So You Want to Be Education Secretary . . .

Monday, January 12, 2009

Tapped by President-elect Barack Obama to be secretary of education, Chicago public schools chief Arne Duncan goes tomorrow to a Senate confirmation hearing. Staff writer Valerie Strauss asked folks in the education world to provide Duncan their best advice on key issues. Here are some excerpts:

Full versions and advice from others are on http://www.washingtonpost.com/education.

The Professor

You have a chance to make a historic difference by abolishing the No Child Left Behind legislation. Signed into law in 2002, this law has turned our schools into testing factories, narrowed the curriculum to the detriment of everything other than reading and math, and prompted states to claim phony test-score gains.

The law's remedies don't work. The law's sanctions don't work. The goal of 100 percent proficiency by 2014 is ludicrous; no nation or state has ever reached it.

Mr. Secretary, use your bully pulpit to scrap this ineffective set of mandates. And when the Elementary and Secondary Education Act is reauthorized, as it must be, insist that schools are accountable not only for educating their students in history, science, literature, civics and the arts, but for safeguarding their health and development.

-- Diane Ravitch, education professor, New York

University, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution

The Critic

I'd like to see President Obama set in motion a means of establishing forums -- at the local level, certainly no larger than at the state level -- to debate what educative experiences children should have to help them become engaged in and responsible for their own learning and become citizens in a democracy (which we nearly lost in the last eight years). Right now, we're just teaching them to be passive.

At the same time, I'd like to see him move on [such things as] making routine vision, hearing, and dental checks available where they are most needed. Poor children have many undiagnosed physical problems. Kids who can't hear the teacher well, see the words well, or whose mouths hurt all the time are not likely to succeed in any school.

-- Gerald Bracey, educational psychologist

The Early Education Advocate

Take ownership from day one of the president-elect's commitments to enable every child to attend high-quality pre-kindergarten. . . . Mr. Duncan should ensure that our principal education law . . . includes pre-K, reflecting . . . the importance of the early learning years.

-- Libby Doggett, deputy director, Pew Center

on the States; executive director, Pre-K Now

The Chancellor

Work to ensure that the federal stimulus package includes funds that will raise the maximum Pell Grant to at least $5,500, thereby increasing affordable access to higher education. In addition, the package should provide funds to support the infrastructure at our nation's primary and secondary schools as well as colleges and universities, with a particular focus on research facilities.

Launch an initiative to simplify and streamline the federal financial aid process. The complex and confusing nature of the current process is a disincentive to many families.

-- William E. Kirwan, chancellor,

University System of Maryland

The Student

There should be more extensive training so that teachers are better prepared for the demands of their jobs. Teachers should be assessed in a learning environment before being hired. In order to attract more teachers to inner-city schools, incentives should be given to teachers that work in high-need areas.

Standardized tests . . . don't accurately assess what material should be taught in a curriculum, such as grammar and writing skills. The standardized tests should be refocused so that they assess more than test-taking skills. . . .

The new secretary of education should support and encourage the funding of programs that focus on early childhood education. I think that if children are well educated at a young age, they will be more motivated to continue and excel in their studies.

-- Emily Aronson, sophomore,

Walt Whitman High School, Bethesda

The Teacher

It is important to move away from failed teaching methodologies and experiment with new approaches that are culturally relevant, holistic and brain-based. These new approaches must recognize cultural context, adjust to class demographics and incorporate the use of technology. Curricula must be adjusted to better engage students with various backgrounds and epistemological styles. Schools' parents and teachers must be encouraged to more effectively collaborate in setting educational goals and provide positive learning environments both at home and in the classroom. Finally, high expectations must be set for our nation's children.

-- Kimberly Worthy, Howard University Middle School

of Mathematics and Science, the District

The School Superintendent

Focus the department and its available funds on meeting the federal government's obligations for funding . . . special education. I also hope that the new administration will focus on the needs of children who live in rural and urban poverty. . . . The role of the federal government in public education is limited, and we cannot afford to continue to waste money and energies on the Department of Education's trying to police every public school system in America.

-- Edgar B. Hatrick III, superintendent, Loudoun County

The Astronomer

Focus on improving elementary and middle school student performance, particularly in . . . science. How?

· By giving students a broader exposure to the world of science and technology through field trips to places . . . where students can see people doing science.

· By ensuring the funding teachers need to demonstrate to students that science is exciting, alive and significantly touches the lives of every individual on this planet in ways that no other discipline does.

-- Derrick Pitts, chief astronomer,

Franklin Institute, Philadelphia