Flawed Measures
Fairfax Schools erred in measuring behavior by race and ethnicity.

Sunday, April 13, 2008

THE NO Child Left Behind law has been blamed for everything from bad teaching to childhood obesity. Now comes the silly suggestion that the federal law's worthy aim of using data to drive student achievement is responsible for Fairfax County's misguided effort to catalogue the moral character of its students by race and ethnic group. If anything, the events in one of the country's most respected school systems attest to the very biases that allow brown and black children to be overlooked and left behind.

The county School Board is clearly embarrassed by a report that purports to show racial and ethnic gaps in student behavior. African American, Hispanic and special education students get lower marks than white and Asian American students in areas such as "sound moral character and ethical judgment." At the behest of at-large member Martina A. Hone, the board voted last week to postpone a decision on whether to accept the report. To our mind, the board should have rejected out of hand what Ms. Hone, the only African American on the board, correctly called "potentially damaging and hurtful" conclusions. That school officials are at a loss as to what they planned to do with the findings is as troubling as the fact that no one foresaw the folly of using race and ethnicity as markers for character.

This is not, as some have suggested, a case of harsh truths falling victim to political correctness. No scientific system or good data were used. Instead, the report relies upon the highly subjective judgments of teachers on whether a student "exhibits courteous behavior," "works and plays cooperatively" or displays other intangibles. Other measures employed, such as rates for suspension and disciplinary infractions, have been shown to disproportionately penalize minority students. If there is any use to these findings, it may be in what they say about the inherent biases of those who deal with Fairfax students. Why is it that teachers were more apt to see problems with the behavior or character of minority students? One board member, according to The Post's Michael Alison Chandler, was "perplexed" that disparities in measures of character education mirrored the gaps in academic achievement. No one should be surprised that students don't do well when their teachers expect less of them.