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A look at really improving public schools
Michael Swickard
A column last week by State Senator Steve Fischmann lamented, “Everybody wants to improve public education, but nobody seems to know how to do it.” While Senator Fischmann made several very good points, he, like others, missed the big picture.
Let us take a look at really improving public schools. First, are the outcomes of our public education system acceptable? They are not, but for a reason not being discussed. We hear repeatedly that public schools are broken, which is not true at all. And that is really the big picture.
There are dynamics of success in public schools that go unnoticed by the media and politicians. Example: While some students prosper in our schools, others do not. In rough numbers, a third of public school students do well. Contrast that with a third of New Mexico students who drop out from their free education. And the middle third of students get a somewhat mediocre education.
The third that did well in school are often not noticed because they go out of state for higher education, and so local employers rarely see them right out of high school. Also, those going out of state for higher education often do not return to the New Mexico workforce. It is easy to lose track of them.
Therefore, it is fair to say public schools do get it right for some students. Example: The son of one of my friends maxed the SAT (1600) from a public school education at Las Cruces’ Mayfield High School.
No ‘one size fits all’ solution
In contrast, New Mexico prisons are full of public school dropouts who drifted into a life of crime after finding no success in school. These are the students of legend we see depicted in newspapers who cannot identify when the War of 1812 was fought.
So the problem with improving schools is to understand that some instructional practices are correct for some of the students, yet do not work either well or at all for other students. There is no “one size fits all” solution that will work in our schools.
Foremost, public schools must continue doing the right things for thriving students. Next, they need to improve what they offer mediocre students and really change how they address students who do not thrive.
For students not thriving there are thousands of large and small reasons for their failure, but we should concentrate only on those problems that a change in instructional practice will help. Namely, the single most important aspect of success in public schools involves fundamental literacy and numeracy.
The reason public schools struggle with some students and not others is that all students do not learn in the same way. Most schools resemble a factory that requires each student to conform to the teaching needs of the school rather than the other way around. Public school practice must differentiate those students who consolidate what they are being taught easily and those who do not learn with traditional methods.
Further, these ways of addressing the differences must be based on actual research, both theory and practice, for schools to embrace those interventions. Before schools change a practice they should be required to show the research that predicts better outcomes. No more “Let’s try this.”
Don’t try political solutions
I work professionally in the area of fundamental literacy and math. One thing is clear; the schools are filled with good professionals who want to do better. The problem with education starts when political solutions are tried for educational problems. Example: To improve student performance, threaten to fire teachers. This assumes teachers could do better, but do not unless threatened thusly.
Likewise, the notion that the problem is that teachers are not paid enough is a political statement. Increasing teacher salaries has almost no effect on student achievement because teachers are already giving everything they have.
Increasing teacher salaries does allow many teachers to only work one job instead of two. And it helps retain math teachers who can always get much better paying jobs. But the reality in the heart of New Mexico’s schools is that most teachers are there because they love to teach.
Listen to the teachers
Senator Fischmann was correct when he wrote, “Federal, state and local school officials are practically trampling over one another with programs to improve our schools. Unfortunately they are trampling over our teachers as well. Overwhelmed with an obsessively long and poorly coordinated list of standardized tests, procedures and programs de jour, our teachers have less time than ever to devote to the individual needs of students.”
The most important principle in our schools is that the classroom teachers have the best idea about the skills and abilities of each individual student. The more “experts” outside the classroom impose changes to practice without consulting teachers or against the advice of classroom teachers, the worse it is for students. That said, there are always improvements in the tools we can give the teachers. But most of all we must give them the correct instructional environment.
The state of New Mexico requires public school teachers to be highly trained, yet our leaders do not listen to them or value their expertise. Are schools broken? No, they are misguided, as Senator Fischmann points out.
The good news is that we can improve the schools if we will be smart doing so. Most of all, if we really want to improve our public schools we must never use political solutions for educational problems.
Swickard is a weekly columnist for this site. You can reach him at michael@swickard.com.
