Deconstructing the business model of education

The Portland School Board's alliance with the Broad Foundation, it's increasing commitment to school choice, and it's reliance on test scores to make educational judgments are all indicators of the growing influence of the so-called "business model" of school management within the district.

What's the business model?  Simply put, it's measuring the "productivity" of schools  against achievement standards with standardized tests.  Here's how Jay Greene of the right-wing Manhattan Institute writing on the right-wing Hoover Institution website puts it:

"Consider what is likely to continue to happen in education without high-stakes value-added assessment. Unless productivity is measured, however imperfectly, it is not possible to reward teachers, administrators, and schools that contribute most to student learning. If we do not reward productivity, we are unlikely to encourage it. If we do not encourage it, we should not expect more of it."

He further writes:

"Testing may be imperfect, but the alternative—the old system, which allowed us to know very little about the performance of educators—is far, far worse."

That sentiment is echoed by Amy Wilkins of the Education Trust:

"And for a very, very, very long time, schools have been very opaque institutions. They haven't been transparent. We sort of send our kids there and cross our fingers and believe it's going to be OK."

Are schools "opaque"?  Is it true that prior to accountability we knew very little about the "performance of educators"?  I think not.  And I'll use my experience as a student, not as a teacher, to make my point.

I went to public schools in the 50's and early 60's.  Back then, in the pre-accountability era, we took achievement tests every year.  The scores on the achievement tests went home to parents, as did traditional report cards.  We also had open houses regularly.  Now they're called "Back to School" nights, but they served the same purpose.  Even then, back in the educational dark ages, parents could, and did, avail themselves of teacher conferences. 

So tell me?  Do you think the schools I went to were "opaque" institutions?  Do you think my parents didn't know how I was progressing academically?  It's an absolutely silly characterization of public education, then as well as now. 

So here's the question: Will the "business model" recommendations for accountability, productivity, and competition in education improve public schools?  Will they improve the quality of the educational product? 

To answer that, let me turn the question around:  Has the business model improved the quality of consumer products?  The widgets and gadgets that our economy depends on? In some cases, probably yes.  In others, decidedly not!  Business success is all about maximizing profit and minimizing loss.  It's not about the quality of the product.  That's clear from the bread we eat to the beer we drink.

Here's a more eloquent critique of the business model of education from a man who was successful in the private sector and now works as a high school teacher.  Robert Freeman believes that business and education are two entirely different animals.  Of the two, education is by far the more difficult and complex endeavor:

"Education is harder because cultivating human intelligence is one of the most difficult things in the world. It is far more complex and takes far longer than producing cheaper widgets or staging new ad campaigns."

About accountability, he has this to say:

"And while many businesses got into trouble because they had a much too narrow view of accountability--looking good on the quarterly report--schools must guard against the impulse to score well on the accountability measures while we ignore the basic work of education--to help children grow into their full potential to become contributing and honest members of the good society."

Comments

[Bailie]

Terry,

Union success is all about maximizing profit and minimizing loss. It's not about the quality of the product. That's clear from the students we teach to the academic results of our schools.

Oregon K-12 employees have maximized individual compensation (8th highest in the U.S.) at the expense of additional teachers (K-3), complete programs and school years. The results are very average academic achievement in Oregon and poor graduation rates.

[gus]

Terry:

"What's the business model? Simply put, it's measuring the "productivity" of schools against achievement standards with standardized tests."

How do you relate closing Smith and Edwards elementary schools to the "business model" you described above? Both schools had excellent test scores. Were not their closings related more to low student populations resulting from PPS district transfer policies and the abundance of special focus choices favored by affluent parents able and willing to transport their kids away from their neighborhood schools?

[Terry]

You're right, Gus. I argued in my post that Portland was trending toward the business model of school management, the crux of which is measuring productivity. I agree entirely with you about the effect of school choice on neighborhood schools. But I sense you approve of school options. I don't.

[gus]

Terry:

I agree with Thomas Jefferson when he said "The government should be responsible for educating the children of the poor."

I believe that taxpayers should provide "common" public schools for all who wish to attend. Kids should receive the same basic common school education regardless of economic class. If affluent parents want more than taxpayers can afford or if others want religious schools, they should pay for that choice in private schools.

The majority of Oregon's 198 public school districts are common schools since they do not have large student populations and helicopter-parents demanding special focus options.. Those districts are by and large in good financial condition.

[Ed Bergonzi]

John Dewey noted that the schools reflect society. They do not create it. Because of the inequalities inherent in this society, he was critical of the public schools, while at the same time a staunch defender against encroachment by corporate interests. Today, the clamor for using the business model is bound up with unprecedented social inequality. I teach in Detroit, where the public schools are being privatization. This will create, as it did in Chicago under Arne Duncan, a few "schools of excellence" surrounded by closed or underserved neighborhood schools embedded in impoverished neighborhoods.

[Marcus]

Private schools aren't always better, though. They aren't always the schools of excellence, or any such thing. Many are complete garbage...

[red sole]

so pretty.You are a good teacher. Lucky student!

[radii supras]

Those are super cute. I like you on Facebook.