Educators get
defensive. We want to blame the media, the tests, “the system.”
We doth protest too much. We
need to say: We hear you. You expect much better. So do we.
After my fifth year of teaching—this was 40 years ago—I protested. I was proud of the Russian and Soviet Literature course I taught that year. I was thrilled with the way the 23 juniors and seniors in that high school class tackled the material. I felt compelled to speak up.
‘’News about a class that succeeds and
is a joy will not be found in the overheated diatribes about the decline of
American education. Such good news will not suit the voices of doom who cover Newsweek
(“Why Public Schools Are Flunking”) and Time (“Why Teachers Can’t
Teach”) with images that frustrate those of us aware of teachers, students, and schools
that do succeed. And many of us have felt such success. We have known such
enormous pleasure in teaching a particular class that, whatever the prevailing
winds, we want to shout out the good news.”
(English
Journal, “My Russian Literature Class – The Good News,” January 1983)
“Voices of doom”? Better to call it sharp criticism. In my lifetime, it began back in 1955 with the best seller, Why Johnny Can’t Read, by Robert Flesch. It has never stopped. One survey last spring asked specifically about "what children are being taught." "Two thirds of Americans say public schools are on the wrong track, new Grinnell poll finds."[i] (64% on wrong track; 24% on right track. 12%. Not sure.) The 2022 Gallup poll found the percentage of Americans dissatisfied with the quality of K-12 education has again exceeded 50%.[ii] (Completely or somewhat satisfied: 42%. Completely or somewhat dissatisfied: 55%.)
In Colorado, an education poll by Magellan Strategies revealed a similar pessimism. The Colorado Chalkbeat headline read: “More Colorado voters think schools are on the wrong track” (May 27, 2022).[iii] 44% on wrong track; 28% on right track.
But this dissatisfaction
is nothing new. Compare a poll on K-12 education in Colorado conducted in 1993 (part
of Agenda 21, funded by the Gates Family Foundation[iv])
with the 2022 survey. (See below.) Different questions, different conclusions, but
overall, a common discontent. “Schools on wrong course” (1993).
Maybe this is
just the way it is. Maybe this is the reality of how public education is seen.
My takeaway: maybe, rather than fight it, we—all of us in education—would do
well to accept what the public keeps telling us. Our current stance seems to be: We’re doing better than you think! This is both defensive and tone deaf.
A humbler motto might serve us well. Such as, Let’s do better.
A colleague once
posted this sign in her classroom: NO WHINING. A good message for K-12
education too.
|
December 1993 Colorado Looks at K-12
Education |
May 2022 Colorado Public Education Opinion Survey |
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
Headline: “Schools
on wrong course, poll says” From page one: “A whopping 65 percent of Coloradans think the state’s public education system is on the wrong track.” [On “right direction” – 27%] Rocky Mountain News, Dec. 11, 1993 Poll Results Quotes from The Denver Post, Dec. 11, 1993 Talmey-Drake
Research Strategies conducted the poll. “Right now, Talmey warned, education experts and parents view the problems from vastly different
perspectives. One group is on Mars, he said, and the other Venus. ‘There’s a
split … and it’s real.’” "'I don’t
think the Colorado public has one clear sense of what the Colorado schools
ought to look like,' said Talmey. Schools face a 'fragmented discontent,' he
said, 'which is harder to deal with … the individual values are all over the
place.'" “Talmey warned the level of dissatisfaction about public schools appears to be so severe that voters could prove impatient about giving the system time to fix itself.” “‘People are saying it is my money, my kids,’ at stake, said Talmey. He predicted ‘vouchers within the decade’ unless the base of public education is ‘rebuilt.’” “The poll
reveals no clear agreement among respondents about what direction to head….
