One of the hardest parts about writing a weekly column is deciding what topic I want to cover. Oftentimes it's easy enough to just go with the conversation du jour in our country, or expounding on a legislative initiative I am working on. However, this week I want to try something different. I want to share with you a piece that I read in U.S. News & World Report on reinventing our national education system. The author raises some thought provoking points, some of which I agree with and others I don't. I am curious to hear your thoughts on what the author lays out, so let me know what you think.
Original Article by David Osborne on U.S. News & World Report
Because Congress passed the Every Student Succeeds Act last December, states are revamping their federally required systems to measure school quality and hold schools accountable for performance. But most are doing so using outdated assumptions, holdovers from the industrial era, when cookie-cutter public schools followed orders from central headquarters and students were assigned to the closest school.
Today we are migrating toward systems of diverse, fairly autonomous schools of choice, some of them operated by independent organizations. Before revising their measurement and accountability systems, states need to rethink their assumptions. . .
-
We need accountability systems that focus on more than minimal standards and treat different schools differently.
-
We need systems that make accountability real by replacing failed schools with proven models.
-
Our accountability systems should emphasize student growth more than achievement levels.
-
States should quit using "proficient" as the only target.
-
States should construct their systems as works in progress to be adjusted as they learn how to objectively and reliably use student surveys and measure deeper learning, character skills and other important aspects of school performance.
-
We need an ideal statewide accountability system.
Showing 3 reactions
Sign in with
I would prefer a school based program which molds a well rounded child who appreciates the arts, is physically fit, and can read….And an evaluation system that is truly based upon a 360 degree model.
Matt Ernandes
Mount Laurel