PUSHING RACE TO THE TOP
Duncan visited the New York State United Teachers headquarters in Latham this week to start off the northeast leg of his 800-mile "Back to School" tour, which will span eight states.
The tour is an attempt to promote Race to the Top, convince teachers that federal reform efforts won't undercut them and gather ideas to improve student performance and increase teacher effectiveness.
The effort includes changing the way educators are evaluated, partly by using student test scores, a move that has struck a nerve with many teachers.
STUDYING EVALUATION
Plattsburgh City School was one of six districts statewide to receive a federal innovation grant to help build an evaluation and support system for teachers to improve teaching and learning.
The other schools were from Albany, Hempstead, Marlboro, Newburgh and North Syracuse.
Duncan's visit also comes on the heels of New York learning it had won $696 million in Race to the Top funding, a federal grant that comes over four years and required states to adopt several federal education reforms. New York secured its win by lifting the cap on charter schools and agreeing to use test scores in teacher evaluations, among other measures.
IMPROVING QUALITY
"We share a common goal to improve the quality of public education for all students," said Karen Rock, a Plattsburgh City School teacher and one of the discussion participants.
Duncan arrived in a massive blue tour bus with bold white letters on either side that read "Courage in the Classroom: Honoring America's Teacher," dotted throughout with faded blue words "dreams," "inspire," "hope," "explore," "change" and "passion."
As participants gathered, talks quickly shifted to dropout rates, with Duncan saying New York has, on average, 256,000 ninth-graders, with those numbers dropping to 186,000 by 12th grade.
"We are losing 1.2 million students in our country. We can't afford to lose these numbers to the streets every year."
EARLY EDUCATION
Marylou Megarr, another Plattsburgh City School teacher, told Duncan dropout rates start when, in preschool and kindergarten, some students arrive far behind their peers. It takes a significant collaboration to make those gains, and by third and fourth grade many are still behind, she said.
Duncan referred to kindergarten attendance rates as dropout predictors, saying if parental support is absent, someone must step up.
He is going after $300 million to invest in quality early childhood education and access.
MULTIPLE MEASURES
Duncan consistently reassures educators that a new teacher-evaluation system would include multiple measures beyond student test scores, such as a portfolio of work, classroom observations and peer reviews.
The changes could revolutionize the way teachers are evaluated and how tenure is granted.
Roderick Sherman, president of the Plattsburgh Teachers Association for the past 37 years, thanked Duncan for "doing this with us, and not to, us."
Duncan asked why such reforms hadn't occurred already.
"This is something we wanted to try years ago, and the climate is right now," said Sherman.
TEACHER ROLE IS CRUCIAL
Plattsburgh City School Superintendent James "Jake" Short added that he has watched an array of education fads come and go, always thinking, "This too shall pass."
But in reality, Short said, school districts can purchase all the curriculum and technology in the world, and none of it is as vital to the process as the teacher in the classroom.
"The highest-quality teacher in the classroom makes all the difference in the world," he said.
Duncan said everyone is looking in the mirror and being self critical.
"We are significantly under-invested in education and struggling from a lack of resources and a lack of courage in Washington. But there is courage here."
E-mail Stephen Bartlett at: sbartlett@pressrepublican.com
