Students are More than Test Scores: Why We Should Arm Teachers with a Better System

No, President Trump, arming teachers with guns is not the answer our teachers and students need. Educators across our nation have spoken loud and clear last week: we do not want to be armed with guns.

But we do need to be armed with a completely new school system, a system that shifts our values and priorities.

What Really Matters

We’ve lost sight of what schools should really care about. Schools place increased pressure on testing in the hope of improving students’ academic performance, but in turn fail to meet their social-emotional needs.

In our quest to place highly in academic testing, we have overlooked the data staring us in the face.

According to the latest snapshot of U.S. Student Achievement, less than 40% of our students are proficient in Reading and Math. This number drops to less than 22% for black and Hispanic students. We currently rank 27th in Math, 17th in Reading, and 20th in Science compared to other countries. (Source: Center for Education Reform)

These statistics prove that what we’re doing in schools doesn’t work for most of our students. Not only are they less than 50% proficient in academic subjects, but we’re not meeting their needs due to lack of time, support staff, and resources devoted to their social and emotional well-being.

A Better School System

The current system must shift some of its focus from academic assessment to our students’ social, emotional, and moral development.

We need to arm teachers with a system that doesn’t label kids as “bubble students” and “low-performing.” We need a system that cares about them as human beings with real lives and real issues.

What if teachers were encouraged to “collect data” other than test scores? Why don’t we conduct surveys about how safe our children feel at school or whether they feel loved and cared for in their school environment? Let’s use professional development time to talk about this data. 

Valuing Students as Human Beings

Teachers must be able to measure academic progress, respect, kindness, and civility equally. By seeing students as whole human beings and not just test scores, we can ensure that our social workers, school counselors, and psychologists are valued in every school.

Many schools have several academic and intervention coaches for tested subjects, while school counselors and social workers must split their time between two or even three schools. Meeting the real needs of students will require changing this paradigm.

We must also arm teachers with the autonomy to do what they know is best for their students. Many teachers feel they don’t have time to spend on activities that create meaningful relationships and build empathy because they feel too much pressure to prepare students for standardized tests. Many educators are now forced to read from a script from which they’re not allowed to deviate.

Our kids don’t need a script or a mandated curriculum to increase test scores.

They need teachers who are allowed teach based on the real needs of their students.

Solving the Real Problems

It’s time to start questioning the true mission of our schools, because we’re facing challenges in our country that more testing will not solve.

Students memorizing the causes of the Revolutionary War will not help eradicate poverty and violence or solve the gun control debate. An increase in academic requirements, rote memorization, and scripted curriculums will not fulfill students’ social and emotional needs, nor will it prepare them for the civic responsibilities of caring about others and solving problems in our society.

Yes, students should be intellectually prepared to enter the college or workforce, but they should also be emotionally prepared to enter society. An authentic curriculum with the necessary time, resources, and support staff will enable our schools to foster compassionate citizens and create better teacher-student and student-student relationships.

Let’s arm ourselves with the new mindset to see our students as people and not test scores. Only then can we better equip them to embrace their moral interdependence in life.

We must advocate for a new system to give all students what they really need.  Don’t give up on your students! Continue fighting for what we really need to arm our nation’s schools with.

Guns are not the answer. Compassion is.