Honor good schools with freedom, not punishment

This year marks my 20th year as an Alaska teacher and I consider myself fortunate to be part of such a creative, meaningful and noble profession. Throughout the years I have experienced countless moments of delight. I am by no means rich, but I do have many fond memories of working with some of the most talented students and teachers on earth.

Throughout my teaching career I have looked at standardized tests as I would a pesky relative — a visitor to which I feel a certain obligation, but also one that could not leave our school fast enough. I prepare my students to do well on these tests not because I want to receive a good evaluation and a job, but good test scores afford me the liberty to teach creatively. My first principal at Kenny Lake School encouraged me to experiment with film and creative writing classes with the caveat that I also prepare my students to pass their tests. They did, and I went on to develop a documentary film program, an entrepreneurs day competition and later a multi-media creative writing website, hawknews.org, that inspires my students while challenging me professionally.

I am opposed, on most levels, to the state’s latest move toward linking teacher evaluations to test scores. Before you dismiss me as yet another teacher who is opposed to this reform because he fears he will lose his job, let me tell you that I could retire this year. I also teach at a very successful, federally designated Blue Ribbon School. I believe my arguments flow from a position of strength.

First, there is little to no research to show that tying teacher evaluations to standardized test scores improves student learning or graduation rates. I could also cite research by experts such as Diane Ravitch, Richard Rothstein and Jonathon Kozol to explain why poverty and parental support impact test scores more than the assumptions underlying the state’s “accountability” measures. A decade of using test scores as a driving force under NCLB has not led to significant changes in the achievement gap. Unfortunately, the goal with the state’s initiative is political, not educational. It’s meant to create the illusion of movement.

I agree that something needs to be done to prod, cajole or close underperforming schools. In some cases, drastic measures such as those in Alaska’s latest initiative are worth a look because nothing else has worked. But in addition to these measures, we need to come to grip with the fact that poverty and lack of parental support affect student learning the most. These are messy and complex problems, but they must be addressed if we want to see sustainable change in American education.

One central, yet provincial, reason I oppose the latest initiative is because I believe it will harm excellent Alaska schools such as mine. It will force these schools to test more and teach less, transforming them into data-collecting machines. Our students will be the losers. I am so thankful that my own children, who are both smart and well-rounded, will no longer be attending public school when this initiative hits full force. My son, a senior at our school, has competed in international piano competitions and is currently taking Calculus II. My daughter is a gifted writer and artist. I wince when I consider whether their talents would have been nurtured in a system where the teachers were pre-occupied with test scores. I fear for the younger students at our school because I believe they are headed toward a narrow, incomplete education.

The great regimes of the past — Nazi Germany, totalitarian Russia and China — were very skilled at teaching the how in education. It is only in free societies where it is imperative to address the why. And I believe the ability to critically examine history, technology and the world around us is developed through an education immersed in the arts, music and creative expression — the very pursuits that have been squeezed in the current education movement.

Why can’t the state develop a separate policy for high performing schools? Why can’t the state declare a school a “Model of Excellence” if 85 percent of its students score proficient or above on its yearly standardized tests? These school exemplars would then be liberated from all punitive devices such as linking teacher evaluations to four student assessments. Allow these schools’ teachers to use this wasted “drill-and-kill” time to instead engage their students with innovative projects, or the arts or music. The state would loosen its grip because we all know that the surest recipe for disaster is to put something successful into the hands of government.

I believe such a designation would do more to motivate teachers than the current punitive system. Great teachers yearn to teach in great schools; they want to be free to experiment, to innovate, to challenge all students, and they want to be surrounded by other motivated colleagues. Schools that have a track record of success should be allowed to pursue an education model closer to Finland’s, where teachers are respected and given a high degree of autonomy in their classrooms.

Having a “Model of Excellence” designation would create islands of innovation that the state could look to for reform when it finally realizes its homogenized approach to education has failed. Within a few years the state will learn that a great school has many essential moving parts. These excellent schools would also serve as a magnet for great teachers. All passionate teachers I know have internal standards that are much higher than anything the state could seek to incentivize. The best option to reward good teachers is to grant them a high degree of autonomy and allow them to focus on developing each student’s natural gifts. Why hit success with a stick when you can dangle the carrot of freedom before it?

It may take years for the state to realize its effort to target the problems in education is much like the parable of the blind men describing an elephant. By the time the state figures it out, many students with promise will have had their creativity squashed by a clumsy, near-sighted attempt at school reform.

Ray Voley is a writing, technology, drama and social studies teacher at Kenny Lake School. He is the 2008 Teacher of the Year and 2008 Alaska History and Cultural Studies Teacher of the Year. His students have produced three award-winning documentaries focusing on the history of the Copper Basin and a multitude of award-winning short films.