Several months ago, I honored Tom Scarice, superintendent
of schools in Madison, Connecticut, for his brave opposition to
corporate reform and top-down mandates. Instead of letting Arne
Duncan impose high-stakes testing on his students and staff,
Scarice created a community study group to chart the district’s
future.

Please read what he told the community as school opened. No
jargon. No reformer jumbo-jumbo. No bureaucratic double-talk.
Instead, plain language. Straight talk. Concern for children. The
ability to connect HS lived experience to that of students and
parents. I especially enjoyed his contempt for the idea that his
9-year-old daughter should on track to be “college-ready.” He knows
she is a child, and he wants her to have a childhood.

This is what an educator sounds like. Remember?

Here is Tom Scarice:

IN A MATTER OF DAYS, 313 STUDENTS WILL BEGIN THEIR CULMINATING YEAR IN THE
MADISON PUBLIC SCHOOLS AS THEY LOOK TO GRADUATE FROM DANIEL HAND
HIGH SCHOOL IN JUNE. WHEN THESE STUDENTS BEGAN THEIR ACADEMIC
CAREERS IN KINDERGARTEN IT WAS AUGUST OF 2001 AND THE WORLD WAS A
VERY DIFFERENT PLACE. I’M SURE THERE WERE THOSE PROJECTING THE
FUTURE OF THESE YOUNG CHILDREN…WHICH IN THIS ERA IS LITERALLY
IMPOSSIBLE. HOWEVER, AS TRUE AS IT IS NOW, AS IT WAS THEN, WHO
COULD HAVE PROJECTED LIFE AFTER 9/11 FOR THESE LITTLE PEANUTS? IN
FACT, THIS IS THE LAST CLASS TO HAVE ENTERED SCHOOL BEFORE 9/11
EVEN HAPPENED. WHO COULD HAVE PROJECTED THE ADVENT OF FACEBOOK,
TWITTER, SMARTPHONES, SIRI, OR HOW ABOUT THE FACT THAT AS JUNIORS
AT DHHS IN 2012, THE CLASS OF 2014, WHO STARTED IN AUG OF 2001, SAW
THE FOLLOWING ADVANCES BECOME REALITY THEIR JUNIOR YEAR: • SELF
DRIVING CARS BECAME LEGAL TO OPERATE ON CITY STREETS IN CALF, FLA
AND NEVADA • THE FIRST CUSTOM JAW TRANSPLANT WAS PRODUCED WITH A 3D
PRINTER • AND MOST RECENTLY, THE FIRST ARTIFICIAL LEAF WAS CREATED
WITH THE ABILITY TO MIMIC THE PROCESS OF PHOTOSYNTHESIS. THIS
PROCESS EMITS HYDROGEN THAT BE CAPTURED IN FUEL CELLS TO POWER
ELECRICITY TO THE MOST REMOTE LOCATIONS OF THE WORLD I DON’T KNOW
IF ANYONE COULD HAVE PREDICTED THESE EVENTS. AS MUCH AS WE WOULD
LIKE TO PROJECT THE FUTURE FOR OUR INCOMING KINDERGARTNERS THIS
YEAR, THIS MUCH IS CLEAR…THE WORLD IS A VERY DIFFERENT PLACE,
DRIVEN BY GLOBALIZATION, RAPID TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES AND,
UNFORTUNATELY, DANGER. WE HAVE FOREVER CHANGED AND CONTINUE TO
CHANGE THE WAY WE WORK, PLAY AND COMMUNICATE. IT IS SAFE TO ASSUME
THAT IF A JOB CAN BE AUTOMATED, OFFSHORED, OR PERFORMED BY AN
ALGORITHM OR ROBOT, AT SOME POINT, IT WILL HAPPEN. • HOW MANY OF US
SELF CHECK OUT AT THE GROCERY STORE? • HOW MANY OF US USE AUTOMATED
KIOSKS TO CHECK IN AND BOARD A PLANE? • HOW MANY OF US HAVE
REFINANCED OUR HOMES ONLINE WITHOUT EVER TALKING TO A PERSON? THE
QUESTION BEFORE US IS TO WHAT EXTENT WILLWE PREPARE OUR KIDS FOR
THEIR WORLD, THEIR FUTURE…ONE THAT IS LITERALLY IMPOSSIBLE TO
PROJECT? NOW THE CONVENTIONAL WISDOM OF THOSE WHO SEEK TO REFORM
PUBLIC SCHOOLS, PARTICULARLY NON-EDUCATORS, IS TO STANDARDIZE
CURRICULUM, MANDATE UNIFORMITY AND HOMOGENIETY, TEST MORE WITH
