The Two Million Minutes Blog

Secretary Duncan's Statement On U.S. Students' Rankings Achievement

Special Supplement to The Condition of Education 2009

FOR RELEASE:
August 18, 2009

Today's report is another wake-up call that our students are treading the waters of academic achievement while other countries' students are swimming faster and farther.

Our students have stagnated educationally, putting our long-term economic security at risk.

In math, our 15-year-olds' scores now lag behind those of 31countries.

In science, our eighth graders' scores now lag behind their peers in eight countries that had also participated in the original assessment.

In reading, five countries have improved their performance and surpassed our 4th graders.

These results show that for us to stay competitive and move forward we have to get our students ready for global competition. That's why I so strongly support the work of our governors and chief state school officers to develop a set of common internationally-benchmarked, college and career-ready standards that will help put our students' performance on par with other top performing countries.

We've never settled for second best, and now we're in another race of sorts – a race to the top tier of the world's students whose academic achievement is the best and the brightest.

As we reach to the top, of course our four tenets of educational reform will help propel us there:

1-putting the best teachers in schools where they're most needed,

2- closing down chronically under-performing schools and creating better ones,

3- data systems that track students from the cradle to college and link student results back to teachers,

4- world-class standards to help states build their reforms.

Forty-nine states and territories have joined the Common Core State Standards Initiative. This shows that we're together on this. It's been said that education is a local and state responsibility but a national priority. This report shows improving education is critical to our children's global competitiveness and key to our nation's economic recovery.

We've made some great gains since the Nation At Risk, but we're not where we need to be in the international rankings of what students know and can do in core academic subjects.

This is the first time that the most recent findings from the three major internationals tests have been published in one place. It compels us to renew our focus and reinvigorate our resolve to prepare our students to achieve to high academic standards and be ready for the global marketplace.

Education Professor Zhao and Wash. Post Writer Mathews - "Compton Is Wrong"

I keep getting on the wrong side of the debate with two men I admire:

1- Jay Mathews -author, education reporter and online columnist with the Washigton Post. Mathews attended Hillsdale High and Harvard College and served in Vietnam.  He started at the Post in 1971, writing news reports and books about China, disability rights, the stock market, and several educational topics. His column Class Struggle appears weekly on the online version of the Post.

His rating system for high schools is used by the Washington Post and Newsweek magazine annually to rank U.S. high schools.

2- Dr. Yong Zhao - University Distinguished Professor at the College of Education, Michigan State University, founding director of the Center for Teaching and Technology, executive director of the Confucius Institute, as well as the US-China Center for Research on Educational Excellence. He is a fellow of the International Academy for Education.

The latest from Jay's Blog - Class Struggle

In my debates with American high-tech entrepreneur Bob Compton, I argue that U.S. schools are way ahead of the Chinese, and likely to stay there, at least in the production of creative, job-producing go-getters like Bob.

Bob says I am not seeing what a great threat the rapidly improving Chinese education system is to our global economic superiority. Now we have a new book, "Catching Up or Leading the Way: American Education in the Age of Globalization," by someone who knows more about this than either Bob or me: Michigan State education professor Yong Zhao.

The latest from Dr Zhao's Blog - Yong Zhao University Distinguished Professor @ Michigan State University Quick Update: China and 2 million minutes

My Reply to Both Jay and Yong

Dear Jay and Yong - I have great respect for you both.

Here's how I would encourage readers to think about my film and Dr. Zhao's new book:

Dr. Zhao is a highly educated, brilliant, articulate academician, scholar and author.

Bob Compton a modestly educated, reasonably successful entrepreneur, inventor, venture capitalist and philanthropist. We each approach the issue of global education from our respective life experiences.

My perspective comes from 25 years of investing in high-tech, high-wage, high-growth start-up companies in the US, Europe and Asia.

And from my own non-expert explorations of schools, mostly high schools, in India, China, Europe, South America and the US - explorations which resulted in my film "Two Million Minutes." By training, I am neither an educator nor a filmmaker.

I'm a businessman on the global field of competition and have helped build over 30 new technology companies in the past 25 years. As Chairman, CEO or President I have had to lead companies in global competition every day. I still am, as Chairman of ExactTarget and as Founder and CEO of Vontoo.

