Same Monkeys At the Wheel
“People who say, 'Let the chips fall where they may,' usually figure they will not be hit by a chip.”
― Bernard Williams
You walk outside your house and see a monkey driving erratically in a blue car. You know, he's smashing into things, driving over curbs, starting and stopping, the whole bad driver routine, really making you fear for your life.
The next day you walk out and see that same monkey getting into a yellow car, would you assume that monkey would be any better a driver just because they were in a yellow car instead of a blue car?
Or would you realize, the color of the car ain't the problem, it's the monkey driving? In both cases, it's the same monkey.
In Tennessee education policy circles, we tend to grasp onto the former and only acknowledge the latter after the monkey's split town.
After four disastrous years at the helm of Tennessee's Department of Education (TDOE) Penny Schwinn chose to peace out and explore the private sector, which is by all accounts quite lucrative.
Schwinn didn't have any concrete jobs lined up prior to her departure, but she did have an LLC and a dream. I'm sure she figured enough people owed her favors, so it'd all work out. And to date, she's been right.
She's picked up a couple fellowships with the Walton Group and FutureEd. She also landed a nice gig with the University of Florida, as the vice president for pre-kindergarten through 12th grade outreach in a role that aims to create pathways to careers and higher education. A job that lets her work remotely from the comfy confines of her $1.83 million house in South Nashville while pulling in nearly $400K.
Interestingly enough, where it was once considered highly inappropriate to discuss Schwinn's inability to be forthcoming, it's now open season. From the statehouse to the newsroom, with a couple stops in the boardroom, it's out in the open - the former state education commissioner was not on a first-name basis with the truth.
Her replacement, Lizzette Gonzales Reynolds, comes from the same fertile soil where Schwinn was plucked, the Jeb Bush non-profit world, and the Texas Department of Education.
She's by all accounts a policy wonk who has never been the face of an organization. The perfect candidate for the job of state education commissioner, where three-quarters of the job is pressing the flesh.
But everyone appears ready to overlook that because...well...she's not Schwinn. In fact, that appears to be Reynold's primary qualification. But don't worry Lizzette, we won't talk about you until you're gone.
The advance notice on Reynolds was that she was an "Implementation specialist".
“Implementation is kind of my sweet spot,” Reynolds told ChalkbeatTN. “When I was chief deputy commissioner in Texas, that’s what I did.”
Schwinn was the idea girl, and now we were getting the nuts and bolts girl. Except that since her arrival, it's been mostly nuts with few bolts in place.
Yesterday, at the unveiling of the new accountability formula, Tennesseans got a glimpse into how Reynolds envisions the future, and shockingly it's through a different lens than most Tennesseans.
Let's backtrack for a moment before we move forward. Back in 2016, state legislators, likely at the prompting of ExcelinEd and Chiefs for Change, decided what Tennessee parents really needed was a letter grade for their children's schools. The reason given was that parents were having trouble perceiving if their schools were good or bad, and it was up to the state government to serve as a de facto Consumer Reports for Schools.
Let me throw a caveat in here, I'm not looking to disparage any legislators. I've spent a fair amount of time talking with people on both sides of the aisle over the last decade.
They are, for the most part, not dastardly villains drawn straight from the pages of a Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoon. Rather, they are like the rest of us, trying to simplify an extremely complex endeavor while also trying to simplify a dozen other complex endeavors.
Those of us who are active in education advocacy tend to forget the rest of the world doesn't immerse themselves nearly as deeply as we do. Grace, remember grace.
In response to the new law, the TDOE spent the next two years engaging stakeholders in an effort to design a grading system that served schools, as opposed to dictating the schools. The formula that emerged was complex, it favored growth over achievement, and more importantly, it gave every school the opportunity to score an "A". That was equally important.
Nakia Towns, the state's assistant commissioner of data and research at the time, told a community meeting in Chattanooga, that each school's grade would account for how students performed overall and would further disaggregate the data to account for subgroups such as race, socioeconomic status and students with disabilities.
An important element of the formula was the inclusion of Annual Measurements of Achievement (AMO) in calculating achievement weights. The TDOE would calculate AMOs annually using a district's current achievement level, as measured by the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP). AMOs would be based on an expectation that schools and districts will decrease by half the percentage of students whose performance does not meet the standard over the course of eight years. If the school reaches that objective, it is rewarded with a higher rating score.
Yes, AMOs are rooted in growth, but only to the extent they lead to increased achievement.
In fact, the whole formula developed by the TDOE focused on fostering achievement. The department looked at elements like English Language Learners' growth and attendance and included them in the grading formula - recognizing their contribution to ultimately higher levels of achievement. In essence, plotting a pathway to success.
"We've got to do a better job of setting our students up for success on these pathways that lead to success and workforce readiness," Tennessee Education Commissioner Candice McQueen said at the time.
Unfortunately, or blessedly for some, testing issues and a pandemic prevented grades using that formula from ever being released.
Now don't fall into the trap of thinking, that just because they weren't released they weren't calculated. Oh yes, they were, and Schwinn and her Bush-world bosses, including Reynolds, noticed something.
