Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Tell me who is to blame ...
By Jim Broadway, Publisher, State School News Service
The "Three Rs" are the least of their problems. If that's all they had to do, just teach the children what they need to know, our public schools would be at the top of the charts.
In fact, they are at the top of the charts. The 2008 PDK/Gallup poll found that 72% of Americans give their local schools an "A" or a "B" report card. (See page 12 of this pdf document, which takes longer than average to bring to your screen.)
But fewer than half rate public schools "in general" so highly. Why is that? Probably, it's because of the school-bashing that has persisted for more than two decades, the poison spewing from public officials and the nation's corporate leaders.
Schools are expected to keep the children physically fit, psychologically sound, safe from predators on the streets and on the Internet and at the mall. They must feed them, exercise them, counsel them, make them "good citizens." (The mandates increase with every legislative session, as SSNS subscribers learned this week.)
Oh, yes, schools also must get students to achieve high scores on standardized tests. If the outcomes are poor, it is the schools that are "to blame."
There is another view. Since schools are very similar (especially after all these years of standardization), wildly varying outcomes more likely reflect wildly varying factors in the children's homes and communities, in their out-of-school environments.
In other words, students' performance indicators actually are not as good a measure of the quality of their schools as they are a window through which to view the quality, the "kid-friendliness," of the communities where the students live.
What do you think? Click the link below. Play the video of a performance that first asked the question in 1967: Who is to blame ... for this Child of Clay?" Then answer the questions at the bottom of that page.
We are deeply interested in your opinions in this matter. Please share this message with others who might want to express themselves on the question. Thank you.
