ASCD Positions
2010 ASCD Legislative Agenda
Introduction
ASCD, representing more than 170,000 educators, calls on policymakers
to join forces with educators, families, and communities to ensure all
children become college and career ready by the time they graduate
from high school so that they can lead productive, engaged, and
fulfilling lives.
It is an ambitious goal, but one that is both worthy of a great nation
and necessary for that nation to remain great. Such a goal will
require real leadership, national support, new resources, and a
renewed commitment to the needs of the whole child.
For too long, federal education reform has been narrowly focused on a
small subset of core academic subjects: reading and math. Education
improvements have been measured on an even more limited basis, through
the use of standardized state tests in reading and math and a
convoluted school accountability system that forsakes any type of
reward but instead offers only arbitrary and punitive sanctions. It is
hard to imagine a better designed scheme to ill-serve students,
demoralize the good work of educators, demean schools, degrade
education, and mislead the public. Aspiring to a level of the lowest
common denominator inevitably leads to a race to the bottom.
What is needed is a complete overhaul of federal education policy and
a new vision for a comprehensive education—well beyond the bare basics
of reading and math— for all students. It will require a recognition
that student learning occurs neither exclusively in school nor in a
vacuum. Nonschool-based and seemingly unrelated factors can have a
profound impact on student achievement. The inverse is also true.
We can no longer afford to develop the range of education and
noneducation policies affecting children or operate the resulting
programs serving them in isolation; we must work to coordinate and
integrate them for the benefit of students rather than the interests
of adults or bureaucracies. Building this synchronization into
policies at the outset will lead to more efficient and effective
results for children.
Thus policies, programs, and practices related to student achievement,
teacher effectiveness, school improvement, child nutrition, early
childhood education, postsecondary opportunities, community
involvement, personalized learning, and healthy physical and emotional
development, among others, should be designed to ensure that each
student:
- Enters school healthy and learns about and practices a healthy lifestyle.
Learns in an intellectually challenging environment that is physically
and emotionally safe for students and adults. - Is actively engaged in learning and is connected to the school and
broader community. - Has access to personalized learning.
- Is supported by qualified, caring adults and is challenged
academically and prepared for success in college or further study and
for employment in a global environment.
ASCD is a nonprofit, nonpartisan membership organization whose members
are educators from all levels and subject areas—superintendents,
supervisors, principals, teachers, professors of education, and school
board members. As such, the ASCD Legislative Agenda is developed from
the wide-ranging and comprehensive perspective and experience of
successful school leaders and effective educators. ASCD stands ready
to work in partnership with policymakers and the public to achieve
these important policy goals in support of a whole child approach to
education.
Healthy
ASCD believes each student deserves to enter school healthy and to
learn about and practice a healthy lifestyle. Research confirms that
students do better in school when they are emotionally and physically
healthy. They miss fewer classes, are less likely to engage in risky
or antisocial behavior, concentrate more, and achieve higher test
scores. Unfortunately, too many students go to class in less than
optimal health.
ASCD supports comprehensive policies that promote children’s health.
At the most fundamental level, all children should have affordable
access to medical care. Last year’s expansion of the State Children’s
Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) was an important step, but too many
children—nearly four million—still do not have health care coverage.
Parents from such families routinely face the unacceptable situation
of having to forego preventative health services for their children
because they simply cannot afford it.
While this complex issue extends well beyond education, schools and
school leaders have a critical role to play in helping students
receive the services they need.
ASCD calls on Congress to support:
- Using state report cards that measure and publicly report on the
health, safety, and education of children and families and that offer
a comprehensive look at the circumstances (e.g., hunger, poverty,
crime, literacy, and health) of children and the factors that
influence student success. - Establishing coordinated school health advisory councils as part of
schools’ improvement efforts. - Giving children the opportunity to receive routine health screenings at school.
Ensuring that physical education and health education classes
emphasize lifetime healthy behaviors. - Making healthy food choices available at school to all students and at
all times of day. Meals served by schools, indeed all food offered
under the auspices of schools, should meet research-based nutrition
standards for children.
Safe
ASCD believes that each student deserves to learn in an intellectually
challenging environment that is physically and emotionally safe.
Feeling safe at school translates into higher academic achievement,
increased student well-being, and greater engagement, according to
numerous studies. Children who don’t feel safe can’t concentrate on
their studies, don’t connect with their classmates, or don’t go to
school at all.
Despite media sensationalism to the contrary, schools remain one of
the safest—if not the safest—places for children. But the physical
safety of students, while absolutely essential, is only one component
in their protection. Thus, the very definition of and the attendant
measures for persistently dangerous schools under the No Child Left
Behind Act are as inadequate as they are outdated in offering any
information about a student’s overall security and sense of well-being
in school.
To promote school settings that are physically and emotionally safe
for every student and adult, ASCD proposes that Congress develop a set
of more comprehensive indicators of student well-being in ESEA:
- Publicly reported survey data from students, staff, and parents on the
school climate, parent satisfaction, and family outreach. - Disaggregated statistics about student security, discipline, and
support to help inform teacher professional development activities and
integrate climate and culture strategies into school improvement plans
at the school and district level. - Evidence of parent communication and engagement plans at both the
district and school levels.
Engaged
ASCD believes each student deserves to be actively engaged in learning
and connected to the school and broader community. To learn at their
best, students must be engaged and motivated. Substantial research
shows that students who feel both valued by adults and a part of their
schools perform better academically and also have more positive social
attitudes, values, and behavior. Plus, they are less likely to engage
in drug use, violence, or sexual activity. Schools and communities
have a role to play in engaging the individual through connections and
activities that are purposeful, meaningful, and empowering. Successful
programs require targeted investments, stakeholder commitments,
focused academic support, high-quality programming, and a process of
continual improvement.
