Let’s rank our high schools on reality rather than a number on a test.

Written on
May 8, 2018
by
Peter Hostrawser

I am a believer that the ranking systems in schools are flawed and cause more harm than good.  The schools are ranked on SAT/ACT scores and “college readiness” and post secondary enrollment.  Let that sink in for a moment. What these rankings are telling us is that a good school is for academic students who are interested in blowing tons of cash on college for their next level of education that they will likely drop out of or finish after 6 years.  That is the definition of a “great school” here.

I read all over on social media that schools don’t teach about real things like passive incomes and “soft skills.”  It’s not that we don’t teach those things. It is that our society doesn’t value them over an AP courses or an ACT test.  For example, I meet with students weekly in groups about entrepreneurship and creating and running businesses. I can’t tell you how many times I have students tell me they can’t come to the meeting because they have to go to an AP or ACT tutoring session.  For what? You want to learn how to take a test or do you want to learn about reality? It just doesn’t make sense to me. Why would I value an academic course over something I am actually going to use in my life. I have heard people rave over their college degrees in rebuttal to this thought process.  The same people are working paycheck to paycheck while still paying off their college loans; AND they are in their 30s and 40s!

We as a nation need to look at this epidemic.  There is over $1 trillion in college debt that is unforgivable.  It’s not going away. If we keep ranking our schools on what I call “readiness to send our kids into a huge unforgivable debt to start life” we will lose.

Let’s look at things like resume and professional portfolios for students.  Let’s rank on how well our student work in teams. Let’s rank our schools on how many businesses and creatives have come from the school.  Let’s look at how many of our students have volunteered to help others in their communities.

Let’s rank our high schools on reality rather than a number on a test.

Let’s Disrupt Education!

Peter Hostrawser
Creator of Disrupt Education
My value is to help you show your value. #Blogger | #KeynoteSpeaker | #Teacher | #Designthinker | #disrupteducation
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