As they do every new year, the weekly Pagosa Springs SUN newspaper has been sharing statements from our local government leaders these past few weeks, giving them a chance to brag a bit about their accomplishments during 2024, and their goals for 2025 and beyond.
Yesterday, Bob Lynch, President of the Archuleta Board of Education, shared a few thoughts about our public schools.
He was asked about his top three goals for 2025 — really, the goals of the entire school district — and what the action plan might be for meeting those goals. One of the actions he cited: “Continue Student Achievement Progress”.
We will stay the course on practices that ensure steady progress in student achievement. One of the main levers the board has for ensuring improvement in student achievement is to make sure we do everything we can to attract and retain great teachers. We have some of the best teachers in the state and we want to keep them on board and ensure that they are valued for what they do. The board will do all within our power to prioritize teacher salaries and to ensure that the environment is supportive and reinforcing. We want to make sure that Archuleta School District is a great place to work and a wonderful place to learn for students.
I want to note, because I think it’s interesting, that President Lynch did not use the word “excel” or the word “excellent” in his statement.
He did, however, use the word “great”. As in “retain great teachers”.
The inspiration for this editorial about “Excellent Schools” came from a number of sources. In Part One, I shared the link to a bipartisan op-ed on education policy shared by Jared Solomon and Mark White in Governing magazine earlier this week.
That article is titled, “Don’t Let Partisan Politics Stop Us from Helping Children Excel in School”.
Jared Solomon is a Democratic legislator in Maryland, and Mark White is a Republican legislator in Tennessee, but both began their careers as schoolteachers. They both want children to excel in school.
That seems like an honorable aim… to help children excel in school. If you’re an idealist.
I belong to family of idealists involved in education. My father taught in the public schools his entire career. My sister developed and taught at a preschool in Seattle. My son Kahlil teaches at the Institute of American Indian Art in Santa Fe. My daughter Lily teaches at the University of Alaska in Juneau. My daughter Ursala was one of the founders of Pagosa Peak Open School (PPOS) here, and served as the Board President for its first five years. I currently volunteer on the PPOS Board.
I have a strong interest in education. But maybe I tend to be pragmatic, rather than idealistic?
Ideally, every child would excel in school. Except for that fact that such a thing in impossible, if we respect the accepted meaning of the word “excel”.
excel, intransitive verb
1. To do or be better than; surpass. To show superiority; surpass others.
2. To surpass others in good qualities, laudable actions, or acquirements; to be distinguished by superiority.
It’s quite possible for a particular child to excel in this or that aspect of schooling. They might excel in athletics, for example. Or in music. Or in mathematics. Or in creative writing. Or in being a supportive friend to their classmates. Possibly, a child excels in something that happens outside of school? Animal husbandry, for instance.
But if we want to be brutally honest, most children do not excel. They do not surpass others. Most children are comfortably average. You can generate a Bell Curve for pretty much any human activity — for children or people in general — and the vast majority will be located inside the big bulge in the middle.
When education advocates like Jared Solomon and Mark White say they want to “help children excel in school” they’re obviously misusing a perfectly good word — “excel” — to reference something entirely different. What they really want, I presume, is for every child to have some type of positive experience in school, and to finish their school education with enough knowledge, people skills, and confidence to be a contributing member of society.
Of course, the word “excellent” comes from the same root as “excel”, and once upon a time, not so long ago, it had the same connotation. Something “excellent” was distinguished by superiority. It rose above the standard, above mediocrity.
An “excellent” school surpassed the ordinary, average school. Once upon a time.
Now, the word “excellent” has come to mean, simply, “pretty good”. Maybe something slightly better than “satisfactory”.
According to a recent article on AP News, a federal research agency that tracks the progress of America’s students is facing the cancellation of contracts worth almost $900 million.
Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has canceled numerous federal contracts with the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences. Industry groups said at least 169 contracts were suddenly terminated Monday, accounting for much of the institute’s work.
From the February 11 AP News article by Colin Binkley and Bianca Vázquez Toness:
The Institute of Education Sciences is a central source of information on the health of America’s education system. Across the country, it tracks student progress over time and across demographics. It evaluates the effectiveness of federal programs, and colleges and schools rely on its research to improve student outcomes…
The cuts are counterproductive and destructive, said Rachel Dinkes, president and CEO of the Knowledge Alliance, a coalition of education research firms.
“Cutting out at the knees the one independent agency that helps improve student outcomes is ridiculous,” Dinkes said…
I have to question a couple of phrases in Ms. Dinkes statement. “Independent agency”… and “Improve student outcomes”…
Read Part Three, on Monday…