In those 25 years, I have seen a marked decline in American's education and capabilities to compete with highly educated, highly motivated employees in many other countries - China and India, in particular. Hence I have had to hire large numbers of well-educated employees outside the US to stay in business.

My life experiences are not cerebral - they are visceral judgments in the daily battles that characterize global business. I don't win or lose debates - I win or lose customers, litigation, market share or money -- every day. Thousands of families - those of my employees - depend on my ability to make the right decisions and keep them employed.

My need is to find the best talent in the world, then recruit, motivate and reward them or my companies fail and my investors (myself included) lose millions of dollars and thousands of husbands, wives and children are put in economic jeopardy. My community loses its tax base. Daily that focuses my mind like a man to be hanged in the morning.

So I would encourage every American to read Dr. Zhao's books, articles and lectures and I would hope he would encourage people to see my film.

Account for our unique perspectives and decide for one's self - is American K-12 education, particularly high school, preparing our children to be globally competitive? What is the evidence?

Will America's children be able to create new technologies, invent new products and found the new companies that will produce the quality jobs of the 21st century? What is the evidence?

Are we educating our kids to an intellectual level that they will be the creators, innovators and entrepreneurs in bio-medicine, nano-tech, energy producing new materials, tissue regeneration, gene therapy, bio-polymers, alternative energy, etc, etc. What is the evidence?

These fields require knowledge of math, physics, chemistry, biology, computer science - even to be a sales rep or provide customer support or to manufacture these products.

To actually invent or create them one must be a world-class scientist or engineer.

Is American K-12 education equal to the K-12 education in other countries, particularly India and China. What data or empirical evidence tells us this?

My daily experiences tell me - "NO" and I see the evidence every day in the global market.

At some point this has got to look bad enough for parents to notice....

From August 27, 2009 Wall Street Journal -

"High-school students' performance last year on the SAT college-entrance exam fell slightly, and the score gap generally widened between lower-performing minority groups and white and Asian-American students, raising questions about the effectiveness of national education reform efforts.

Average scores for the class of 2009 in critical reading dropped to 501 from 502, in writing to 493 from 494 and held steady in math, at 515. The combined scores are the lowest this decade and reflect stalled performance over the past three years. The reading scores are the worst since 1994.

Asian-American students showed the most dramatic gains. In math they scored an average of 587 -- 72 points better than the general population. Since 2008, their average math score has climbed six points.

The results come a week after the disclosure that only a quarter of 2009 high-school graduates who took the ACT, the other main college entrance exam, had the skills to succeed in college."

Read Full Depressing Article

Let's be honest - Education Reform is NOT working. Our kids are sinking in the education quicksand created by The Teachers Unions, the Colleges of Education and the Education Bureaucrats.

NC Policy Watch Interviews Bob Compton on Two Million Minutes

August 2009 - http://bit.ly/2MM-Interview

Compton's Rebuttal to Dr. Zhao's Recent Education Film

From Education Week:

"Scholar Gives His View on Global Competitiveness and School Reform

There's a well-produced and intriguing video circulating around some of the listservs featuring Michigan State University education professor Yong Zhao and his views on the nation's education reform strategy as it relates to global competitiveness. He's generally critical of the accountability movement, which, he argues, places too much value on test scores at the expense of creativity, innovation, and encouragement of students to follow their passions.

What makes Zhao's perspective so compelling is that he is a product of the Chinese education system and speaks rather passionately on the right and wrong paths toward American competitiveness."

Watch Dr. Zhao's Film

Read Full Article

Bob Compton's Comments on Dr. Zhao's film

Dr Zhao covers a lot of ground in his video. We agree on some things and disagree on others.

The most important thing on which I hope he is wrong is that China will change its education.

Say what you will about China's school system, somehow they have amassed a $1.5 trillion trade surplus with the US and they are the largest buyer of US Treasury securities, owning nearly $1 Trillion. (more than twice what we owe Japan)

Without China, the Obama trillion dollar economic bailout would be impossible. China is our banker thanks in part to their more than $2 trillion foreign currency reserves and they are our supplier of just about every manufactured item we buy.

