Ratings and testing Part IV: So what now?

Image source: MPCA photos 

 Honestly, I don't know. Ok, OK, I know a few things....

1. We need to be truthful about standardized tests. We need to talk often and publicly about their limitations, their built-in discrimination against poor kids, and what they can and can't measure. 
2. We need to stop using standardized tests as the primary way we measure, and talk about, the quality of teaching and learning in schools. 
3. We need to get serious about equity. Whether or not a school gets resources should not be left up to haphazard grant-writing, parent contributions, or a "market-driven" funding formula. We need a new way to budget money for schools - one that provides at the very least a baseline budget for every school - but more likely we need to let go of market-driven approaches. Equity doesn't mean that everyone gets the same, it means that everyone gets what they need. Kids are not a product and schools are not a business - as long as there are kids in them, it's not OK for them to fail financially. 
4. Students with higher needs - i.e. those facing greater "headwinds," should be given the most resources. And we should have accountability and transparency around this. Because school budgets fluctuate with economic ups and downs, we should keep track of who has a librarian, which schools have counselors and music teachers and reading readiness programs.  we could also be transparent about those headwinds so that we can see when higher-needs kids are clustered into a school or set of schools.
5. We should still make schools accountable to the community for making sure students learn. It's not a bad thing to try to measure academic growth - but absent an understanding of student need and school resources, those measurements become punitive. If schools and/or teachers are doing a great job supporting new immigrants, or kids experiencing homelessness, or kids with disabilities, it should be celebrated, not labeled as a "failing school."
6. Finally, we need to give parents different ways to understand the schools around them. How can parents learn about the culture and classroom of the schools in our city? Well, there's lots of ways to look at a school culture. As a parent I'd like to know things like:
• What does discipline look like? Are there a lot of suspensions? Are students taught productive ways to handle frustration and conflict?
• What does equity look like? Are students from any particular demographic over- or under-represented in important school data points (like suspensions, special education, tracked/AP/gifted classes, etc.)?Do kids learn how to work together across differences?  Is racial literacy taught and diversity valued? 
• Stability - has the school been able to keep its staff around? Leadership? 
• What's the vibe in the school? Are the teachers, parents and students excited about the school? 
• Does classroom instruction include approaches that motivate lots of different kinds of kids? Is my kid going to be excited about going to school? Is he learning about himself as a learner and a human being? Will he start to acquire a "toolkit" of strategies to use when he gets stuck or frustrated? 

None of this fits tidily into a one-number score or level. But it is the information that would help me make decisions about where I want my son to learn. It is also the kind of information that would help many of us white or privileged parents consider a wider range of schools for our children's education.