By Greg Sampson
One of the
biggest arguments made for the regime of standardized assessment by the States,
for the State, of the State’s people, is that we must have school accountability.
Without the BS test (Big Standardized test, credit to Peter Greene,
Curmudgucation, for coining the term), how will we know whether schools are any
good?
We must have
school accountability.
Without the
test, there is no accountability.
Which must
come as a great surprise to the accreditation agencies that have been reviewing
schools since the mid-20th century and longer. Even the federal
government keeps track and gives its “Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval” to
the agencies that meet its demands. (http://www2.ed.gov/admins/finaid/accred/accreditation_pg6.html)
Unlike the
school grading process inaugurated in Florida under then-Governor Jeb Bush,
which relies mostly upon one standardized test result and a few other criteria
constantly under revision, the purpose of which is to maintain whatever
narrative the Florida Department of Education wants to trumpet to the media,
the accreditation process takes place over months. At its culmination, a team
of professional educators (unlike the amateurs consisting of politicians,
do-gooder philanthropist businesspersons, and anyone else who thinks that
having gone to school as a student makes them more of an expert than people who
have actual experience teaching) visits each school to observe classes, meet
with the administration, talk to teachers and students, review work, and assess
the learning environment. Afterward, they review the evidence they acquired and
determine whether to continue to give the school accreditation.
It is a
serious process. Teams of stakeholders (admins, teachers, parents, and more)
meet for months in advance of the visit to make sure everything is up to
scratch. If not, corrections are made.
Accreditation
is not automatic. In a decision that is still remembered today, Duval County
Public Schools lost its accreditation in the 1960s: http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=544275
It was a
galvanizing action. City leaders reacted, the loss was a major motivation
behind the city/county consolidation, and after that became a reality, the
schools received the necessary support and gained back the accreditation they
needed.
Accreditation
is a rigorous process.
I remember going through the accreditation process - rigorous, indeed!
ReplyDeleteI agree wholeheartedly. The education system in this country is falling apart because you have all these people clamoring for standards to be more "rigorous" and they force experimental curriculum into schools. Once it fails they blame the school and cry for accountability. Schools are accountable, they go through the accreditation process and everyone that teaches is a certified educator. The problem arises when you force educators to all be scientists and perform experiments, using the students as test subjects instead of letting teachers do their job, the thing they're passionate about. Teaching.
ReplyDeleteFour thumbs up for your post, Nicholas Harding!!
ReplyDeleteTHE ROOT CAUSE IS A "REPUBLICAN CONSPIRACY" FOR DESTRUCTION OF THE ENTIRE PUBLIC EDUCATION SYSTEM, NATIONALLY, AND REPLACE IT ENTIRELY WITH PRIVATE AND PRIVATE CHARTERS FUNDED BY TAXPAYERS DOLLARS...There is half a trillion dollars to be made from the destruction of public education. People, all of you, including Chris Gurieri and Greg Sampson, are way off focus. Its all REPUBLICAN POLITICS$$$$$$; Change the focus, hit the hammer on the nail, and the zombies will start running back to the graveyard. Maybe Donald Trump could ratchet up the opposition to common core, as well.
ReplyDelete