As the largest debtor nation on Earth, America has $12 trillion in debt - over 60% of GDP. I'm glad someone is smart enough to generate surpluses to fund our debt.

Oh, and their economic engine also lifted 400 million people out of near starvation. Oh, and they have the world's leading position in innovative battery technology and electric cars - Warren Buffet put $250 million into BYD, the only technology investment he's ever made.

And Chinese patent filings in China, the EU and the US are growing exponentially versus linearly for the US. Some creativity is occurring.

One point Dr. Zhao and I agree on is NCLB is a disaster and should be abolished. It is crazy to test students - who have no consequences for test results - and measure teachers and schools on those results. NCLB, while right perhaps in concept of accountability, is a catastrophe.

In business, one learns everyone needs to be on the same win/loss axis or behaviors are distorted at best or become fraudulent at worst.

While I agree the 21st century belongs to the innovative, creative and visionary - it is hard to be creative say with nano-technologies or alternative energy if one never gets beyond algebra and biology in high school. (55% of US high school grads)

The industries and most of the jobs of this century will all require higher cognitive skills (left-brain) as well as higher creative skills (right-brain). When only 70% of US kids graduate from high school and when only 3% of African American 12th graders are proficient in basic math - I just don't see how they land those creative, high wage jobs.

For example, I now have SEO specialists in marketing in every one of my companies - a job that didn't exist 5 years ago. While creativity is helpful - a deep understanding of statistics and enjoyment of data analytics is a must. Algebra in high school and a business math class in college won't get you the job.

I disagree that we should let children simply "follow their passion" - a solid foundation across a wide array of disciplines is critical to allow one as an adult to be innovative and creative at a world-competitive level.

To be among the creative, innovative class in business in the 21st century, I believe by 12th grade students should have studied Calculus, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, World History, English Grammar and Composition, Computer Programming, World Geography, Music, Art, Mandarin or Farsi or Spanish and Global Economics.

Suppose a child's passion isn't Physics, can they skip it? I would argue NO. In 30 years of starting companies, I've had to take on a lot of tasks that I hated - accounting for example - but they had to be done or the company failed. No one has the luxury in life of only doing the fun things - except perhaps professors at colleges of education.

I believe k-12 extra-curricular activities should let children sample Drama, Robotics, Debate, Elocution, Model UN, Moot Court as well as an array of athletics.

This generation will face more competitors, who are better educated and hungrier than ever. I don't think we can over-educate them.

Secretary Duncan Makes Measurable Progress On Charter Schools

Secretary of Education Duncan is proving more adept at lifting caps on Charter schools than many people, myself included, believed possible.

August 13, 2009 Wall Street Journal article, Expanding The Charter Option, illustrates the success Secretary Duncan has had so far - and the positive benefit for children trapped in low performing schools, including in my hometown of Memphis:

"I needed to get my child into a school where there were high expectations," Ms. Byrd says. A charter school had recently opened nearby, but the 34-year-old single mom hesitated over getting an application since Tennessee law required her son to either be considered low-performing—which he wasn't—or attend a low-performing school—which he didn't—in order to get in. But all that changed a few weeks ago, when the state enacted a law for charter schools to also include students from low-income families."

It is clear Secretary Duncan is on the right track because the most powerful unions in America - The 3.1 million member TEACHERS UNION (NEA) and the 1 million member other TEACHERS UNION (AFT) aren't happy:

"Teachers' unions want to see the $4 billion more squarely focused on traditional public schools. In a statement, Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, said that "the vast majority of kids—90%—attend traditional public schools and that is why we have proposed the lion's share of Race to the Top money be directed to helping improve those public schools."

Sadly, for Ms. Weingarten, Secretary Duncan realizes the public schools have had 30 years to improve and have demonstrated their inability.

Stay tuned, though, the TEACHERS UNIONS combined have hundreds of millions of dollars and a lot of power and they will use both to stop Secretary Duncan.

Only 16 percent of Michigan high school graduates 'college-ready'

Sunday August 09, 2009, 9:00 AM

KALAMAZOO -- Two-thirds of Michigan's new high school graduates are expected to start college in a few weeks.

Yet only a fraction of the Class of 2009 are fully "college-ready," based on their ACT scores.

