School 'Reform': A Failing Grade

After I finished this article, I was mad: mad at the people featured in the article, mad at society, and even a little angry with the author. But in this case, I think that's beneficial.

I loved that the author took politicos and Wall Street guys to task for their "involvement" in modern education. To me, that's one of the most troubling features of the recent societal war on education: trusting fat cats' wallets and influence over the hard work of teachers. Their involvement and financial support oftentimes feels like more of just a hobby than a genuine desire to make improvements, a charitable contribution to polish up their image. Sure, there are people who honestly care, but many featured in the article seemed like they did not.

Like John, I was disappointed with how closely Obama's plan echoed NCLB. While I believe that teachers must always be accountable----to themselves, their students, and their students' families----, basing school funding solely on the "accountability" of test scores is obscene. If Obama's team really wanted to erase NCLB, they would have not only found a way to measure teacher/school performance without test scores but also learned to celebrate the individuality of each teacher, school, classroom, and student.

However, I also disagreed with the author's stance on poverty. While I certainly agree that we must learn about students' home environments as a tool of understanding how to better teach them, it seemed lazy and irresponsible to put more of the blame on student underperformance on demographics. Sure, a poor student will not come to school with the same resources as a wealthy student. But to immediately categorize this student as "poor" engages in the highly dangerous practice of labeling. Labeling, in turn, often leads to marginalization---ie, "Those are the poor students, we can't blame them for their low performance." There's a difference between recognizing that students in your class can't afford to pay for their own art supplies and making excuses/writing off a student based on his/her demography. Economic backgrounds obviously play a role in shaping the student and the environment of a school, but using them as a quick way to define/categorize students harms the students.

I loved Janet Grossbach Mayer's quote about her students. I wish all teachers, politicians, and members of society had as much faith in young people and the world as she does (and as I do.) But hey, maybe I'm just an idealist.