Local commentary
Rating system won’t make schools better or solve their problems
By Robert D. Livernois and Michael F. Rice
Recently, the Michigan Department of Education unveiled a new color-coded scorecard rating system for schools. Like most big and complicated projects, its first moment in the sun was met with some confusion and criticism. Efforts to improve it began immediately and are ongoing.
But rather than work with MDE and schools to improve the scorecards, some Lansing legislators have chosen to add to the confusion by proposing yet another new rating system. This new system, would have a tortured rating process with separate ratings systems for schools serving grades K-8 and 9-12, with each having a clumsy 800-point scale, a bell curve and letter grades.
The basic premise of any rating system for schools must be rooted in what parents and community members need to be able to gauge school performance and determine the experiences their children are, or will be, having at a school.
Parents are our partners in our schools. We speak with parents constantly regarding student achievement, plans to improve, as well as our challenges and successes.
Neither of us has heard a parent ask for a complicated 800-point scale, bell curves or a success formula centered around a single high-stakes test. In fact, many want less testing.
Parents across our respective regions want to know that their children are in safe and nurturing environments where they are learning daily. They want to know relevant things about student success in pre-K-12 and postsecondary education.
They want to know that our districts are financially responsible and have reasonable student-teacher ratios.
They want experienced and well-qualified teachers to provide student opportunities in pre-kindergarten, math, science, social studies, language arts, the fine and performing arts, athletics and technology.
Parents want to make sure their sons and daughters are getting a strong education with cultural and global awareness and a readiness to pursue higher education and 21st-Century jobs.
All of this is routinely reflected in public polling data, which consistently demonstrates that parents largely believe that their children’s schools are doing a good job, despite school funding cuts and constant micromanagement by some legislators.
If our elected officials really want to do something to improve student achievement, they should stop re-creating rating systems every few months and start addressing the devastating effects of poverty, hunger, homelessness and underfunding on schoolchildren and schools in every corner of the state.
Robert D. Livernois is president of the Tri-County Alliance for Public Education and superintendent of Warren Consolidated Schools. Michael F. Rice is president of Middle Cities Education Association and superintendent of Kalamazoo Public Schools.
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