Winning and Standardized Tests

It's been way too long since my last post. Here's to
a more consistent blog in 2015!

It's New Year's Eve, and I just couldn't let the year pass without putting together one more post. I haven't written (well, finished might be a better word) anything since August. If you're wondering why it's been so long, you might have missed the part in earlier posts where I spoke about being a football coach. Nonetheless, I'm back, and I think you're going to like this one (or you might actually hate it).

Winning and Standardized Tests

Most people would never put those two things together. I never would have before last week either. Just the mention of Standardized testing can (and usually does) spark an impassioned debate. I am not here to promote testing or to speak against it. In fact, my opinion, your opinion, or anybody else's opinion on the subject really doesn't have anything to do with what I'm going to talk about. Follow along with me, and I'll try to get to the point as quickly as I can.

If you've read any of my earlier posts, you may or may not remember that, as a coach, I hate talking about winning. I am a "process" guy. I believe that football is a tool that can and should be used to teach every young man in our program how to "Live Like a Champion." I believe that if we are good stewards and we take care of the process, the wins and losses will take care of themselves. I really do believe this, but there is also a harsh reality that comes along with coaching football at any level. If you do not win at some point, you will be fired. You can be the greatest guy in the world, loved dearly by your players and their families, but you also better win some games.

A couple of weeks ago, I was was watching ESPN's College Football Awards Show, and one of my heroes, Grant Teaff, was presented with an award for his contributions to college football. Coach Teaff, as it turns out, believes in coaching "Beyond the Game," himself (no wonder he's one of my heroes). As Coach Teaff is being interviewed by the presenter, he was asked about the pressure that Coaches feel to win in today's game. Knowing that coaches are paid millions of dollars to produce winning seasons (and sometimes "winning seasons" aren't enough. Just ask Bo Pelini), Coach Teaff responded exactly like I would have expected him to:

"Coaches win games to keep the opportunity to coach young people."

In that one sentence, he summed it up as well as anybody could have. The best coaches get into the profession because they want to make a difference in the lives of young people and give back to the sports that gave so much to them. That's our number one motivator. However, if the results do not show up on the field, we lose the opportunity to work with those young people. Winning allows us to keep doing what we are called to do.

Fast forward about a week and a half.

A few days ago I was reading What Great Principals Do Differently by Todd Whitaker. I've read a couple of his books, and I really like his ideas. He spends a lot of time talking about many of the same ideas that guide my coaching philosophy such as his emphasis on people rather than programs, developing and respecting your people, and the importance of creating a culture that will foster success. Having said that, I was really interested to see how he was going to tie those concepts together in Chapter 10 which was simply titled, "Standardized Testing."

Just like coaches, great teachers believe that they have a much bigger purpose at school than just teaching content. Math, reading, writing, science, and history are obviously important, but we believe that schools also have a responsibility to teach things such as social skills, self-worth, responsibility, teamwork, and perseverance. There is no doubt that this belief is at the heart of many of the debates about the merit of standardized testing. After all, how can a test measure whether a teacher is teaching all of these things as well as the content? Furthermore, who has time to teach social skills when we have to get our kids ready for these tests, right? Here's what Whitaker said:

"...success on standardized tests brings our schools greater autonomy to do what we believe is best for students."

I read that, and I instantly thought about what Coach Teaff said in his interview. Even though he used different words, he basically said the exact same thing. Once the school year starts, it doesn't really matter whether we agree with standardized testing or not. If we want to keep getting the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of our students outside of the content that we are delivering, we better get them ready to perform well on those tests. Whitaker went on to say that "Without success, tests become the school." That is so true. If our school does poorly, what happens? We shift more time and more effort toward getting ready for the tests. We spend less time on culture and more time on strategy. Administrators, teachers, and students feel pressured, and when that happens, you can bet "social skills" start rapidly moving toward the bottom of the priority list.

I've never thought about it like this, but when I look at the parallel presented here, it makes a lot of sense to me. I don't want to talk about winning, but I better win. I don't want to talk about standardized testing, but I better bust my tail to make sure we are successful. There is a time for debate (and I certainly think more debates need to be had), but when the doors of our school open, like it or not, we have jobs to do. Sometimes we have to put our opinions on the back burner and do what is best for our school so that we can keep doing what is best for our students.

It is now 11:55 PM on New Year's Eve. I certainly want to wish all of you a Happy New Year! Let's make an even greater difference in the lives of those around us in 2015!



Here's the video of Coach Teaff's award presentation. If you've got 10 minutes, it's worth the time.