Has Business Been Bold Enough?
Frederick M. HessAmerican Enterprise Institute
www.aei.org/hess
2
What Business Has Done: The Clark Kent Approach
Encouragement and support Genteel philanthropy
Tutoring Student scholarships
Mild policy advocacy
3
Comparatively, We Spend a Lot
Source: OECD 2005
Expenditures for Elementary Education, 2005
02,0004,0006,0008,00010,000
Country
Expe
nditu
res
Per S
tude
nt
($)
4
Even More Than You May Think
(Source: Howell & West in Education Next, 2008)
5
More Teachers, Smaller Classes
(Source: Loeb & Reininger, 2004 and NCES)
6
Teachers Are Relatively Well-Paid
(Source: Podgursky in Education Next, 2003)
7
Great Teachers Are Hard to Predict
(Source: Goldhaber in Education Next, 2002)
8
Tests Can Be Misleading
(Source: Finn & Meier in Education Next, 2009)
9
The Problem with Adequate Yearly Progress
(Source: Peterson & West in Education Next, 2006 )
10
Limited NCLB Impact So Far
(Source: Ravitch & Chubb in Education Next, 2009)
11
What Business Should Do:Time to Hit the Phone
Booth Help schools manage smart Invest in the supply side Do what innovators can’t Get firm with education leaders Lead with experience and credibility
12
Help Schools Manage Smart
Promote data and MIS systems
Support performance evaluations
Invest in HR and IT Watch out for “The
New Stupid”
13
Invest in the Supply Side Human Capital• Teach For America• New Leaders for New
Schools• The New Teacher
Project
School Builders• KIPP Schools• Green Dot Public
Schools• Achievement First
Infrastructure• The Mind Trust• New Schools for New
Orleans• High Tech High Ed
School
Investors• NewSchools Venture
Fund• Charter School Growth
Fund• Knowledge Investment
Partners
Tool Builders• Wireless Generation• SchoolNet• SMARTHINKING
14
Do What Innovators Can’t
Remember why Google is no champion of free speech in China
Few reform venues Small scale of
successful ventures
15
Get Firm with Education Leaders
Cages of their own design?
Collective bargaining—less restrictive than advertised
Inattention to cost-effectiveness
Restrictiveness of Labor Agreements in 50 Biggest Districts
Restrictive
Ambiguous
Flexible
N = 50
The Leadership Limbo (Fordham Foundation 2008)
(Source: Hess & Loup, 2008)
16
Lead with Experience and Credibility
Talk sense about accountability and compensation NCLB Merit pay
Shoot down bad ideas 65% solution Class size reduction
Leaders in ActionJoel Klein, New York City Public Schools
• Teacher Performance Units, experienced attorneys who advise principals and litigate incompetence cases against ineffective, tenured teachers
John Deasy, formerly of Prince George’s County Public Schools
• Transferred hundreds of the district’s 10,800 teachers to new schools
• Initiated a voluntary pay-for-performance system Michelle Rhee, Chancellor of DC Public Schools
• Unused law providing for 90 day termination • Side-stepping contract on middle school pilot
Has Business Been Bold Enough?
Frederick M. HessAmerican Enterprise Institute
www.aei.org/hess