39% agreed that schools should ‘pretty much stick to factual subject matter,’
while 55 % agreed that schools ‘have a responsibility to teach values – what
is right and wrong and what is good and bad.’” The 65% who said they felt “that things in the public school system … have pretty seriously gotten off on the wrong track in the past few years” were asked why they felt this way: Basics not
taught 18% Poor
teachers 12% Students pass
without being educated 11% Poor
education- general 11% Teachers
underpaid 10% Budget
cuts 9% Crime in
schools 8% Very Serious Problems in Colorado's Public Schools Guns & violence in the hallways and on school grounds. 66% Drugs & liquor 62% Parents who don’t care about their children’s education. 49% Students not learning the basic subjects. 49% Lack of motivation among students to study hard and learn things. 43% Students not learning to think and solve problems. 43% Lack of classroom discipline. 37% Students have so many problems at home that they are unable to study at school. 37% Overcrowded classrooms. 32% Teachers expecting too little from their students. 25% Too many teachers who don’t care about teaching. 23% Poor quality of instruction. 20% Grading the Public Schools What grade would you give the public schools in Colorado? B - 27% C - 49% D - 14% What grade would you give the public schools in your school district? B – 29% C – 39% D – 14% This skill is _________ for all high school graduates to know. (Most chose from these two options:) Very important -
Very Somewhat important -
Smwht
|
Headline: “44% of Colorado voters think schools are on the wrong track, poll reveals" Subheading: “28% said they thought schools were on the right track, while 28% said they didn't know or didn't have an opinion” Chalkbeat Colorado, May 27, 2022 Key Findings and Observations From Parts 1 and 2 of
report by Magellan Strategies. “The survey included a follow-up, open-ended question asking respondents to describe the reasons why they believed public schools were headed in the right direction or off on the wrong track. The responses present a challenging environment for Colorado teachers and professional educators to navigate.” “Among Democratic voters, there is a deep frustration with public schools being underfunded and that teachers are undervalued and underpaid…. these voters strongly believe conservative politicians are interfering with school administrations, firing superintendents, and pushing a political agenda. There is also a heightened concern among Democratic voters there is too much of a focus on standardized testing.” “Republican voters believe most public schools are indoctrinating students with liberal ideology, ‘wokeism,’ teaching Critical Race Theory, and radical social justice and environmental ideals. Furthermore, they are enraged about student sexual orientation and identification issues. [Also], Republicans do not believe public schools focus enough on teaching ‘the basics’ of reading, writing, math, and critical thinking."
“Depending on their age or political leanings, unaffiliated voters echo the same concerns as Democratic and Republican voters.… " Local School District Job Approval “Among all respondents, 40% approve and 42% disapprove of the job their local school district is doing educating students. One in five respondents did not have an opinion on this question.” Local Teacher Image Rating “Among all respondents, 58% had a favorable opinion, and 22% had an unfavorable opinion of the teachers in their local school district. Among households with a student attending a public school, 74% have a favorable opinion of their local teachers. Among households without a student, the local teacher favorability rating is 54%.” Do Local School
Districts Manage and Spend Taxpayer Money Wisely? “Among
all respondents, only 31% think their local school district spends taxpayer
money wisely, 42% do not, and 27% did not have an opinion.” Opinion of School
Districts Having the Financial Resources to Provide a Good Education “Forty-three percent of respondents think Colorado school districts have the financial resources needed to provide students with a good education, 49% do not, and 8% are undecided. Among respondents with a student in their household, 56% said school districts have the financial resources to provide a good education.” From Part 1.[v] ** Voters Overwhelmingly Support Broader Standards to Evaluate School Performance “70% think the state should develop a broader set of standards and criteria to evaluate a school’s performance. Only 23% believe schools should continue to be judged primarily on standardized student test scores.” Voters are Evenly
Split on Policy Allowing State to Intervene in Low-Performing Districts “[44% of voters]
support a policy that allows the state to intervene in low-performing school
districts and have the legal right to close schools or convert them to
charter schools. Forty percent oppose the policy, and 16% do not have an
opinion. Among Hispanic voters, 50% support the policy, compared to just 31%
of African Americans.” From
Part 2.[vi] |
The one constant in 1993 and in 2022: more
voters dissatisfied with K-12 public education than not. This is not a
fight we, as educators, can win. We have to own up to the results. Doing so
will allow us to find common ground with the public. For we, too, must be
dissatisfied. Not in our effort, but in the academic achievement of our
students.
· On
the Colorado Measures of Academic Success, over half of our students in grades
3-8 are not performing at grade level in English Language Arts; two-thirds are
not at grade level in Math.
· Only
60% of our juniors meet expectations for the SAT Reading and Writing test; under
40% meet expectations in Math. (Evidence-see Addendum.) And yet we say 80%
of our students graduate high school “college and career-ready.” We know this
is nonsense.
I too felt
defensive 40 years ago. I wanted to celebrate my time with “The Russian 23” (as
my students anointed themselves). In that essay, I concluded: “It’s an experience
that reminds me, and maybe others, of the good news that exists out here in the
wilderness of the ‘alleged decline in American education,’ the good news that
we so badly need to share.”
But, looking
back, I would say: Hey, you fool, it’s not about you! You can’t see the forest
for the trees!
To be sure, the
job is well done in thousands of classrooms in Colorado. There is
success. These stories deserve a wider audience. But public education, our
system, gets a C grade—or lower. The public looks at the same data (again, Addendum)
that we do. Our response? Blame the messenger. Ridicule the
tests. Insist no one understands how demanding
the job can be (and there is some truth there). Blame “our current
messaging strategy” and plead for “a new narrative”—where we stress the
positive.
