Global Strategies

Four questions for Linda Darling-Hammond

At the meeting of the Oregon Education Investment Board on Tuesday, 7/10/12, as Linda Darling-Hammond was introduced to speak to the Board, it was announced that she would be a consultant to be Board over a period of time. I’ve four question for her after more info on who she is.

She is a national education leader. From Wikipedia (here):

Linda Darling-Hammond is the Charles E. Ducommun Professor of Education at the Stanford University School of Education, where she launched the School Redesign Network, the Stanford Educational Leadership Institute, and the Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education. Darling-Hammond is author or editor of more than a dozen books and more than 300 articles on education policy and practice. Her work focuses on school restructuring, teacher education, and educational equity. She was education advisor to Barack Obama's presidential campaign and was reportedly among candidates for Secretary of Education in the Obama administration.

Her most recent book (2010) is The Flat World and Education: How America’s Commitment to Equity Will Determine Our Future. Stanford University’s School of Education gives the following promotion (here):

Today, in the U.S., only 1 in 10 low-income kindergarteners goes on to graduate from college and, at a time when education matters more than ever, the U.S. high school graduation rate (currently 70 percent) has dropped from first in the world to the bottom half of rankings for comparable nations. While such sobering facts inform a new book by Stanford University education professor and SCOPE Co-Director and SRN Founding Director Linda Darling-Hammond, it is the successes of effective school systems in the U.S. and abroad that she focuses on to develop a clear and coherent set of policies that can be used to create high-quality and equitable schools.

In this eagerly awaited book, The Flat World and Education: How America's Commitment to Equity Will Determine Our Future, Darling-Hammond looks at the roots of our modern education system and how the skills required for our 21st century global economy can not be learned in traditional education systems, which have been in place since the early 1900s when the majority of students were expected to become factory workers. Darling-Hammond identifies an “opportunity gap” that has evolved as new kinds of learning have become necessary - a gap where low-income students, students of color, and English language learners often do not have the same access as others to qualified teachers, high-quality curriculum, and well-resourced classrooms.

After setting the stage on current conditions in the U.S., Darling-Hammond offers a coherent approach for effective reform, focusing on creating successful systems, inducting and supporting quality teachers, designing effective schools, establishing strong professional practice, and providing equitable and sufficient resources.

Darling-Hammond focuses a lot on teacher preparation and reducing educational inequities. Both are important sets of issues, but I could not find online links to her works for the following topics: foreign language, immersion programs, high school study abroad, or online education. These are all topics of major concern on this blog. So I have the following questions for Linda Darling-Hammond:

(1)   With the rise of China as a prime example, the global economic and national security environment into which students will graduate from high school is changing dramatically. Oregon has no statewide minimum foreign language requirement. Do you think Oregon needs to boost the study of foreign languages in its K-12 system? If so, how and what languages?

(2)   Your writings put much emphasis on teacher preparation. But if, like Utah, Oregon wanted to expand significantly foreign language immersion programs, neither the current K-12 teachers in Oregon schools nor those coming out of Oregon schools of education would have the necessary bilingual teaching skills. If Oregon wanted all its students to graduate bilingual from high school, how would we get the needed teachers and what should we do with our schools of education?

(3)   Oregon’s economic future is, to some degree, tied to how well we can sell our future goods and services abroad. Both learning foreign languages and spending time in foreign markets could develop the foreign marketing skills needed in our next generations. We could, through existing study abroad organizations, pay for a high school year abroad for appropriate students. It need cost on a per student basis no more than a year in a high school district in Oregon. Should Oregon, or its component school districts, pay for high school years abroad?

(4)   Online education offers the potential both to expand learning opportunities and to cut educational costs. Do you agree that online education can reduce educational costs. If so, how?

RAND to study PPS immersion programs

From the Oregonian article “RAND Corp. to partner with Portland Public Schools for dual-language immersion study” by Nicole Dungca (here):

The RAND Corp., a nonprofit think tank, will study the effects of dual-language immersion on student achievement in Portland Public Schools with a three-year, $1.7 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences……

From the funding agency, the Institute of Education Sciences (here):

Purpose: Dual-language immersion programs seek to help the growing number of language minority students learn English and achieve academically, while giving language majority students the opportunity to develop proficiency in another language. These programs differ fundamentally from traditional foreign language programs in two important ways: 1) teachers deliver regular curricular content through a "partner language" (such as Spanish or Russian), but do not generally teach the partner language directly; and 2) students receive instruction in the partner language as early as kindergarten and may continue to receive language instruction through high school. While the primary goal of dual language immersion programs is for students to learn a second language, these programs have potential to improve student achievement across curricular areas. The researchers will examine the effect of the Portland Public Schools' (PPS) dual-language immersion programs on student achievement in English, mathematics, and science, and on student engagement as measured through student attendance and behavior.