There were a lot of schools getting "As". That's a problem. It's hard to argue choice when by all measurements the current choice is pretty good. Coke found that out when they tried to change the formula of Coca-Cola.
There is a quote from Coca-Cola president Donald Keough that seems relevant to this conversation.
“The simple fact is that all the time and money and skill poured into consumer research on the new Coca-Cola could not measure or reveal the deep and abiding emotional attachment to original Coca-Cola felt by so many people,” Keough admitted in reversing his decision.
But I'm getting ahead of myself.
Reynolds and company apparently feel such a binding commitment to parents, that they couldn't abide a formula that may potentially mislead and misinform.
Like any parent, is going to go to a school and get pissed because it's only a "B" when Reynolds promised it was an "A". Once again bureaucrats reveal their overinflated sense of importance, by assigning themselves the role of primary arbitrator.
Reynolds immediately upon arriving in Tennessee pursued the objective of changing the grading formula, while promising to release grades for the first time ever in November. Which, ironically has now become December, but what's a timeline in the government world? More on that in a minute.
Though I must interject here. My middle school son regularly gets in trouble for not completing assignments in a timely fashion. Last night he asked me, "Why do they care if you get them done on their timeline? Shouldn't it be enough to just get them completed?"
A sentiment apparently shared by Tennessee's Commissioner of Education.
I've said it once, and I'll say it 100 times if you want to do something without doing something, conduct a poll, hold listening sessions, or convene a working group. Everybody will think you care, without you having to actually care. Works every time.
Reynolds did all three but didn't bother showing up at most of the gatherings, likely because she had a plane to catch back to Texas to watch some Friday Night Lights. Her family still remains there while she occasionally visits the Volunteer State. Is anybody noticing a pattern?
The good news is that all those meetings, along with emailed comments, are readily available for review. If you take the time to review, you'll find some common themes emerge.
People like the AMOs.
Roger A. Walk, Supervisor of Instruction for Johnson City Schools, in a comment emailed to the TDOE,
"In regards to the school letter grades, and recognizing the influence of the effects of poverty on student achievement, we think the current protocol for school accountability, while complicated, does provide a dual pathway for achievement through the absolute pathway and the AMO annual measurable objective. By using the best of two pathways, schools that cannot meet the absolute pathway performance are able to be recognized in that component through making incremental improvements by increasing the percent meeting the success rate.”
They like the favoring growth over pure achievement,
At the final meeting of the working group on October 20th, Eddie Pruett, Gibson County Special School District director, expressed that to Reynolds.
“Really almost everybody says growth has to be a component, has to be an important component equal to or more than achievement just because of the ability for any school to get a good score from growth. It measures the impact of what your teachers are doing,” said Pruett.
Leading up to the release of the final formula, Reynolds had frequently said that AMOs would not be a part of the final formula.
In a meeting with working group members, she told them, that schools have used AMOs to cover up low achievement scores for too long, and it's time to end the practice.
At the final working group meeting she told members, "What I envision when this is put into practice is three factors - achievement, growth, and other indicators. Achievement will be based on achievement, no best of.”
That didn't sit well with Pruett. He respectfully asked to go on record as believing that the group's conversation had been limited by Reynolds's statements that took the inclusion of AMOs off the table. In his opinion, this limitation prevented the working group from fulfilling their supposed assigned purpose.
Reynolds quickly rejected his claim. “If you want to talk about the inclusion of AMOs in achievement, I can't prevent that. Have at it," she responded. "But I have been very clear in discussions with all of you. When I'm talking about achievement, achievement is achievement.”
Later, she chided the school director, by saying, "Ah, now Eddie's mad at me."
I don't if Pruitt is mad or not, but to my eyes, that was a friendly reminder of just who's in charge. Which may be a serious miscalculation
Arguably that exchange served to reveal the true Reynolds. Gone was the kindly quirky senior policy wonk, replaced by a career bureaucrat who didn't suffer being challenged.
It's a performance she allegedly repeated yesterday with reporters. She should call former MNPS Superintendent Shawn Joseph and ask him how that strategy worked for him.
Working group members, who are presumably quite busy, devoted several hours of their time under the assumption that their recommendations might actually be considered. As to why they thought that I'm at a loss to explain.
Nonetheless, that assumption was proven false when the commission revealed the new formula at yesterday's State Board of Education workshop.
In case you are wondering, the A-F grading formula was heard in a workshop session because it requires no action from the State Board of Education. Despite supposedly being the governing body of education policy in Tennessee, they got as much say on this one as you and I.
The formula Reynolds revealed is a simple one.
The Tennessean does a decent job of laying it out:
Elementary schools
Achievement: 50%
Growth: 40%
Subgroup (lowest 25%): 10%
Middle schools
Achievement: 50%
Growth: 40%
Subgroup (lowest 25%): 10%
High schools
Achievement: 50%
Growth: 30%
Subgroup (lowest 25%): 10%
College and career readiness: 10%
Each indicator will receive a sub-score of 1-5, which will then be multiplied by assigned weights to calculate the aggregate score. That aggregate will then be translated into a letter grade. The number scores will work as follows:
A: 4.5-5
B: 3.6-4.5
C: 2.6-3.5
D: 1.6-2.5
F: 1-1.5
How do I feel about it?
