Friday, April 08, 2011

What if schools were evaluated on long-term results?

I was reading this article on the problems with standardized tests, and it got me thinking about more effective ways to evaluate education. And it occurred to me that the true measure of education is long-term results.

For example, my high school was rather proud of the fact that 80% of its graduates went on to university. But what percentage made it past first-year university? We don't know. If, hypothetically, only half of us made it past first-year university, there's probably something wrong with the high school. And a high school where only 60% go to university but they all graduate is probably doing better.

Obviously, there are many problems with using long-term results. You'll lose track of some people, and you're more likely to lose track of students who have slipped through the cracks. It doesn't signal problems until it's far too late to do anything about them. It introduces the likelihood that outcomes will be affected by variables beyond the school's control.

But still, it seems relevant. It would be so useful if they could figure out a way to incorporate long-term outcomes as part of the evaluation.

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