Florida's education fads

From Scathing Purple Musings

by Bob Sykes

The University of South Florida has released what s perhaps the most comprehensive look at what Florida schools have been doing. The David C. Achin Center‘s report, titled Florida’s First Comprehensive Comprehensive Conditions of Education Report, is in a five volume package which is separated by the state’s regions. “A foundation of data on which to base necessary changes is required because getting the results you want requires knowing what you already have,” said Anchin Center Director Bruce Jones. “But you can’t know that until you have the numbers at your disposal.”

Jones indicates that the data is bot clear and troubling for African American males:

A few disturbing snapshots are emerging from the data. The often spoken of achievement gap has solid numbers and trackable trends. Jones says it doesn’t take a crystal ball or mathematical computations to figure out why.

Dropout and graduation rates among African American males are particularly alarming and reading rates are no better.

“We have communities where the graduation rate for African American males is as low as eight percent. With these rates, according to Jones, “We are almost ensuring that the state will have a steady stream of Black boys heading into our corrections system. This is occurring despite the fact that we know there are models that work.”

One would hope that the almost two decades of test-based reform in Florida would have resulted in better results among black males. The Achin report indicates it hasn’t and continue to be “left behind” despite numerous interventions of which Jones is critical of as well.

The real problem is there is no sense of collective responsibility for making sure that all of our students are doing well,” Jones said. “Too often the reformers come up with all kinds of ideas without connecting to the real in-the-classroom impact on kids. Teachers see the problems right in front of them and complain amongst themselves. And now they’re on the defensive since the latest fad is to blame them.”

And fads are a problem, according to Jones. With this kind of report, there may one day be an end to what he describes as the “fad-oriented approach to finding solutions,” an approach that has been failing students for decades. He says it must stop.

“In the 1960’s the focus was on community control, in the 1970’s it was leadership, in the 1980’s and 1990’s it was curriculum reform systems. This time around it’s teacher reform. Each one failed – inevitably – because what we need is a holistic approach that uses the best of what all these approaches have to offer.”

Jones points out that when businesses bring in consultants to improve things, they don’t just go to the workers without including the leadership or vice versa. “That wouldn’t make any sense and wouldn’t work. It’s the same with the schools, you have to involve all the constituencies, teachers, parents, leadership and of course, the children. Instead we’ve been blaming each one of these groups as if any one of them could fix the problems without involving the others. Isolated reform schemes – the fads of the moment – have to come to an end.”

We haven’t had anything resembling collaboration in Florida schools for some time. Its been pretty much top down from Jeb Bush since he implemented his test-based school grade system. The latest new fad will apparently be parent triggers. While Jones points to successful market-based examples, one wonders what he thinks of another coercive, legislative manipulation by the state’s privatization zealots.

http://bobsidlethoughtsandmusings.wordpress.com/2011/09/28/ending-floridas-fad-oriented-approach-to-soultions-in-education/