Guest View: Geoff Kieburtz on Education Reform
By Geoff Kieburtz
As the budget process struggles to conclusion and emotions rise in heated debate about relatively small changes in education funding, it is too easy to lose sight of the bigger issues. Despite spending more per student than all but three other countries in the world, the performance of US students has fallen further behind other nations over the past ten years. President Obama said in his State of the Union address, “The countries that out-teach us today will out-compete us tomorrow.” Not long after, the Secretary of Education acknowledged that we have fallen behind much of the world in quality of education. Reform is urgently needed in the way we educate our children, and everyone has a stake in better education.
Global statistics and national priorities can sometimes depersonalize an issue, making it seem disconnected from local considerations. However, the local school district is where change can be most effective and quickly implemented. It is the performance of local school districts, individual schools, and ultimately the results of each teacher student interaction that determines the quality of education. As Norwalk works through its budget process and difficult funding decisions are made, it is in every taxpayer’s interest that we must ensure we are advancing the quality of the education being provided to our youth.
Every side in the education reform debate can cite studies that support a particular view of what change is needed. Hot button topics such as class size, charter schools, voucher systems and the content of the curriculum fuel debate but often obscure the larger issue. An increasing body of research has begun to bring greater focus on the importance of the teacher student interface. It is this very individual and personal experience that has been shown to have the greatest impact on educational outcomes. This in turn highlights the importance of teacher qualifications and student commitment.
The progress in Massachusetts over the past decade carries a clear message for Connecticut. In the late nineties, our neighbors to the north ranked behind us in nationwide tests of 4th and 8th graders. Today, Massachusetts ranks at the top of the nation and 17th in the world, if we compare the state as if it were its own country. Moreover, this improved performance was accomplished with a slower rate of per student spending growth than in Connecticut. We cannot educate our children for free, but we can’t expect a failing system to work just by throwing more money at it.
In the traditional framework, where the focus is on inputs like spending per student or classroom size, it may seem impossible to strive for better education during a time of economic stress and limited funds. More and more, it seems that the traditional framework is flawed. Among the critical reforms implemented in Massachusetts are an increased attention to teacher preparedness and the establishment of high expectations for each student. Incoming teachers must pass a literacy test and demonstrate competence in their subject material. Students must pass a test to graduate from high school.
The mixed results of the No Child Left Behind program demonstrates the pitfalls of emphasizing rote memorization over real learning, and the dangers of teaching to the test. But each school system must set as its highest priority to eliminate the barriers in the way of good teachers concentrating on instructing each student to the best of their ability. It is also the role of the system to ensure the classroom instructors are qualified to do their job.
In our effort to improve the Norwalk school system, we must ensure high standards for our teachers. Teacher evaluation seems to be one of the most controversial issues in the education reform debate. Efficacy is a matter of competency. Some teachers are more skilled in current technology; other teachers are more skilled in handling a class and connecting with students. Both skill sets are needed and those teachers that demonstrate excellence with both are the ones to retain. The dramatic expansion of the Teach for America program and some of its offshoots such as the School of One, demonstrate the power of innovation in education and provide real world examples of what is possible.
Reforming education has been a hot topic for a considerable time. It is time to move beyond the buzzwords and focus the system on educating all students to a higher level. The school system exists to educate our children – no other reason. It is not too much to expect that every student and every teacher be given the chance to realize their full potential. We have made great strides in addressing the needs of a diverse student body. While that work should never end, multiple studies show it no longer needs to be our primary concern. The first priority should be to remove any barriers to superior educational outcomes. These barriers may be created by city rules, state rules or union rules. Identifying and eliminating these barriers should be the focus of the Board of Education in collaboration with teachers, students and parents.