Only one in six -- 16 percent of the new graduates -- have a strong probability of obtaining a "C" or better in college English, social studies, algebra and biology, according to an analysis posted on a Michigan Department of Education Web site.

The vast majority of students will either need remediation or are at risk of failing a course during their freshman year of college.

The numbers are even more dire in urban districts. Detroit Public Schools tested 4,840 students in March -- and only 100 tested as college-ready, 87 of whom came from two high schools. Of Flint's 830 test-takers, 16 were college-ready in all four academic subjects.

"Our results show, consistently, that not enough students are taking the right courses, and they're not getting the skills they need to succeed in college even when they do take the right courses," Colby said.

Colby said high school curriculums tend to be "broad but not deep," while colleges would prefer high schools to concentrate on teaching essential skills rather than a wide swath of knowledge.

Read Full Article

Teachers Unions Have Power - The Power to Punish Success

From WSJ:

"The Ujima Village Academy is one of the best public schools in Baltimore and all of Maryland. Students at the charter middle school are primarily low-income minorities; 98% are black and 84% qualify for free or reduced-price school meals. Yet Ujima Village students regularly outperform the top-flight suburban schools on state tests. 

Ujima Village is part of the KIPP network of charter schools, which now extends to 19 states and Washington, D.C. KIPP excels at raising academic achievement among disadvantaged children who often arrive two or three grade-levels behind in reading and math.

However, Maryland’s charter law requires teachers to be part of the union. And the Baltimore Teachers Union is demanding that the charter school pay its teachers 33% more than other city teachers, an amount that the school says it can’t afford. Ujima Village teachers are already paid 18% above the union salary scale, reflecting the extra hours they work.

Until school choice puts more money and power in the hands of parents, public education will continue to put teachers ahead of students."

Read Full Story

Bill & Melinda - they mean so well...they're trying so hard...

Get Schooled - "a ground breaking initiative to DISCUSS the challenges facing America's public education system"

After 30 years and six Blue Ribbon panels how can that discussion be "ground breaking". Have some new, unknown challenges suddenly sprung up??

As Intel CEO Craig Barrett - who served on 4 of the 6 Blue Ribbon panel - has stated publicly, all the reports say the same thing. There has not been a fresh idea in 30 years. We know the problems - we just don't have the guts to address them.

Unless you consider it gutsy to use celebrity influencers as the way to "maximize the potential of our nation's young minds  - expensive, yes. Gutsy...I think not.

If America would just listen to Craig Barrett we'd be half way to a world class education. The steps are simple:

1- set the curriculum to the same level of difficulty as your economic competitors (sort of like training to win in a globally competitive sport - train as intensely as your competitors and you may have a shot)

2- hire teachers with Masters degrees in the discipline they are to teach and then coach them on being effective teachers. It is much easier to coach an MS in Physics on how to teach, than to coach an Education major to be a physicist. Try it at home; see for yourself.

3- measure results - use the AP exams as national standards and test to see how students and teachers are progressing.

Has anyone other than a few US Charter schools (and 400 million Indians and Chinese) tried that simple formula?

Foundations like Gates and Broad, I've come to think, actually perpetuate the "challenges" facing American education - because all they want to do is talk. If they actually solved the problem they wouldn't have jobs. So, hey kids, let's put on a show in Hollywood...OMG!

Bill Gates should come to Memphis and teach 8th grade math at East High School - once one of the best schools in Memphis - where dozens of bright, but poor African American kids got a solid education and full ride scholarships to places like Washington U in St. Louis. Now, colleges don't even send representatives.

But gosh, Get Schooled has Hollywood panache and a "surprise special performance" at the end. Oh boy - I like surprises. In fact, without promising a surprise special performance, I doubt people would go. What could be more fun than a Hollywood show, with celebrity influencers and still give the illusion of helping American kids. A perfect evening!

You know what "surprise" performance I'd recommend - have the 5th grade math teacher I watched in a Memphis City Elementary school teach for 15 minutes on stage -- he will actually make arithmetic mistakes while teaching math. It would be a memorable performance !!

GET SCHOOLED?  GET REAL....

BTW- cool, catchy idea on the invitation graphics - looks like a school notebook...get it?