Let’s be audacious enough to get school accountability right. Let’s hold schools accountable for preparing children and youth for life instead of for tests. Throughout American history, leaders have asked that schools help students develop: (1) the abilities to read, to write, and to compute, and basic knowledge of geography, history and science; (2) the abilities to analyze information and solve problems; (3) enthusiasm for the arts and literature; (4) qualifications for the workplace; (5) the abilities to communicate and get along with others from varied backgrounds and to take responsibility for one’s actions; (6) knowledge of how government works and of how to participate in community life; (7) good habits of nutrition and exercise, and (8) self-confidence, respect for others, and the ability to resist peer pressure.
If those are our goals then we will need more than one test in addition to measures of accountability other than tests. We will need: (1) information on the academic growth of students on a variety of measures; (2) student work samples and/or observations of them solving problems; (3) samples of their art work and performances; (4) demonstrations of their workplace qualifications; (5) demonstrations that staff and students work together positively, and that adults use interventions to restore relationships when interactions become negative; (6) demonstrations of students’ participation in community life and of their knowledge of how government works; (7) observations of students’ food choices and exercising, and, (8) interviews with students to understand how they feel about themselves and others, and how independent they are in their decision-making.
Accountability done right is never simple, and accountability is too important to do on the cheap. The costs of doing education wrong are too high for us to continue to get accountability wrong.
I think when we have a government in Washington that’s not corrupt, like the republicans and bush just chose to employ. maybe we will show our children what the results of their hard work will bring. Holding people and children accountable to perform while crimminals make billions of dollars some money meant for “No Child Left Behind.” When everyone steps up to the plate it’s less stressful for the children. No half hearted attempts leaving it on them please.
I could not agree more with Ms. Berkeley and it seems so common sensical to me, although I hear “common sense” is a rarity these days. Our schools see to concentrate so much on preparing the students to do well on those standard tests, yet the statistics recently showed that they are graduating and needing remedial help in Math, for one. What happened to teaching children the basics (how to read, write, and do math)? We can always add on to these basics as Ms. Berekely suggests and our children would turn out to be more well-rounded people, knowing more about their world, and prepared to live in this world more productively. Why does this type of education seem to elude us? Hopefully, Baltimore City’s CEO of Schools, Dr. Alonso, has seen your ideas, as well as Dr. Grasmick, State Superintendent! Thank you for sharing them.
“Preparing children and youth for life and not for tests” IS truly what most adults would agree is most important for schools to do. In a training exercise we have conducted, we ask educators (or parents) the question: “What do you want for your students (or children)?” Their responses most frequently reflect values, like being responsible citizens, or life skills, like problem-solving and communicating effectively. BUT how much time is spent teaching these skills?
Sadly, too often, educators, especially in middle and high schools, are led to believe that they don’t have time to teach their students the skills to resolve conflicts, to manage anger, or to problem solve through the communication barriers that are inherent in a world full of diverse cultures. So let’s shift accountability from passing tests to being able to succeed in getting along with others.
For those interested, there is a body of research to support that teaching conflict resolution curriculm to students can reduce negative classroom behavior AND increase academic performance. However, gaining support takes strong leadership and a shift from the recent decades’ emphasis on tests. There are some Maryland educators who are realizing that placing more focus on teaching conflict resolution education is the only way to counter problems of bullying behavior and violence among our youth. The use of integrated conflict resolution curriculum, peer mediation and restorative circles is essential.
In its seventh year, a Collaborative Grant Partnership, between the Maryland Alternative Conflict Resolution Office (MACRO), the Center for Dispute Resolution at the University of Maryland School of Law (C-DRUM) and MSDE, supports the growth of this work, with fund opportunities, curriculum and training. Explore http://www.cdrum.org under Initiatives, Schools, for more information about future grants.
Right on!Dr. Berkeley has provided the clearest, most complete statement of the purpose and importance of education that I have read in forty years.
Dr. Berkeley –
Thank you for this great post. I am extremely intrigued by your thoughts, and I am hoping that you’re reading the comments. I have a few follow-up questions, meant only to flush out your ideas, not at all to challenge them (as I wholeheartedly agree with your premise):
(1) How do you standardize student work samples across the City? What’s a good measure or rubric for this? Are there examples of schools/districts doing this in other jurisdictions for the purposes of school accountability?
(2) What age do you start evaluating workplace skills? Supposing ability to get along with others and problem solving are important workplace skills, how do you differentiate these categories?
(3) When measuring interactions between adults and students to move from negative to positive relationships, how do you capture this? Is it an individual student basis? Student support team analysis? What role would documentation and bureaucracy play in hampering such a measure?
(4) In terms of “knowing how government works,” does this require a civics test or citizenship test? Group project? Portfolio?
(5) Food choices – how do individual students’ needs affect this measure? A student with diabetes requires a much different lesson on nutrition than a student not suffering from such a condition. Does the variability amongst students’ needs in schools throughout Baltimore City mean that this has to be quite a large spectrum of measurement?
(6) Depending on the age level, there’s quite a bit of variability around maturity and independence. Are there effective evaluations in existence that help to narrow these questions or tailor them to the individual child in the interview? Would an alternative school face an inherent barrier to such a measure because of the more at-risk nature of the school population?
I know I’ve asked quite a bit, but I’d be extremely interested in your responses.
Again, thanks so much for posting this audacious idea!
This is a polite way to let the school system know, it needs remodification. Hats off to Maryland for being number 1 according to Newsweek, but how did they do it.