From A Schoolmaster of the Great City:

What the school system needs to understand is that its strength lies, not in the strength of the central organization, but in the strength of the individual school, not in making one school like another, but in making each school a distinct unit. The need of the system is the preservation of its units, so that each school can keep itself alive, wide awake, responsive to its people, easily adaptable, the best of its kind.

This is what matters. This is what NCLB does not understand. This is the problem with the standardization movement.

Kids are different. Schools are different. Teachers are different. What we want to do is create a network of schools with broadly defined standards that allow schools and teachers to create environments that speak to their communities.

While some may argue that NCLB was not meant to create the standardized curriculum movement that we are seeing in cities all over America, that is the the result. The testing movement has narrowed curriculum and created an atmosphere that is poisonous. I’ve heard too many stories of teachers being told to take good lessons out of the curriculum because it won’t be on the test.

Does this mean that schools should not have standards and accountability? No. Absolutely not. But if we are to make data-driven decisions, let us use good data. The Middle States accreditation process has been around for decades. It is rigorous, it is comprehensive, and it is based on broad standards and multiple data sources. I am loath to think that someone would judge SLA solely on our PSSA scores, but I’d open up a Middle States report to anyone who would ask.

We have to learn that assessment — student or school — isn’t cheap, and it isn’t easy. And school reform isn’t cheap or easy. And top-down standardization won’t get us the schools we need. At best, it’ll get us a barely passable norm — and that’s at best. What we want is a system that helps all schools to develop their best. What we want is the ability to assess the goals of a school and the progress the school is making toward those goals.

And amazingly, we’ve known that for a long time. Angelo Patri wrote the quote that started this entry in 1917. And I’m not sure we’re any closer today to achieving that vision. That should give us all pause.