Educators see negative impact on instruction due to call for furloughs

“The members of the Georgia Association of Educators (GAE) are obviously concerned and disappointed about Gov. Perdue’s call for furloughing three planning days between now and the end of this calendar year,” said GAE President Jeff Hubbard whose association represents over 42,000 educators. “They are concerned that the loss of those planning days, or any days, will negatively impact their ability to provide quality instruction to their students, which is their priority. This amounts to less time to prepare for their students, which impacts their ability to get the school year off to a great start. One question we are looking into is whether our state statutes allow the governor to implement furloughs for contractual employees, which are the majority of our state teachers. He has handed off the responsibility for making these hard decisions to the superintendents and school boards. He does not have the authority to mandate furloughs for school employees because they are essentially employed by the local school systems.”

Hubbard notes that planning days are critical, especially this time of year, because they are used for the initial preparation for the implementation of our state’s increasingly challenging state standards and curriculum, for the preparation of differentiated instruction based on various learning styles, for academic and grade level team planning, and to prepare the classroom for the children, among many other things. “Educators are not blind to the effects of the recession and the need to trim budgets,” said Hubbard, “but we would ask lawmakers to fully explore all other possibilities before resorting to negatively impacting student instruction, especially on the heels of the recent gains made in attaining AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress).

Some suggestions Hubbard’s organization proposes are reexamining the state’s tax incentive and tax-free programs. “At a critical time when our state’s coffers are not where we need them to be, it would be negligent to not look at methods to bring in much needed tax monies such as temporarily suspending the upcoming sales tax holiday, examining our corporate tax structure to see if they are paying their fair share, and looking at the feasibility of tax incentive giveaways such as those provided to motion-picture companies. Georgia desperately needs a fair and equitable taxation system. The recession has only served to highlight this need.”

Another question Hubbard asks is regarding the federal stimulus monies from the American Relief and Reinvestment Act and whether the governor has violated its requirements by taking the budget back before fiscal year 2006 levels [At his press conference the governor remarked that he had taken the budget back to FY 2005 levels]. If so, Georgia would be ineligible to receive additional stimulus funds and could have to repay some funds.

“Some complain about our state’s ability to educate our children, but I know educators do an excellent job with ever dwindling resources,” said Hubbard. “And as is their nature, educators will continue to come out of their pockets an average of $550-$600 a year to provide for their classrooms and students. Name one other profession where the professionals willingly take out of their own pockets, and subsequently, from their own families, to provide for their jobs. Under Gov. Perdue’s tenure to this point, austerity cuts have bled Georgia’s schools to the tune of $1.6 billion. And ironically, more and more is taken from them while more and more is asked of them. Educators are a special breed, which is why GAE is proud to represent them.”

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Professional Development Key to Improving Math Achievement

Teachers have a greater impact than new textbooks or computers when it comes to raising math scores, according to a comprehensive research review by the Johns Hopkins University School of Education's Center for Data-Driven Reform in Education.

Researchers Robert Slavin, director of the Center for Data-Driven Reform in Education at Johns Hopkins University, and Cynthia Lake, research scientist, reviewed 87 previously released experimental studies evaluating the effectiveness of math programs in the elementary grades. The researchers' review covered three approaches to improving math achievement — textbooks, computer-assisted instruction, and approaches emphasizing professional development in specific teaching methods, such as cooperative learning and teaching of learning skills. They found that changing daily teaching practices did more for student achievement than simply using new textbooks or adding computers to the mix.

"The debate about mathematics reform has focused primarily on curriculum, not on professional development or instruction," said Slavin. "Yet the research review suggests that in terms of outcomes on math assessments, curriculum differences are less consequential than instructional differences."

Researchers conducted a broad literature search in order to locate every study comparing the effectiveness of various math programs to traditional control groups. The results were published in the September issue of the American Educational Research Association's Review of Educational Research. The review notes that the three approaches to mathematics instruction do not conflict with each other and may have added effects if used together.

The Johns Hopkins Center for Data-Driven Reform in Education is conducting one of the largest research review projects ever undertaken, to increase the use of evidence in education to improve student achievement. The intent is to place all types of programs on a common scale to provide educators with meaningful, unbiased information that they can use to select programs and practices most likely to make a difference with their students. Topics include reading, math, and other programs for grades K-12. Educator-friendly ratings of effective education programs as well as the full reports appear on the Best Evidence Encyclopedia web site at www.bestevidence.org.

The Johns Hopkins University School of Education's Center for Data-Driven Reform in Education is a non-profit center that received funding from the Institute of Education Sciences at the U.S. Department of Education. For more information on the center, visit www.cddre.org.

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