Ask Arne: U.S. Secretary of Education Responds to Questions from NCSS Members

Thank you for inviting me to speak at your conference in December. The NCSS event was a huge success, and I appreciated the opportunity to speak with NCSS teachers about how we can provide students with a well-rounded curriculum in the age of accountability. Some of you have asked me to visit your schools. One of my favorite things to do is see teachers and students at work. I’d like to visit every school in America. I just wish there weren’t 100,000 of them.

At the conference, a number of you asked questions that I didn’t have time to address, but I have read the questions and answer those questions that came up several times here.

Arne Duncan
U.S. Secretary of Education

Arne: In my speech, I talked about the troubling data we are receiving that when subjects aren’t tested, they may become marginalized so that they receive less time on the school schedule and less emphasis in the curriculum.

Some smart school leaders are doing the right thing by providing a well-rounded curriculum, not only social studies and science, but music and art and all of the other subjects that contribute to a well-educated person. For example, ten of the eleven states that requested flexibility from ESEA have asked for permission to include subjects in addition to reading and math in their accountability plans. Seven out of eleven want to incorporate social studies into their statewide accountability systems, including tracking participation and success on AP and IB tests (including AP courses such as U.S. History), and looking at scores on statewide assessments in US history, geography, and economics. These proposals make me very optimistic for the next generation of accountability and the role that social studies might play in the curriculum.

Arne: This is a challenge, no doubt about it. The truth is that we have to do both—prepare students for higher education and help them to develop into productive citizens.

Right now many of our high school graduates are having a tough time engaging as citizens because they don’t have the skills to get good jobs that allow them to better their lives or contribute to the larger community. A quarter drop out before they finish high school and too many of our high school graduates aren’t getting the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in college and careers. In the knowledge economy and our students competing with those in other countries, we simply have to do better by them. The United States used to lead in college graduation rates, but in just one generation, we have fallen to #16. That’s why the President has issued a challenge that by the year 2020, we will lead the world again in college completion. It is why he is calling on states to raise their standards in every subject, so that when students do graduate they have the knowledge and skills necessary to succeed in life and engage and participate in their communities.

My hope is that schools will continue to draw on a number of strategies to continue to engage students about what it means to be a good citizen, opportunities brought about by service learning, volunteer initiatives, and effective career and technical education programs.

I do agree that education has to be about more simply than enabling students to pass tests. The best teachers are concerned with engaging students in their courses and igniting students’ interests in their subjects and in solving some of the most complex dilemmas of the human condition. That is why the social studies are so important. You are creating problem solvers and the leaders of tomorrow. You provide forums for students to participate constructively in our democracy and arm them with the knowledge and resources to be thoughtful decision-makers.

Arne: Our proposal would consolidate grants like Teaching American History into one grant program called a Well-Rounded Curriculum. The purpose of consolidating the grants is so states and districts have the flexibility to use the funds for a number of different programs and the ability to integrate more topics, such as social studies, history, and civics, into the regular school day. The fund for “Effective Teaching and Learning for a Well-Rounded Education” is five times the amount we requested for TAH grants.

Arne: Good question. The simple answer is that it depends on what Congress does with ESEA law when it finally reauthorizes the legislation. President Obama sent a recommendation to the Hill in March of 2010, but so far, Congress has not acted. Our proposal calls for states to make reforms along four important areas: raising standards for student learning, improving teaching and leading, using data to make informed decisions, and focusing on the lowest performing schools. You can read more about this in our Blueprint for Reform and on the webpage for the Blueprint, which includes a number of brochures and videos to help teachers understand our recommendations.

Arne: So far 45 of the states, working through the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) have adopted shared K-12 standards in two subjects. These standards are what we refer to as the CCSS (or Common Core State Standards). The CCSS are not products of the U. S. Department of Education, but the result of states reaching agreement on higher standards for math and English language arts. Currently 21 states within the CCSSO are collaborating with 15 professional organizations (including NCSS) to develop state standards that represent civics, economics, geography and history. The first draft of the social studies standards may be ready for public comment as soon as this fall, and the final version will be shared with all interested states.

Also, a number of organizations have worked together to develop a Conceptual Framework for Science Education, and 26 lead states are involved in writing the next generation of science standards, which are due out at the end of this year. All of these groups have been working toward providing a smaller set of better standards that are more ambitious and clearer. I applaud their efforts and look forward to the publications of these new standards.

