Submitted by Phil on Sat, 12/15/2018 – 11:35
The link below will take you to a google sheet with the latest voucher/financial data
Continue reading “Voucher Impact 2018-2019”What Makes a Great Educational Environment
Submitted by Phil on Wed, 06/02/2021 – 10:06
In a great educational environment students feel safe and are engaged/interested in learning/doing something they see value in, that provides a challenge that seems attainable, with people who they know care about them.
My Speech at the Statehouse to the Indiana Coalition for Public Education
Submitted by Phil on Tue, 02/18/2020 – 14:48
Good afternoon, it is a profound honor to speak to you today, thank you. I am Phil Downs. I am a social studies teacher currently on assignment as the superintendent of Southwest Allen County Schools, and I was asked to speak for five minutes today on the research I have done into Indiana’s budget and its Voucher program.
Continue reading “My Speech at the Statehouse to the Indiana Coalition for Public Education”Indiana Education Spending
Submitted by Phil on Sat, 04/20/2019 – 07:51
Indiana Education Spending
Here is a fact: from 2009 to 2018 the Tuition Support budget used to pay Indiana’s public and charter school teachers has grown by 13% while inflation has grown by 17%, and the total Indiana General Fund Budget grew by 21%. There is money in the General Fund to bring Education funding up to inflation. Our elected officials made a choice to move money away from public and charter educators and are failing to live up to the responsibility to fund public education they took on in 2009.
Continue reading “Indiana Education Spending”Don’t Worry, This Won’t Effect You
Submitted by Phil on Mon, 04/23/2018 – 11:52
Recently there have been a lot of stories and opinion pieces written about the Indiana voucher program and school funding. There appears to be a misconception about how the voucher program works as well as its impact on public schools.
Continue reading “Don’t Worry, This Won’t Effect You”Indiana’s Schools Deserve Better
Submitted by Phil on Mon, 10/16/2017 – 05:45
“Applying simple solutions to complex problems creates more complex problems.” -Ronald Heifetz
Recently Indiana released the A-F grades for its schools. Each year there is a chance any given school’s ISTEP+ scores and A-F grades may go up or down. This is because ISTEP+ fits statistical models and “regression to the mean” is a real thing.
Continue reading “Indiana’s Schools Deserve Better”Unique not Special
Submitted by Phil on Mon, 05/01/2017 – 15:52
For 16 years since the passage of No Child Left Behind, Indiana has been following the lead of the United States Department of Education, educational testing companies, and standardized testing experts. In those 16 years, the focus of your child’s education has been narrowed by this “Testing Industrial Complex” to a single annual test: a “summative” test these experts promised would measure students, identify poor teachers, rank schools and communities, fix bad schools, catapult the US to the top of the international rankings, and close the achievement gap. To help accomplish this, they offered schools the chance to buy their “teacher-proof” textbooks and take their standardized “formative” tests, too.
Continue reading “Unique not Special”Simplicity vs Simplistic
Submitted by Phil on Mon, 05/01/2017 – 15:50
The major problem of the current model of assessing students and schools is not tests; it is the misuse of tests.
Continue reading “Simplicity vs Simplistic”What Indiana Can Learn from Finland
Submitted by Phil on Mon, 05/01/2017 – 15:33
Since I have returned, I have been asked whether I think we could match Finland’s success in Indiana. There are conditions contributing to Finland’s success that Indiana will probably never be able to duplicate (its homogeneous society and universal early child care). That being said, the Finns would love to have our talent for creativity and innovation, which is born of our diversity. I did come away with three concrete ideas that are applicable to Indiana.
Continue reading “What Indiana Can Learn from Finland”My Trip to Finland
Submitted by Phil on Mon, 05/01/2017 – 15:31
I went to Finland in June of 2015. Finland, where public restrooms have a soundtrack of birds chirping in the woods. Finland, where death-metal is one of the most popular styles of music. Finland, where more coffee is consumed per capita than anywhere else in the world, but in teensy little cups. Finland, where children have one of the shortest school days and one of the shortest school years, and yet their students perform higher on international tests than almost any other country in the world.
Continue reading “My Trip to Finland”