- What is the purpose of accountability systems?
Aside
from George Carlin's "Seven Dirty Words" sketch I can't think of a time
that seven words have brought about such consternation to so many.
There are countless answers to the question of what the purpose of
educational accountability systems are. I get it; the answer that is the
"party line" is that states want to hold educators accountable for the
education of their students, most strongly as it pertains to the review
of data springing forth from demographic, socio-economic, and
standardized testing. That's great, but it is just numbers. It reminds
me of a quote from the late Sam Walton (founder of Wal-Mart):
"...when
the stock market crashed in 1987, and Wal-Mart stock dropped along with
everything else in the market, everybody wrote that I’d lost a half
billion dollars. When they asked me about it I said, ‘It’s only paper’."
(Associated Press (Oct. 20, 1987). Walton Says It's Only Paper. The Milwaukee Journal. p. 8A)
Walton knew that his equity was in his stores, in his stock, and his trusty red pickup. The money wasn't there before and it would come back, all he had to do was stay the course. The problem for us here in the education world is that we don't understand staying the course. We are quick to find a goat to pin our sins and shortcomings on and escape out the back door. I'd love to have a dollar bill for everytime I've heard an administrator say that a certain teacher is responsible for the shortcomings on a certain test (the sophomore ELA teacher, biology teacher, etc), because then I'd have many dollars. To take a lesson from Sam Walton, a man of humble origins and down-home country logic, the true key to success is teamwork and perseverance.
As
a pastor I have led tens-of-thousands in worship and praise in multiple
continents for more than two decades. As a professional musician I have
played with a wide array of artists and bands in multiple genres in
venues ranging from five in the audience to over 25,000. As a teacher
I've taught choir, band, PE, weight training, athletics, philosophy,
theater, drama, guitar, music theory, credit recovery, biology, IPC,
chemistry, physics, and directed a dual-credit program. As a coach I
have coached football, powerlifting, basketball, track & field,
golf, and softball; winning one state title and competing for another
having gone undefeated in varsity football once. One immutable fact that
I know is that individuals don't win, teams do. If we are going to
truly evaluate and be held accountable then the task must be taken on as
a team. Even so, this data-crazy trend that we are experiencing
currently is a sin in the most literal sense of the word. (Our word sin
relates back to old English translations for "missing the mark", as in
when an archer shot at a literal bull's eye stuck in a bail of hay
either he hit his mark or he sinned...or missed the mark.) The point of
education isn't ink on a page, i.e. data/numbers, but rather the
enlightment of students.
James,
the true literal and blood brother of Jesus, held a unique view of his
brother that others just couldn't due to his relationship. In spite of
who his brother was or what he did, James was always one of the most
staunch Jewish leaders of his day. Rather than merely lean on the
tenents of grace James kept a strict adherence to Jewish law while
continuing to live under the saving grace of Jesus.
"Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." (James 1:2-4, New International Version)
The point I'm trying to make is that wisdom is a choice...a choice that comes at the end of trials and tribulations that come to make us strong. If all we do is write down a list of points to study for regurgitation on a standardized test, followed by data disaggregation, and subsequent campus and educator retribution then our students will never actually learn anything. We should be in the business of teaching life, and along the way our students will learn the three r's, and a few other letters as well. If all we evaluate in our quest for school accountability is test data we won't ever "fix" the education system in America. If we were structuring an accountability system that scrutinized ants it might work as those that were being evaluated would be mindless drones pressing ever-forward in hopes of furthering the goals of the group. However, we are evaluating human beings that are creatures with feelings, emotions, thoughts, ideas, desires, hurts, pains, needs, and personal agendas.
I'm
all for evaluation, but it sure feels like we are evaluating the wrong
things that live in a sea of wrong agendas and motivations. How would
Aristotle or Socrates feel about our education system? Would Confucius
feel that we were implementing his beloved Six Arts (music, archery,
mathematics, ritual, chariot-riding, calligraphy) combined with his core
values of morals and integrity? What would Jaime Escalante say about
our data-driven quests in light of his unquenchable quest to teach
calculus to his students from the inside out?
The
purpose: to make sure that we all fit inside the state-designed cookie
cutter that keeps the federal government happy enough to continue sending
federal dollars to our campuses, even though governance of education
was given to the states in the US Constitution. If the right and left
hands of our cities, counties, and states could actually communicate in
an honest and equitable manner then, and only then, we might be able to
reach consensus on an accountability system that would help lead us to
honest and true educational growth and implementation.
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