tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2498525082522582900.post3678019312007412622..comments2024-03-22T16:02:08.213-05:00Comments on The Wheel: Grading Our SchoolsMark Stegerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02376182294736839659noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2498525082522582900.post-67932619023300365062017-02-21T12:03:55.556-06:002017-02-21T12:03:55.556-06:00The source of the problem is that this really is a...The source of the problem is that this really is a big and complex problem. I've read the Accountability page on the RISD's website ( http://www.risd.org/group/aboutrisd/Accountability.html ). It's impressively long and detailed. And I realize it's only a summary of the metrics used to track the district's performance. I want something short and simple enough to explain to people in, say, one page. I want something stable enough to track changes over time. <br /><br />The state's A-F system might be politically motivated, but it's good politics -- people desperately want a simple, understandable answer to the question, "How good are our schools?" Unless school districts can provide an answer to that question, school districts are going to lose the political battle every time.<br /><br />Maybe what I'm asking for is impossible. A quote attributed to Albert Einstein, in another context, explained the challenge public school advocates face, as reported in this 1962 TIME magazine account: <br /><br />"In fields of specialized knowledge, we aim to render an account that is plain and simple, yet does no violence to the difficulty of the subject, so that the uninformed reader can understand us while the expert cannot fault us. We try to keep in mind a saying attributed to Einstein—that everything must be made as simple as possible, but not one bit simpler."Mark Stegerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02376182294736839659noreply@blogger.com