EducationNews.org

Dr. Philip Kovacs
Columnist EdNews.org

A few weeks ago the Aspen Institute issued a report suggesting that what the country needs is more of the same: tougher standards, harsher penalties, more private ownership of public schools. No major publication questioned whether or not tougher standards have been scientifically proven to raise test scores.

They haven't.

No major publication questioned whether or not scientific studies show that tougher sanctions for failing schools helps those schools improve.

They don't.

No major publication questioned the science behind the Aspen report's call for "failing" public schools to house private tutoring firms.

There isn't any.

No major publication questioned the Aspen report's attack on teachers, as if teachers are the only problem in America's schools.

They aren't.

Undoubtedly U.S. schools and teachers need attention and help, but blaming teachers alone for poor academic development allows certain segments of our population to ignore some rather large problems. For example, the same week the Aspen Institute launched its national attack on America's teachers,UNICEF issued a report entitled "Child Poverty in Perspective."

The report ranks developed nations according to the best place to live for children.Out of 21 countries, the U.S. scored 20th. The Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, and Finland were the top four. It should come as no surprise that those four countries repeatedly outscore the United States on international tests. Is it just a matter of teaching, as the Aspen Institute argues, or is something else going on?

No Child Left Behind was supposed to narrow the "achievement gap" between black and white students. According to the Harvard Civil Rights Project and recent NAEP test results, it has not done so, and may in fact be exacerbating the situation as highly qualified teachers leave failing schools, unwilling to work in unrewarding, high-stress environments.

Rather than focus exclusively on the achievement gap in schools, we might ask what NCLB has done to close other gaps that clearly result in poor educational development. Has NCLB closed the healthcare gap? The homeowner gap? The wage gap? The children living below the poverty line gap?

Simply lowering the poverty rate by 2% would result in test scores rising across the board, even if we did nothing to improve schools or teachers.

But the real issue isn't test scores, despite what politicians and test companies would like Americans to think. Education in a democracy such as ours must focus on preparing children to become critical, engaged, and reflective participants in their classrooms, their communities, and their country. As NCLB drains the life out of schools, as thousands of teachers show us by quitting the profession, it undermines the development of a citizenry capable of maintaining a vibrant and effective democracy.

In our frantic race to ratchet up test scores we have turned schools into oppressive institutions that dehumanize and miseducate. Many young students are learning to hate learning. As school districts across the country jettison history, civics, science, the arts, and foreign languages, they are doing away with subjects that lead students to better understand who they are and where they are going. The ultimate price: a society of hard workers but shallow thinkers.

Rather than forcing all public schools to adopt one model of reform, something that authoritarian countries have done for years, genuine educational reform should encourage local choice on curriculum and instructional strategies grounded in best practices—practices defined as such by teachers, researchers, and professional associations that represent various disciplines.

In appreciation for the diversity, innovation, and creativity that have made this country great, we should also allow states and districts to build assessment systems with local and national components that use multiple measures and multiple methods, rather than a one-size-fits-all approach which, in reality, fits no one. Such assessment systems would include understanding, application, and factual knowledge, rather than simply measuring the retention of desiccated facts irrelevant to life in the 21st Century.

Finally, in an effort to begin closing the multiple gaps facing America's children, America must develop a focused community ecosystem intent on building and nurturing the intellectual, civic, physical, and emotional health of children. This requires making the improvement of struggling schools an integral part of family and neighborhood support and rebuilding, rather than pretending that student development and school achievement are independent of family income and community health.

These are truly progressive proposals, but they require no new taxes, as schools systems would be free to use tax dollars as they see fit, rather than being forced to spend them on tests that do little than tell us what we already know: America must treat its most precious resource better.

Dr. Philip Kovacs