'Hire This Guy' Parent Wrote After Interviewing New WDM Schools Chief

Second of two articles

“Hire this guy,” Tammy Cline wrote in bold letters on her comments when she and other members of the selection committee interviewed Peter Ansingh, West Des Moines Schools’ new superintendent.

“My first impression of him was that he was a very passionate about education and children in general,” said Cline, who represented parents on the committee. “He was very easy to talk to. He brought a personal element that complemented his professional experience.”

West Des Moines school board members selected Ansingh from the three candidates who were interviewed. A total of 49 candidates applied for the job. He will be paid $200,000 a year plus benefits.

At his previous job in Yakima, WA, Ansingh was known for encouraging teachers to work together on their lesson plans and for offering more professional development opportunities to teachers. He also oversaw construction of a new high school, which opened in 2009.

Statewide education changes
Ansingh came to Iowa at a time when many changes are under way statewide in public education.

Gov. Terry Branstad has said he wants to put Iowa students back when their performance is compared with their peers. He held an education summit earlier this year and directed new Department of Education Director Jason Glass to find ways to improve Iowa's education ranking and better prepare students.

In September, Glass unveiled some of his ideas, including the expansion of charter schools, elimination of teacher-tier pay systems and the requirement of a high school exit exam.

Ansingh said Washington required high school exit exams to get a diploma, but it was a criterion-based test that was tied to the state’s standards. In Iowa, the discussion has been to use the ACT as an exit exam.

Ansingh said he has concerns with using the ACT test because it is a norm-based test and is not aligned with the state’s standards known as the Iowa Core Curriculum.

Ansingh also said he has concerns about expansion of charter schools given recent research. He cited a recent study by the Center for Research on Education Outcomes at Stanford University that evaluated charter school programs in several states and determined that the majority of students who attended charter schools made the same or less learning gains as their peers in traditional school.

“I’m not really sure why that kind of notion is still on the table,” Ansingh said about the expansion of charter schools.

He said he does not have firsthand experience with pay-for-performance teacher pay systems and would interested to learn more about what Glass has planned. However, Ansingh said he has read that many districts with similar programs have dropped them.

If you missed the first part of this story, click here.