Report Cards

When my child comes home from school with a grade in a class, particularly a low grade, I want to know what that grade represents – whether it is missing homework or not understanding the subject matter or talking to a classmate out of turn. If the only grade information I had was a grade point average for all classes, I would not find it very helpful.

Imagine getting a report card that averaged all the grades of all the students in all the classes in the school. This would not really tell me anything about my child’s education but this is exactly what one legislator wants to do and is claiming that HB59 will provide more transparency about the school performance. In addition, the assignment of public school grades would be distributed in a bell curve. That means that they would assign a certain number of A’s and F’s, a greater number of B’s and D’s, and most schools would receive a grade of C.

We currently have information about the performance of students in individual schools based on the UPASS data. This is comprehensive information and it is available to the public. With this much information, I wonder why another grade that gives less information is necessary.

The sponsor predicts that parents with children in a school that receives a low grade will be motivated to pitch in, to help improve their child’s school. Interestingly, there are similar provisions in the very unpopular “No Child Left Behind”. When test scores are below an acceptable level, NCLB required that the parents of that school’s students be allowed to choice out of the school. It recognizes that the reaction of many adults would be to remove their children from a school that is labeled as underperforming.

Maintaining a bell curve may be tricky if the most-involved parents move their children to the highest graded schools. Raw test scores that provide the data for assigning grades would eventually be distributed on an inverted bell curve – high numbers of schools at the low and high ends with the middle dropping out. Proposals to tie teacher pay to student performance on tests would make it even more divided. I feel uncomfortable about creating an education system made up of elite and substandard schools.

Every study I have seen on student performance has concluded that the greatest influencing factor is parental involvement and home environment. Schools can overcome disadvantages that come from the socio-economic backgrounds of their students but it requires a big effort and increased financial resources.

If the Legislature wants to assign grades to schools, and wants to keep the costs of doing so down, they might just as well assign the grades based on the students’ families’ average socio-economic background. This bill would have the same effect. Overcoming the effects of poverty and social status on education requires greater funding of education than what the Legislature seems willing to grant.

The adage that “you get what you pay for” is often true. In this case, I think it would be fitting to rename HB59 to be “Grading the Legislature’s Commitment to Public Education”.