Education Matters: Five key areas of school effectiveness

Summary

In this TV5 News segment on education, Dr. Craig Douglas discusses how to effectively measure a school's success beyond test scores. He highlights key factors like school culture, effective teaching in every classroom, a standards-based curriculum, and competency-based assessments. He emphasizes the importance of visiting schools in person to gauge their atmosphere and teaching quality rather than relying solely on online rankings. Douglas encourages parents to meet school staff and tour the facilities to make informed decisions about their children's education.

Takeaways

• 📚 School effectiveness is not solely measured by test scores.
• 📊 Rankings by outside agencies are often not meaningful indicators of a school's true effectiveness.
• 🏫 School culture is a key benchmark of effectiveness, including aspects like safety, collaboration, and support.
• 👩‍🏫 Effective teaching is critical and should be consistent across all classrooms and grade levels.
• 📖 The curriculum should be based on viable, up-to-date standards, not personal teacher preferences.
• 📝 Assessments should be tied to measurable, objective standards rather than subjective preferences.
• 🔄 Effective schools focus on teaching competencies, ensuring students grasp fundamental skills through re-teaching if necessary.
• 👀 Parents and community members can intuitively assess a school's effectiveness by visiting and observing the environment.
• 🏫 Taking a school tour and meeting with key staff, like the principal and guidance team, is a recommended approach to assess the school firsthand.
• 🔗 More information on the topic can be found on the TV5 Hot Links page.

Q & A

What is the main topic discussed in the interview?

The main topic is how to measure a school's effectiveness beyond just test scores.

Who is Dr. Craig Douglas?

Dr. Craig Douglas is the guest on the TV5 News segment, sharing insights on education and school effectiveness.

Why does Dr. Douglas believe rankings are not meaningful?

Dr. Douglas believes that rankings don't provide meaningful insight into a school's effectiveness because they don't capture important qualitative factors like school culture or teaching practices.

What does Robert Marzano suggest as a better way to measure school effectiveness?

Robert Marzano suggests measuring effectiveness based on factors such as school culture, effective teaching, a standards-based curriculum, and ensuring students achieve competencies.

What role does school culture play in measuring effectiveness according to Dr. Douglas?

School culture is crucial because it encompasses safety, collaboration, and support, which can be felt immediately by visitors and parents.

What is meant by 'effective teaching' in this context?

Effective teaching refers to consistent, high-quality instruction across all classrooms and grades, ensuring collaboration among teachers and uniformity in teaching quality.

How is curriculum used to measure school effectiveness?

The curriculum should be viable, current, and based on standards set by subject or curriculum specialists, ensuring consistency across the school.

How is assessment tied to standards in effective schools?

Assessment is objective and measurable, based on set standards rather than teacher preferences, ensuring fairness and clarity in evaluating student performance.

What happens if a student struggles with a specific skill or topic?

In effective schools, teachers focus on competencies, meaning they reteach and reassess topics like adding fractions until the student has fully mastered them.

How can parents get a better sense of a school's effectiveness?

Parents are encouraged to visit the school, meet the principal and staff, and observe the school in operation to get a feel for its culture and effectiveness.