The Names Behind the Numbers

Recently, the state of Wisconsin released their annual school district report cards. A measurement tool to inform the public on the performance of schools state wide, the report card mentions graduation rates, math and reading scores on state standardized tests, achievement gaps, and attendance rates. While some will use these reports as a tool to choose a school for their child/children, others use the report to point out deficiencies in a school district. Thus, upon identifying a problem area, districts often try to find the next 'bandaid' to put over the blemish and hope their 'cure' works on the next go around of standardized testing.

School districts are quick to jump on the next fad in education and apply it to their blemish in hopes of raising test scores or a report card score. Quantitative data is easy to find, easy to measure, and usually provides some immediate feedback. And school districts rely do heavily on this form of data collection that often has very little long-term effect. School districts ought to invest their time and money in Qualitative Data tools to help answer some of the most difficult and systemic problems facing public education. The problem - qualitative data takes time, effort, and resources. Unfortunately, education as a whole has been missing two quality measurement sticks; student profiles and high quality teachers.

The first, student profile, is a touchy subject that many are unwilling to touch. Let's wake up and face the facts - today's students are coming to school farther behind than compared to students 20 years ago. There are any number of reasons to explain why students are not entering 4K or Kindergarten unprepared, but let's agree to admit they start school already behind. Perhaps mom/dad are both working full-time, some two jobs, just to put food on the table and a roof over their heads. There is little time to read, practice the alphabet, or learn how to count. Rather than placing blame, education needs to accept the fact and educate families on how they can help prepare students for school.

Perhaps this explains the various gaps in reading and math. For just as many students that come to school unprepared, there is an equal amount of students that are entering school prepared or even ahead. The very minute students enter school, a natural 'gap' is already in existence. Thus, school districts are asked to quickly come up with a 'bandaid' that will cover up that gap and hope their plan sticks and lasts long enough to notice a difference. All the while, students go home to two different worlds; the have's and the have-nots. While I applaud school districts for the steps they are taking in educating families about the important role they play in education, we face many battles ahead in closing the natural gap that will exist for ever.

Graduation rates and attendance rates are overused, over emphasized, and highly touted measurement sticks that are too often the result of individual student motivation. Unfortunately, for every student that does not graduate or is absent from school, a district receives a blemish. Thus, districts are left scrambling to find a 'bandaid' that will cover that blemish in time for the next report. All the while, the WHY behind a student choice never gets evaluated.

Perhaps Johnny lives with his single mother of three, and his mom lost her job. Johnny is the oldest and decides he needs to step up and earn a living for his family to survive. Or maybe Jane lives in an abusive home and doesn't want to leave her younger sibling home alone with dad. Yes, I know these are both extreme scenarios. However, the point is that we fail to step back and look at the whole picture. What have we done as a school to support each child that is absent or drops out? Have we reached out to those students and made meaningful connections with them, thus making them miss those people that care about them when they are absent?

Which leads to the most significant and underutilized asset of every school - the classroom teacher! School districts need to invest more time and resources on helping their teachers develop rapport with each and every student. I will be the first to admit - my college degree did nothing in helping to prepare me to work with ALL students. This was an area I had to seek out myself and build upon only through experience. You see, students with a great background and pedigree in education are easy to teach. They often have their homework done, follow directions, and give us little grief in school. But what about the students that struggle or are behind their peers academically.

As a teacher, I enjoyed working with these students the most. Watching them light up as they made gains and realized they were capable of far more than they gave themselves credit for was the best reward I could receive as a teacher. But it didn't happen overnight. It was an investment on my part. Building a rapport with students takes time and is difficult to measure - in part because it's different for each and every student. Yet, school districts are often reluctant to put an emphasis in this area because of the time, effort, and resources it takes to support a teacher in this way.

School districts already demand too much of their teachers - lesson plans, grades, behavior reports, team meetings, district meetings, and the list could go on and on. However, very few of these demands has any impact on teacher-student rapport. If I noticed Jimmy was absent from school today, I needed to find my own time to call home and talk with him. Or I needed to take an extra 5 minutes when Jimmy returned to discuss WHY he was absent, rather than what he missed by being gone from school. Sometimes the invest in the child as a whole becomes greater than the child as a student. However, districts assume this is a skill most teachers inherently possess.

Now is the time to stop spending money on quantitative tools and their results and focus more on the names behind the numbers - the students and teachers. School districts need to stand up for their students and their teachers. Imagine the change a district can make and the impact they can have on student success when they invest in the student as a whole and helping to prepare teachers to work with ALL students of varying backgrounds. Change will not occur overnight, however, change has to start somewhere. One district, even one school, could impact how we look at data, standardized testing, and the whole student.

Even one teacher can make an impact! Are you the ONE!?