Sorry folks. The polls reflect the outcomes
we report. Outcomes, not about one class or school or district, but about the
K-12 system. They tell us: we are not meeting the goals we have set for our students.
Can we acknowledge this? We have made changes.
It has been hard. Still, it has not been enough.
It is humbling to admit this. If we accept
and even embrace this judgement, we might share a common goal with the public,
which expects something better of K-12 education. So should we.
Addendum
1.
Colorado Measures of Academic Success
(CMAS)
2022 State Achievement Results
“…
over half of our students in grades 3-8 are not performing at grade level
in
English Language Arts; two-thirds are not at grade level in Math.”
English Language Arts/Literacy Overall
|
|
Percent Met
or Exceeded Expectations |
||
|
|
2022 |
2021 |
2019 |
|
Grade 3 (English)* |
40.7 |
39.1 |
41.3 |
|
Grade 4 (English)* |
44.1 |
N/A |
48.0 |
|
Grade 5 |
45.4 |
47.2 |
48.4 |
|
Grade 6 |
43.0 |
N/A |
43.6 |
|
Grade 7 |
41.8 |
42.6 |
46.5 |
|
Grade 8 |
43.9 |
N/A |
46.9 |
|
Average among 6 grades |
43.2 |
|
|
*Roughly 1,200
students in grade 3 and in grade 4 take the ELA test in Spanish
N/A – Not Available
|
|
Percent Met or Exceeded Expectations |
||
|
|
2022 |
2021 |
2019 |
|
Grade 3 |
39.4 |
N/A |
41.0 |
|
Grade 4 |
30.7 |
28.5 |
33.6 |
|
Grade 5 |
34.9 |
N/A |
35.7 |
|
Grade 6 |
26.3 |
24.1 |
29.5 |
|
Grade 7 |
25.1 |
N/A |
31.6 |
|
Grade 8 |
32.4 |
29.5 |
36.9 |
|
Average
among 6 grades |
32.5 |
|
|
Colorado
Department of Education, CMAS, 2022 State Achievement Results
http://www.cde.state.co.us/assessment/2022_cmas_ela_math_statesummaryachievementresults
2.
PSAT and SAT – 2022 State Achievement
Results
“Only 60% of juniors meet expectations for the SAT
Reading/Writing test;
under 40% meet expectations in Math.”
|
|
Percent Met
or Exceeded Expectations |
||
|
|
2022 |
2021 |
2019 |
|
Evidence–Based
Reading and Writing Overall |
|||
|
PSAT Grade 9 |
64.4 |
68.5 |
66.5 |
|
PSAT Grade 10 |
67.0 |
69.3 |
64.9 |
|
SAT Grade 11 |
57.5 |
60.0 |
58.5 |
|
Mathematics
Overall |
|||
|
PSAT Grade 9 |
40.8 |
43.0 |
49.6 |
|
PSAT Grade 10 |
39.7 |
40.1 |
39.1 |
|
SAT Grade 11 |
34.6 |
36.4 |
39.0 |
Colorado Department of Education, 2022 PSAT and SAT
State Achievement Results
http://www.cde.state.co.us/assessment/2022_psat_sat_statesummaryachievementresults
NOTE: Two other surveys also find recent declines.
1) “Pluralities of voters nationwide say their confidence in the public school system has decreased since the start of the pandemic (48%) and over the last year (47%).” “Across the Aisle: What Voters and Parents Want in Education,” The Hunt Institute’s 2022 Nationwide Voter & Parent Education Survey Results. https://hunt-institute.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/THI-2022-Nationwide-Survey-Results_10.21.2022.pdf
2) In 2022, “as the pandemic and its attendant challenges persist, the public’s perceptions of school quality have slipped below pre-pandemic levels. Today, 52% of Americans give their local public school an A or a B grade, and 22% give all schools nationwide a similarly high mark.” “Partisan Rifts Widen, Perceptions of School Quality Decline,” Education Next, Winter 2023. https://www.educationnext.org/partisan-rifts-widen-perceptions-school-quality-decline-results-2022-education-next-survey-public-opinion/[iii] “Colorado Public Education Opinion Survey,” by
Magellan Strategies, May 26, 2022. https://magellanstrategies.com/colorado-public-education-opinion-survey-part-1/
[iv]
The Gates Family Foundation was the principal funder of Agenda 21, an effort led
by the Education Commission of the States. Community meetings around the state
and this Talmey-Drake poll were part of Agenda 21’s work. One of its goals: to gather
opinions on where K-12 education in Colorado should be headed.