And:

Intervention: Portland Public Schools operates ten dual-language immersion programs�seven in Spanish, and one each in Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, and Russian. Slots in the district's language immersion program are allocated to applicants through a stratified random-assignment lottery system. For the Russian and six of the Spanish programs, up to half of the slots are reserved for native speakers of the language and the remaining slots are for native English speakers (both types are selected by lottery). The other three programs cater primarily to native English speakers. From kindergarten through grade 12, immersion students receive at least half of their content-area instruction (e.g., math, science, social studies, etc.) in the target program language.

Videos: China's efforts to reduce carbon emissions from coal power plants

The NW coal export issue continues to evolve (see previous post here and the latest on BlueOregon here). Portland mayoral candidate Jefferson Smith issued the above video. As background context on the China component of the coal export issue, the following two video talk of China’s effort to deal with carbon emissions from coal plants.

"All Eyes East: Lessons from the Front Lines of Marketing to China's Youth"

Last night, Mary Bergstrom and Nick Barham had a conversation about China’s youth cultures before a NW China Council and World Affairs Council audience at the White Stag Building in Portland . Barham is Global Director of Wieden + Kennedy Tomorrow and Bergstrom has marketing business based in Shanghai (here). Barham largely interviewed Bergstrom about her recent book All Eyes East: Lessons from the Front Lines of Marketing to China's Youth.

I was surprised by the emphasis the Chinese put on identification and self-identification by decades.

From a YPulse article (here):

We checked in with Mary Bergstrom, author of the new book “All Eyes East: Lessons from the Front Lines of Marketing to China’s Youth” which is the first to focus on this powerful demographic. As she puts it, “born under the one-child policy into a newly opened economy, Chinese youth are consumer pioneers almost by birthright.” We asked her to explain Chinese generational theory, the different segments of Chinese youth, and the challenges of marketing to them.

Ypulse: While we’re used to viewing U.S. generations based on 20 year segments, your analysis of Chinese youth identifies generations by birth decade. Can you help us understand why?

Mary Bergstrom: Countries all over the world categorize generations in their own way. China takes a pragmatic approach by assigning generations every ten years. This complements the pace of progress in China. Since opening up, rapid changes in what is available and what is expected are continuously leading to new attitudes and behaviors. These are the hallmarks that separate generations and, while they have been defined in ten year chunks, a case could also be made for even shorter time frames.

YP: Your book points to an intense inter-generational feud. What’s driving the rivalry between generations?

MB: The feud between the post-80s and post-90s generations has been so interesting to watch. The rivalry emerged because each group was eager to align with something larger than themselves, and at the same time, be for or against something. These urges found their voice in public (yet anonymous) video criticisms of each other. The feud attracted a larger audience when the earthquake tragedy dramatized the difference between the two groups.

While illustrating differences between the generations is common, it can become dangerous ground for brands to tread. Chinese youth move quickly, using generational labels as short-hand to make sense of their audience. When Li Ning (a domestic sports brand) targeted the post-90s blatantly, the brand suffered a backlash from post-80s fans. When McDonald’s and GM spoke empathetically (but not overtly) to the post-80s, they demonstrated how a brand could create a dialogue and demonstrate its inspirational understanding of consumers’ aspirations and stressors. Their success was in giving back.....

Oregon Education Investment Board's "Return-on-Investment-Dashboard"

Tuesday afternoon the Governors’s Oregon Education Investment Board met at Portland State University’s University Place. Governor Kitzhaber was not there. Rudy Crew, Oregon’s new chief education officer, was there. I was there for the first half of the meeting. As usual, there was no discussion of expanding foreign language immersion programs or sending more students, both high school and college, to study abroad. Much of the agenda was the flotsam of old ideas and issues. One new item was a presentation by Patrick Kelly (here) of the National Center for Higher Education Management System (here) of the “Return-On-Investment Dashboard” (see photo of “Oregon Education Return on Investment Model”), which is an interactive simulation model to forecast the outcomes of various educational investments. Eventually, the interactive model will be online at the OEIB websites (here) for public interaction.

