Why Commissioner Morath's idea of moving the accountability bar won't do what he claims
(Written in response to Children at Risk supporting Commissioner Morath's desire to move the bar on the state accountability ratings such that a school with a similar result two years running will receive significantly different ratings in those years.) I would love to sit down with the Children at Risk Folks and show just how misguided their support of TEA’s “higher standards” is. Let me first agree, however, that we should absolutely and constantly increase our educational capacity to effectively serve children and prepare them for life. Everything is right with that sentiment. But states run their accountabilities based on compliance, and therein lies the truly catastrophic problem: no amount of compliance has ever made an organization more effective. But you already know that. Almost every driver on the street has complied with the requirements to obtain a driver’s license, but that doesn’t also mean we are a country of continuously improving drivers. Almost every school in A...