Comparing the Presidential Candidates: Education

Florida has spent much of the past decade debating the best way to improve its public schools. Parents, teachers and students have grappled each year with the high-stakes Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test and then waited anxiously to find out their school grades. Meanwhile, in Tallahassee, groups have fought in the Legislature and in the Supreme Court about whether taxpayers should help pay for children to attend private schools.

Presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama take different approaches to reforming schools in Florida and other states. Tallahassee Bureau Chief Jim Saunders looks at the candidates' positions on issues in the third of a series appearing each Monday until the election.

Sen. John McCain

The Republican nominee supports expanding the use of school vouchers and charter schools.

He says parents should have more choices about where their children attend school and specifically calls for expanding a Washington, D.C., voucher program that serves low-income families.

McCain wants to offer bonuses to high-performing teachers who agree to work in troubled schools.

He also calls for more "alternative certification" -- which allows people with backgrounds in other fields to become teachers.

The Arizona senator also wants to use federal tax money to expand online courses for students.

QUOTE: "Education is the civil-rights issue of this century. Equal access to public education has been gained. But what is the value of access to a failing school?" (Sept. 4 in St. Paul, Minn.)

Sen. Barack Obama

The Democratic nominee calls for overhauling the federal No Child Left Behind Act. He says the education-reform effort has not received adequate funding, and he wants to improve tests used to evaluate students.

Obama proposes new college scholarships for people who agree to teach at least four years in high-demand fields, such as math and science, or in places that need teachers. He also wants extra pay for teachers who take on responsibilities such as mentoring new teachers.

The Illinois senator supports charter schools, but wants states to improve accountability for the schools' performances. Obama opposes vouchers.

The Redskins were about to lose to a previously winless opponent, as Avery's 43-yard reception put the Rams within range for a game-winning kick in the final minute of regulation yesterday, silencing 90,376 fans at FedEx Field and snapping Washington's four-game winning streak. The Redskins had just scored a touchdown to take the lead, seemingly overcoming a flurry of turnovers and mistakes; but this, the final breakdown of a sloppy outing, negated that.

All eyes were on Torrence (who left the locker room without speaking to reporters), his mistake impossible to miss, though in reality he was one of several defenders -- in particular, rookie safeties Kareem Moore and Chris Horton -- who did poorly on the sequence. Defensive coordinator Greg Blache, who called more blitzes Sunday than he had all season, had the team in a dime package (six defensive backs), wanting Moore and Horton to attack quarterback Marc Bulger on this third-and-13 play from the St. Louis 41. They never came close to reaching him, the one-time Pro Bowl passer had too much time to deliver the football and Avery had ample opportunity to slip free of Torrence long enough to haul it in.

"The bottom line in our business is you either make a play, or you don't make a play," Blache said. "There's no half-pregnants; you're either pregnant or you're not. . . . We didn't make the play, and it's not just Leigh. Leigh should have had help. The ball should have had to come out sooner."

For the first time all season, Blache called an aggressive game in the mold of Gregg Williams, his predecessor, regularly bringing corners and safeties. Washington has lacked a strong pass rush and this game plan involved heavy pressure, particularly on third down, with the Rams' offensive line in flux (tackle Orlando Pace was hurt during the game), and the Redskins believing they could overload the edges and hurry Bulger. They registered two sacks and stifled St. Louis for much of the day, but got burned on this exchange, the Rams' only play over 15 yards.

Concern for UK's education standing

A group of leading universities has warned that without increased investment, the UK could face losing its standing as a world leader for higher education.

It came as new Times Higher Education-QS World University Rankings revealed Cambridge and Oxford have slipped down the table to third and fourth place respectively.

The Russell Group, which represents 20 research-intensive universities, said there was increasing global competition from other nations who were investing more money in higher education than the UK.

Dr Wendy Piatt, director general of the Russell Group, said while they had reservations about the use and accuracy of "league tables" the group was pleased that their universities were continuing to perform well against major global competitors.

But she added: "We are very concerned about our ability to sustain this level of success in the face of fierce global competition.

"The table reflects the growing strength of our major competitors - particularly the US institutions - who benefit from much higher levels of investment than UK universities."

She added increased competition was not just from the US.

