Teachers and administrators must tell the public about their success.
I worked in the private sector for twenty years prior to my involvement with schools. I worked in factories, law firms, and corporate offices. Never once did I witness a miracle. I have never gone into a school for a day when I have not witnessed a miracle, and almost nobody out there knows it.
Why?
There are a lot of reasons.
The media features the negative.
Changes in demographics have widened the gap between schools and communities.
The overwhelming responsibilities placed upon schools leave little time for anything else.
But the principal reason why the good news is not widely known is that educators do not promote their success. I coax. I cajole. I rant and rave about the need for teachers to speak up and I am told, "Jamie, you don't understand. Teachers are just not good at tooting their own horn".
With all due respect, IT IS TIME TO GET OVER THIS!
I know that most are psychologically predisposed toward modesty. I know that they often live in the communities where they teach, and to tout success might be a bit unseemly it may appear as though they are trying to feather their own nests. But the stakes are very high. You must stand up. Americans are in the process of making an important decision about the future of public education, and the signs are not good.
All across the country, more and more people believe that public education is failing. It is not true. The fact is that America's public schools are doing a better job now than they have ever done in the history of their communities. The problem is that the negative perception has become more important than the reality. This perception of failure will intensify and spread and public trust will continue to erode unless teachers, administrators, support staff, volunteers and board members stand up and tell the truth.
You must promote your success. And there is plenty to promote.
Careful analysis of those few studies that disaggregate statistics and honestly attempt to compare apples and apples demonstrate that today's schools are teaching more children, from more diverse and challenging backgrounds, in more subjects, to higher levels, in more creative and dynamic ways than ever before. Few people in the community believe this (even some educators don't believe it) - they are convinced that the system is failing and that things used to be better. They never were.
The facts
Today's young people know more and can do more than the young people of any previous generation, and public schools are chiefly responsible. Only a tiny handful of elite teenagers in the past knew as much most high school students know today.
More students than ever are taking and passing tough courses. The number of students taking the Advanced Placement courses has risen from 98,000 in 1978 to over 500,000 today and the test scores have remained stable.
The high school graduation rate is at an all time high and the dropout rate continues to decline, despite most states’ recent establishment of tougher curriculum requirements.
Violent acts in American schools declined between 1991 and 1999 despite all headlines to the contrary. Schools are statistically one of the safest places in the community.
Scores on most standardized tests, when disaggregated, show improvement for all categories of test-takers over the last fifty years. Reading, math and science scores are up. The gender gap in math and science courses is shrinking.
The IQ scores of young Americans average 7.5 points higher than their parents and 15 points higher than their grandparents. More and better schooling is the most likely reason for the increase in these scores.
The diversity and the number of students taking the SAT and ACT is unprecedented. Nationally, the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) math scores reached their highest level in 27 years in 1999. The average SAT math score of America's college freshmen rose to 512, while the verbal score remained steady at 505.
The percentage of American students going on to college is unequalled in the world, and the vast majority of students at America’s top colleges and universities are public school graduates.
More minority students are going on to college than ever before.
More than 84% of Americans between the ages of 25 and 64 have completed secondary education. Only 70% of the population can make that claim in Japan, 68% in the United Kingdom, and 52% in France.
Teachers are America’s most trusted professionals compared to a long list of different occupations or professions ahead of the clergy, doctors, judges, professors, members of Congress, and journalists. Sadly, members of my own legal profession appear not to have made the list.
Those who can, teach. Teachers scored significantly higher than the general population in literacy skills -- on average 58 points higher on a 500-point scale. Teachers with a four-year degree scored slightly higher than all other adults with a four-year degree. The report confirms that teachers have literacy skills comparable to professions that pay much higher salaries.
The bottom line is that our schools are doing a better job than they have ever done by almost every standard measure of achievement. They need to improve, but they were never better than they are now. Americans need to know this.
Help build a great treasury of success stories. Please send us your good news.
Our schools are engines of growth and wonder. Every achievment, every breakthrough, every step of progress big or small is worthy of our attention and a candidate for our celebration. Send us your stories, comments, or reports, brief or elaborate. They can come from the lives of your students. They can be stories of your own personal or professional success.
Your entry will be placed in a much-needed database of good news. Personal details will, of course, be removed and privacy will be protected.
email your good news to jamie@jamievollmer.com
Help build a great treasury of success stories.
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