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Industry Implications from the AEP Great American Education ForumJune
17, 2008—The AEP Great American Education Forum, co-sponsored by Ed in ’08
and presented by Transcontinental Printing, provided the starting grounds for
comparisons for the two presumptive presidential nominees. On Friday, June 6,
candidate representatives from Senator McCain (Lisa Graham Keegan) and Senator
Obama (Jeanne Century) were questioned by an esteemed industry panel, which was
moderated by Frank Catalano, Senior Vice President Marketing, Pearson. The panelists
were:
A general summary of the event is available from many sources, but here is how the questions and answers relate specifically to educational publishing and a list of the issues that need further exploration. Overall Platform Senator McCain: While his entire education platform has not been released yet, Senator McCain appears to be calling for the states to lead the way in terms of promoting successful schools, and he is a proponent of data-driven decision making. According to Keegan, he is not currently looking to spend new money but ways to spend money more effectively, and he wants those recommendations to come from data collected at the local level. The current plan calls for the states to voluntarily share information and create a data bank that can help identify best practices. Moreover, Keegan stated that Senator McCain would like to see individual states benchmark themselves against the international education community. Implications for educational publishers: Make sure you are in contact with SEAs and LEAs to see what data they are collecting, how they are collecting it, and what criteria they are using to qualify a program as either a success or failure. Be aware of variables, such as lack of school-supported teacher training, which could mark your program as a failure. Also, identify your successes and use them to your marketing and sales advantages. Senator Obama: While McCain’s rep focused on data collection, Century talked about Obama’s plan for lifelong success for education. Obama’s platform includes initiatives aimed at children ages 0-5 and how to best prepare them to succeed in an academic environment. During the school years, the Senator’s plan relies heavily on investing in high-quality teachers. Implications for educational publishers: Examine your existing content and proficiencies and see what publications you might be able to make available in terms of parent education or the preschool market. Also, look at your professional development programs and examine their impact on the classroom. Are these programs free or low cost? Do teachers need an on-site trainer? What can you do with existing content to make it a success? Early childhood and primary grade level programs could have a larger emphasis under the Obama plan. Additionally, the ability to provide early learning intervention programs that will identify learning strengths and deficits could have a part in his plan. NCLB Senator McCain: The Senator’s stance is that many use NCLB as a scapegoat rather than looking at the issues it represents: keeping children from being invisible in the school system. Keegan says the Senator will not back away from that goal. She also, when asked if NCLB was underfunded, changed the question to: Does the money follow the children? Senator McCain believes it does not and that this is the area to address. As for the instruction time being cut for other programs, Keegan pointed out that there are many schools successfully balancing the needs of NCLB and the other curricular elements, such as art and gym. Those are the stories schools and states should share with each other. Implications for educational publishers: If McCain is elected, NCLB and the assessment requirements will not go away. The dialogue between the administration and publishers would need to be not about the terms of NCLB, but about how they are implemented in the schools and how that implementation affects the industry. For example, when Keegan was confronted with the cost-prohibitive nature of the gold standard for scientifically-based research (SBR) and its impact on supplemental publishers, she stated that that is a conversation McCain would have with the industry and that he would work with them on solving the problem. Testing, assessment, remediation and intervention programs will continue to have a strong market under the McCain program. It also appears that his stand on SBR will not vary much from the current administration. Senator Obama: According to Century, Senator Obama believes that NCLB was insufficiently funded and poorly implemented. She stated his belief that the curriculum has become less robust and rigorous since NCLB was authorized. No precise solution was given, though; instead, Century focused her discussion on looking at evidence-based learning, creating different measurements for different schools and students, and ramping up the quality of the teachers. Implications for educational publishers: Again, rather than repealing NCLB, as president, Senator Obama would look for where he could make changes. Publishers could use his presidency to look at alternate assessment formats and how the states are reporting their successes and failures. As Senator Obama’s team is open to reevaluating the stricter requirements of SBR, publishers would also have the opportunity to revisit this highly contested issue. It appears Obama's focus will continue to strengthen supplementary publishers with an emphasis on addressing the needs of the full learning spectrum. Project-based learning and other programs may start to creep back into the curriculum. High-Quality Teachers Senator McCain: Keegan said without apology that Senator McCain would tie teacher pay and assessments to student performance in order to identify high-quality teachers. McCain’s plan would call for tiered levels of pay--what Keegan called differential pay--not merit pay only. This means poor performers could see penalties. Many pay scales would be determined by the principal. (Keegan said that the most effective schools have a principal in charge of their teacher evaluations.) Implications for educational publishers: While the issue of merit pay would need to be worked out with the schools, districts, and the educators' associations, if it became reality, there is an opportunity for publishers with professional development programs. The key is, of course, to make sure you understand any new needs that could be brought on by a merit pay system and how you can help the educators and the students. Merit pay for educators will also create additional opportunity for print and electronic pre-assessment tests, as teachers being evaluated on student academic performance will be looking for early detection assessment products. Senator Obama: Century said that Senator Obama is against a traditional merit pay system or tying teacher bonuses to individual student performance. His plan calls for rewarding teachers for a range of demonstrated skills, such as deep content knowledge, meeting national standards, mentoring other teachers, etc. In order to meet the goal of high-quality teachers for every school, Senator Obama has ideas for a Teacher Residency Program where interns would reside in a school and study under an experienced mentor. Finally, he wants to remove some of the constraints of NCLB. Implications for educational publishers: Just as many supplemental publishers have leveled products for students, Senator Obama’s plan calls for leveled instruction for teachers. Many schools already have teacher-mentor programs, and it could be worthwhile to speak with these teachers and learn about their needs. Educational Technology Senator McCain: While the Senator’s plan for educational technology is not fully developed yet, Keegan expressed his support for the integration of technology into everyday lessons. She emphasized that the technology will not replace the teachers, but that the Senator wants to make sure that there is support for the ed-tech movement. Keegan believes a “perfect storm” is approaching between publishers, schools, and students that will propel ed-tech forward. She discussed the development of state longitudinal data systems as a very positive development. Implications for educational publishers: Although there is no specific plan to latch onto, other remarks from the candidate representative make it clear that McCain’s office favors data, especially collected at the state level, to show what works and what doesn’t. Educational publishers should tap into the data to bolster the reputation of classroom technology. Senator Obama: Century compared Obama's technology plan to a room. The floor is modern facilities, access to broadband, computers, etc., but the ceiling refers to more than infrastructure. As part of the lifelong learning plan discussed in her opening statement, Century talked about imparting 21st Century skills to all students, using new methods in new ways without tying teachers and students to the past. Global collaboration, iPod presentations, and problem-solving were a few of the items mentioned. Implications for educational publishers: In a follow up question, Century made it clear that Senator Obama is looking for more than ebooks based on print books. His education team is looking for publishers who are thinking and creating products for global learning. Programs that foster 21st century skills that focus on promotion of life and career, learning, information and media management and prepare students to handle complex issues and resolve problems will be sought after. Miscellaneous
Additional News Coverage of the AEP Great American Education Forum
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