We All Need to Think More Critically

A few days ago I saw a photo posted in an education group that made me furious.

I wrote a response. I deleted it. Then I repeated the pattern until I thought it was best to sit on it before I responded.

A few days later – it still irked me.

Here’s the post and the photo:

“Here’s a first look at how schools in Pinellas’ Transformation Zone fared on the ELA FSA. We’re analyzing all of the data across all school districts. Stay tuned.”

Here’s why it irked me.

If you’ve been with us for a while, you understand that we are FOR kids. For teachers. For families. For knowing and supporting one another.

And we are against negative labeling and messaging. We are against stagnant, outdated, and uninformed methods of assessing and teaching.

So there within lies my issues with the post.

Call them “Transformational Schools” or “Failure Factories” or whatever other label you choose, you are here within sending a negative message to all of those involved. The kids, teachers, and families.

By posting a photo of test scores of only a select group of schools for a few years to a group without any background information, you’re implying a misrepresentation of their efforts and their successes. Yes, even with those scores, I can guarantee you that there are successes tucked away in there.

But you can’t see the teacher who’s spent hours giving their all, the kid who walks with their head held higher, or the transformations that have happened in 180 days when the odds are stacked against them in THAT picture.

What I think bothers me more, and what could be entirely self-imposed because I’ve taught at a similar type of school, is the larger ideology that most of us are not even looking for.

As humans, we are born with a negativity bias, but we’ve also been conditioned to perceive so many negative ideologies that supporting one another is no longer even a focus. The comments that followed this post were not curious, positive, inclusive, or seeking understanding-EXCEPT for those few who clearly have some experience in education.

They provided the insights. They enlightened. Because they see it firsthand. Because they are the experts.

They’ve learned to be objective which is the reason I’m writing this today, to share some of that “insider” information so that more people have an immediate reaction to question, to speculate, to consider all sides vs. accepting the misnomers that we’ve been conditioned to accept like low test scores=subpar students, teachers, or families.

Some very basic questions that you can ask when you see “data” like this.

1. What was going on in the lives of the students on the days that they took these tests?

Did they have another student’s mom come in and threaten, yell at them, and break them down to tears? (Really happened to one of my former students on the morning of her state testing.) Did they witness a trauma the night before? Etc. Or were they set up for success on all accounts?

2. What was going on in the world during the time that these assessments were taken?

Have they had stories written about them being failures on a national level? Was there a local disaster that is instilling fear or anxiety? Did their teacher have their needs met?

3. Are the test results that you’re comparing valid?

Are you looking at the same students from year to year or 3rd graders to 3rd graders? Have students changed schools? Have the teachers changed? Were decisions made at the district level that impact school culture and priorities like administration changes? Bottom line, are you comparing apples to apples?

However, the two most important question you should be asking yourself when you choose to put out general information like this or when you make a judgement based off of it, is WHY are you comparing the data? And do you really understand what it means?

Which is why I think the initial post fueled my defensive fire. Most people have no idea what these scores mean, the background behind them (there’s plenty more, ask any teacher), or how they simply promote negativity.

In essence, it’s like judging a person’s entire character and their potential on the one snap judgement that you make when you see them in a grocery store.

You have no idea if that man is wearing sweat pants and a stained t-shirt because he’s “lazy” and “not making an effort” or if it’s because his wife’s battling cancer and it’s the closest set of clothes he had on his way out the door to get her the food that she needs to simply make her smile.

Is data valuable-yes. When it’s done in an honest and transparent manner, it can establish trust and can be used to drive positive change.

But this set of “data” points is nowhere near that and the public deserves to know about that too.

Unfortunately, we can’t control everything. But what we can do (thankfully what Indi-ED families do naturally) is to consider all factors that impact these students, families, and teachers’ successes.

We can focus on the positive.

We can use data to look at what is going well and what we can improve on.

But what we don’t need to use singular, invalid data for is to paint an inaccurate picture and it should certainly not define us.

To the students, families, and teachers at EVERY school-I support you.

The work you’re putting in is valuable. Those scores are not.