Arne: I know that the best ideas are always going to come from practitioners who struggle with providing a great education for their students every day, not from bureaucrats in Washington. It is critical that we continue to listen to teachers, and that is frankly what we have been doing since we got here. In addition to the 16 Teaching Fellows who serve my advisors, my staff and I meet with teachers frequently both here and when I visit schools and districts throughout the country. I’ve hired a Teacher Liaison whose job it is to make sure that we are listening and communicating regularly with teachers. You can read about some of our meetings by following our blog or subscribing to our newsletter. We regularly meet with teachers from a number of organizations, including those at the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, Teachers of the Year, Presidential Awardees for Excellence in Math and Science Teaching, Educators for Excellence, representatives from teachers’ unions, and teachers representing a variety of content areas and concerns. We welcome any opportunity we can get to hear about what’s working and what’s not working in schools.

Arne: It is an unfortunate reality that what is tested often becomes what is taught. Becaue of this, our department is calling for states to develop much better assessments, systems that ask students to do more than simply fill in the bubbles. Through Race to the Top, the Department has provided over $330 million to two state consortia who are working to develop better tests—assessments that measure reasoning, creativity and problem solving. Ultimately, we believe that the most creative teachers will always be better equipped to engage students fully in learning. Skillful teachers use their creativity to tap into students’ interests so that they become motivated to learn and become lifelong leArners.

Arne: Nothing in school is more important for student learning than the quality of instruction in the classroom. That is why fixing teacher evaluation systems is so vital. I have talked to many, many teachers across the country, but I rarely meet one who is satisfied with how he or she is evaluated. They say that evaluations today are superficial and that they don’t provide them with the kind of meaningful feedback they need to get better. Not only that, but the evaluations themselves are not used to impact critical decisions such as directing a teachers’ professional learning or staffing schools.

The President’s vision for evaluation is very different. He is calling for states to develop fair and reliable evaluations for teachers and principals, systems that draw upon multiple measures, including student learning.

Philanthropic organizations, like Gates and Broad, do not drive the direction of our work on teacher evaluation. However, these organizations have been able to supplement state and local budgets, providing funds in very lean fiscal times.

Strong public-private partnerships have proven essential to the success of reform. In December, I announced that private donors have committed $18 million to the 23 highest-rated projects in the 2011 Investing in Innovation (i3) Fund competition, ensuring that they have met the i3 matching requirement and qualifying them to receive $150 million from the i3 program. The i3 program funds projects designed to improve achievement and put students on track to succeed in college and careers. Some of the nonprofit organizations also offer experience and resources to address specific educational challenges related to strategic management, logistical support, innovation, and new approaches to problem solving.

Arne: That’s a great question: why is education a national priority, and not only a question for the states? To answer it, it is important to remember that federal agencies are generally called on to focus on what’s critical for our country as a whole: the defense of our nation, the protection of our natural resources, and so forth. In the 21st Century, a world-class education is essential to fulfilling that mission. Nothing is more important to our economy, our nation’s defense, and the welfare of our democracy than the educating of our young people. More than ever, our nation’s welfare and prosperity is inextricably linked to education.

A critical component of the Department of Education’s mission is to ensure equity and access to educational services. It is a federal responsibility to implement critical civil rights programs and initiatives such as Title I, II, VI, and IX, IDEA, which work to level the playing field.

It’s our job to support state and local leaders – not to interfere with them. We provide funding to support disadvantaged students and enforce civil rights laws. We provide billions of dollars every year to help college students earn their degrees and offer school districts supplemental funding to help disadvantaged students overcome the obstacles to poverty. We support reform and innovation at the state and local level through programs like Race to the Top and by offering states flexibility from some of the burdens of ESEA until Congress acts to reauthorize the law.

For too long the federal role has been driven by compliance—holding states’ feet to the fire if they didn’t follow the myriad regulations from Washington. Our vision, however, is for the Department of Education to act as more of a partner, to assist states achieving our common vision to provide all students with a quality education so that our country will prosper.

Arne: There is no doubt that these are extremely tough fiscal times for states and districts. Many teachers are not aware that only about nine cents of every dollar spent on education comes from the federal government. So, when state education budgets are squeezed, teachers and students feel it more than anyone. And most of the cuts are due to state budget problems, not a federal withdrawal of support. President Obama and I strongly believe that we can’t sacrifice the future at the expense of the present. That is why the President’s American Jobs Act would include investments of $25 billion to renovate and modernize at least 35,000 of America’s public schools; $5 billion to upgrade infrastructure at America’s community colleges; and $30 billion to keep hundreds of thousands of educators in the classroom. Since coming into office, the Obama Administration has worked with Congress to provide critical funds that have saved or created nearly 400,000 education jobs.