COMMENTARY
First step in school reform is seeing problems
| • | Chart: Public-school SAT scores by state for 2003 |
By Galen Fox
Hawai'i stands on the cusp of true change. We are poised to undertake deep, meaningful education reform.
Advertiser library photo
The community wants it. Business has told us we need it. And the solutions are in sight.
State Rep. Galen Fox, a Republican, represents Waikiki, Ala Moana and Kaka'ako.
Hawai'i wants public-school reform because it's a crime to waste the lives of our young people. Hawai'i wants public-school reform because being able to read, write, and do math are indispensable qualifications for holding a decent job in the knowledge age, and because in the global economy, if we don't have good workers here, the jobs will go elsewhere. Hawai'i wants better schools because good schools reduce bad behavior, including drug abuse and crime.
Many have already taken the first step toward reform, which is to admit we have a problem. Others, however, are in denial. This is unfortunate. Hawai'i has a public-school problem, and it is measurable.
Although many public schools across the United States don't do well, Hawai'i's public schools stand out for their poor performance. We have the worst College Board Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) scores in the country (see chart on Page B4). And the scores are getting worse. Hawai'i's low scores mean that our public schools are failing to prepare students for the education our youthful test-takers need after high school.
SAT scores are just one measurement showing Hawai'i public schools in trouble. The National Assessment of Educational Progress, the "Nation's Report Card," found last year that only one state — Nevada — had a smaller share than Hawai'i of eighth-grade test-takers reaching proficiency in reading.
And Nevada also was the only state where eighth-graders scored below Hawai'i in writing.
Our low scores may relate to the high level of violence in Hawai'i public schools.
Advertiser library photo • February 2001
Education Week's "Quality Counts 2003" found that Hawai'i's statewide school system has the country's worst grade for classroom behavior, with 60 percent of eighth-grade classrooms reporting misbehavior. We also have the worst score for physical conflicts in school.
Third-graders Hilary Nakaya, front, and Jacqueline Donovan dig into the books at Noelani Elementary School.
Forty-five percent of Hawai'i's middle schools reported physical conflicts as a major problem, a percentage more than twice that of the next-worst-ranked states, Nevada and Louisiana (each reporting 21 percent of schools with major problems).
Regarding the SAT, the College Board discourages state-by-state comparisons unless they take into account test-taking population size. In several Midwest and Southern states, public universities require the ACT, not the SAT. The College Board has found that the small group of SAT test-takers in ACT states does well on the SAT.
Our chart, therefore, excludes SAT test-takers from ACT states, listing only states where, like Hawai'i, more than half of the seniors take the SAT. Because every other state listed on the chart has a larger share of students taking the SAT, these states should score below Hawai'i.
Yet Hawai'i is last.
Department of Education apologists have offered various excuses for Hawai'i's low public-school SAT scores. One is the large number of students attending private schools. Yet Delaware and Pennsylvania have even larger shares of students in private schools, and these two states' remaining public-school populations outscore Hawai'i.
Another excuse offered is the high percentage of Hawai'i public-school students coming from limited-English households. Florida, New York and California, however, all have larger foreign-born population shares, with California's share 60 percent larger than Hawai'i's. Yet all outscore Hawai'i public-school students on the SAT.
The road to recovery begins with admitting the measured performance of our public-school students is at or near the national bottom. The next step isn't to blame students, teachers, parents or principals, but to fix blame where it belongs — with our centralized, single-district, top-down, bureaucrat-heavy system.
The good news: A system problem is a problem we can fix.
So let's have the courage to get started on reform, and let's give our children the education they deserve.
 |