HIGHER STAKES, AND COMPEL OUR KIDS TO RACE TO THE TOP. THE PROBLEM
WITH ALL OF THESE WRONGHEADED POLICIES IS THAT THEY ARE NOT BACKED
BY ANY EVIDENCE OR EDUCATIONAL LITERATURE NCLB IS DYING A SLOW
DEATH ON THE LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEM OF RACE TO THE TOP. IN THIS
PROCESS WE ARE BECOMING DEMORALIZED AS EDCUATORS, WE ARE HARMING
OUR CHILDREN, AND OUR WORK IS BEING CORRUPTED AT THE ALTAR OF BIG
DATA. NOW, DATA IS IMPORTANT, WE NEED IT TO INFORM OUR ACTIONS IN
PURSUIT OF CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT. WE NEED IT FROM OUR DOCTORS AND
OUR FINANCIAL ADVISORS, BUT THERE IS NO PLACE FOR DATA TO BE USED
IN PUBLIC EDUCATION FOR THE PURPOSES OF SANCTIONS, PUNISHMENTS, OR
PUBLIC HUMILIATION CLOAKED AS ACCOUNTABILITY. THE MOST APPROPRIATE
PLACE FOR DATA IS IN ITS USE TO INFORM HOW WE CAN IMPROVE, HOW WE
CAN GET TO OUR NEXT LEVEL. BUT NOT EVERYTHING THAT CAN BE COUNTED
REALLY MATTERS. IN FACT, THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS IN LIFE SIMPLY
CANNOT BE COUNTED. TRY TO QUANTIFY THE FOLLOWING: HOW MUCH DID YOUR
MOTHER LOVE YOU AS A CHILD, CAN YOU PUT A NUMBER ON IT? HOW MUCH DO
YOU LOVE YOUR OWN CHILD? CAN YOU QUANTIFY IT? 24? 1,450? CAN YOU
THINK OF ANYTHING IN LIFE MORE IMPORTANT THAN THAT? AND IT CANNOT
BE QUANTIFIED. NOW, THE LATEST APPROACH IS TO INFUSE THE CONCEPT OF
COMPETITION INTO OUR FIELD, COMPETITION ACROSS SCHOOLS, PITTING
SCHOOL AGAINST SCHOOL, AND TEACHER AGAINST TEACHER. THIS IS AS
WRONGHEADED AS IT GETS. IN OUR PROFESSION WE SERVE EACH AND EVERY
CHILD. MOM AND DAD SEND THEIR BEST…THEY DON’T KEEP THE “GOOD ONES”
AT HOME. WE CAN’T SEND THEM BACK, WE TAKE THEM ALL EXACTLY HOW THEY
ARE, AND EXACTLY WHERE THEY ARE. HOWEVER, THIS APPROACH, NAMELY,
RANKING AND SORTING SCHOOLS AND TEACHERS, AND PUTTING A FINITE
SINGULAR SCORE ON THE PERFORMANCE OF AN INDIVIDUAL TEACHER, CAN
ONLY LEAD TO DIVISION AND ULTIMATELY WIN-LOSE LEARNING
ENVIRONMENTS…A ZERO SUM GAME. WINNERS AND LOSERS. IS THAT REALLY
THE BEST WE CAN DO? DO WE REALLY THINK THAT THIS IS WHAT WORKS BEST
IN SCHOOLS IN THE SERVICE OF KIDS? DO WE REALLY THINK THAT THIS IS
THE BEST APPROACH TO BRING ADULTS TOGETHER FOR A COMMON CAUSE, A
COMMON PURPOSE IN ORDER TO MEET THE NEEDS OF A CHILD? WINNERS AND
LOSERS??? I CONTEND THAT WHAT WE NEED MORE IS COLLABORATIVE
PARTNERSHIPS IN OUR SCHOOLS. COLLABORATION ACROSS
TEACHERS…COLLECTIVE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE PERFORMANCE OF A SCHOOL,
OF OUR STUDENTS. ONE OF THE MOST EXPLICIT EXAMPLES OF A
COLLABORATIVE ADULT PARTNERSHIP, WHERE ADULTS WORK TOGETHER FOR A
COMMON PURPOSE IS MARRIAGE. TELL ME, FOR THOSE OF YOU MARRIED, IF A
WIN/LOSE MODEL IS REALLY WHAT WORKS BEST IN A COLLABORATIVE
PARTNERSHIP, WHO’S WINNING IN YOUR MARRIAGE? AND IF IT’S ONE OR THE
OTHER, IS THAT REALLY A WINNING MARRIAGE? WELL, I AM HERE TODAY TO
SAY, NOT HERE AND NOT US. WE ARE A DISTRICT THAT IS NOW CHANGING
MISSIONS, WHILE BUILDING ON DECADES OF EXCELLENCE. JUST LIKE NASA
CHANGES MISSIONS OVER TIME SO WILL WE. FOR THE PAST 12 OR SO YEARS
THE MISSION IN PUBLIC EDUCATION WAS SIMPLY HIGHER TEST SCORES.
