Keeping It Real for April 18, 2009
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The mohawk has given way to a short cut.
Hollis Milton, the principal at Southeast Middle School, promised his students he’d shave his head if they worked hard on LEAP and iLEAP tests. The students worked hard, and Milton kept his word.
“It was fun,” Milton said. “The whole day they would see me in the hallway and they would just stare at me, not at my face but at that mohawk, and they just thought it was the neatest thing.”
Milton, 36, was just trying to bring some levity to what is the most nerve-wracking week of the school year.
“I had a lot of kids tell me thank you, because they knew the spirit and the reason why I did that,” Milton said. “We just wanted them to give it their best effort, and we really felt like they did.”
LEAP, iLEAP and Graduation Exit Exam testing was held April 1-7 for state public school students from elementary grades to high school. Results will be announced in May. There’s a lot riding on these tests for the students, and also for the teachers and school systems, who have to answer to a public that most of the time doesn’t have an inkling of some of the challenges involved.
I witnessed testing week firsthand. I saw anxious principals, nervous teachers and tense students. Students fighting through sickness to finish tests. Parents rushing to get youngsters to school after car trouble or a missed bus. Classes and hallways as quiet as they had ever been.
Seeing these teachers in action under such pressure gave me even greater respect for the wonderful work they do.
“No doubt it really is the most stressful week in school,” Milton said. “It really is the Super Bowl for schools and for everyone involved: for parents, for students, for teachers.”
The question that kept resonating in my mind is the fairness issue. Yes, schools, teachers and schools need to be accountable, but I’m not convinced these stress-inducing, highstakes, all-or-nothing tests are the answer.
“I like the idea of accountability. I do like the idea of testing,” Milton said. “There’s a lot of intended and unintended consequences. I think overall, though, I would say, pros and cons, I’m for it, but I do see the challenges in it. I struggle with the idea that sometimes it’s the only thing we’re evaluating a student on or the school on, and I think that one shot is not enough.”
Milton said he favors a “value-added” approach, judging a school from the time it gets a student to the time the student leaves.
“That is the fairest and the best way to hold every school accountable in the state, whether you’re the top, highest-performing school or you’re the lowest performing,” he said. “If you use a value-added approach, that’s a very fair approach to schools, and I think the public can really buy into that.”
The approach definitely should be given some thought, because I frankly get tired of the moans and groans against our public schools, especially when test results are released each year. No, we’re not fair to our public schools, our teachers and our students. I see so many positives that are unseen and unreported.
I’m thinking of the parent who sent her daughter to Broadmoor High School the last two years after two years at a local private school. The parent said she found the teachers at Broadmoor to be “amazing.”
East Baton Rouge Parish has lots of amazing students and amazing educators, and we are hoping for some amazing scores when those high-stakes test results arrive in May.
Terry Robinson is a copy editor for The Advocate. Contact him at (225) 383-1111, Ext. 508, or e-mail trobinson@theadvocate.com.
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