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Health & Fitness

Education Reform: What Manchester Really Needs

Without sufficient funding, and a focus on other, more systemic issues, education reform is doomed for failure...and may even make the situation worse.

Before I start, I want to make clear that these are my views, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Mancheser Board of Education or its administation. 

While I'm glad that we are , I caution that poor educational outcomes in Connecticut (indeed, around the country) are due to a variety of school and non-school related issues, with teacher quality accounting for just a component. Other more significant factors include the proper allocation and adequacy of education funds, student readiness (including parental involvement and access to high quality preschools), student mobility (and the unstable family and community environments that result), as well as numerous socioeconomic issues resulting from family income inequality (e.g., access to proper healthcare, housing and nutrition).  

Absent other more systemic reforms to address at least some of these issues, attempts at improving educational outcomes by relying on standardized tests linked to teacher evaluations are doomed for failure and will result in unstable public school environments that are more socioeconomically isolated and segregated. 

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Further, measuring teacher quality using standardized test scores will result in a narrowing of curricula to those areas and competencies that can be measured by standardized tests. To our dismay, we've already seen this happen under the . While test scores may increase over time, as schools "teach to the test," students end up less prepared to enter the global workforce.  Standardized tests require mastery of rote memorization and testing skills (skills that are less important in a modern global and technologically advanced economy), at the expense of other more important cognitive and non-cognitive skills. 

We need students who are creative, know how to research and investigate, are inquisitive, can work with others, have honesty and integrity, communicate well, are self-motivated and have initiative. What will happen when public schools prioritize rote memorization rather than developing these vital qualities? As the curriculum narrows, engaged parents seek alternatives to traditional public schools, where their children can hone those necessary real-world skills listed above. At the same time, the large majority of students that remain in traditional public schools will be on a downward spiral of narrowing curriculum, increased testing and (despite what test scores might reveal) lower educational outcomes. We will create a de facto, two-tier public school system that perpetuates the very problem we are trying to solve: the achievement gap. Indeed, this trend started in Manchester with the advent of magnet schools in the last few years. Commonly referred to as the “brain drain,” it seems now ripe for rapid growth. 

Expanded charter and magnet school funding serves as fuel for this exodus, as students with involved parents have an even greater opportunity to "opt out" of traditional public schools - thereby increasing the socioeconomic isolation in traditional public school settings. Forget that the charter school model has yet to be proven superior; by its nature and intent, the model is not designed for large-scale implementation. Therefore, even if successful, it will leave a majority of students in their district school in a traditional education setting, further economically and educationally isolated. Allowing for expanded privatization of education using a charter school model as its basis will further stratify an already socioeconomically segregated student population. In five or 10 years, will we try to close the achievement gap we've furthered with even “newer” reforms, or will our work be complete?

If we are to take seriously the goal of improving educational outcomes, and closing the achievement gap, I believe we need a multidimensional approach in addition to the reforms proposed by the state includes the following:

  1. Universal preschool for children that includes a parent component (especially for those who cannot afford it)
  2. Adequate access to healthcare and nutrition for children from birth through school as well as for pregnant mothers
  3. Extended school day and/or school year for those children K-3 who need it, with a concentration on enrichment and reading programs
  4. Adequate funding to improve teacher evaluation that includes proper training, mentoring and sufficient evaluation time

The recent reform bill includes some of these elements, but questions remain whether the state will provide funding at sufficient levels to support these reforms.

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in state funding to develop a plan to improve outcomes, but that amount barely covers about 20 percent of the costs of the items above. While I am confident that school administrators in Manchester will develop a high quality, well thought out improvement plan for the $1.3 million, the plan will necessarily need to be scaled to the level of funding provided.

To be successful, we need to ensure adequate funding is available for initiatives such as those listed above. To improve educational outcomes and reduce the achievement gap, we must resolve to adequately fund the reforms, both today and in the future.

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