HIGHER TEST SCORES WILL COME WITH GOOD PRACTICE, AND MORE
IMPORTANTLY, THEY WILL BE PUT INTO THEIR PROPER PERSPECTIVE, BY
GIVING US INFORMATION TO IMPROVE PRACTICE AND, PARTICULARLY, TO
LOOK AT LARGE GROUPS OF STUDENTS IN ORDER TO DRAW SOME
GENERALIZATIONS, BUT NOT TO RANK, SORT, CORRUPT, DISTORT, OR
HUMILIATE. WE WILL CHOOSE A DIFFERENT PATH. WE WILL GENERATE MUCH
MORE INFORMATION, OR MORE PRECISELY, THE DATA THAT MATTERS MOST TO
US, TO INFORM OUR NEXT LEVEL OF WORK. SO IF THE MISSION OF THE LAST
12 YEARS WAS TO GET TO THE MOON, THEN WE WILL PIONEER THE FIRST
MISSION TO MARS…METAPHORICALLY SPEAKING. WE WILL PREPARE OUR
STUDENTS FOR A WORLD THAT WE CAN BARELY IMAGINE BY FOSTERING THEIR
ABILITIES TO THINK CRITICALLY AND CREATIVELY, TO ACHIEVE AN
AMBITIOUS, BUT CHILD CENTERED DISTRICT VISION. WE KNOW HOW TO DO
THIS…AND WE KNOW WHAT TO DO • WE WILL BUILD NEW KNOWLEDGE TOGETHER
BY LEVERAGING OUR EVALUATION PLAN TO FOCUS ON GROWTH AND
IMPROVEMENT, NOT PUNISHMENTS AND SANCTIONS, THEREBY INCREASING OUR
INDIVIDUAL AND COLLECTIVE REPERTOIRE • WE WILL BUILD A DYNAMIC,
ENGAGING CURRIULUM BASED ON DEEP LEVELS OF UNDERSTANDING, ON
FOSTERING THE ABILITIES TO THINK CRITICALLY AND CREATIVELY • WE
WILL CREATE THE STRUCTURES NEEDED TO FREE STAFF TO INNOVATE AND
COLLABORATE WITH EACH OTHER, TO GROW TO NEW LEVELS TO MEET
UNPRECEDENTED CHALLENGES AND, MY PERSONAL FAVORITE, WE WILL DO THIS
IN AN ENVIRONMENT IN WHICH LEARNING IS JOYFUL, SAFE, ENGAGING, AND
YES…FUN. AS FOR THE EXTERNAL EFFORTS TO REFORM EDUCATION, LARGELY
BY NON-EDUCATORS, GEORGE BALL, IN AN OP-ED IN THE SAN FRANCISCO
GATE CAPTURES SOME OF WHAT IS MISSING FROM THE COMMON CORE AND THE
TEST-BASED ACCOUNTABILITY MOVEMENT: MR BALL WRITES: “What’s lost in
Common Core is the human factor. Teachers, whose performance
evaluations and salary are pegged to their students’ test results,
are deprived of the freedom and creativity that is the oxygen of
learning. In an ever-changing world, common sense would propose a
broad range of educational approaches rather than a single one
designed to ready all students for college. In education, as in
gardens, a monoculture is doomed to decay and eventual failure.
“After genetics, the most advanced psychological research tells us
a child’s development is determined by micro-relationships – the
ever-present, barely perceptible gestures, expressions and glances
– that are the soul of communication, nurture and empathy. “Common
Core sacrifices the magic of teaching and learning on the altar of
metrics. Teachers, students and administrators are no longer
engaged in an organic process geared to the individual. Largely
designed by testing experts, not teachers, the monolithic CCSS
curriculum is like detailed gardening instructions from someone who
has never set foot in a garden. “Grow faster!” is the experts’
motto. Well, children are not cornstalks. SOME SAY THAT IN
CONNECTICUT RIGHT NOW, WITH THE RUSH TO IMPLEMENT THE COMMON CORE
AND COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY WRONGHEADED EVALUATION METHODS THAT ARE
BASED ON TRULY BAD SCIENCE, WE REALLY ARE BULIDING THE PLANE WHILE
FLYING IT. YET, AS A COLLEAGUE SAID TO ME RECENTLY, I SEE THIS MORE
AS A TRAIN WRECK WAITING TO HAPPEN. EVEN CHARLOTTE DANIELSON, WHOSE
WORK HAS INFORMED PRFOESSIONAL TEACHING STANDARDS ACROSS THE
COUNTRY, HAS SPOKEN OUT CLEARLY STATING, “USING STANDARDIZED TEST
SCORES TO ASSESS TEACHERS IN INDEFENSIBLE. WHAT COUNTS AS EVIDENCE?
