Reflection from Class Trip

I am exhausted-- I had such an amazing time yesterday, but I am tired.  I wish DC was closer, and the metro temperatures weren't so temperamental :)  My drive to/from the train station was fascinating since I had the opportunity to travel with Aliaksandr.  Some of our conversation was lost in the language barrier-- or at least, I had a bit of a hard time understanding him.  I can only imagine the hardships that he and his family went through and now to be working for a university in exile-- it's hard to wrap my head around it.  International convergence is certainly seen with Aliaksandr traveling to the US and visiting WM, Oberlin, and Earlham (which is where Fran Branford went).  I hope I have a chance to talk to him more before he leaves!

The first speaker was Chris Mullin from the Association of Community Colleges.  I learned so much from him and even had some of my views changed by getting more information (my viewpoints were similar but not as harsh as Kelly from Lou Baretta's office prior to this talk).  Highlights from his talk:

• His job is to inform, educate, and advise
• 26.4% of cc students already have a completion degree
• 7% of the student body is under the age of 18-- dual enrollment (this was 1.7% in 1993)
• The for-profit schools are not part of "the six"-- Chris doesn't know why, but I think it's a great thing!
• Chris believes that HS GPA is a higher predictor that tests since the diagnostics are better with consistent, repeated measures.  I don't agree fully.  I think there is a correlation between GPA, test scores, and student success.  Although tests are biased in how they constructed, I think they should still be considered to a point

Next up was Margaret Reed Miller.  I had never heard of the Common Core Standards until hearing Margaret talk.  Takeaways:

• curriculum is NOT equal to standards.  This is state led, state adopted, and teacher/school control the curriculum
• intentional design that is about outcomes, not teacher inputs.  CCS is a floor, not a ceiling.
• 45 states have adopted/in the process.
• Exceptions-- VA (SOL very high quality), AK and MN (very similar/adopted part), NE (lower standards), TX (Texas is Texas and dropped out of virtually all common state organizations)
• CCS are college and career ready standards.  Federal law (Race to the Top) states that states need to have college and career ready standards.  Doesn't say that they need to adopt CCS but many states have opted for this
• Why Common Standards?  Consistency, equity, opportunity, clarity, economies of scale.  This is creating a marketplace focused on quality.  With military children, for example, quality increases or decreases depending on location.
• I learned a lot about why the opposition exists-- CCS seems great to me, but I can understand how there is opposition-- could appear to be fed gvt overreaching instead of coming from the outside
• LOVED the graph with how the US teaches math-- we do everything in math every year-- a mile wide, inch deep.  Thought it was really interesting that China is switching to our model-- happy that Hong Kong is sticking with the no tricks, just learn the math.

Lunch with Alumnae.

• I thought Christen Cullum Hairston was fantastic- she was so down to earth, and it was great to hear how her undergrad connects to her dissertation and then on to what she does at work on a daily basis.  A big plug for the liberal arts!  I also appreciated how her dissertation is taking a little longer than expected.  She got her stuff together, so it gives me hope that I will get my thesis in gear soon.
• I'm sure Cristin Toutsi is very nice, but she seemed a little too corporate for me.  I know we all work for the man in some way shape or form, but the ultimate "man" is college presidents and trustees.  I interned for my college president for a year, and I don't know if I could play that political game in education.  She was a little drier than the other Christen, and you could tell she worked at a corporate non-profit-- lots of money (ie-- she talked about all of her cab fares to be reimbursed-- I think it's the metro for almost all other groups).  
• The two were good for information but also for juxtaposition.  I don't mean to knock anyone, but it helped me frame that I would rather go toward student services than administration.  The hard thing though is in admissions, it's harder to get to more student services.  I want to be less like "the man" if I can.

Department of Ed.  For all the travel that we did there, I was sadly underwhelmed.  For all the travel, we went though, I was hoping for a little more....whatever that might be.  First of all, dress was surprisingly casual.  Second, none of their backgrounds were as strong with on the ground teaching or even policy as I would want the people making larger educational decisions.  The second speaker was stuck in the political machine.  He did not seem passionate about his work and was only placed in his position due to his political connections.  That was disappointing.  The third speaker-- focus on K-12-- was the best of the three.  Stronger background-- taught in a private school and then instructional aid (most likely-- no teaching certification ).  He at least was passionate and excited about his work and well-informed.  Will things change come January or will it be more of the same in the Dept of Ed?

It was wonderful to hear Ilana Brunner and Kelly ___ back to back.  Ilana represents Bobby Scott (Democrat) and Kelly represents Lou Baretta (Republican).  I wouldn't think that both ladies are not from the districts or event states that their bosses represent...but I guess you can believe in the people and find attachment to a geographic area while working with the constituents.  I really liked how Ilana talked about her background and how she wanted to work with the intersection between civil rights and education.

• Ilana was soft-spoken and addresses us in what seemed like more facts.  Kelly probably had facts on her side, but because she was speaking so impassioned, it almost seemed like she was doing a sales pitch.  But Kelly did want to hear more from us and our opinions and Ilana was just telling us stories.
• Different ideas on NCLB re-authorization
• Kelly- Congress set aside, Exec and Dept of Ed overreaching.  NCLB went through right process.
• Ilana- NCLB- "soft bigotry of low expectations". 
• Race to the Top and CCS
• Kelly- does not agree-- process concern.  states should decide own goals and receive funding once evidence of goal attainment.  She would prefer funded focuses on existing things, like IDEA and Title 1 school funding.  CCS came mostly from the outside and wishes employers were at the table.  She would be fine with CCS if it went through the right legislatively process.
• Ilana talked more about education in general and how education beginning at birth is too late-- she spend a lot of time talking about teen mothers and educating them to be better parents; therefore, things would be better for their children.  The Youth Promise Act seems like a great for more activities during the afternoon hours (most crime happens between 3-6 pm and 2/3 prisoners are HS dropouts).  She talked about future savings by investing money now-- I say let's do it :)  HS jobs are definitely much cheaper and more beneficial than incarceration.

GREAT TRIP!  Loved having a day full of speakers and on the ground policy makers!