Today, Rick Martinez comments on a proposed assessment for rising high school freshmen. The test would allow teachers to identify specific academic weaknesses and address those weaknesses for the remainder of his or her high school career. This proposal is not objectionable, although I think that thoughtful administrators have already implemented some school-based pre-testing, using the Flanagan-Mott or some other standardized test. Overall, I think it is a sound idea, but it should have already occurred to administrators and teachers that you have to see where kids are before you know where you are going.
The problem is Rick?s mischaracterization of Howard Lee. He says, But shaking North Carolina out if its academic malaise is what Lee aims to do. He is no longer a patient man. The determination I sensed in his voice when we spoke about languishing student performance was born partly out of his embarrassment. I heard this side of Lee too, several months ago when the poor NAEP reading scores were released. He raised his voice and said, rather eloquently, that the state needs to do a better job. It was quite a change from what I had observed before, but I have not seen this side of Lee since.
That is the problem. Lee talks a good game, but it is clear that he has not thought much about how to improve public schools. He is not alone. The other members of the State Board of Education rarely debate any issue that comes before them, and are content to accept anything that DPI, NCAE, the Public School Forum, and the governor?s office tell them to believe. Lee, as chairman of the SBE, allows this repetitive nonsense to take place month after month. As I have said before, a State Board of Education meeting is like a prep rally for a losing team and Lee is leading the fight song.
Lee is not trying to move the education establishment. He is the education establishment. The fact that he is supporting a new assessment, which some school districts may oppose, means very little in the scheme of things. Lee has had many opportunities to challenge the status quo or to ?shake things up,? but has balked at every opportunity to do so. Just name the issue ? certification requirements, testing, school improvement ? and you will find the company line every time.
So, I am disappointed to read that Rick is enamored with Howard Lee?s bravado. I sit through every grueling State Board of Education meeting (best described as having to watch Carrot Top?s movie, Chairman of the Board, two days every month) and I find nothing redemptive about what they are doing. And our schools pay the price.