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Michael, as usual you are at your inspiring best when writing about education. And you are right–there are plenty of kids who come out of our schools just as well educated as anywhere, especially if they are lucky enough to have great parents and passionate teachers to guide their efforts and characters. But you are also right about how unsupported teachers who love to teach are in our efforts to improve education.
Because I attended many school systems in a variety of states while growing up in the 60′s and 70′s, I can definitely say that New Mexico has some of the most caring, committed and intelligent teachers anywhere. Yes we have some slugs, but they’re in any school system. However, our good teachers simply are not given the same work environments, resources and training as their peers in states and cities that are doing a better job, on average, producing better prepared graduates.
Iowa, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Nebraska, Maryland–I have friends in all those states who’s kids have smaller classrooms, more challenging academic course work and teachers who are supported by research-based training in taking a serious approach to being good teachers. My daughters teachers at Mayfield High would probably laugh in your face if you asked them if they are rewarded for being innovative and challenging of their students.
Our public schools might be struggling, but in no way should we “get rid of them” as some on the extreme right suggest. I would never want to force anyone to ONLY have the option to attend public school. But I believe strongly that our public schools are one of the last remaining institutions in our society (the military being another) that force all of us to get to know our fellow citizens up close and personal. They are literally the cradle of our democracy. So, instead of throwing the baby out with the bathwater, I vote for all of us committing to becoming more involved and engaged in the process of demanding excellence, all the way around.
Damn, when’s the next school board meeting, anyway?!
As long as the schools are ‘quasi-government agencies’ the problems and solutions are inextricably tied to politics.
There are greater questions I have though. Like, who decides what the curriculum should be?
If we are still teaching toward preparing students for an industrial workforce we are grossly out of touch with reality as this century proves that we live in the age of knowledge and communication. No we should not abandon vo-tech teaching, we should instead enhance it.
But, public schools by definition are intended as one size fits all solutions. Part of what is broken is the effort to create a more diverse mix and the resources are not there for that purpose. I mean how many special ed classes existed before 1968 when i graduated high school? Usually one per school if that. How many today? Do the math. Teachers are put upon to meet and overcome too many obstacles and not teach. In-service days are nonsense and disruptive as all get out. Why do we have them?
Once the curriculum matches up to what the workforce will need (and there should be no argument these days that the greatest thing schools can do is prepare students for the world of work), how are teachers brought around to teach those new subjects? What are the colleges really producing in the way of teaching talent? Is it up to speed as well? Doubtful.
We live in very fluid times. Schools are the epitomy of rigid, stodgy, chose a word it fits. Anything but flexible and contemporary. And that is part of the problem too.
Then we have unions. What good are they? When is the last time you heard a union spokesperson advocate for revolutionary change in the schools to improve the well being of our children. Never. Instead, they want the status quo because it is easier to manage and by itself, by definition, punishes our children.
Lots of people say the problem with schools is the parents. Well, perhaps. However we got here, the parents have a role, for sure. I remember vividly the year round calendar debate by APS some twenty years ago. You know, let’s change the calendar so students will be smarter… right? Now, that was a big leap that didn’t fool anyone. One of the meetings I attended had a nice well intended woman, head of the PTA and in the principals pocket, face off with me in a dialogue about it. She eventually came around to saying that i simply didn’t understand, that we are no longer in an agricultural economy and three months off in the summer doesn’t make sense. I said, not only are we not in an agricultural economy, we have both parents working outside the home from 8 to 5 or longer everyday, and if that has anything to do with it, then why aren’t my kids in school while i’m working? Why aren’t they getting calisthenics for an hour of that time instead of getting home at 3:30 and becoming couch potatoes and why isn’t there on campus study time and on and on.
The idea of school is broken. When the idea matches up to what is needed and we get rid of all the peripheral bureaucratic and political nonsense, we have a chance of doing the right thing.
Until then, it will remain broken. Best thing to do is start over!