A New Kind of Education Conversation

Sometimes I feel as if parents and education policymakers are living on different planets.

Listen to us parents talk about what kind of schools we want for our children, and we're likely to talk about school quality in a broad way. We care about the quality of teachers, the breadth of the program, the sense of community at the school and, of course, student safety. We know that educating students is not a "cookie-cutter" kind of operation. We are acutely aware of the unique characteristics of each of our children, and we want schools that pay attention to the complete development — academic, social, emotional, moral and physical — of each child that comes through its doors.

Listen to many policymakers talk about K-12 education, and you hear a lot about test scores. In fact, that's just about all you hear about. Young people will not have opportunities and America will not be competitive, they say, unless we do a better job of raising student achievement. And test scores are the measure of progress when it comes to academic achievement.

Most of us parents do care about test scores when we're looking for a school, but the importance of scores typically goes way down once we've made our pick. Once we've chosen our school, we have a close-up view of how well it is serving our children and the children in our community. We want our child (and all the other children in our community) to be happy and well rounded. We are more likely to get upset over teachers who don't care about students than we are about low test scores.

And to be fair, some policymakers and business people who influence them do care about education in a broader sense than just test scores. They understand that education is the product of an  interaction between students and teachers, and that student success depends on the quality of teachers and programs. But, reading the newspaper, you can't tell that most of the time.

So what often happens in American education? Policymakers make increasingly shrill proclamations about the need to raise student achievement — as measured by test scores — and we parents shrug our shoulders. Raising test scores is not a bad idea in and of itself, we think, but it's not worth it if it comes at a cost of making schools focus narrowly on a test-driven curriculum or if it makes schools less inclined to take careful measure of each child and serve him or her as well as possible.

This is a dangerous standoff and it doesn't have to be this way.

We parents are correct in assessing what education really should be: good schools must pay careful attention to the complete development of each young person. Of course, preparing the next generation to take its leadership role means developing their abilities in a broad sense. And even if academic development is the primary goal, wise parents and teachers know that kids learn better when they are inspired and supported. Success and happiness in life depends on a broad base of social, emotional and other skills, as well as academic abilities. 

At the same time, policymakers are correct in their assessment that many American students are not performing academically at levels that will enable them to take advantage of the opportunities in the 21st Century. The academic preparation that was good enough for us parents is not good enough for young people today. The globalized information economy makes ever-greater demands on the ability of young people to think, analyze, synthesize and communicate. Many young people will "miss the boat" unless we up the ante academically.

So I think we need a new kind of conversation about education in America: How do we reform our education system so as to increase academic achievement while at the same time paying even more careful attention to the complete development of every child? Parents need to recognize the need to improve academic achievement. Policymakers need to recognize that schools are community-serving institutions with broader missions than raising test scores.

How do we do this? Stay tuned — I'll be sharing my thoughts on this critical question in the coming weeks.

Comments

[Stop pointing fingers already]

I appreciate the discussion here about the undue focus on test scores, but scold the blog's author for putting emphasis on changing the education system. The system is at fault because the country is plagued by unprecedented levels of laziness accompanied by a sense of entitlement. Parents and their kids expect the world to be handed to them by schools and then the government. Why can't parents take some responsibility for the drop out crisis? Why can't parents take responsibility for low test score performance? Schools don't raise kids into responsible adults, parents do. So take some ownership and stop blaming the system.

[M.M. Contreras]

We have a 3rd and 4th grader this fall and I am counting the days to 5th grade when I will remove them from public education! Our children are enrolled in one of "the best" elementary schools in California based on, surprise, test scores!!! In my opinion, the "No Child Left Behind" Act is a national tragedy that has created an educational disaster. The "extra" programs that provide academic diversity for our students are funded by our PTA. Without these "extras" school would be tedious day to day instruction of test prep. Pouring more money into our educational system is NOT the answer, there's more money per child now than there ever has been and our nation ranks 24th in worldwide education!!! What I want to know is WHERE IS THE MONEY REALLY BEING SPENT? Our high school drop-out rate is a national disaster and our politicians should be ashamed and THEY should be held accountable NOT our teachers!!!!

[Chris Laemont]

It's nice to know that someone is thinking the same thoughts as me.

I have been requesting my daughter to go to another school that is just as far as the one we are zoned for and in the "Community" that we support and play sports in. The Robertson County School Board has for the past 4 years just shut the door on this issue. She will now be in 2nd grade and they want me to wait for them to build another school in about 2-4 years.

I have over the past 2 years sent her out of county in the same town (they also split the White House, TN into 2 seperate counties).

Both counties have the same basic "Test Scores" but I want my child to know and be involved in the "Community" that we support.

[Zoheyra Ould-Rouis]

I'm a business manager based in Barcelona, Spain...just crossed this very interesting blog.
Congratulations! Zoheyra