Opinion
Assessment Opinion

Leave No Child Unsuccessful?

By Sara L. Matthews — January 09, 2002 3 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print
Why do we as a society assume that some must always do less well than others—even at Harvard?

A newspaper article I read recently on Harvard University’s problem with “grade inflation” has left me at a crossroads in my thinking and in my work. Having deemed some 90 percent of its students worthy of its honor roll, Harvard, the country’s oldest institution of learning, has come under fire from within and without. As a schoolteacher, I’ve found this response puzzling.

Why would great success among students at Harvard be so difficult for us to believe? That university is probably the most competitive in the nation in admissions. Not only is it privileged to enroll our most sought-after students, but it also has a large endowment that assures well-financed programs and attracts a very highly esteemed faculty. Only a small fraction of those who apply to Harvard are accepted, and only scholars at the top of their field win appointments to its faculty. Why, then, would not the excellence of Harvard’s students be attributed to the talent of those students, the excellence of their teachers, and the skill of the university’s admissions department in carefully selecting students who will thrive at Harvard?

The answer, of course, is that conventional thinking deems such a thing impossible—even at Harvard. As a society, we assume that some students will thrive and others must fail. This assumption prevails, even as our president exhorts teachers nationwide to “leave no child behind.” Like others, I have assumed this rallying cry to mean that teachers should work to help each and every student be successful in school. Yet, even as we are embracing the goal of having every student be successful, we are willing to heap ridicule and disbelief on Harvard when it claims to have done just this.

Even as we are embracing the goal of having every student be successful, we are willing to heap ridicule and disbelief on Harvard when it claims to have done just this.

As a teacher, I am a servant of society and thus need its direction as I work to teach our students. How should I respond to the apparent contradictions in society’s expectations of education? To “leave no child behind” yet, at the same time, to deem relatively few students as successful? How do I put those contradictory expectations into play in my teaching?

And, moreover, how is it that two such contradictory expectations of education have come to live live side by side in our society? The answer, it seems to me, is this: We look to our schools to be places of judgment. With each level of education, a new and more rigorous gantlet is to be run, and our expectation is that some will thrive and some will fail. Indeed, some must fail, as their failure is apparently what is needed to validate the success of others. Logic demands, then, that our schools are thus directed to be places where some students need to be “weeded out” even as we cry out, “leave no student behind!”

The first of many questions to which I need an answer, then, would be this one: Why do we as a society assume that some must always do less well than others— even at Harvard? Why do we constantly look to schools to establish a pecking order of the highly successful, the less successful, and the failures, while at the same time telling teachers to “leave no student behind”?

Why do we constantly look to schools to establish a pecking order of the highly successful, the less successful, and the failures, while at the same time telling teachers to ‘leave no student behind’?

What is it we want from America’s schools? Do we really want excellence in instruction for all students? Do we want all students to be successful, or is it necessary that some must fail so that the success of others may seem real?

Until this inherent contradiction can be resolved in the future, I need my country’s help as a teacher now. What is the magic ratio of success to failure in our schools with which the media and the American people will be happy? Exactly how many students may I deem worthy of honors? And how many may I leave behind?

The criticism directed at Harvard is simply the most recent foray in a struggle over the meaning of excellence that started long ago. The latest wave of criticism directed at America’s schools began in 1983, with the publication of A Nation at Risk. For nearly 20 years, it has continued unabated, while teachers reel from the blows. And now, it reaches even the hallowed halls of Harvard.

Perhaps that’s only fitting. After all, in addition to its educational legacy, Massachusetts is also the place where witch hunts first began.

Sara Matthews teaches at a Quaker school and lives in Newtown, Pa.

A version of this article appeared in the January 09, 2002 edition of Education Week as Leave No Child Unsuccessful?

Events

School Climate & Safety K-12 Essentials Forum Strengthen Students’ Connections to School
Join this free event to learn how schools are creating the space for students to form strong bonds with each other and trusted adults.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Assessment Webinar
Standards-Based Grading Roundtable: What We've Achieved and Where We're Headed
Content provided by Otus
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Reading & Literacy Webinar
Creating Confident Readers: Why Differentiated Instruction is Equitable Instruction
Join us as we break down how differentiated instruction can advance your school’s literacy and equity goals.
Content provided by Lexia Learning

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Assessment What the Research Says What Teachers Should Know About Integrating Formative Assessment With Instruction
Teachers need to understand how tests fit into their larger instructional practice, experts say.
3 min read
Students with raised hands.
E+ / Getty
Assessment AI May Be Coming for Standardized Testing
An international test may offer clues on how AI can help create better assessments.
4 min read
online test checklist 1610418898 brightspot
champpixs/iStock/Getty
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Assessment Whitepaper
Design for Improvement: The Case for a New Accountability System
Assessments in more frequent intervals provide useful feedback on what students actually study. New curriculum-aligned assessments can le...
Content provided by Cognia
Assessment The 5 Burning Questions for Districts on Grading Reforms
As districts rethink grading policies, they consider the purpose of grades and how to make them more reliable measures of learning.
5 min read
Grading reform lead art
Illustration by Laura Baker/Education Week with E+ and iStock/Getty