Sue Hildick
Chalkboard Project President
Sue Hildick is the President of the Chalkboard Project and Foundations for a Better Oregon. She is a fourth generation Oregonian with a love of public policy issues. She has served as Legislative Director to former U.S. Senator Mark O. Hatfield, Director of Government Relations at Oregon Health Sciences University, and CEO of the Oregon Trail Chapter of the American Red Cross prior to her current position. Sue’s family are long time early childhood educators – her sister oversees the family business of West Hills Schools, Inc., including two montessori schools, a day care center and a non-profit montessori program called Montessori Pathways. Sue spends much of her non-Chalkboard time with her three-year-old daughter Clare, who attends West Hills Montessori School, and with her flower studio in her garage, called Stems. She is a board member of the March of Dimes in Oregon and the community board for Regence Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Oregon.
This article was originally published in the Statesman Journal on April 14, 2012 and can be found here.
Changing the way teachers are paid is a controversial topic. There are a number of reasons for this, but two are primary.
First, the status quo — pay based on years of experience and educational attainment — has existed longer than almost all current educators in the United States have been employed. Second, any suggested change has to be perceived as “fairer” than the current system.
This is not the kind of issue an independent, nonprofit organization takes up lightly, but the Chalkboard Project sees a need not being addressed. In most Oregon school districts, 70 percent to 80 percent of the budget goes toward personnel — the costs associated with the people in the building. (more…)
Category: teacher compensation | 5 Comments »
Tags: Chalkboard Project, CLASS Project, teacher pay
When Chalkboard applied for a Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF) grant after funding and implementing the CLASS Project privately for four years, we did so knowing that there would be certain strings that came along with federal funding.
Those strings, while limiting Chalkboard’s autonomy, have also allowed us, and our six partner school districts, to participate in the national conversation about education effectiveness. The ability to influence thinking beyond our state is especially important as the federal government looks to redesign the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (currently known as No Child Left Behind) and prioritizes spending on certain initiatives over others.
Chalkboard’s CLASS program established a solid foundation for our participation in TIF. CLASS is a comprehensive model for supporting the professional growth of educators. TIF adds emphasis to the compensation component of CLASS, but it does not do away with the other three components: educator evaluation systems, career paths, and professional development. We strongly believe that educators need comprehensive supports. Our TIF districts are meeting the federal requirements around incentives for educators while demonstrating the power of systemic, teacher-designed models. TIF does not require that teachers be deeply involved in the design and implementation of the models, but having teachers and administrators at the table together is a foundational component of the CLASS Project.
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Category: Chalkboard Project, CLASS Project | No Comments »
Tags: Arne Duncan, Chalkboard Project, CLASS Project, educator effectiveness, educator evaluation, professional development, Teacher Incentive Fund, TIF 4, TIF grant, US Department of Education
This week, the 2011 NAEP scores were released. The National Assessment of Educational Progress is the only assessment of student learning that is given to students across the nation- making it a significant tool for comparisons across states. A representative sample of 4th and 8th graders take the exam in reading and math every two years.
On the whole compared to 2009, the new data showed small improvements in math and relatively flat scores in reading. In Oregon, scores held steady compared to 2009 with no significant improvements or declines.
State Superintendent Susan Castillo said of the results, “While we didn’t see drastic changes from the previous NAEP results, we are not seeing the improvements in student performance that we know Oregon needs in order to compete nationally and internationally.”
Indeed, looking further back to 2003 some states have made substantial progress, particularly for their low income students, while Oregon has not. (more…)
Category: education achievement gap, student achievement | 23 Comments »
Tags: accountability, achievement gap, NAEP, student achievement
A few weeks ago when a small group of CLASS leaders had the opportunity to meet with US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan they took the time to be candid with him about CLASS Project as well as the challenges and opportunities of the federal Teacher Incentive Fund grant. See more photos on our Facebook page.
- Terrell Smith, Sherwood School District, speaking to Secretary Duncan.
Chalkboard has been working with districts through the CLASS Project for over four years, but the Teacher Incentive Fund grant is relatively new to Oregon. We helped seven Oregon districts apply for the TIF funds in 2010 as a way to fund their CLASS Project work. With its focus on a comprehensive system for supporting effective educators through expanded career paths, relevant professional development, effective performance evaluations and new compensation models CLASS was a good fit to receive TIF funding. We were pleased to receive $24.4 million for five years of planning and implementation.
Although CLASS is the foundation of TIF in the seven districts that received federal funds, the federal grant has its own specific requirements and timelines. Here’s a quick chart that describes some of those differences: (more…)
Category: CLASS Project | 1 Comment »
Tags: CLASS, education reform, Teacher Incentive Fund
CHALKBOARD NOTE: Our President, Sue Hildick, worked closely with Senator Hatfield in the early years of her career. A version of this tribute first appeared on PSU’s Center for Woman, Politics and Policy’s website soon after his death last month. There will be a public tribute to Sen. Hatfield’s life and work later this month at the State Capitol in Salem. Find out more details and read more remembrances on the PSU Center for Public Service memorial site.
