Obama Education Secretary Arne Duncan's Track Record: Lofty Goals, Mixed Results

Catalyst Chicago:

In his seven years as CEO of Chicago Public Schools, Arne Duncan has taken on a host of urban education policy challenges to varying degrees of success.

This week, Catalyst revisits some of these signature initiatives, and weighs their significance on the national scene.

Today, we look at the efforts of the Secretary of Education designate to transform high schools, offer families more and better school choices and raise the performance bar for teachers, principals and administrators.

Read the whole story: Catalyst Chicago

Comments

[alanshusterman]

I eagerly await hearing from our new Secretary of Education. But I am not optimistic that he will be any more insightful or effective than those who've preceded him. I fear that he, like other establishment education leaders, will fail to acknowledge the proverbial elephant in the room: the model of secondary school education that continues to persist in this country (and which increasingly is permeating down to the elementary level) is, as Bill Gates has correctly stated, "obsolete."

We must acknowledge the huge, increasing disconnect that exists between this outdated secondary school model, to which even the best public and private schools cling, and the realities of today"s world. The future of our children " and our nation " depends on the introduction of a genuinely new education model, designed in and fit for the 21st century.

By many measures much of the rest of the industrialized world has caught or passed by us in secondary education. The good news, however, is that those who are beating us in the education race are doing so with the same old 20th century model we use. So, if we act now to take the initiative to create a new, 21st century secondary school model, then our high school graduates can once again become the best educated in the world. President Obama and Secretary Duncan must move us beyond our myopic focus on attempting to fix that which clearly needs replacing.

Alan Shusterman, Founder
School for Tomorrow
www.schoolfortomorrow.net

[relateeducate]

Very excellent comment here! As an educator myself, I find many schools today to be out-dated and obsolete as well. Many of our schools are not even close to preparing students to operate and work in a 21st century environment. We are still trying to re-invent the wheel when we should throw it away and develop new materials, technologies and tools to make curriculum meaningful for the 21st century.

[KQuarksSuperKollider]

Arne Duncan is the kind of change people have been asking for in Obama's picks. Not every change works out especially right away but new ideas are exactly what our schools system needs. Then keep the good ideas (after making sure they are funded to give them a chance) and throw away the ideas that did not work out in the long run.

[DeeBaby]

There are many problems in the Chicago Public School under the leadership of Arne Duncan and Rufus Williams, formerly under Michael Scott and ultimately under Mayor Richard Daley.
The Board has disassembled the early childhood education programs so that only tuition based preschools, which cost about $200/week, offer full day programs. Even Headstart programs have been affected.
There is a significant disparity in curriculum, facilities and programs along selective admission school/ neighborhood school lines, also in funding new and renovateing facilities along racial and socio-economic lines.
Not all selective admission schools are created "equal", compare the funding and programs of Northside College Prep and Walter College Prep to that of King College Prep and Brooks College prep. The former located north in the city in predominately white communities, the latter located south in the city in predominately black communities.
Any and all new construction of schools has occurred in areas of the city enjoying non-black gentrification population growth.
Many schools don't have enough books or desks for each student. Often the books that are available are outdated.
Students with special needs are often poorly served as teachers and administrators ignore and disregard IEP/504 plans.
The Board has ignored the very sobering college graduation rates of CPS students.
Obama, Duncan and Daley are all recipients of prestigious private elementary and secondary education. They benefited for the "not so secret" of educational success.
Could this be why the Obama, Duncan and Daley children have not attended CPS?

[1dogs2]

And the solution(s) to these problems is (are). . .?

Many of the problems you mention could be corrected with adequate funding. Since there is obviously not enough money available to do so, is the solution to spend more on that which is correctable with more money (e.g., full-day Headstart programs, sufficient books and desks, etc,) and less on NCLB testing?

Your comment suggests that deliberate racism accounts for disparity in spending on different schools. Would you provide some sources for these allegations?

[DeeBaby]

The United States of America has a documented history of race based educational and economic discrimination. The impact of the history as well as current acts of discrimination have taken a toll on many communities. We have to remember that the goal of public education in the US was not to expand the options of the poor and working class to include those enjoyed by the elite, but to train workers from an agricultural economy to an industrial one.

I agree that throwing money is not the answer, but affirm that applying the same effective measures from the private schools attended by Duncan ( University of Chicago Laboratory School) and Obama (Panohou School, Honolulu) would suffice.

I suspect that the policies and practices employed by these institutions mirror those of the employed in the 16 or 30 OECD nations that bested our students in science and the 23 of 30 nations who bested our average 15 year old's math score.

Our nation is in trouble and a major facet of the problem is the lack of quality education on a national level. It has to be addressed by serious people prepared to take serious action.

[LucieLee]

I think Mr. Duncan should be given a chance to see what he can do to the schools around the country. I do hope he decides to reform this standardized testing schedule. Too much emphasis is placed on the testing and not enough on actual teaching the fundamentals of a subject. His overall performance in the Chicago school system is to be commended.

[Maezeppa]

No program will ever work if these kids aren't well-nourished.

School breakfast MUST be part of any education reform.

[torpeau]

Yes, you would think in a written speech, such an educator would know about "I/me."

BTW, sure would be nice if Obama would learn when "myself" should be used.

[BSERIUS]

Ask about how many CPS kids were shot /murdered last year..... ASK ARNE AND BARACK WHY THEIR KIDS AND THE KIDS OF VIRTUALLY EVERY FIRE FIGHTER AND POLICE OFFICER GO TO PUBLIC SCHOOLS.

[Maezeppa]

Statistically speaking public school is the safest place a child can be. They are killed and hurt in their homes and in the streets far more often than in school.

[esopbiz]

Hallelujah! I was just about to weigh in on the "I/me" problem so I'm glad someone else picked it up. My phone lit up as soon as he said it! Or maybe you should have said "Obama's selection of he."

[torpeau]

I just saw Arne Duncan read his speech accepting Obama's selection of him.

Looks like our Sec'y of Education to-be doesn't know when to use "I" and "me."

[XME]

Yes, he said "my sister and I" rather than "my sister and me"...which is a mistake MOST American's make, including our president-elect. It's amazing how many very intelligent, well-educated, people weren't taught that it's not always so-and-so and I, and how to know which to use.

Fortunately he's not picking Arne to teach children, but to help improve school systems, which he has already done in Chicago. And in the 3rd largest school system in the country, that's no small feat, given inner-city schools are the worst in the nation.

[47th]

Anyone who thinks Arne Duncan has improved CPS, doesn't have any kids in CPS!