After weeks of delay, the A-F grades were released by the State Department of Education last week. Prior to the official release, Mid-Del Schools experienced 10 different grades for our schools in two weeks. Following the release of the grades, the SDE removed district grades due to admitted inaccuracies.
In the business world, if an accountant told you that you would receive a large refund, then changed it 10 times, wouldn’t you find another accountant immediately? Such is the life of the A-F grading system in Oklahoma!
When researchers have warned, in two different reports, that the system is flawed even with the changes this past legislative session, our state leadership has ignored the findings. If this was a medical research report, how long would it take to revise a practice if lives were at stake? Aren’t our children worth as much consideration when research reveals the method to arrive at grades has a high level of arbitrariness and is not a statistically valid or reliable measure of school performance?
Because the state measures student performance from year-to-year rather than during the year, arbitrarily sets performance targets, changes standards after the school year is almost over, and releases the student achievement data late into the next school year, any use of the data for instruction is negligible.
In Mid-Del Schools, we appropriately assess student achievement the right way by measuring student’s performance on standards during the year and adjust instruction accordingly during the year. We know that having the best teachers monitoring student progress and individualizing instruction in our classrooms makes the difference in student achievement.
Mid-Del Schools stand firmly behind the work of our dedicated teachers and administrative staff, educating students every day. Our parents trust that we are doing our best for our students. While we recognize that the A-F system is the law and that supporters tout it as reflective of student achievement, we all have a responsibility in creating a system that is valid and one that reports information in an open, honest, and accountable way, recognizing the true measure should be one that reflects the closing of achievement gaps. We should all have high expectations for student achievement, transparency, and a willingness to work together to make the system valid. The 2014 Legislature will have ANOTHER opportunity to get it right.
Moving beyond the A-F report, Mid-Del Schools strives to continuously improve. We have schools that reflect very good report card grades and others that do not. Many of our students come to us with needs that tests can’t measure. Many of our students come to us with achievement gaps in learning. Even with these challenges, it is our job to educate our children. We choose to move forward with instructional programs and activities that will help all students achieve. From more Advanced Placement courses and student participation, to STEM programs with a focus on Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, with new Aviation and Aerospace initiatives, Literacy Focus district-wide, IPad technology for Pre-K and K as well as activities that build thinking skills—chess, debate, and speech—Mid-Del is on the move in the right direction. Our teachers pour their minds, hearts, money and energies into educating our children. We cannot do anything less as we serve Mid-Del students and provide them with a bright future. We are committed to every student, every day!
We insist that state education and legislative leadership do nothing less than our teachers by investing their minds, hearts, money, and energies into resolving these and other issues collaboratively, with a renewed sense of what is best for our students and state. High expectations and accountability work both ways!
