September 4, 2012

Accountability, Scale and Collaboration

Sep. 4, 2012 at 10:14 AM | By Stephen Smith | Comment Count

In July, I had the opportunity to present the keynote address at the Cristo Rey Network’s 5th Annual Summit on College Success at Marquette University. The Cristo Rey Network holds this summit to share promising practices and programs focused on college success for Cristo Rey Network graduates, but the topics discussed are relevant to all K-12 institutions – private or public, large or small.

During my address, I mentioned that everyone in the room shared an irrepressible belief in the transformative power of education. And while we all value the power of education, there are differing opinions on how to measure its results and how to hold schools and districts, not to mention students and parents, accountable for those results,

The Common Core State Standards offer the promise of improved measures for K-12, but what about life after high school? How are we measuring the transition from secondary education to post-secondary education? What are we doing to bridge the gap between college eligibility and college readiness? There’s now at least an on-going conversation about what the right metrics might be, but it’s actually quite difficult for students to assess the quality of the programs they’re considering in a rigorous way – so it’s not surprising that students struggle to make good choices.

Beyond accountability, we need to look for ways to more cost-effectively scale the reach of education so that every student can benefit, and every student has the opportunity to connect learning and life.

Technology is a part of the solution, but it’s only one part of the solution. To really impact these areas, it takes true collaboration between service providers like Hobsons, the institutions we work with, and the students and families we both serve.

Events like the Cristo Rey summit prove that this level of collaboration is possible. It was a thrill to be able to address a group of educators that were equally passionate about helping students achieve success, and I was honored to be mentioned in a blog post by a distinguished colleague following the summit. Below is an excerpt of the presentation, and while I appreciated the opportunity to share my thoughts, I was even more grateful to meet with like-minded educators that are fighting for a common cause.