A guide to improved education in R.I.

As we think about the qualities and characteristics that we want in our next commissioner of education, we also need to think about the important policy decisions to be made that will guide public education in Rhode Island. I encourage all of us, including the next commissioner, to consider these no- and low-cost, common sense approaches to remedy what ails public education.

n Expectations: There is no more important factor under our control than the expectations we set for our students. We need to insist that our students produce a high-quality work product and conduct themselves in a respectful manner. Student engagement with a rigorous and relevant curriculum is essential. All students have the responsibility to actively participate. They also have the right to learn in a safe environment free of disruption. Leaders need tools to remove students not ready to learn and teachers unable to provide the necessary expert instruction.

n Evaluation: In its simplest terms, evaluation is the process by which a principal assesses the performance of the educators in his/her building. We need to return that authority to building and district leaders. In an attempt to turn the art of teaching into the science of teaching, we have created dynamics that lessen the authority of the principal to assess performance. Student performance should absolutely be factored into evaluation, so long as the authority of the principal is honored. Any principal who is unable to identify exemplary teaching practices should be removed.

n Support: It is our responsibility to provide those students that need it support at the earliest possible moment and with the greatest possible intensity. To do so, every school must have a robust and curriculum-aligned system of common assessments. The careful analysis of the results of these assessments will enable teachers to adjust instruction and to provide targeted support where necessary. The necessity for excessive state and federal standardized assessments disappears when the local system is healthy and when the system of supports is timely and responsive.

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n Graduation: Our requirements for graduation must be rigorous and we must be sure that our graduates are ready for college, careers and/or the military. An exit exam administered in the junior year covering the core content areas of English, mathematics, science and history will ensure readiness. Coupled with existing performance measures, an exit exam would hold both schools and students accountable, and would provide an additional year for intervention, if necessary. No one measure of any kind should ever get in the way of graduation. Yet, we need to look at a variety of measures, including those that are standardized.

n Charter schools: Our long-term experiment to improve public education through the establishment of charter schools has not worked as promised. With charter schools and traditional schools performing at similar levels, millions of taxpayer dollars have been spent to produce a parallel system of public education. It’s time for a comprehensive look at and study of the charter school model so that we can collectively determine the future role of charter schools. It’s also time for traditional public schools to take full responsibility for their failures and to respond with boldness and innovation. Let’s incentivize boldness and innovation, and improved student performance, with a reduction of regulatory interference. And, let’s close those traditional schools that are unable or unwilling to respond.

If our public schools are to become the best in the nation, our next commissioner will need to apply common sense, not dollars, to every single policy decision. Our students deserve no less. •

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  1. School Choice will bring about the end of the neighborhood public school syatem. When a large number of neighborhood children go to different schools, parents, community leaders and political leaders will also have different views on the educational process. Chaos will result. To save neighborhood schools, the “School-Within-a-School-Concept” should be employed in each school with more than 350 students. If a school has 600 students, it would be divided up into two separate schools with 300 students each. In each school, administrators, faculty members, parents, non-instructional staff and students would have an opportunity get to know and trust one another. In a short period of time, almost everyone would begin acting like a family where most members care about and want to help each other. A social commitment would develop where most members would begin working together to make the school a successful community. Because these schools would be small, curriculums designed to meet the cultural diverse needs of at risk student populations could be developed. Administrators, teachers and students, in these small schools, could use the team approach to implement curriculum goals and create group portfolios to represent their achievements. These small schools would be the equivalent of well run charter schools. Parents, community leaders and political leaders could work together to make each neighborhood a better place to live, work and pray.« less« less