Ch 10 of 20: No proficiency criteria

Dr. Seuss: The Cat in the Hat

If there was a magic cure that could have treated all, or at least most, of the education system’s ailments, would we be able to apply it? The truth is that there is a way to solve most of the weaknesses of our schools. It is a simple remedy but it will declare a war between educators and politicians…

The solution is mandating one, objective, nation-wide (or at least state-wide) proficiency standard of knowledge, measured by a uniform, objective tool (test), for each graduation mandated subject.

The list of the benefits that will result is long but mainly it will give credibility to the high school diploma, will strengthen the higher education level, and overall will elevate our education quality to a competitive place among world’s nations.

Another, at least as important, benefit, will be challenging students to reach a real, clear and established goal in order to graduate from high school with a diploma.  

If you have been to a classroom, you know that not all students are created equal… It is a nice ideal but very far away from reality… If you are a math teacher, you meet this reality when you face forty students with forty different levels.

Back in the days, before a law-suit was looming over every decision made, common sense prevailed. Higher-level students were in a higher-level classes, lower performing students were in a class that matched their skills, and those in the middle were able to progress at their pace. Not surprisingly, lower students tried to hide that fact, and students in the middle tried their best to climb to the ‘A’ group.

We don’t label students any more… they are all equal before the mass education system… and it makes teachers’ mission impossible; the low performing students dominate the class environment. They muck the teacher and the students who happened to want to learn. They hold hostage the learning process, knowing that there is nothing the teacher can do to force them to cooperate. Parents have little or no influence, and deans are overwhelmed with the magnitude of the problem. In their frustration, they send the students right back to the classroom…

In the end, the ultimate guilty party is always the teachers… No matter what they do or how hard they try, they are helpless against the troops of unmotivated students who don’t have a real clear goal to achieve, and who know the system is behind them (and against their teacher…)

The issue is not the miserable frustration of a teacher trying to do his/her job… the issue is the inability of the majority of the students to learn. How much progress can be achieved when eighty percent of the time is spent on fighting disruption? How distressing it is that motivated students are teased by the lower students. How sad it is that we lose eighty percent of the potential learners to very few...

Whose idea was it that all students must graduate from high school anyway? Of course it is a desirable goal but is it realistic? Aren't we fooling ourselves believing that occupying a seat for twelve years means graduation competence?

Back to the good old days, students who were not capable or just not motivated to be in the academic ‘lane’, had other options. They could learn a craft and get a suitable certificate. Later, they could complete their education and receive a high school diploma or meet the requirements to be accepted to the universities.

Imagine a situation where a school decides that all students are required to be part of the ‘Track and Field’ team. Would it be possible to set a qualifying time? Of course not – unless it is set to be the time of the slowest member of the team. How well would this team perform? How competitive it will be against other teams?

The academic field is not different… When a decision was made that every student should be a part of the academic path, regardless of ability or motivation, there was only one way to reach this objective – lowering the bar so that all students can meet it… And what happens to our education level as result, compared to other countries, for example? Exactly what would have happened to that sports team! We, the richest country, with the brightest minds, fall to the bottom of the list … 

When no objective standard level for success is set, and every team member is a “mandated participant” the bar is automatically being lowered, it must be – how else can everyone pass? Most countries set their “passing” standard bar based on educational goal. They measure their students’ success by national matriculation tests, and the high school diploma depends on this unbiased measure. This method has two benefits. It graduates only deserving students, thus giving credibility to the high school diploma, and it gives students a real, measurable, goal to reach, and thus directs and motivates them. When no bar is set to discriminate between achieving and “sitting” students, the education standard is very questionable!

As a math teacher I see everyday 12^th grade students who will graduate with math skills of 5^th graders, and I am sure my English teachers colleagues have a similar experience, yet I can’t tell you how many times I was asked by an administrator to increase the percentage of students passing my class… What does it mean? To teach better? No! I can assure you that this is not what it meant – I was asked to let more students slide through, and if it meant lowering the bar – so it be… and why not? Who is going to notice that some algebra student know absolutely nothing about algebra, or for that matter, about basic arithmetic? If there is no objective qualifying test why not push through the passing gates more students. And yes, every year thousands of students graduate from high school not mastering basic skills, yet their report card will testify successfully passage of require subjects…

I was once present at a meeting between our high school math teachers and teachers of a middle school. We were discussing the math level of the students who came to us, and I asked the middle school teachers why they let students into algebra before they master basic arithmetic skills. I told them that, unfortunately, at high school we don’t have a choice, but they still have the option to work on basic skills… My comment was met with complete silence. They all, including my administrator, looked at me questioning my intelligence … They, too, don’t have a choice! They are told to place students in algebra, regardless of readiness level…

You may say - but there are standardized testing that are religiously administered to all schools every year, so here is a good objective measure… and I would say… yes!… what a brilliant idea! There are those standardized tests, and enormous sum of resources are invested in them… so why not use them for that end? Why not test performance of an individual student, conclude his/her level and decide what is needed for him/her? Why not have students’ score directly affected their path?

Here is another decision made by people who understand nothing about education and waste a good tool that could have made all the difference…

Instead, they mandate higher-level subjects without qualifying the level of success. Recently - Algebra II, a new requirement that is based on the mistaken notion that every graduating student is qualified and possesses the basic skills needed for it. How many students honestly earned their passing grade in Algebra I, and Geometry? But is it important? If no objective criterion proves students’ competence, why not mandate even calculus? As one colleague said - we will teach half of the Algebra I book in Algebra I, and the other half in Algebra II, Why not?

One size fits all! We are dropping the bar instead of raising students to the task, and students know it. Why should they put any effort to reach a bar if they know that it will be lowered for them, to match their very least common denominator…?