Although we lost one of Oregon’s greatest statesmen on August 7, I have been missing Senator Mark O. Hatfield for a number of years. He was my first employer and greatest teacher of my professional career.
For those of us who had a calling to work in Washington, D.C., Oregonians could find an oasis on the seventh floor of the Hart Building. It was a classroom. A museum. A place of hard work and difficult decisions. Most importantly, it was a home for Oregonians who wanted to do good things for their beloved state.
At the age of 26, I was asked to serve as his legislative director; at the time, he was the second most senior Republican on the Hill. I told the Senator that I wasn’t sure I could handle the responsibility and he said, “Don’t worry. We’ll do it together.” He had so much confidence in the people who worked for him and always brought out the best in all of us—an important quality of a great leader.
Pictured: Sue Hildick (upper left) and Senator Hatfield (lower right) and staff in his Hart building office on Capitol Hill in 1995.
(more…)
Category: Chalkboard Project, Legislative | No Comments »
Tags: Chalkboard Project, inspiration, legislators, reflection
It’s been a dramatic time for education in Oregon. We have seen lots of change, coming fast and furious from the Legislature, and much of it remains to be sorted out in terms of its actual impact on student achievement. But it certainly gives us hope—hope that Oregon can have a public school system among the best in the nation.
We give thanks to our state’s leaders for feeling the urgency we believe has been building all across this state for a higher quality system of K-12 schools. We give thanks to the teachers and leaders who are on the front lines of our schools every day, helping point the way to the supports children need to learn to their full capacity. We give thanks to the parents and citizens of this state who continue to send their children to public schools and have a collective will to make them strong. Together, we make up a community that has faith that every child can learn, and now, more commitment and momentum to make that goal a reality.
Our task ahead is perhaps harder than pushing these reforms through the legislative process—we must work together to implement them in a way that improves the learning experience for each child. We are delighted that among the reforms passed to do this are two of Chalkboard’s priorities to ensure we have an effective, quality teacher in every class, every school day.
(more…)
Category: Chalkboard Project, CLASS Project, education reform, Legislative, professional development for educators, student achievement | 3 Comments »
Tags: Chalkboard Project, CLASS, education partnerships, education reform, Oregon schools, political priorities, student achievement, teacher career paths, teacher effectiveness
Spring has sprung at Chalkboard and with it has come lots of wonderful news for us.
First and foremost, the seven CLASS school districts involved with our TIF grant are making tremendous progress in designing new career models for their districts and in building innovative tools to advance student achievement. We are incredibly proud of the work they are doing, the conversations they are starting, and the deep sharing and learning that is going on within and across these districts. Our hats are off to the education leaders who are making this happen during an incredibly difficult budget time.
We are delighted that the federal government has given some extra momentum to this work by increasing our grant award from the Teacher Incentive Fund from $13.2 million to $24.4 million in recent weeks. (Read the full press release.) These additional funds will go directly to the seven school districts to be used for additional compensation in their newly designed TIF models. We are encouraged by this vote of confidence in the work that has been developing in Oregon.
Along with the good news on the national front and steady progress in Salem with the legislature, we’ve been honored this month with our inclusion in a new book about catalytic philanthropy called Do More Than Give: The Six Practices of Donors Who Change the World, by Leslie Crutchfield, John Kania and Mark Kramer. The book provides a blueprint for individuals, philanthropists, and foundation leaders to increase their impact, and Chalkboard is one of 25 organizations featured as high-impact nonprofits who are working to advance social causes.
In this modern Golden Age of philanthropy, it is now more important than ever that donors maximize impact. More than $300 billion is donated annually in the U.S. alone, while the number of private foundations has doubled and community foundations have tripled in the last two decades. In good economic times or bad, understanding how givers can leverage their philanthropic resources and do more than give is critical, and we are pleased that our model was lifted up for inclusion in this prestigious publication.
Category: Chalkboard Project, CLASS Project | No Comments »
Tags: Chalkboard Project, CLASS, education reform, Oregon schools, school funding
Happy holidays to our readers and bloggers – we hope for a peaceful and joyful time for all of you.
Speaking of joyful, I had a wonderful day as a student in the Salem-Keizer School District earlier this month and want to share some highlights with you. First of all, let me thank the students, teachers, instructional coaches, principals, and other colleagues in the school district who let me listen in, watch, and learn about a day as a learner in this impressive district. I was impressed by the commitment to learning that I saw at all levels.
I began in a kindergarten classroom at Washington Elementary School where we worked on letters and holiday stories. The enthusiasm of these young learners was infectious – while they welcomed me into their circle, they were much more interested in what they were learning and I saw full engagement with a masterful teacher, Mrs. Ivins, who kept them learning while also making sure they were respecting each other and mastering their personal space! Instructional coach Jessica Brenden helped me understand the intense team-based professional development that goes on at Washington and her role in helping the teachers monitor their impact and adjust their teaching to the learning styles of the children. Principal Linda St. Pierre joined us right after PE class (which was a challenge for me) and I could actually feel her leadership presence in the few minutes I had with her – I also had a wonderful experience in second grade, Mrs. Ediger-Collins’ class, being read to by a young lady who had her big and small words down pat!
