Published the week of 10/16/05

When judging schools, Albert Einstein's challenge makes sense. Einstein wrote, "Everything that can be counted does not necessarily count...everything that counts cannot necessarily be counted."

How do people judge schools? How should they be evaluated? Last week a group of Minnesota parents, teachers, students, administrators and college professors convened a group called Education Evolving, gathered to discuss these questions.

Since statewide testing began several years ago, many Minnesota newspapers have published scores from area local schools. Depending on results, those scores can be a point of pride, or disappointment.

Sports also gets enormous coverage, or more precisely, some sports. Large papers and television stations give enormous coverage to high school football, basketball and hockey results. A very successful season in any of these areas can be a huge community plus.

So sports and test scores matter. What else should?

The federal No Child Left Behind law requires states to measure not just test scores, but also percentage of students taking tests and high school graduation rates. NCLB also requires gathering information of school safety, although only schools with a huge discipline problem will be flagged.

For the last five years, Minnesota has provided information about what percentage of graduates from high schools take remedial courses at public Minnesota universities. This is available both statewide, and for individual schools. Recently I cited this data, which shows that many small rural Minnesota high schools are doing a better job in this area, than most large suburban high schools.

But most people agree: test scores do not measure everything important about a student, or a school. For example: Do students know how to work with other people? Are they constructive and positive, or cynical and negative? Are they dependable and responsible?

Schools can have an impact on these qualities. But they can not be measured by any available standardized test.

As one suburban superintendent put it, "If these issues concern people in charter schools, we have a lot to talk about. Because they concern me, and the people I work with."

She's right. They concern all educators. And they matter to many others, including families, taxpayers, employers and those who decide which students enter colleges and universities.

Higher education, for example, uses grades, test scores and other measures to guide entrance decisions. The standards vary, but the measures are pretty much the same.

Employers in this and other states have said over and over that they'd welcome ways to measure reliability and responsibility, along with academic skills tests. Last week's conference offered no final answers or short term solutions. But recognizing the challenge is a good first step. To fully understand schools, we need better, broader ways to measure student progress.