Posted on 07/20/2002 5:38:18 PM PDT by FourPeas
How can a school receive a Blue Ribbon for excellence one year and be slapped with a label of "failing" the next? Moreover, how can Michigan rank dead last in the country with more than 1,500 "failing" schools?
New federal labels are misleading parents and others into thinking that a full one-third of the state's public schools aren't adequately serving their children. That's simply not the case.
The standards are the newest ingredient in a muddled stew of numbers and labels that do nothing for the quality of schools in Michigan or the students and teachers in them. In fact, the "failing" label likely will tarnish Michigan's national reputation as a state with quality schools.
Under President George W. Bush's No Child Left Behind school improvement initiative, 8,600 public schools nationwide recently were rated as failures. In the short-term, that means students can transfer to another school and the district will pay transportation costs; long-term it means replacing teachers, extending school years and handing over some control to "outside experts." Those steps seem far-fetched in districts with "failing" schools such as Grandville and Lowell.
Eighty-two schools in Kent County and 30 in Ottawa County made the list, including Blue Ribbon winners Belmont and Cannonsburg elementary schools in Rockford and other nationally recognized schools such as Caledonia Elementary and Northern Trails in Forest Hills. A full 17 percent of the schools on the national list are in Michigan.
This news comes on the heels of disappointing Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP) scores this year and a push for tougher state standards for schools. What do all these tags and tallies mean? If the education experts are scratching their heads, how can parents be anything but befuddled, too?
One explanation is that Michigan's standards and test requirements are higher than those set by most other states, perhaps all other states. And because the U.S. Department of Education looked to state standards -- not federal ones -- to rate schools, Michigan's high expectations meant many schools fell short. For example, Michigan judges a school's proficiency according to student scores on reading, math, writing and science tests. The federal guidelines require states to consider only reading and math scores.
While federal officials shouldn't be setting education standards for individual states, they should be reviewing state standards to make sure the benchmarks are somewhat consistent. Apparently that didn't happen. Arkansas, for example, had no failing schools. Arkansas? Standards without, well, standards, aren't worth much.
The number of "failing" schools in Michigan is expected to drop under the new performance standards being put in place this fall by State Superintendent Thomas Watkins and the state Board of Education. Unlike the old standards, the new ones won't rely solely on MEAP test scores. They look at student success over time, teacher quality and other factors. As a result, hundreds of schools likely will be removed from the federal "F" list.
High standards are admirable. Michigan shouldn't have to lower them as a way to look good in the national spotlight. Rather, the U.S. Department of Education should take another look at the standards in place in Arkansas and elsewhere. Hard-working teachers and administrators in schools recognized for academic excellence shouldn't be put in the awkward and demoralizing position of having to explain to parents that they really aren't failing. They have more important work to do.
I assume so, but I don't know for sure. The MEAP Website seems to indicate that the Meap is taken in private schools, too. I'd try the MEAP Website for more information.
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