Parents for Public Schools

Parents for Public Schools

Today, the push for more accountability of student performance changed how assessment will be measured and judged in public schools. Not only will students be assessed through test scores, but also through attendance, school work, and observations. Parents hold the schools responsible for the advancement of their students’ knowledge. Different tests are given to measure their intelligence level which is either used to compare one student to another or measure their performance based on a pre-existing body of knowledge. The scores from the tests help the schools determine the advancement of a student from grade to grade, additional educational help, and graduation. Accountability needs to apply to everyone, including the administrators, teachers, and students.

Schools are put under the pressure of meeting standards that maintain the students’ current level of intelligence. When placed in a classroom of varying levels of knowledge the teacher must teach at a level that all students can understand. The government and higher administration hold the schools responsible for the advancement of a student’s intelligence, while the teachers hold the students responsible for their performance. Yet, the state and district also hold the students responsible for their grades, courses, school work, test scores, and attendance. Therefore, a student is held accountable for their education from all aspects.

Standardized tests are used to measure a student’s achievement at district, state, and national levels. Through the norm-referenced test a student is compared to students within their state. Ruth Mitchell of the Education Trust, a Washington D.C.-based education advocacy group, “insists that no matter how good the teaching may be, 50% of the children will always be below average and 50% above.” Since the government holds the schools responsible for the advancement of a student’s intelligence, more pressure should be put on the teacher to place the student in the upper 50% to show their achievement. The students are also responsible for their education because their progression through school and graduation depend on their scores.

Accountability needs to be a community based concept. Everyone is responsible for the achievement of the students not just the students themselves.

Using Burke’s Pentad the Parents for Public Schools wrote the “Accountability: Setting Expectations,