Alright, so the title is a bit misleading: this blog isn't about putting up prison-style walls around our schools as some strange school improvement plan. If anything, my position on cage free schools is the same as my position on chickens and their eggs.

But every time I read a fiercely-written op-ed like this one in the Huffington Post, from widely-respected Ed Scholar Diane Ravitch, I'm reminded of an analogy that a college professor once espoused and that has stuck with me: fixing our education system is a lot like building fences around a herd of cattle.

If you build one line of fence, say on the western front of your property, it won't be very difficult for the cattle to head north or south and find their way out of your land. Much the same, folks out there who argue that the only thing we need to fix our schools is standards and accountability based on standardized tests are going to fail in their goals of closing the achievement gap and making America's schools the best in the world.

There is no silver bullet in school reform, no single fence that can keep the cows from escaping. What we need instead is a set of fences--three, in mind--that when put together can completely encircle the problem. To me, those fences are:
(1) Sufficient resources so that all children have access to basic educational materials like decent, safe classrooms and learning materials,
(2) A quality teacher in every classroom, and
(3) High standards that every child is expected to reach and an accountability system that rewards schools and teachers who help children meet these standards while identifying those who do not for corrective action.

Folks like Diane Ravitch, who would scrap No Child Left Behind in its entirety, think you can fix the educational crisis with just the first and second fences. The logical implication of that argument, however, is that our schools were better in the 70s, 80s, and 90s when NCLB didn't exist than they are now--a fact that is plainly false given overall increases in student performance since those eras and an achievement gap that is narrower (or at worst, the same) now than it was in those previous decades. (More data here).

The anti-NCLB argument forgets the fact that because of the law, for the first time in our nation’s history, every school in the country must report how well it is teaching low-income children, minority children, English language learners, and special ed children. If a school is teaching its rich white kids wonderfully but not doing anything to provide the same educational opportunities to less fortunate children, no longer can it hide the ball and point to generally high achievement and graduation rates in claiming success. Let’s remember, the achievement gap came about during a time in America’s educational history where there were no standards and no accountability whatsoever. If Diane Ravitch thinks its best to go back to those days where we just give schools a bunch of money (and $50 billion from the federal government is hardly a paltry sum) without asking for anything in return, I know this much: the achievement gap will not get narrower. At the very least, NCLB has shined the light on the many ways that schools and districts have under-served the children who need excellent schools the most.

But, of course, the standards and accountability fence isn't enough either. And this is where the standards and accountability proponents have gotten it wrong: you can't expect schools to improve just by demanding it. We have to give every school the resources and policies they need to hire excellent teachers and provide sound instructional materials--something that simply isn't available in too many schools. Reform efforts that overlook the resource / human capital piece are just as doomed to fail as those who want to give schools a bunch of money and hope for the best.

Are there other fences that you would add to my list of necessary components of successful school improvement efforts? A bunch of ideas can be quite helpful but are not necessary in my view, but I can certainly be persuaded...