EDUCATION - How Do We Grade Schools?

"Grading Schools: How to Determine the 'Good' From the 'Bad'?"
PBS Newshour 6/6/2011

What I've noticed on how officials "score" schools:

• They score on pass/fail rather than "has there been an improvement"


• Yearly testing is NOT the way to go


• Expecting a child that is ALREADY behind to catch up to grade-level in just one year is unrealistic


• A better way MAY be to send professional observers to schools (NOT every year, cycle through n-schools/yr) and see how the school classes are doing and use this as additional evaluation of school performance


• Pay much more attention to parental involvement in their child's education

As this piece notes, the child's enviroment has a very big impact on their performance. We need to address that if we really expect general improvement.