What is the best way to measure school success?

By: Scott Winch, Superintendent, School District of Stratford

February 15, 2008

STRATFORD – The debate over what makes a successful school is heating up as the Federal Law known as No Child Left Behind is up for reauthorization.

There is a great deal of debate on if the law needs fixing, needs to be left alone or even removed. As a citizen, you can have input on this, but as a district, it is important for us to be responsible for whatever outcome is decided.

No Child has drawn mixed reviews since it was signed into law in 2002. Supporters said it would bring accountability to schools. Critics say the bill forces districts to teach and spend too much time on standardized test at the expense of other areas, such as fine arts.

Schools are responsible for making sure all students, including special education students, succeed in reading and math. Other areas that schools are responsible for are attendance rates, participation of students taking the test and graduation rates. If schools or districts fail to meet set goals, they would need to develop plans to improve or face tougher sanctions.

Both viewpoints have shown to be true in Stratford. As a district, we have focused our curriculum, assessments and report cards to more accurately represent how our students are performing. We continually look at our scores on the Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Exam to see how we compare with the benchmarks set by the sate of Wisconsin. We have had to review certain areas of curriculum to meet the demands of NCLB.

When we instituted the Skyward student software a couple years ago, we also introduced Skyward’s Standards Based Report Card at the elementary level as a way of giving students, parents and teachers a better idea of what skills students have. We have increased the amount and quality of assessments to provide us data to drive instruction.

The area that has had the most negative impact on the district is the resources that are necessary to test students and evaluate outcomes. Students, teachers and administrators all need to use a lot of time preparing to take the WKCE that is time that could be used in the classroom providing instruction. The test also can be stressful, especially knowing that one test on a given day can have a large impact on your school.

Where does this leave us in 2008 and the reauthorization of NCLB? First, we need to see what improvements can be made and keep the positives such as better instructional practices and assessments in NCLB. We also need to see what we can do about the stress that NCLB has put on our resources as well as the unrealistic goal of having every student proficient or advanced by 2014.

In Stratford, I like to remind students and staff that we need to be responsible for meeting our NCLB goals but it can’t be the only measure for success. We need to make sure that students are prepared to be well-rounded productive citizens. Stratford students still need to be able to take physical education, fine art classes and career and technical courses.

Our School has formed some partnerships with several local businesses to provide youth apprenticeship opportunities. We also communicate with these businesses to find out what they are expecting from their employees now and in the future. We have taken what they have said to heart, and we are trying to help our students meet their goals through our curriculum. One of the ironic things is that very few of the skills they are looking for are on the standardized tests.

I encourage everyone, no matter your feelings on NCLB, to contact your federal representatives and let them know how you feel about the act. I also encourage you to join us in defining the success of our schools and students in ore ways than a standardized test. Scott Winch is a superintendent of the School District of Stratford.

Scott Winch is a superintendent of the School District of Stratford.