Both, in large numbers, “hit the road” last Sunday, with the locals once again turning in fast times at the front of the pack, sweaty times in the middle and happy times throughout. As a fundraiser this year for the Sonoma Valley Education Foundation, this annual event is always a favorite, and we commend all those hard-working volunteers who have made it a success, year after year for the last 23.
Maybe next year, we’ll tackle that 10-kilometer distance. It’s shorter if you run it in miles, right?
Testing Proficiency
We’re not referring so much to proficiency at taking tests as we are to proficiency in the material being tested.
This question arises following our discussion in this space two weeks ago about the lack of growth in recent years in student achievement levels, based on standardized testing, and the poor numbers for students, only about half of whom are “proficient” in their ability to work at grade level in math, science and English.
One of the school board trustees took us to task for giving these test scores “undue headlines,” wondering why we didn’t comment in the same editorial about the importance of teaching “the whole child.”
We don’t dispute the desirability of imparting non-academic values and encouraging the pursuit of topics and talents that are not tested. But frankly, if half of the fifth graders, for instance, cannot do grade-level work – and that’s what the tests do tell us – then we don’t see how those children can be considered “whole.” That is, if the student hasn’t acquired basic math skills and can’t read or write proficiently, it doesn’t matter how high the student’s self-esteem is, how wonderfully he or she gets along with classmates or how beautifully the child has mastered movement or artistic expression. However one defines the whole child, certainly proficiency at grade-level academics would play a large part.
We’re attentive observers of government activity affecting us here in Sonoma Valley – in the City of Sonoma, in the hospital and school districts, in the up-Valley areas (would that there were local government in those areas to observe!) and at the county level. And we see a school board that is anxious to make progress toward meeting the educational needs of our students but is having difficulty getting traction for reform. Whether it’s dropout rates, differential performance among the several schools operated by the district or performance gaps between ethnic groups, these are vital issues for developing competent, confident graduates ready to compete and thrive in the world as adults. All of these challenges have models of success elsewhere that can be adopted or adapted for use here in Sonoma.
So the issue seems not so much what to do as it is where and how soon. The school district has excellent resources and a strong administrative staff. In our view, it’s up to the five trustees to set expectations, and we encourage the trustees to aim high, for the benefit of every whole child in Sonoma Valley.
