Spotlight on Education

Written by Jeff King

Education has always been in the crosshairs of politicians, media and the public eye. Report after report and editorial after editorial are published with conclusions and opinions like “The current educational system is failing our kids”, “America’s educational system must be reformed”, or “There’s something wrong with education.” As an educator, I could make these same generalizations, but for far different reasons than politicians and the media, claim in speeches, portray in news stories, or insert into legislative educational reform policies.

Since the inception of No Child Left Behind, education has been held to higher standards and a level of accountability unknown to the profession before its passage. Accountability is a good thing…a very good thing. As educators responsible for our nation’s greatest resource, our kids, we should and must be held accountable for the education that goes on in every classroom across America. However, the current system for evaluating a school’s performance includes standardized testing results of students with severe mental disabilities and limited English speaking skills. Even though the current law allows a school corporation to “exclude” a percentage of student scores, I find it very unfair for children with disabilities and limitations to be potentially responsible for whether a school or school district is deemed a highly performing school or not. Research shows that the number one brain-based principle is “success leads to success which leads to future success.” Success in turn leads to motivation. Subjecting students with severe mental disabilities and/or language deficiencies to a standardized test, expecting them to do as well as their classmates who don’t have these disadvantages, and ultimately holding them accountable for their results and the overall outcome for a school is wrong and in no way aligns with the brain-based research principle of success and motivation. Until this issue is addressed by lawmakers “the current educational system will fail kids.”

Current educational legislation in Indiana is placing great emphasis on teacher evaluation and merit pay. Once again, accountability is a good thing and educators (including administrators) should be held accountable for their effectiveness. However, rewarding individual teachers with merit pay due to the success of their students on a standardized test needs a closer look. Here in Portage Township Schools teacher collaboration is one of the most effective research-based practices we engage in and ultimately has contributed to the increase in student achievement over the last six years. How does rewarding individual teachers for student test scores support this best practice? It doesn’t. Incentive-based pay has merit, but a more effective way could be rewarding an entire school and/or school corporation for improvements in student achievement. This way, the entire school develops a sense of ownership and accountability that encourages everyone to give their best and strive to make a genuine difference in the lives of every student everyday.

Here in Indiana and across America we are seeing school budgets cut and slashed. True “educational reform” will occur when we make a greater investment in our schools. Why? Because the education of our citizens will always be our greatest natural resource. Properly funding schools will enable our country to continue developing citizens that have good character, are knowledgeable, skillful and can positively contribute to society; thus allowing us to compete globally and continue America’s legacy of greatness.