Safe, Positive Environment More Important Than Test Scores

Parents have sent a strong message: A safe and positive learning environment is more important than test scores.  Hopefully, the education bureaucrats will now listen.

A new poll by EdSource, a school information site, and Berkeley IGS comes to a similar conclusion for all schools, including traditional ones: “In evaluating school performance, registered voters in California say creating a safe and positive school environment is far more important than higher scores on standardized test.”

But what if your kid’s school is violent and abusive? Under a top-down system, you don’t have much choice – especially if the charter your kids love is dissolved for dubious reasons. On the other hand, in an environment rich with many different charters, you do have a choice to find the right school for your child.

Any successful reform needs to continue adapting to meet new challenges. The current debate – over system-centered or parent-centered schools – is a conversation over how to build on success. Ultimately, parents will triumph. But the winners will be the kids.

https://edsource.org/2017/new-poll-safe-and-positive-school-environment-more-important-than-higher-test-scores/588330