“Ya, buts…” abound in October whenever the WI State Report Cards for school are published. When the criteria for school success are limited to achievement and sub-group growth in reading and math with weighting for cohort promotion and graduation every educator and parent who believes that schooling is broader and richer than two subjects should groan their “Ya, but”. The groaning does not change the report card or the perception of which schools outperform others, but it gives voice to different ways to measure our children’s educational experience by looking at a whole education.
The classic retort against the narrow focus on reading and math involves children with passion for the arts. The Report Card takes no notice of achievements in our schools attained by children in art studios or music halls. In the No Child Left Behind era, we boonswoggled art and music teachers with how they contributed to a school’s report card achievement by collateral instruction in reading and math practices in their non-ELA and math classes. Boonswoggle is the appropriate word.
That retort was echoed by teachers of science and social studies, business and technology, second languages and physical education and health. And, what of Driver Education, the one course in high school that had immediate impact on the well-being of everyone in the school community? These educators and their teaching does not matter in the School Report Card. Student achievement in reading and math is all that is measured.
School districts post their mission statements on their websites. Most speak to the district’s goals in teaching all children to be well-rounded, educated graduates ready to contribute to the community in their adult life. Something like that. Our local mission prioritizes the Four As – academics, activities, arts, and athletics. I have not read a mission statement yet that purports to educate children only in reading and math, yet those are the two academic subjects by which we rate our school effectiveness.
What does matter and what ought to be measured? What are the values expressed in a local, public education? We fill our athletic grandstands and gymnasiums with parents and resident fans who put great store and value in the success of their school’s athletes. Children in athletic programs spend as much, if not more, daily time practicing and playing in season as they do in reading and math instruction in their classrooms, yet their gains in athleticism, self-esteem, team play, and commitment to and achievement goals are not measured and reported.
If we want a description of educational growth, we should measure and report how a child handed a trumpet in 7th grade learns and improves and perfects her play through band class whole group and individual instruction. Growth from “I can’t make a sound” to “hitting the high notes and harmonizing” is worth our measurement and reporting as an educational outcome. Or, we should report how a student who frowns in math class is lit up in tech classes when learning the skills of an electrician. This is the child who will be your “go to repairman” when he graduates. The educational achievements of these students are school-based, school-caused, and school-ignored.
In the past two decades, educators were tasked with teaching “soft skills” to all children. These were thought to be essential 20th Century skills. Collaboration, cooperation, and team work. Listening and questioning. Problem-solving. Soft skills were differentiated from the harder skill sets of academics, like reading and math. Quite rightly, soft skills assist our children in many of their non-curricular school activities, like DECADES, Destination Imagination, Debate, and Forensics. The economic driver of our local school community is small business, yet DECA and our Business Education program are invisible in our measure of school achievement.
A high-quality, well-rounded education results from a broad cadre of teachers, coaches, advisors, counselors, administrators, custodians, food service, and drivers interacting with children every school day. Such an education takes place in schools were children and adults feel safe and cared for by each other and by a community that wants its children to be wholly-educated.
Teachers and administrators do not get to choose the metrics used in the State Report Card. Governments that need single indicators for comparative purposes make that decision. Hence, the comparison of nations by the OECD using reading and math achievements. The USA ranks in the middle of the pack. Hence, the comparison of states and school districts within states based upon two academic measures. The need to rank and differentiate is more essential than the want to understand and illuminate. If only life were that simple.
The quality of an educated school graduate ready to be a law abiding, contributing and productive citizen as an adult will not be predetermined by reading and math achievements alone. Let’s talk about the well-rounded, wholly educated adults we want our children to become. We are so much more successful than we give ourselves credit for.