How my time at a “failing” high school blew me away
Journalist Kristina Rizga spent 4 years at SF's Mission High and learned there was more to success than test scores
With the implementation of state standards and assessments to measure student and school performance under the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), many public schools have wound up with their curricula painfully narrowed. In too many schools, the focus on testing in language arts and math has led to the erasure of art, physical education and music programs, as schools, particularly in poorer districts, scramble to keep their heads above water to avoid being labeled “failing,” which puts them at risk of incurring devastating sanctions.
The stated goal of NCLB was to bring accountability and additional resources to low-income schools. But a growing list of critics argues that the legislation has instead forced teachers to spend too much of their time teaching to the tests, instead of imparting essential skills to their students — like collaborative and critical thinking — or being able to foster true joy in learning. When standardized tests are one of the only metrics used to assess whether students are learning, schools can often wind up deemed failing, with little regard for what’s actually taking place in the classroom.
Kristina Rizga, a former Mother Jones education reporter, wanted to explore one of those so-called failing schools to see what things really looked like on the ground. She ended up at San Francisco’s Mission High School, ranked as one of the lowest-performing 5 percent of schools in the country, according to its test scores (just 30 percent of all students scored at proficient or above on the state standardized tests in English; 40 percent did so in math). This meant the school was at risk of radical restructuring, which could have included revamping the curriculum, replacing half the staff, replacing the principal, or closing the school. Yet Rizga, who spent four years in the classes at Mission, didn’t see evidence of a failing school in her time there; instead, she found engaged students and committed teachers, high college acceptance rates, and declining suspensions.
In the course of her reporting, Rizga’s view of standardized testing shifted dramatically. Once she had considered these tests, however flawed, the best measure of overall school performance. But at Mission, she saw that some students who did well on subjective assessments, like presentations and writing papers, were unable to match that level of achievement on standardized tests. Painting a complete picture of student learning, Rizga came to understand, was only possible by taking stock of more holistic measures — by, for example, evaluating students’ day to day work and performance in the classroom, not just their scores on a single test.
Rizga’s time at the school, and her change of heart while there, led to her newHow my time at a “failing” high school blew me away - Salon.com: