Petruzzi: New Year, Same Call for Perspective on Public School Success
By Marco Petruzzi
Chief Executive Officer, Green Dot Public Schools National
It’s a new year and I’m still holding onto the same resolution I had last year — and the year before that, and the year before that. As a public education leader, it is my privilege and duty to commit every year to the service and advancement of all students. In that vein, I feel it’s imperative that I use this commemoration of the new year to pause and consider an aspect of our education system that has long troubled me: The way we currently measure student performance hurts students, teachers, even you and me.
This week, The 74 published an op-ed of mine in which I explain why it’s so problematic that we don’t consider growth in the way we measure student success and school effectiveness. Right now, we decide if a school is doing a good job by testing whether students are meeting grade-level standards imposed by the state.