At the top (see photo) are three categories of inputs which an be manipulated and changed. Those categories are “K-12 Pipeline,” “College Participation Rates,” and “College throughput Rates.” As one or more of those rates is changed, presumably by public investments, the outputs at the bottom of the chart change. Those output charts are “Additional Credentials Awarded,” “Additional State Revenue Generated by 2025,” and Annual Investment vs. Return Through 2025.”

The National Center for Higher Education Management System already has online an interactive chart for “Calculating the Economic Value of Increasing College Credentials by 2025 – Oregon” (here).

I hope, as the OEIB puts the “Return-On-Investment Dashboard” online, that they will also put online a written narrative or explanation of the assumptions, formulas and algorithms used to make the calculations for the model. Without a rigorous review and discussion of the methods behind those calculations, the output of the model is almost worthless.

“Study Abroad, Graduate on Time”

Study abroad could improve college graduation rates. From the Inside Higher Ed article “Study Abroad, Graduate on Time” by Elizabeth Redden (here):

….. At the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, for example, institutional research shows that 64.5 percent of students who study abroad graduate in four years, compared to 41 percent of students who don’t; at the five-year mark the numbers increase to 90 percent for participants, and 58.6 percent for nonparticipants. At the University of California at San Diego, five-year graduation rates are 92 percent for study abroad participants, and 78 percent for non- participants. Higher graduation rates for students who study abroad can be observed across a wide variety of variables, including race, gender, major, first-generation status, parental income, SAT score, and grade-point average…..

And

…. Furthermore, a recent study by Heather Barclay Hamir at the University of Texas at Austin found that the effect of study abroad was particularly pronounced among students with lower freshman G.P.A.s: students with a 2.0 who studied abroad were 30 percent more likely to graduate in four years than nonparticipants, and 45 percent more likely to graduate in five years. Hamir, the director of study abroad at UT Austin, said the finding has led her to broaden study abroad options for academically at-risk students, identifying four semesterlong programs that will accept students with a 2.0 GPA rather than the previous minimum, a 2.5…..

Singing "Our schools need more money" blues

Even as the PPS Board reconsidered its facility options, complacency and blindness to global realities anchored their deliberations.

They came. The Portland Public Schools Board held a hearing on its proposed $482 million facilities bond measure (down from the $548 million proposal that lost in May, 2011). Leaders of Portland’s political culture came, educational advocates all. The hearing was more a tribal pep rally than one last discussion of the bond proposals. Of the approximately thirty people who testified, only one opposed the bond measure.

They spoke their mantras. They spoke about how they care for the kids. Many spoke of their desire for 21^st century facilities and educational programs. Some mentioned more information technology in classrooms. None mentioned the need for more Mandarin immersion programs. None mentioned the need to send high school student abroad for a year of high school in emerging global markets. None spoke of moving learning out of high schools with more independent online course offerings. Not the two candidates for mayor, Hales and Smith. Not a one of the three state legislators: Dembrow, Frederick, and Keny-Guyer. Not the city commissioner: Fish. Not the city commissioner elected: Novick. Not the Chair of the Multnomah County Commission: Cogen. All played it safe and sang with the choir. Their constituents were listening. Schools need more funding. Forget change. Stay in everyone comfort zone. Ignore changing global economic and national security needs. Don’t step outside the “localism” of Portland’s political culture. Go along, get along. Sad. And not what Portland needs in this historic, transformational period.

The PPS Board will send the bond measure for a vote in November. Its $482 million is $66 million (12%) less than the May, 2011, proposal of $548. It is more focused in its spending and spread out over more years. But it does continue to enable an outdated, inadequate for the current global economy, and inefficient (no cost savings from online offerings) educational system.

I’d give it a much better than 50%/50% chance of passing, unfortunately. Even as the PPS Board reconsidered its facility options, complacency and blindness to global realities anchored their deliberations.

