Jeff Bryant writes a comprehensive review of what he calls “Bennett-gate,” and shows that the A-F grading systems initiated by Jeb Bush is itself a phony way to judge the quality of schools.
He cites Matt Di Carlo, who reviewed Indiana’s grading system, and determined that the grades reflect the characteristics of the students in them:
“Di Carlo’s analysis showed, “Almost 85 percent of the schools with the lowest poverty rates receive an A or B, and virtually none gets a D or F.” Conversely, over half of the schools with the highest percentages of the poorest students received “an F or D, compared with about 22 percent across all schools.”
His conclusion, “as is the case with most states’ systems, policy decisions will proceed as much by student performance/characteristics as by actual school effectiveness.” (emphasis original)
“Under Indiana’s system, a huge chunk of schools, most of which serve advantaged student populations, literally face no risk of getting an F, while almost one in five schools, virtually every one of which with a relatively high poverty rate, has no shot at an A grade, no matter how effective they might be.”
By definition, the A-F system must label some schools with a D or F, so those schools are set up for privatization.
One of the beneficiaries was Charter Schools, USA, a for-profit corporation that hired Tony Bennett’s wife when they moved to Florida.
Frankly, the idea that a school should get a letter grade, like a restaurant, is ridiculous on its face.
Imagine if your child came across from school with a report card that contained nothing but a single letter. As a parent, you would be outraged at the stupidity and simple-mindedness of such a way of gauging “quality.”
A report card should be comprehensive, including both resources available as well as outcomes, and there should be multiple ways of assessing both resources and outcomes, such as teacher turnover, student poverty levels, etc.
No report card will capture every dimension of school performance, but a single letter captures almost no dimension of school performance.
That is why the A-F system is a fraud and a scam, meant to set up schools for privatization.
And let’s be clear: When schools fail, those who should be held accountable first are the leaders of the state and the district. They are the ones who decide when and where to allocate crucial resources. They should not crow about closing schools when it is they who failed to provide the necessary supports for the schools.
Diane Ravitch's blog 