The question is, what is the best way forward? Is it more important to raise the average level of education in our country, or should we continue to create specialized individuals, and accept that that also comes with a lower mean on standardized tests? (Qiang Zha)
One of the ways Zhao proposes we fix our system is to stop thinking about what comes out of our schools. Rather, in an “input-based accountability” system, we can measure the school by, “looking at the quality of educational resources and opportunities they provide to each student” (pg. 184). This system measures things like physical environment, teachers, school leadership, and opportunities for students to be different.
This is an interesting take on how to assess schools. Would the DOE send teams to schools around the nation scoring them based on checklists? Would the public feel secure in sending kids to schools when it becomes harder to compare them to their competitors nationwide? Implementing such system would take a drastic change of values in America. We are so focused on results as a culture that I could never see something like this moving through the political web that is education.
What works about this system is fascinating as well. I have always believed that the desire of systems like the Common Core to hold our nation to certain standards is valid, and that there should be a way to ensure that our students in California are receiving as much of an education as those in Vermont holds everyone accountable. However, if we truly want to value the individualization of the education system here in America, maybe we should start scoring schools based on input-based systems, and by the opportunities they provide to students. If we want innovators to lead us into the future, we need schools that are able to change and fit the multiple needs of what that might be.
Qiang Zha, author of the article “The Good, Bad, and Ugly Dimensions of Chinese Education”, reflects on Zhao’s book and ultimately decides that, “What I really want is to push any reader of this book to think beyond a PK challenge between Chinese and the US approaches to education and raise awareness to the fact that global issues require global solutions. This is just one reason why we should continue to invest in programs like PISA”. After reading about Zhao’s stressed importance of valuing a global economy while building an input-based accountability system, Zha thinks that international testing programs like PISA are still valuable. This goes to show that even though we may value the same things, it is hard to decide on what are the best ways to hold our schools accountable to those values.
References
Zha, Q. (August 16, 2015). The Good, Bad, and Ugly Dimensions of Chinese Education. Inside Higher Ed.
Zhao, Y. (2009). Catching Up or Leading the Way: American Education in the Age of Globalization. Alexandria, Virginia. ACSD.