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Ohio educators have struggled to reconcile the increasing demands of standardized tests and state policy with the changing (and mounting) challenges faced by students. Efforts to hold teachers and schools accountable for the performance of students may have been well-intended, but they have done little to produce the hoped-for results.
Now, Ohio's state Senate is being asked to take up House Bill 497, which would get rid of the mandatory retention of third graders who do not meet proficiency on the state's standardized literacy tests. With bipartisan sponsorship in the House (Rep. Gayle Manning, R-North Ridgeville and Rep. Phil Robinson, D-Solon), the bill is also supported by the Ohio Education Association.
"Policymakers have become solely reliant on data to tell narratives about the successes or lack thereof in districts schools, students, and student achievement," Christina Collins, a member of the Ohio State Board of Education said, according to a report by TiffinOhio.net. That may be doing more harm than good.
Furman University Professor Paul Thomas told TiffinOhio.net retaining third graders also leads to higher dropout rates and behavioral problems. It also disproportionately affects students of color, those living in poverty, English learners and those with special needs.
State senators should take up the bill, and give it serious consideration. Perhaps in our effort to hold teachers and schools accountable, we rushed too quickly into standardization and the abandonment of common sense.
What, then, are to be the next steps? Teachers and school districts SHOULD be held to some level of responsibility for students receiving the education they need to prepare them for their next steps. How do we ensure there is a system of oversight in place that does what is best for both teachers and students?
And, in the meantime, what steps are we taking to support parental involvement in their children's educations? Perhaps rather than testing and retaining we should be looking at ways to help parents better create a home environment that is supportive of education. If we are doing right by all Ohioans -- starting with better education, but including good-paying jobs, better access to healthcare (including mental health care and substance abuse treatment), high-speed broadband and a shift away from the hopelessness that consumes too many households -- we will take some of the burden off Buckeye State teachers and let them get back to what we've been asking of them all along.