Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Next Step: blessing or nightmare?

Rewarding teachers when their students achieve high scores on standardized tests has been discussed for months, but no one seems to be certain how to establish fair criteria for rewards or how to pay for that incentive.

Teacher incentives are among the items listed in Governor Mike Huckabee's plan for the Next Step in public education, released in January. But like other discussions about the proposal, the plan does not include any specific information.

That, according to Nevada School Superintendent Rick McAfee, is part of the problem.

The governor's entire plan is seven pages with one page serving as a cover page, one page as a letter to the reader, and the third page as a list of areas targeted by the plan. The remaining four pages includes bulleted items such as "Reward all certified staff with an annual salary increase based on specified accountability measures appropriate for their duty areas," and "Employ appropriate and timely measures for certified staff who do not meet accountability criteria."

The problem with these statements, McAfee said, is they are too broad and still provide no specific information for implementing the governor's plan. While educators might agree, in theory, with any or all of the plan, there's no information on how school districts will begin practical application of the plan.

One of the first problems for most districts, McAfee said, would be to find the money to offer financial rewards to teachers. Districts across the state are suffering financial strain and the base teacher salaries are generally below the regional average.

Emmet Superintendent Dr. Gene Ross said the Emmet School could produce the money for bonuses, to some extent.

Another problem is to find a fair way to decide which teachers do or do not meet accountability criteria. As an example, McAfee pointed out some areas of the state are home to large numbers of college graduates. A teacher in one of those areas might have a group of students who typically score in the mid-90s on standardized tests.

Another teacher might have a group of students who have traditionally scored in the 30s.

Then consider this possibility. The first teacher ends the year with students who scored in the low 90s - a drop from their previous scores but overall higher than the state averages. The second teacher's students scores rose to the high 40s, but their scores are still below the state averages.

"Who did the best job teaching?" McAfee asked. "But who'll get rewarded. It's been tried in other states and it hasn't been successful."

According to Dr. Ross, the governor knew the Blue Ribbon Commission  a group made up of people from the education field and formed to look into education as a whole  was to have released its findings soon. "(Huckabee) was jumping the gun."

Ross said he thought the governor's plan had good points, including a section on student accountability.

He said students in the seventh grade and above often don't take test scores seriously.

Retention, Ross continued, could be one way to ensure students are serious about the tests, but said there are other methods that could be used. For example, students could have an additional grade on their report cards to indicate their test scores; or the scores could be linked to graduation requirements.

If a district is supposed to offer a reward to a teacher who has met criteria  whatever that criteria might be  what happens if the money is not available?

"No one has the money," McAfee said, citing recent cuts in state funding because of a downfall in revenue from the state's sales tax.

There are other items of concern on the governor's list, McAfee said.

Currently, students who do not reach specific scores on college entrance exams are required to take remedial courses. According to Next Step, only two-year colleges will offer remedial courses.

McAfee said one of his first concerns is the two-year colleges will not be able to handle the influx of students.

Another is four-year colleges have teachers on staff to provide remedial classes and those jobs would basically be eliminated.

An additional yearly standardized test is another of the initiatives recommended by the governor's plan. McAfee said there will be a new federally-mandated test added soon to the public schools, and said he would rather see a single test added because students are becoming "test weary."

Students are already allowed to seek college credit for some classes. Sometimes the classes are offered on a nearby college campus and others are offered by distance learning. Another of the Next Step proposals is to allow students to accomplish as associate's degree by the time they graduate.

McAfee said this measure could encourage some students to work harder. The fact is that some are not college-bound, he said. The goal of having a degree that would help them get a job immediately after high school could be an incredible incentive to those students.

But the measure could mean some changes. Students might have a five-year plan for graduation rather than the traditional four-year plan, just like many college degrees.

Schools might consider changing to a 12-month school year with nine weeks in class and three weeks off. The advantage is teachers would not spend the first part of the school year helping students regain what they lost over the three-month summer break.

"Maybe it's time to look at new ways of doing things," McAfee said.

The cost behind many of the recommendations is something that is not yet being discussed, McAfee said. "Arkansas is not a wealthy state."

He said the people of the state will have to decide what is most important and how to pay for it.

"I think the public needs to step up and share (their opinions) with the school and with the governor," McAfee said.

On the subject of the governor's proposal for a liberal arts school, Ross said, "I think it would be a good thing, if we had the money. But the priority should be on the public schools."

Ron Wright, superintendent of the Prescott School District, said he has a lot of concerns about the program.

He said similar programs have been tried in other states, but none have worked yet. "No one has perfected it.

"It's hard to properly evaluate the effective personnel and reward them in Arkansas," he said.

Huckabee started with the Smart Start program, then moved to the Smart Step program, advancing to the current Next Step plan.

"It's all based on test scores," Wright said, "where the student's ability to write in a sensible manner and tell how they arrived at the answer is judged, and is more subjective."

Wright said students know they don't have to score a certain percentage on these tests.

Students, he said, should be held accountable in taking these standardized tests and show what they really know.

Wright favored the idea of going to a single nationalized NAPE test, tying the results in to the students's grades. This, he said, would allow state scores to be measured more accurately.

As it stands, Wright said, Arkansas has set the bar high for students on its ACTEP test, whereas surrounding states, such as Texas, have lower expectations and only work on the basics for their test.

Policymakers and legislators, Wright said, look at the scores, but don't know what goes into the test itself.

"Now it's difficult to get a proper assessment. The governor has a lot of good intentions, but needs to talk to educators more and get their input.

"I favor an accountability system accepted nationwide, not just statewide," he said.