Copyright 1999 Federal Document Clearing House, Inc.
Federal Document Clearing House Congressional Testimony
June 23, 1999
SECTION: CAPITOL HILL HEARING TESTIMONY
LENGTH: 1870 words
HEADLINE:
TESTIMONY June 23, 1999 BOB MCNAMARA DIRECTOR OF POLICY, PLANNING AND OPERATION
VERMONT DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION SENATE HEALTH, EDUCATION, LABOR
& PENSIONS ELEMENTARY & SECONDARY EDUCATION ACT REAUTHORIZATION
BODY:
TESTIMONY T'ITLE VI BOB McNAMARA DIRECTOR OF
POLICY, PLANNING, and OPERATIONS VERMONT DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION JUNE 23, 1999
Thank you for providing me with the opportunity to testify before the Senate
Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions regarding Title VI of the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act, Innovative Education Program Strategies.
Title VI has been an important part of Vermont's education reform strategy under
the current ESEA and it is important to Vermont educators that
the reauthorization maintain and strengthen the innovative education component
of the act. Why does innovation continue to be important? John Goodlad said, "We
do what we do better than we ever used to do it. The problem is that what we
used to do isn't what we need to do today. Times have changed." The innovations
supported through programs like Title VI and Goals 2000 are pointing the way to
what we need to do tomorrow. Two years ago, in response to the Vermont Supreme
Court finding our education system unconstitutional, the Equal Educational
Opportunity Act was passed into law after only five months of legislative work.
The Act completely transformed how funds are raised and distributed for pre K-
12 education and formalized a system of standards, assessments and
accountability already under development. While the funding side of the system
has been controversial, there has been solid support for the approach taken on
the "quality" side. The reason the legislature was able to move quickly was
because they decided to build the new "quality" system design on demonstrated
effective practices already in some (but not all) Vermont schools and districts.
Legislators asked the Department of Education, professional organizations,
business, social service, and higher ed partners to identify the practices that
were already working in Vermont schools. They learned that Vermont schools that
were making progress were involved in many of the same activities: establishing
local standards that meet or exceed state and national standards providing
focused early literacy assistance for children and their families who may need
extra help to succeed; using research-based classroom instructional materials
and supporting their effective use with meaningful professional development and
regular supervision and evaluation; assessing student performance against the
standards at the classroom and school level on a regular basis; using student
performance and other critical data to guide their actions and regularly
modifying those actions based on data; reporting the school's performance to
their community in engaging formats; offering genuine opportunities to all
students to be able to apply what they were learning, and; building local
partnerships with social service providers, parents, and community members to
address the social, emotional, and academic needs that extend beyond the
classroom and school. These characteristics are seen in effective schools in
other parts of the country. What is important to know in Vermont's situation is
that in virtually all cases, you could trace a path from these effective
practices to support from Title VI and/or Goals 2000. Equally important, you
could trace the path of the use of Title VI and Goals 2000 state department
allocations and the development of these practices locally. For us it turns out
that the state Title VI and Goals support provided the opportunity to stimulate,
encourage, and recognize and reward effective local best practices. A few
examples: The state department standards-based curriculum consultant funded
through Title VI provided training and technical assistance to schools on how to
develop standards- based units of study. Local Title VI and Goals 2000 funds
were used to support teacher teams to develop standards based units of study. As
a result of an EBM Reinventing Schools partnership these units and the tools
necessary to develop them are being made available at a website that every
Vermont teacher will be able to access. The state department uses Title VI funds
to hire respected classroom teachers to join the department as portfolio network
leaders. In this role they have worked in portfolio networks across the state to
model and teach other teachers how they can implement a system of standards and
assessments in their classrooms. Principals also participate in network training
to learn how to provide the instructional leadership necessary to support
standards-based classrooms. Locally Title VI funds are used to develop local
assessments that are aligned with the standards. State department staff
supported with Title VI designed a comprehensive assessment system which
included state and local components. Locally, Title VI and Goals funds are being
used to design the classroom and school components of the system. Each year a
'Using Data to Drive Change' conference highlights new state resources and
effective local practices in the use of state and local assessments to improve
instruction. The list goes on but the point I want to make is that the most
effective innovations come when state and local efforts are aligned and
encourage risk taking. Not all the innovations we have supported have worked as
well as we would have wanted. The approach we are taking is to learn from both
our successes and failures. We have learned that innovation is most effective
when it is focused and aligned at the state and local level. Innovation not for
innovations sake but to find ways for all students to meet or exceed the
standards. Our experience is that Title VI and Goals has supported the
innovation at the state and local levels that points us to the best practice of
the future. Why now? The last ESEA and Goals 2000
reauthorization required that states establish rigorous standards, develop
assessments that measure student progress towards meeting or exceeding the
standards, and focus accountability for all students meeting or exceeding the
standards. I am pleased to report to you that in Vermont this standards- based
approach has taking hold. We are genuinely moving toward fully implementing a
comprehensive system of standards. We are proud that this can happen even in a
small, rural state like ours: More than 85 community forums and the expertise of
hundreds of Vermont educators resulted in the Framework of Standards and
Learning Opportunities - Vermont's expectations for what students need to know
and be able to do to be successful in the 21st century. Our standards include
the academic fields of knowledge that are typical in all states but they also
include standards in areas such as communication problem solving and personal
and social responsibility. Vermont has established state performance-based
assessments in reading at grade two, English/Language Arts at grades four, eight
and ten, mathematics at grades four, eight and ten, and science at grades six
and eleven. We have a portfolio system in mathematics and writing that informs
day to day instructional practice across grade levels in many schools. In all
cases we have baseline data that is being disaggregated by race/ethnicity, Title
I Migrant, Special Ed, 504 and next year by social-economic status. We have
established 'School Quality Standards" based on the most critical resources,
conditions, and practices necessary for student to meet or exceed the standards.
We have data-driven action planning and public reporting in every school and
community in the state. We are aligning federal programs to support the action
plans and at the same time fulfill the congressional intent that guides the
funding. Focusing our efforts on high standards and measurable results has
required us to confront some significant challenges: One of four second graders
did not meet or exceed standards in reading - one of the strongest predictors of
future school success. Of additional concern is the significantly lower
performance of boys compared to girls. Vermont students do well in the basic
skills in mathematics and English/Language Arts but performance drops
significantly in problem solving and other higher order skills. Performance
decreases the higher you go in the grades. Turning these results around will not
be done by doing what we are doing bette r or doing it more often. It will take
a rethinking around what we teach, how we teach it, and how we deal with some of
greatest challenges in education today such as finding time and money and
providing professional development. We need the innovators to help point the way
to solutions to these problems. Competition or Formula Allocation? Should funds
be distributed based on a needs-based formula or through competitive grants? The
answer is yes and yes! It is critical to develop a careful balance between funds
that are available without competition and those available through competition.
Being competitive requires strong leadership, a clear vision, and good
communication skills. More and more schools and districts are becoming
competitive but many still are not and those least competitive are often the
schools and districts with students most in need. What is an adequate level of
state funding? It depends on what the state role should be. If all that is
required is basic administration to distribute funds and assure adherence to
law, five percent is adequate. The state-local partnership described earlier
requires at least 10% and sometimes more. In my opinion, the additional
state-level funds are a sound investment since a strong state role can encourage
recognition and dissemination of best practices and development of local
networks to advance practice. Sometimes a percentage of the total grant is not
the best way to determine the amount necessary for state administration and
technical assistance such as in the case on very small states. Examples of this
are in the development of comprehensive information systems where the work of
design and implementation are similar whether you have 10,000 or I million
students. In a small state like Vermont with small school districts, schools and
districts often expect the department to serve in more direct services such as
curriculum development and action planning. It is necessary for the department
to take on these roles since there are no other sources available.
Recommendations: Continue to have resources that support innovation in the
reauthorized ESEA such as those currently available in Title VI
and Goals. Consider merging Title VI and Goals into a single program that
includes both formula funds and competitive grants. Focus the use of these
resources on building and sharing innovations that address roadblocks to school
reform. Envision the program as the local research arm of educational reform.
Define a clear, strong state role for the merged Title VI and Goals and provide
adequate funds for state education agencies to fulfill their responsibilities.
Thanks for the opportunity to address you today and best wishes as you strive to
build the strongest ESEA reauthorization possible on behalf of
America's children. Bob McNamara Director of Policy, Planning and Operations
Vermont Department of Education June 23, 1999
LOAD-DATE: June 29, 1999 