My favorite part of the day took place at Houck Middle School. Principal Sue Rieke-Smith took time out of her day to tour with me and share the different teaching approaches in the building – from a classroom of computer-based learning being led on that day by a student teacher to science and social studies classes, I pondered how engaged the students were and how difficult the content was (meaning I think I’ve forgotten a lot of what I once used to know from my K-12 studies…). (more…)
Category: Chalkboard Project, parent involvement, Student Success, teaching strategies | No Comments »
Tags: advice from students, Chalkboard Project, inspiration, reflection, student engagement, teacher appreciation, the extra mile
This is the question of the hour and one we expect to answer throughout the next five years. But the answers will not be as simple as some would hope.
There has been a great deal of media coverage around “merit pay” recently. The problem with throwing around a term like merit pay is that there is not a singular definition and yet everyone has strong opinions about it. When the Center on Performance Incentives released a report last week that “merit pay” does not raise student achievement, some individuals rushed to discount any efforts to compensate teachers in new ways. In actuality, the only conclusion the report out of Nashville reached was that giving teachers bonuses for improving test scores did not correlate to greater improvements in test scores. Chalkboard has always been opposed to “merit pay” when defined as paying teachers based on single test scores.
Chalkboard saw the Teacher Incentive Fund grant as an opportunity to expand and deepen the work of the CLASS Project. The money that Chalkboard and seven Oregon districts are receiving from TIF will not be used to pay teachers for test scores. CLASS is a comprehensive approach to reform that integrates expanded career paths, effective performance evaluations, relevant professional development and new compensation models.
Compensation should be integrated with career paths, professional development, and evaluation, and cannot stand alone as it does in most current systems. From what we have seen, it is not the additional dollars, but the integration of the components and the collaborative, teacher-led nature of the district design process that has led to outstanding outcomes for educators and students in the CLASS districts. Unfortunately for those looking for easy answers, this work does not translate well into simple correlations.
We would all love for there to be silver-bullets in education reform, but so far we have not found any. For example, the compensation component of CLASS is as much about recognizing and rewarding effective teaching as it is about the actual dollars. But, we do believe that a comprehensive, teacher-driven approach will raise student achievement, provide teachers with greater professionalism, and improve district culture. We fully expect for these seven Oregon districts to set examples for districts across the state and across the nation about what is possible when you invest in the effectiveness of educators.
I would encourage readers to go to educators4reform.org and hear directly from educators about what this work means for their students and their careers.
Category: career paths for teachers, Chalkboard Project, CLASS Project, education reform, professional development for educators, student achievement, teacher compensation, Teacher Effectiveness, teacher performance evaluations | 3 Comments »
Tags: Chalkboard Project, CLASS, collaborative culture, education reform, Oregon schools, teacher effectiveness
Yesterday we announced that two of our CLASS districts are making outstanding student achievement gains. They have been integrating new career paths, relevant professional development, effective performance evaluations and new compensation models for the last two years. Last year’s student achievement results as well as teacher perceptions of the project were promising. This year it is clear that these districts are making shifts in their cultures to better support effective teaching and student learning.
Here are a few of the highlights:
In both Sherwood and Tillamook, math and reading gains at the secondary level were at least double those of comparator districts.
Tillamook:
- Since the implementation of the CLASS Project, the share of Tillamook students meeting or exceeding the state math benchmark has increased nearly three times the increase for the state as a whole and 3.5 times the increase for a group of demographically similar comparison districts.
- The increase in Tillamook students meeting or exceeding the reading benchmark was nearly as strong, and again nearly three times the increase for the state and more than four times the increase for the comparison districts.
Sherwood:
- Math and reading gains in Sherwood exceeded comparator district gains. Sherwood math gains also exceeded state-level gains.
- In the 2009-10 school year, Sherwood students met or exceeded the state benchmark in math and reading at higher rates than the statewide average in every grade tested. Sherwood’s meet/exceed rates were between six and 17 percentage points higher than the state average, depending on grade and subject.
Educators is both districts expressed increased satisfaction in their districts’ professional development offerings and overall changes in district culture as well as increased ownership of improvement plans:
- 63% of teachers polled in Tillamook agree or strongly agree that as a result of the CLASS Project, teachers in their schools are actively changing and improving their professional practice.
- 61% of teachers polled in Sherwood agree or strongly agree that as a result of the CLASS Project, teachers in their school have more conversations about teaching and learning.
- In Sherwood, 82% of teachers feel that there is a high degree of vision for school improvement.
All of this data as well as videos of educators in the CLASS districts is available at: www.educators4reform.com
This is the kind of data our parents, teachers and student deserve. We look forward to a time when every district in Oregon has the opportunity to engage in this work.
Category: Chalkboard Project, CLASS Project, student achievement, Teacher advocacy | 2 Comments »
Tags: Chalkboard Project, CLASS, collaborative culture, education reform, Oregon schools, professional development, student achievement, teacher effectiveness
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