School Building
“Do you like your child’s school?” is one of the questions parents are frequently asked. So let me begin by asking you. Do you like your child’s school?
Deceptive and Empty
On the surface, the question (Do you like your child’s school?) seems valuable, but it’s not really. The question and the subsequent answers are a lot like your child’s school lunch deceptive (#FakeFood) and empty (#NoCaloricValue).
Speaking of school lunch, perhaps the reason school lunches are of such poor quality is that parents tend to be fond of consuming things that provide little nutritional value or are just flat out bad for us. I suspect that if you journaled your diet over the next several days it would be inundated with processed meats, fried foods, soda, high amounts of sodium and other artery clogging, heart stopping, life-shortening items.
Some of us make these poor dietary choices because we have no other option – we live in food deserts. However, the bulk of us make these poor dietary choices willfully and we do so simply because we “like the taste”.
Our evaluation of schools is very much the same as our dietary selection. We like the faculty and staff, we like the building, we like the sports program, but rarely do research or even ask, “is the school good for my child?”.
Nutrition Labeling and Education Act
In 1990 the FDA enacted the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act. The Act requires all packaged foods to bear nutritional labeling and all health claims for foods to be consistent with terms defined by the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Because of the Act, American consumers now have access to a food ingredient panel which discloses serving sizes, and that standardizes terms such as “low fat” and “light”.
I believe parents need a similar Act for education. Absent such an Act, many parents will be forced to continue evaluating the merits of their child’s school simply on a feeling – like or dislike.
Educational Integrity and Fourth Industrial Revolution School Act
Perhaps the Act could be titled the Educational Integrity and Fourth Industrial Revolution School Act. The Act would require all schools to include on every piece of school literature and websites nationally consistent explanations for each educational claim.
Thus, when a school claims that it is any of the following things such as “high performing”, “college preparatory”, or “accelerated” parents would have the ability to easily compare their child’s school against national and more importantly international benchmarks. Similar to food labeling, rather than making educational choices based on likes, parents could finally choose the best school for their child based on fully disclosed, easy to understand, standardized information.
When Pigs Fly
Now I know what you are thinking, Nate there will be an Educational Integrity and Fourth Industrial Revolution School Act when pigs fly. And you are probably right but I’m going to keep hope alive.
Pig Character
Nevertheless, while we wait for this Nation to make a comprehensive commitment to providing an honest, full and fair comparable disclosure about the educational quality of all schools, I’ll share three things I believe every parent should consider before deciding whether you like your child’s school.
- Intellectually Astute – Not only must parents evaluate whether the students at our child’s school are meeting and/or exceeding national benchmarks on NWEA, ACT, or SAT, we need to know if the students are meeting and/or exceeding international benchmarks on NAEP, TIMSS, or PISA. Parents should also investigate how the school incorporates critical thinking into the curriculum. Hint: If your school can’t provide this information or the results are below the national and international benchmarks, you might want to reconsider how much you like the school.
- Globally Competent – Now more than any time in history, students need to be prepared for the global and technological Fourth Industrial Revolution which will require them to know how to live, work, and relate to people on a global and technological level. Thus, at a minimum, your child should be multilingual (professionally fluent in more than one language) and multiliterate (technology and culture). Hint: If your child’s school doesn’t offer AP STEM and AP Language courses and if students who take those courses aren’t scoring 4s and 5s on the AP STEM and AP Language exams, you might want to reconsider how much you like the school.
- Altruistically Mindful – Just as intellectual astuteness and global competency must be weaved into a school’s curriculum so too must altruism. Raising smart kids is good but raising smart kids who are kind, compassionate, grateful, and empathetically grounded is so much better for the future of the planet. Do you know what measures your child’s school takes to inspire and develop altruism? Hint: If your child’s school isn’t actively and holistically taking measures to develop humanitarians and/or they are unable to share the outcomes of their altruistic actions, you might want to reconsider how much you like the school.
Do you still like your child’s school?