The Education Trifecta

Balanced. Whole. Rich. We use these words a lot in education to describe the ideal student experience and it’s time to back them up. In yesterday’s Seattle P-I, House education committee chair Dave Quall wrote an editorial about the need for balance in the quest to ensure that students receive the new “Three Rs”: Rigor, Relevance and Relationships.

Rep. Quall suggests that the state and business community has spent so much time focusing on the rigor piece of the equation—through raising standards and strengthening curriculum and assessment—that we’ve ignored the relevance and relationships that actually keep students in class.

With a broad brush, Rep. Quall paints the right picture: Students do need a relevant curriculum that engages them culturally and intellectually. They also need relationships that make learning meaningful on a personal level.

Sadly, he's missing the detail and color that brings the picture to life: Lowering rigor to strengthen relevance and relationships is the wrong answer. High standards, as advocated by College Work Ready Agenda in “Improving the Odds,” are not an exercise in rigor for rigor’s sake or for the business community to fill jobs—they actually mean that more students will be able to achieve and do better in the future. And for the students that are struggling right now, it's a challenging curriculum and high expectations that's the number one way to close the achievement gap (check out EdTrust’s Katie Haycock’s work for proof).

If we really want the trifecta to be a force for student achievement, we simply have to keep our standards high and bring relevance and relationships up to the same level.

The business community has been advocating for investment in relationships through high quality teachers and strong professional development (SB 2809) and relevance through more focused curriculum and student support. Unfortunately, the legislature has spent more time arguing about testing and standards than focusing on policy that would support positive change.

“The solution to this problem is not a formula, a different test or a piece of legislation. The solution is a sense of proportion, a commitment to equity and a deep recognition of the divine spark within every child,” concluded Rep. Quall.

And he’s right—but we need to raise the floor not lower the ceiling. If the legislature really means to ensure equity, they won’t lower standards, they’ll commit to them. And if they want the system to recognize the potential within every child, they’ll create a plan to bring relevance and relationships up to the same high level.