How Do We Measure School Success?
Post: July 13, 2024
Graduation rates by themselves do not measure student success. Currently, many states nationwide are focusing on high school graduation rates, as primary measurements of school performance and student achievement. While high graduation rates are important, they must be reviewed in context with student attendance, grades, and standardized test scores. Students who are in school regularly and fully participating will learn more. If classes are robust, the average GPA of a graduating class can reflect performance. All students mature at different rates, and while standardized test scores may not be definitive predictors of future success, they can be indicators of progress and skill deficiencies.
Just because students graduate at higher rates, does not necessarily mean they are receiving a quality education or being prepared for post-secondary opportunities. Perhaps graduation rates may be trending higher because standards and expectations have been lowered. Most would expect graduation rates to currently trend lower, considering students are still emerging from the COVID-19 educational slump. Also, it would make sense that graduation rates would mirror trends in standardized testing and it appears that test scores are still recovering.
For school districts to be totally transparent to local taxpayers, they must provide the public with comprehensive student achievement data, and this information should be easily accessible and interpreted. When school districts do provide such data, it can be filtered or incomplete, and very hard to access and analyze. I challenge any reader to access your local district’s website and find meaningful student achievement data. What is the graduation rate? Average ACT score? Average GPA of the graduating class? Advanced Placement passing rates in subject areas? Percentage of students at each grade level meeting grade level expectations in math and reading? Attendance and truancy statistics? Percentage of students who choose to opt out of taking achievement tests?(Test scores would be lower in states who allow students to opt out of taking mandated tests ) Percentage of parents attending conferences? School districts that provide such data should be the standard and not the exception. Many state Departments of Education publish school performance data on their websites. The Minnesota Department of Education allows great testing data access, however, it takes time to learn how to navigate the database, pull reports, and interpret the data. We must make it easier for the average educational stakeholder to access important information, so state legislatures must pass progressive legislation requiring districts to make critical educational effectiveness data easily accessible from the home pages of district websites.
Without statistical analysis, how can we honestly evaluate performance? In measuring school effectiveness, improvement must ALWAYS be considered the most important measure of success. Great teachers and school systems meet students where they are and help them to “close the gap between their performance and potential.” This allows them the opportunity to become all that they were meant to be. Focusing on improvement through data analysis validates the work that teachers and administrators are doing within the school system and provides the accountability that we all need to perform to the best of our abilities. The road to improving the educational system must start with testing, goal setting, and re-evaluation, along with high expectations and accountability. If this process is completed with integrity and passion, standardized test scores and achievement will improve and the graduation rate will take care of itself.