n the 2017-2018 school year, Gibsonton received a grade of “D” on the Florida’s annual report card which assesses elementary schools on the basis of their scores on standardized achievement tests. In 2018-2019, Gibsonton raised its grade to a “C.”
While Gilmore welcomed the progress, she warned against overemphasizing these assessments, calling them “lagging indicators.”
“State standardized testing mostly just identifies student demographics,” she told me, an observation that is validated by research. “Sure, we use data, including test scores. But we use data to drive for the right things rather than letting data get in the way.”
The “right things,” in her view, are the factors—what she spends her time on—that she believes tend to correlate with test scores but are often ignored by school improvement approaches that tend to blame educators when test scores are low.
Every two months, the school sends out fliers asking families what they need and in one month they helped 644 families with a range of needs.
Often, what can lead to low test scores may have nothing to do with academics. For instance, making sure students are well-fed seems self-evident because students who are hungry aren’t going to do very well at schoolwork. Making sure students have clean clothes seems a little less obvious.
But, streetlights?
What Gilmore is practicing is an approach to school improvement that is getting more attention—and perhaps a lot more money—as schools reopen from the pandemic; and policy experts, CONTINUE READING: Community School Approach Shows Great Possibility - LA Progressive