Just say "no" to PPS facilities bond measure

"Sometimes, as Portland voters have found, the best way to make something better for the long haul is to do the unthinkable, and say no." - Oregonian Editorial Board

I’ve failed again. Portland Public Schools is going ahead with a facilities bond levy proposal (here) without making any changes in their educational programs. They have rejected my proposals to expand Mandarin immersion programs, to create a high school study abroad program, and to expand aggressively low-cost online courses (they have expanded higher cost, teacher intensive online courses instead). They continue to operate an educational program that is outdated, inadequate and inefficient. They are well aware of my proposals from many emails to them and my appearances at Board meeting with my placards. They just do not want these changes.

To make matters worse, the Oregonian Editorial Board as well has ignored my pleas for adding these three components to PPS offerings. But in their editorial praising both the community process and a reconfigured facilities bond level proposal, “Portland Public Schools bonds: An ‘anti-schools’ vote with pro-choice consequences,” they give the rationale for continuing to oppose the bond levy and voting no (here):

Voters in Portland and other left-leaning parts of Oregon tend to be more receptive to higher taxes to support schools, libraries, the arts and other public endeavors. This isn't a bad thing -- except when it translates to inadequate public scrutiny of nice-sounding, half-baked and costly ideas. Sometimes, as Portland voters have found, the best way to make something better for the long haul is to do the unthinkable, and say no.

Until PPS has a 21^st century educational program with expanded immersion opportunities in 21^st century strategic languages and paid opportunities for high school study abroad in strategic countries, voter should just say no. Until PPS reduces costs and expands learning opportunities with many lower cost online classes, voter should just say no.

The Oregonian also published a guest column “Portland Public Schools bond deserves our support to modernize facilities” by Stuart Emmons and Rita Moore. While they do support the facilities bond proposal, they also say (here):

And, as important as our school buildings are, what parents, students and the public really care about is what happens inside them. The strategic plan for facilities must be linked to a strategic plan for education. Living and working in the 21st century will require higher-level skills in critical thinking, creativity, entrepreneurialism and technology. PPS should articulate how improved facilities and enhanced community partnerships will promote significant improvements in educational outcomes for all students and bolster economic growth.

Yes, PPS needs a “strategic plan for education” beyond what they now have, a plan that deals with the real economic and national security environment our next generations will encounter.

"Is an India-China arms race brewing?"

From the video by Al Jazeera English, starting at 1 minute, 35 seconds:

Both China’s and India’s governments have recently increased their defense spending. China says it is to increase it defense spending by 11.2% this year to almost $110 billion. It wants to double that amount by 2015. China’s official defense budget is the second largest in the world after the United States, but it’s actual spending, according to foreign experts, may be as much as 50% higher because China doesn’t account for its expenditures on nuclear developments and other programs, such as space.

India’s military power pales in comparison, yet it, too, is significantly increasing spending on defense. The 2012 Indian defense budget was set at $36 billion, an 11.6% rise on the previous year, but still less than half of that of China. And globally, India has the 10^th largest defense budget on the planet. 51% of India’s expenditure is spend on maintaining India’s considerable land army of over a million men.

Russia to increase coal production

The above chart "World coal production forecast" comes from the report "Coal future of China and the World" (here) by a student team at Uppsala University.  While the chart forecasts declining coal production in most countries, note the rise, a significant increase, of coal production in Russia.

From the Rueters article "Putin pledges billions for Russian coal sector boost" (1/24/12, here):

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, standing for election in a March presidential poll, pledged $8 billion in development aid for the coal industry during a visit to a major mining region, a hotbed of political protest in the past.

He said Russia will spend 252 billion roubles ($8.17 billion) on coal industry development by 2030 as part of an overall 3.7 trillion rouble investment programme that will be driven by the private sector.

"The overall development of the economy, honourable colleagues, and the increased effectiveness of the coal sector...allows us to draw up such large scale plans," the prime minister said.

The Kuznetsk Basin (Kuzbass) is Russia's largest coal producing region, mining 192 million tonnes in 2011, or 57 percent of Russia's total output of 336 million tonnes.

And:

Putin also said that Russia should boost coal exports to Asia, where demand is surging.

"We need not only to maintain our market position, but also expand it, particularly in the promising markets of the Asia-Pacific region.

Russia, the world's third largest coal exporter, has opened or expanded a number of Far Eastern ports recently including SUEK's Vanino and Mechel's Posyet.

Russia also has a number of new projects in the works to supply this market, such as Mechel's Elga mine in the Sakha Republic as well as a series of undeveloped properties in the southern Siberian Republic of Tuva.