HOW WILL WE USE IT? PEOPLE ARE CALLING ME FOR INFORMATION ON THIS;
I DON’T KNOW; NO ONE KNOWS!! RATHER THAN STANDARDIZED TESTS, WE
NEED TO LOOK AT CLASSROOM/TEACHER’S LEARNING EVIDENCE.” NOT
HERE…AND NOT US. WE CANNOT AFFORD TO BE PICKING UP THE PIECES IN
TWO, THREE OR FOUR YEARS AFTER THE WRECKAGE. OUR KIDS ARE COUNTING
ON US TO DO WHAT IS RIGHT FOR THEM. SADLY, WE ARE IN AN ERA OF
FAITH BASED POLICIES…NOT EVIDENCE-BASED. HOW DO WE KNOW THAT? WE
KNOW THAT BECAUSE 45 MEMBERS OF OUR FACULTY LAST YEAR STUDIED THESE
TOPICS AND ISSUED A WHITE PAPER TO THE BOE. IF YOU WERE ONE OF THE
45 MEMBERS OF THE SUPERINTENDENT’S ADVISORY COUNCIL LAST FALL,
WOULD YOU PLEASE RAISE YOUR HAND? NOW PLEASE STAND TO BE RECOGNIZED
FOR YOUR COURAGE AND SCHOLARSHIP. NOW, TO BE CLEAR, WE DO NOT TAKE
ISSUE WITH THE CONCEPT OF STANDARDS. WE EMBRACE STANDARDS. EVERY
PROFESSION NEEDS STANDARDS. APPROPRIATE, BROAD STANDARDS FORM THE
FOUNDATION OF A VIBRANT CURRICULUM. HOWEVER, WE DO NOT EMBRACE A
UNIFORM, HOMOGENEOUS APPROACH, WHICH ULTIMATELY AIMS TO SORTS KIDS
AT YOUNG AGES INTO INAPPROPRIATE CATEGORIES LIKE “COLLEGE AND
CAREER READY.” FOR EXAMPLE, ARE WE REALLY PREPARED TO TELL A 4TH
GRADER THAT THEY ARE NOT COLLEGE READY, OR ON TRACK TO BE COLLEGE
READY?? MY OLDEST CHILD IS IN 4TH GRADE, SHE IS NINE YEARS OLD. I
CAN ASSURE YOU THAT I WILL NEVER UTTER THOSE WORDS TO HER. I WILL
NEVER TELL HER AT, NINE YEARS OLD, THAT THERE ARE THINGS SHE CANNOT
ACCOMPLISH SOMEDAY. THAT, MY FRIENDS, IS UNCONSCIONABLE. AT WHAT
POINT DID WE LOSE OUR COLLECTIVE ABILITY TO THINK CRITICALLY AS A
PROFESSION? IS TELLING A 4TH GRADER THAT THEY ARE NOT COLLEGE READY
REALLY GOING TO CATAPULT US INTO DOING THE KIND OF WORK NEEDED TO
PREPARE OUR KIDS FOR THE WORLD THEY WILL ENTER WHEN THEY GRADUATE?
I THINK WE HAVE MUCH TO LEARN BY LISTENING TO THE STUDENTS WE
SERVE. HOW WOULD THEY RESPOND TO WHAT WORKS BEST? HOW WOULD THEY
DESCRIBE THE MOST EFFECTIVE TEACHERS? WELL, WE ASKED THE QUESTION
AND WE’RE GOING TO SHARE THE ANSWERS. LAST YEAR, DANIEL HAND HIGH
SCHOOL GRADUATE, JOSH STOKES, WINNER OF THE CSPAN STUDENTCAM
DOCUMENTARY, AND SON OF OUR VERY OWN PROUD MOM AND 1ST GRADE
TEACHER AT JEFFREY, BETHANY TAYLOR, PARTNERED WITH DANIEL HAND HIGH
SCHOOL TEACHER, LUKE ARSENSAULT, AND ASKED STUDENTS FROM OUR OWN
SCHOOLS THIS VERY QUESTION. I THINK YOU’LL
BE FASCINATED BY THEIR RESPONSES. AS YOU LISTEN, REMEMBER
THE MICRO-RELATIONSHIPS COMMENT I READ EARLIER BY GEORGE
BALL.