I'm still deciding.
But, here's the thing, in one fell swoop, Reynolds reduced the entire measurement of students, teachers, and schools to one test. Let me say it again, schools, students, and teachers will be judged by one test. A test that half time the state can't even administer properly.
Apparently, that was intentional.
“This version is recalibrating that balance point and is going to say more about where the kids are in those schools right now,” said David Laird, assistant commissioner of assessment and accountability in the education department. “It is less of a referendum on maybe what the school’s impact has been, but it’s more clearly articulating their challenges right now.”
Maybe you are good with that. Are you also good with your community being judged by potential investors on one test? Because it will be.
Professional educator, and former Haywood Schools Superintendent, Joey Hassell said it best, “An A-F school grade based heavily on achievement will continue to drive the narrative around failing schools. Achievement alone does not paint a complete picture. Flat achievement scores will result in fewer families as well as future business/industry partners investing in communities, and we will see a decrease in support of community schools which will decrease opportunities for community and workforce development.”
Reynolds bristled when the idea of promoting school choice through the issuance of school letter grades. Unfortunately, her rebuttal contained a little Freudian slip.
The TDOE was asked if there were any financial implications related to the new A-F model. The commissioner said the quiet part out loud..." no, as long as you keep your kids".
Odd...not sure where she suspects they'll go, though luckily State Representative Mark White (R-Memphis) has a plan. He couldn't help but let it slip that he plans on submitting legislation to expand vouchers universally.
“I think it’s time,” White told The Tennessean in an interview. “It just baffles me that we are pro-choice on so many things, but we still struggle with freedom of choice when it comes to schools.”
I think what you have here is a petulant and impatient Governor who realizes his time in office is dwindling, along with his influence, so he calls up his chief water boy to tote one last cooler.
The announcement makes my head hurt. Not because I believe it likely that his legislation will pass - it is an election year, and many rural state reps have a tight relationship with the local public school district - but rather, because I'm not sure I can take another year of rehashing the same old arguments, again.
New arguments will be as scarce as Georgia fans at a Tennessee/Alabama football game.
This is especially baffling when TISA, the state's new school funding model, provides an opportunity to spread school choice in a much more efficient manner. But hey, hopefully, nobody catches that anytime soon.
It's worth noting as well that White is proposing an expansion to a program that still relies on carrier pigeons and the Pony Express for enrollment.
"No applications will be accepted via email. Currently, all 2023-24 submissions and documents must be mailed to the department or given to an ESA Team member at an in-person event. The department is currently contracting for a secure, online system for the ESA program. In the future, families will use the online system for application and for approved educational expenses."
Maybe White could ask why "contracting for a secure, online system for the ESA program" is taking so long.
Back to the subject, of the school letter grades. For months now, Reynolds has been promising to deliver grades in November. Now the department is saying grades will be released in mid-December. Lizzette and Posse say they need more time to verify data going into the grades.
WTF?!?
Which takes us back to that one test thing. Everything in the formula is calculated based on one test. They've had data from that test since last April. They've released it in various forms over the last several months. Everybody should be pretty well-versed in the data at this point.
With this formula being proposed, I am pretty sure the department has run numerous simulations to ensure that it portrays the narrative they are pursuing.
Now they need more time? For what?
There is nothing like releasing something amid the holiday season. A mid-December ensures that few parents will actually read it, and if they do, what use is to them?
Are they suddenly going to switch schools mid-year? Nothing says commitment to parents like telling them their school sucks while simultaneously demanding they finish the year there.
Maybe they'll storm the gates at Central Office demanding change?
Will they suddenly love the school they hate, because their fellow classmates can navigate a standardized test?
Or will they shrug, drink some more eggnog, and open more presents?
My biggest question, which continually goes unanswered, is who's footing the bill? Listening tours, surveys, and focus groups have a cost, who's paying for it?
I suspect you know the answer, so how about a little confirmation.
Last Thursday a judge in Texas issued an injection against the Texas Education Association (TEA), which is attempting a similar revision to their school grading formula.
Travis County District Judge Catherine Mauzy issued a temporary injunction stopping the agency from making grades public, and agreeing with dozens of school districts across the state that TEA’s recent changes to the A-F accountability system “violate Texas law and would cause irreparable harm” to schools.
As reported by The Austin Chronicle, the districts asked for a permanent injunction to stop the release of the grades, saying that State Education Commissioner Mike Morath broke the law when he announced he was conducting an “accountability refresh,” which would change the formula used to calculate the grades but did not – as required by Texas law – specify what that formula would be."
Nobody does lawsuits like the Lee administration...so what's one more.
- - -
Time to rattle the cup a little bit before I head out the door.
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