Only Connect: The Way to Save Our Schools Rudolph Crew

I'm always looking for books like this one...
In this book, Dr.Crew describes all the facets he feels are necessary to improve the public school systems, and he emphasizes that they all must be implemented at once in order to be effective. He explains the positive economic impact fixing our education system will have on our country, and why we must improve education in order to be able to compete globally.

He gets us moving in the right direction by explaining how the assessments currently in place are helpful but not enough. He sends the message that we must arm our students and children with social skill and civic awareness as well as academic skills. The ideas are great. Now we just need someone to draw up a plan and put these ideas into action.

One theme that prevails in his book is that "good enough is not enough." Here is a quote from his book:

“Good enough is not enough. You got a roof over your head, food on the table, love and forgiveness from your family. No, you don’t have money. No, you don’t have Nike swooshes on everything you wear. No, you don’t have the latest car or anything, but you got everything it takes to get an A.”

And don't forget the words of President Obama, meant for students across the country:

“No one has written your destiny for you. Your destiny is in your hands.”

The Boys of Baraka

I stumbled across this documentary at the Baltimore County Public Library. The filmmakers follow a group of 20 twelve-year-old boys from Baltimore City Schools to a school in Kenya, where they stay for one year. It's really amazing to see the transformation that takes place with the boys, and also sad that only select small groups are invited to participate in programs like these, while the majority of the population is left to deal with the chaos of their regular schools and impoverished neighborhoods.

While the Baraka School is a great idea and a great portrayal of the capabilities of impoverished African American youth, I think we should be focusing on ways to take the chaos out of all public schools, rather than creating order in a few experimental schools. While the film is great, it's just not feasible to send our kids to rural areas throughout the world in order to provide a spacious, peaceful environment for them to learn and grow in. What happened to all the kids that applied to the Baraka School but didn't get in? Did they fall through the cracks?

Student Success Equals Teacher Bonus

Many students’ state and national test scores are below-average, and teachers’ paychecks should suffer until educators are able to pull those scores up. Test scores alone should accurately represent the progress that has gone on in the classroom. Do educators and policy makers agree that assessment scores should determine how much teachers are paid? The resounding answer is no.

In 2007, at an NEA Representative Assembly, President Obama said, “if you excel at helping your students achieve success, your success will be valued and rewarded.” He also stated that success is “not based on some arbitrary test score.”

Success does not always come in the form of increased test scores. For example, many students are immersed in gang-related or drug-related lifestyles and are allured by the instant gratification of earning money without putting forth much effort or the comforting feeling of belonging to something. These students may have little to no interest in school and may perform at below-average levels because they have not been focused or inspired to learn. Passionate teachers may be able to connect with these students by creating engaging lessons and building the students’ confidence.

Dedicated teachers work diligently to prevent students from losing hope and dropping out. This perseverance may not be reflected in state or national assessments. School officials need to consider more than test scores alone. I have a proposition to make that I believe will allow for a more balanced assessment of student and teacher performance.

My idea is to have students complete weekly or bi-weekly open-ended written questionnaires. Students will provide information about how motivated they are to learn, whether or not they are completing all work to the best of their ability, and whether or not they find specific learning activities engaging and helpful or boring and a waste of time. Students and teachers can then collaborate and discuss possible adjustments that can be made to current instruction. These questions can be repeated throughout the school year and educators can store the results and refer to them periodically to track student progress.

These questionnaires allow educators to hear students’ voices, thus transforming students from passive listeners into active participants. Students will feel a sense of belonging as they are encouraged to critique and reflect on their learning experiences, and schools will have a new way to track student performance. If a teacher is able to cling onto his or her drug-dealers, gangsters, and teen mothers, these successes will be just as tangible as state and national assessment scores.

I am hopeful that these questionnaires will also encourage teachers to adjust instruction to meet students’ needs, rather than teachers simply preparing students for the state and national assessments. I believe that the combination of assessment and questionnaire results will more accurately depict successes or failures of educators than summative assessments alone.