Raising the Bar

The Board has asked me to “raise the bar.”  We need to talk about that.

First, are we talking higher standards, higher expectations, or both?  Are we talking higher outcomes?  If so, which ones?  Are we talking attitudinal and cultural change?  What bar?  How high?  Where is it low?

I think they mean raise expectations, improve outcomes, and develop a culture of pride and scholarship in Edna ISD.  I think they look at our test results, and though there is long term improvement, they want the results to look better.  I totally agree with all the above, though honestly I put less stock in the test results.

We spent a lot of time last year defining the Actively Engaged Employee, a.k.a., “Ride for the Brand.”  We are spending a lot of time this year developing a vision for our system.  All these processes are great, and the outcomes can inspire and guide us, but these documents are not enough.

The bottom line is teaching and learning are hard work.  Teaching for learning is hard work.  Learning is hard work.  We may want it to be pleasant, fun, exciting and engaging, but the simple truth is teachers and parents cannot learn the material for students.  We may want the kids to like us, but that is not our job.  Students must learn.  To learn requires study, discipline, mental effort, reflection, practice.  These attributes are hard for many of our kids.  To learn also requires administrative, parental, community and board support.  In many cases all these are present.  In some, few are.  We have kids in chaos, not knowing where they will sleep or eat.  But we must teach them.  And we must teach them better.

We all get it that each kid is special and unique.  We all get it that parents know their kids in ways we do not.  We all get it that we know the kids in ways the parents do not.  We all get it that from the student’s point of view school attendance is compulsory; learning is optional, behaving appropriately is optional.  We all get it that kids have us dramatically outnumbered and just to keep the lid on we must have compliance with the rules.  We all get it that no one likes compliance; no one likes being told what to do. 

This I believe:  Any student who attends our schools hungry for a top notch education that is preparatory for college, who is willing to work hard and has parental support, will gain such an education.  We have the courses, we have the rigor, we have the staff to provide that education.

This I believe:  Any student, who sees school as a waste of time, odious, tedious, and boring, who is not interested in the long term benefits of learning, and who lacks an appropriate adult support group to change that attitude will not get an appropriate education.  We are unable to make kids learn or learn it for them.  There are a host of strategies that may increase the odds of such a kid being successful and we should practice those.  Especially the one that says we should expect them to learn.

This I also believe:  There are among us truly gifted teachers who are able to convert the students who see school as tedious to a place where students learn.  It is to those teachers we must turn to learn how to do that.  Then we will raise the bar.

The state has set the standards.  That bar is rising every year. Interesting to look at our longitudinal data showing an upward trend in our outcomes when we know there is an upward trend in the passing standards.  In other words, as it gets harder and harder to pass a test which also gets harder and harder, our kids are doing better and better.  I like that.  But not all our kids are doing better.  I do not like that.

Let’s be thinking about what we need to do to create a culture of pride, a culture of scholarship, a culture of ever higher outcomes.  I know some of the things we need to do.  You know some too.  Be thinking.

After thinking, be prepared to act.