Education Week - June 12, 2019 - 19

LETTERS to the EDITOR

A New College Assessment

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the exact topics that students read about in the classroom.
So how do we fix it? We rely on the research about systematic phonics instruction, and we keep students reading books,
articles, and literature imbedded in a coherent path of topics
designed to build their background knowledge. It can be frustrating that there is no way to fast track knowledge-building.
You just have to trust the process, and take it day by day.
The education field is notorious for giving up when the results aren't immediate. But we should stick it out on this one
and listen to the research on reading instruction. The rewards
will come. n
JARED MYRACLE is the chief academic officer at Jackson-Madison
County public schools in Tennessee.

Putting a new
curriculum in
a teacher's
hand won't get
the job done."

Legal scholar Patricia Williams coined the term "spirit murdering" to
argue that racism is more than just physical pain; racism robs people of
color of their humanity and dignity and leaves personal, psychological,
and spiritual injuries. Racism is traumatic because it is a loss of protection, safety, nurturance, and acceptance-all things children need to enter
school and learn.
The spirit murdering of Black and Brown children leaves a trail of unanswered questions: How do children learn after being physically assaulted or racially insulted by a person who is supposed to protect them,
love them, and teach them? How does a Black or Brown child live, learn,
and grow when her spirit is under attack at school, and her body is in

Racism is traumatic because
it is a loss of protection, safety,
nurturance, and acceptance."
danger inside the classroom? How does a parent grapple with this reality? How are children's imagination and humanity stunted by the notion
that they are never safe in their schools because of the color of their skin
or the God they pray to? Where does the soul go to heal when school is a
place of trauma?
School officials continue to misdiagnose the spirit murdering happening
in their schools every day, even in a time when folks are screaming in the
streets that Black Lives Matter, demanding immigration rights, calling
to end police brutality, standing up to Islamophobia and transphobia, and
demanding racial justice. When schools mirror our society's hate, educational justice becomes out of our reach. n
BETTINA L. LOVE is an associate professor of educational theory and practice at
the University of Georgia. She is an author, most recently of We Want to Do More
Than Survive: Abolitionist Teaching and the Pursuit of Educational Freedom (Beacon
Press, 2019). This is the third in a series of essays she is writing about race in
America for Education Week.

To the Editor:
The article "Counselors Blast College
Board's Plan to Assign Students a
'Disadvantage' Score" discusses the College
Board's plan to expand the "adversity score"
program on the SAT exam (May 20, 2019).
This would factor the "level of disadvantage"
points into the score.
Simply giving points to students based
on their family income, environment, and
educational differences, however, pigeonholes them based on generalities rather
than their skills and abilities. In order
to ensure colleges and universities have
sufficient information about a student, there
must be systemic change at the secondary
school level.
Envision a MAP (My Action Plan, which
is something I implemented into Milwaukee
Village School when I worked there) as
a portfolio where students document
their success from year to year through
demonstrated assessments. What would be
the requirements for graduation? Now, it is
time to use your imagination.
The MAP is a portfolio of learning
throughout the school years. What if a
student, at any age, would present that
portfolio to a university for acceptance?
That university would then analyze it and
would either accept the student or identify
skills needed for future acceptance. The
student would then return to high school or
a community college to enhance those skills,
and the university would be able to reassess
the student for possible acceptance later.
This way, students could hang on to their
dreams and continue to move toward their
life goals.
Students may choose a different course
to follow but, either way, their decision
would be based on information relative
to their future, not just the SAT or other
standardized tests. Children might not
complete their education at the same time-
some will do so sooner, some later. However,
they will all successfully complete school,
and that will give them hope for their
future.
Eldon "Cap" Lee
Retired Teacher/Principal
Milwaukee, Wis.

Teachers Deserve More
To the Editor:
I recently read that Florida has become
yet another state to allow armed teachers
("Florida Governor Signs Divisive Bill
Allowing for Armed Teachers," May 8,
2019). I'm thankful that my mother, now
retired, taught elementary school in a much
different world.
I remember playing in my mom's
classroom until it got dark, while she graded
papers. I remember helping her pack and
unpack boxes when she moved classrooms
during the summer. I remember spending
the day setting up the classroom, laying out
name plates, creating reading corners, and
designing bulletin boards. I remember her
using her own money to buy many of these
items, including a "reward" chest filled with
tiny treasures that would make any child
feel recognized, celebrated, and loved.
Yet, somehow, I have more appreciation
for teachers now than ever. Teachers today
share many of the same worries that my
mom did: earning salaries that don't reflect
the work they put in, funding their own
school supplies, and equipping children for
the world and standardized tests-the new

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metric for how "smart" children are and
where they can attend college.
Teachers now have a new set of standards
to live up to: protecting our children's lives,
sometimes at the expense of their own.
The words "thank you" don't cover it. In
fact, they fall really short. What I would
really like to say is, "I'm so sorry; we need
to do better. You deserve more. Our kids
deserve more. I will play an active role in
trying to make this right."
But for now, I will just say "thank you"
and quietly hope you realize how much I
appreciate the sacrifices you make so that
our children can be good people and the
world can be a brighter place to live.
Kristin Lesko
Florida

In Defense of Online Charters
To the Editor:
As the superintendent of Ohio
Connections Academy, a statewide online
public charter school, which serves 4,800
students, I found the Education Week article
"Virtual Charter Schools Fall Short on
Four-Year Graduations" failed to give the
complete picture of online schools (April 18,
2019).
Online schools have higher mobility rates
and enroll a significantly higher number
of credit-deficient high school transfer
students than other schools.
An unintentional consequence of the
federal adjusted graduation rate policy
incentivizes schools to encourage creditdeficient students to move to other schools.
This results in students getting passed
around without being served.
OCA is held to the same state graduation
standards as traditional schools, so when a
student is significantly credit deficient, we
advise them on what it will take to catch up
and provide them with the support required
to get them back on track.
Our graduation rate for students who
arrive as freshmen and stay through their
senior year has been between 92 and 95
percent. For the last three years, our federal
adjusted graduation rate has been 70
percent. One hundred and eighty-eight of
our 1,872 high school students are in our
dual-enrollment college program. Forty-nine
percent of our 2018-19 graduating class
has been accepted to colleges, earning a
collective $4.2 million in scholarships.
We look forward to working with federal
and state policymakers to consider the
issues caused by the federal adjusted
graduation rate and to find solutions to
these problems so that we can engage
students who are at-risk of dropping out.
Marie Hanna
Superintendent
Ohio Connections Academy
Mason, Ohio

COMMENTARY POLICY
Education Week takes no editorial
positions, but publishes opinion essays
and letters from outside contributors in
its Commentary section. For information
about submitting an essay or letter for
review, visit

www.edweek.org/go/guidelines.

EDUCATION WEEK | June 12, 2019 | www.edweek.org | 19

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Education Week - June 12, 2019

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