Measuring Great Schools

Lately, my daughter Isabella has been singing of a "sentimental feeling." Why a 3 year old would be having feelings of nostalgia was beyond me. Then again, I thought, well the holidays ARE just around the corner.

But it turns out she was practicing a song for her pre-school holiday show. It was Rocking Around the Christmas Tree -- "you will get a sentimental feeling when you hear... Voices singing let's be jolly, deck the halls with boughs of holly..."

My daughter loves school. She loves her teacher, her friends, her schoolmates --older and younger--, and even loves homework. Isabella and her friends make school seem so carefree and important and fun all at the same time. I suppose for young children, it is.

So why does school have to change for so many students, teachers, and parents? Why did it change? Throughout this country, we talk of the importance of "love of learning," perhaps my least favorite cliche in education, although it has plenty of competition. But what does "love of learning" mean when student and teacher achievement is primarily measured with raw numbers? I can't think of anything further removed from love than using numbers to quantify it.

I question any educational system's ability to promote a love of learning culture, when its priority, official or not, is to test its way to the global apex of student achievement and to use test scores as a measurement of student performance relative to kids in other countries. Not because I disagree with the idea of testing, but because I disagree with tests that are based on standards and skills that represent only a fraction of those needed to prepare our children for the global challenges of today and tomorrow and in the process suck the love out of learning (and teaching).

Too often it seems that our political leaders just want numbers to establish the appearance of greatness. Perhaps it's to earn re-election to public office. Or maybe it's to show that we're still a pre-eminent nation and no country, let alone one smaller than Rhode Island, should ever upstage America. Is it even possible to promote a love of learning culture, when all that these officials want is to train American youngsters to beat kids from Singapore in the international math assessments? "C'mon!" they shriek, "We're America! We beat the Russians at Lake Placid! We won the Cold War! We can't lose to Singapore!

Cut to film studio.

Take Scene 97: America Restores Greatness in Education...roll film... and ACTION!

How do we beat those kids from Singapore? We must develop a sophisticated, carefully considered approach, marshaling good old fashioned American know-how.

First, we'll implement highly scripted curriculua that takes the pressure off teachers, allowing them to focus on content distribution, rather than say, teaching. Then for the kids, we'll lower the passing grades, so that many of our kids will do well on state tests. Brilliant idea, Texas!

Talk about your shot across the bow of the SS Singapore!

Wait, lowering passing grades didn't work. Still too many kids not passing state tests? So strange. What was that Texas? Just make the tests easier. Texas, I have no idea where you come up with these awesome ideas, but keep 'em coming!

Wait a minute. We still have too many failing kids on our rolls. Try what, Texas? Just kick the perpetually failing kids out of our schools so they no longer put a drag on our overall test scores. That's pure genius, Texas!

Hey wait, lowering passing grades, making tests easier, automatizing teachers, and kicking kids out of school appears to have made our kids dumber and less interested in learning. What do we do now, Texas? Anyone?

Cut to reality.

When we put too much emphasis on test scores, we become vulnerable to the weaknesses of a flawed testing system. We lose focus on the the social, emotional, and intellectual development of children. Judge a child solely on his/her performance on a math or literacy test and you miss the big picture. Our children have value far beyond what single-shot state assessments are capable of measuring.

I think about what it took for those Chilean miners to find the inner strength to stay alive. How do you measure fortitude? Perseverance?

What about the inner city child who rushes home after school to make sure his little brothers and sisters are fed and bathed, with homework finished, before mom returns from a long day at work? How do you measure devotion? Love?

In his new book called the Six Leading Edges of Innovation in Our Schools, Milton Chen quotes a former schools Superintendent who said that his single measurement of a great school is, "Do the kids run to school as fast as they leave it?"

And that's when my thoughts turn to Isabella. Sometimes I need to drag her out of school at the end of the day. I hope she never loses her love of learning.