"As a result of huge investment in higher education and science in recent years, China already looks set to overtake the UK very soon in terms of total research publications, and its universities have been steadily climbing up international league tables," she said.

Funding is also increasing rapidly in India, the Middle East, Brazil and Australia while France and Germany are undertaking major programmes to pump millions of Euros into their leading research universities, with the aim of improving their international standing.

Education

Funding to add fellowship program for science and math teachers

Supplemental National Science Foundation funding will expand the already successful Robert Noyce Scholarship program at the IU School of Education at IUPUI to establish the Noyce Teaching Fellowship. Three Noyce Scholars will be named Noyce Fellows and will receive additional scholarship money to complete work toward an M.S. degree in secondary education.

Indiana Superintendent candidates facing off in two debates presented by IU School of Education organizations

The candidates for the Indiana State Superintendent of Public Instruction will face off twice in five days during debates presented by organizations of the Indiana University School of Education. Republican Tony Bennett and Democrat Richard Wood will answer questions from audience members and members of the media in each respective debate.

Collins receives 2008 IU School of Continuing Studies Distinguished Alumni Award

Lori Collins of Russiaville, Ind., has received the 2008 Distinguished Alumni Award from the Indiana University School of Continuing Studies Alumni Association. Full

Filmmaker behind documentary critically comparing U.S. and foreign education to appear at IU

Robert Compton, executive producer of "Two Million Minutes," a provocative documentary about global education, will show the film and participate in a discussion at Indiana University Bloomington's Willkie Auditorium on Monday, Sept. 15, at 5 p.m. Compton will discuss the film with Yong Zhao, Michigan State University Distinguished Professor and director of the U.S.-China Center for Research on Educational Excellence.

IU High School graduates surpass state, national averages on ACT, SAT

Indiana University High School's graduating seniors showed a strong edge over their peers in this year's ACT and SAT tests, surpassing both the state and national averages in all categories. IUHS is offered by the IU School of Continuing Studies.

Drinking age debate just one part of college alcohol problem

The call to consider reducing the legal drinking age from 21 to 18 could spur some valuable discussion, but alone won't solve the college student alcohol problem, according to Gerardo Gonzalez, University Dean of the IU School of Education. Gonzalez is an internationally recognized expert on alcohol and drug education.

Education

Recognizing our ignorance gives us a starting point for designing a human capital program for America. While the ultimate point of a human capital program is to educate children, the key feature in structuring that program must be that it also educates policy-makers, principals, and parents about education policy.

The genius of Google is that it is a self-teaching program where information from Web visits on the Google toolbar makes the Google search engine more effective. Google is a tool that makes us smarter, but it also makes itself smarter along the way. A Marshall Plan for education should start by acknowledging that we don't know all the answers and that we need to learn quickly if we are going to radically improve this nation's schools.

The need to educate ourselves about education means that the program should start with some good ideas and then charge forward with the great knowledge - generating a trinity of experimentation, randomization, and evaluation. Experimentation means trying out bold ideas, such as providing incentives for children and parents or paying large bonuses to successful teachers or using Web-based learning in ways that many of us over 40 will never understand. Sticking close to the status quo will generate less new information than something more radical.

None of these new approaches needs to be imposed on unwilling schools - it is enough if a small percentage of schools are willing to experiment. If a few schools are willing to participate, then randomization should determine which districts will get the new approach and which districts will sit it out. Throwing dice to allocate education reforms across schools may seem unfair, but randomization is critical for the evaluation that will make the human capital program self-educating. Without randomization, we won't know whether it is the new approach that is responsible for good results or whether those results reflected something else about the school.

Of course, what works in Brockton may not work in Brookline. As successful approaches get brought to scale, ongoing evaluation is needed to learn whether something that worked in an initial sample of schools will work everywhere.

The great difficulty in public education reform is that the education of a child depends significantly on people who aren't on the government's payroll, such as parents, peers, and the children themselves.

Some researchers, such as my colleague Roland Fryer, are using experimental approaches to figure out how to get more out of parents and students. In New York, Washington, and Chicago, Fryer has been conducting experiments where children get direct rewards - such as cash or cellphone minutes - for doing well on tests.