To help measure engagement and foster more initiatives, ASCD proposes
schools, districts, and states collect and publish data for the
following indicators: student and teacher attendance rates; dropout
and graduation rates; the number of students involved in cocurricular
and extracurricular activities (disaggregated by demographic
subgroups); and the number of students in service-learning,
apprenticeships, and internships in the local community.
ASCD calls on Congress to support systemic reforms that promote:
- Student learning in intellectually challenging environments that
provide the foundation for future educational achievement and have
opportunities for community-based service, apprenticeships,
internships, or other projects. - A middle-level curriculum that is relevant, challenging, interactive,
and exploratory and that responds to the unique nature of middle-level
students. Instruction should reflect high expectations and include
multiple teaching and learning approaches that engage students. - High school redesign that includes rich and rigorous curriculum,
meaningful and relevant learning experiences, and relationships with
caring adults who know students well. - Incentives to businesses and local community services to become more
involved in the educational process, expanding opportunities for
school students.
Supported
ASCD believes each student deserves access to personalized learning
and support from qualified, caring adults. Research shows that, in
addition to improving students’ academic performance, supportive
schools also help prevent a host of negative consequences, including
isolation, violent behavior, dropping out of school, and suicide.
Central to a supportive school are teachers, administrators, and other
caring adults who take a personal interest in each student and in the
success of each student.
ASCD calls on Congress to support:
- Innovative and useful reform that requires state and local governments
to dismantle the obstacles to collaboration between and among school
systems and the social, health, and safety services that support
children. - Alternate pathways to graduation that are available to all students.
An adult mentor for every student—one who supports individualized
learning opportunities that engage students in relevant curriculum and
challenging education plans. - The facilitation of school partnerships with community service
agencies and other local entities. - Flexible grouping and flexible time frames to measure success, which
enables schools to develop alternative approaches to the Carnegie Unit
and other traditional conventions such as the traditional school day
and year. - Publicly reporting the ratio of counselors and support staff to
students—with an effort toward meeting the goal of the ASCA
recommended 250:1 student to counselor ratio. - School turnaround strategies that incorporate the tenets of the Whole
Child Initiative—with special attention to fortifying the
relationships and interpersonal connections among students, staff, and
families—to support student achievement. - Content assessments that are valid, reliable, and comprehensible for
English language learners and students with disabilities.
ASCD recognizes that the two most important school-based factors
affecting student achievement are the effectiveness of the classroom
teacher and the effectiveness of the school principal. From the early
childhood center to the university campus, we must build the capacity
to support educators in gaining and sustaining the professional
knowledge, skills, and training to address the evolving needs of
students.
ASCD calls on Congress to support systemic approaches to the career
development of educators including their preparation, induction,
mentoring, coaching, ongoing professional development, and evaluation.
ASCD also encourages Congress to support teacher leadership as well as
creative ways to retain and use the effective, experienced educator
and school leader throughout their entire careers.
Furthermore, ASCD calls on Congress to promote:
- A definition of educator effectiveness that includes, but is not
limited to, indicators related to student growth and proficiency.
Incentives for school-university partnerships focusing on innovative
means to recruit, prepare, and retain teachers. - Collaborations between universities, schools, and education
organizations in supporting and providing specific educational
leadership professional development to ensure new principals are
prepared and ready to lead. - Differentiated recognition programs, including locally determined
incentive and merit pay programs tied to educator and, more
importantly, school effectiveness. - Strategies that directly address the shortage of high-performing
teachers and principals in high-need geographic and subject areas.
Professional opportunities for teachers to assume differentiated roles
such as instructional and curriculum leaders, coaches, and mentors. - Professional development that promotes continuous learning in
collaborative or self-directed activities focused on student needs,
results, and best practice, such as study groups, action research, and
data analysis.
Challenged
ASCD believes each graduate deserves to be challenged academically and
prepared for success in college or further study and for employment in
a global environment. To succeed in college, other postsecondary
education, civic society, and the workplace, students need
higher-level thinking, communication, and problem-solving skills, as
well as knowledge of the world and its people. These are all products
of a curriculum, instructional methods, and a school climate and
culture that challenge students to work harder as they investigate a
wide range of real-world subjects. What’s more, our high school
graduates who pursue college must be adequately prepared, yet too many
are taking remedial courses, which raises deep concerns about the
value of their high school diplomas.
ASCD calls on Congress to support the efforts of states and local
education agencies to improve educational outcomes by using
research-based approaches that ensure that young children are
well-prepared for school, students successfully transition from
elementary to the secondary grades, and high school graduates become
productive and engaged citizens prepared for success in a global
society.
The current federal means to evaluate student learning and engagement
are limited and do not provide a valid assessment of student skills or
of overall school quality. Therefore, ASCD calls on Congress to
establish an accountability system that evaluates students and schools
using a comprehensive assessment system that includes multiple
indicators of performance and student academic growth. Using growth
models to measure student progress presents a more accurate portrayal
of student achievement. Effective and accurate growth models can
include a combination of state assessments, teacher-developed
assessments, portfolios, and performance assessments such as essays
and projects.
ASCD calls on Congress to authorize:
- Growth model accountability for each child, including academic growth
in core academic subjects disaggregated by demographic subgroups,
English language learners, and students with disabilities. - Access to and funding for high-quality prekindergarten programs for
all children. - The enrollment of all students in rigorous courses (preK–12), and the
opportunity for all to participate in AP classes and the IB program.
College- and career-readiness standards that go beyond proficiency
solely in reading and math and include science, social science, the
arts, foreign language, health education, physical education,
technology, and all other core academic subjects. - Enactment of the Secondary School Innovation Fund Act and the
Graduation Promise Act.
