Great American schools: A basic right and our responsibility
Dr. Jim Lowham
The 86th annual American Education Week, sponsored by the NEA, is Nov. 11-17. This year’s theme is “Great American Schools: A Basic Right and Our Responsibility.”
Today, there is a growing expectation that schools will only be great when every student is great. No Child Left Behind has set a mark that every student must be proficient before schools will be deemed acceptable. This is a relatively new standard for schools.
We overestimate the skills, abilities and traits in those we know. This is especially true when there is no agreed upon measure of the standards. Think of the Lake Wobegon effect, the fictional town from Garrison Keillor’s “A Prairie Home Companion” radio series. In Lake Wobegon, says Keillor, “All the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above-average.” We may think we are strong, good-looking and above-average, while at the same time, others can disagree. Standards and measures are tough policy decisions.
Jamie Vollmer tells a great story about manufacturing blueberry ice cream and standards.
When ice cream is manufactured,there are standards that are set based upon the desired outcome. Sweetness is one of these outcomes.So when a shipment of blueberries is received, the sugar content is measured and the other contents are adjusted so that the desired ice cream is achieved. Some might think of our students as being analogous to blueberries. However, manufacturing practices can reject inferior materials, but schools cannot reject students.
For schools, we achieve our desired services by selecting the programs and processes for each child to learn. Therefore, just as Jamie Vollmer can reject the blueberries, we can reject the use of programs and processes that do not facilitate the learning of a child. Our children are not blueberries. More so, our programs and processes are the equivalent of the blueberries, and we must be selective. Our children deserve great schools, and they deserve for us to deliver.
A huge part of the delivery of great schools is the meritorious services people provide. On Nov. 13, we will recognize employees who typify this level of service during the 11th annual Medallion of Excellence Program.
Thinking back to the theme of this year’s American Education Week, if we truly believe great schools are a given right, we are responsible for delivering such schools. It wasn’t too long ago that people could have a “so-so” education and a good life. It wasn’t that long ago that if people worked hard, even without a high school diploma, they could still make sufficient money and have a good life. These situations are rapidly disappearing. That being said, money, of course, doesn’t equate to happiness, but a poor education nearly certainly dooms a child to a life of struggle, conflict and insecurity.
Medallion of Excellence is for people who have earned our recognition for their efforts in providing great public schools. It is not a medallion of perfection; these individuals have worked hard, learned from mistakes, and worked toward improvement and involvement. The names are not drawn out of a hat or a list of someone’s favorites. They receive this honor because they are nominated for the exceptional work they do that exceeds the district’s expectations.
Although we do many diverse things on a daily basis, our primary focus is to provide great learning opportunities for our great students. We do this through selecting and using the best programs and practices through our service. Keep excellence alive through your actions of making sure we select and use practices that lead us to great learning for each of our children.
I encourage you to celebrate American Education Week with me, congratulate those who receive medallions and accept the words of praise and appreciation you hear for the good work that you do. Let’s continue to work together toward great American schools. Afterall, it is our responsibility.
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