Growth Through Truth

In 2001, the value of a share of Enron was peaked at $90 a share. By the end of 2001, its value had plummeted to 60 cents a share. Many stockholders were wondering how this could've happened. According to all the company's legal filings per the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulations, the company was doing just fine. Buying Enron stock was a safe investment. However, certain information was withheld in  what would be a severe violation of SEC Rules. Enron was hiding massive amounts of debt from shareholders. The truth was being hidden. Whenever the truth is hidden, only a few people benefit. Enron CEO, Ken Lay and a few others high-ranking executives who had knowledge of the debt, continued to make large sums of money. However, the truth always has a way of coming out. When it was discovered what Lay and others were doing, they were brought to justice. Sadly, many people lost a great deal of money simply because a few people decided that it was too inconvenient to reveal the truth.

The reality is that truth can have a shocking effect on us. However, we need truth desperately no matter how inconvenient. Growth comes through the revelation of truth.Growth comes through truth. During the mid 2000's in the Atlanta Public Schools, some leaders decided and some teachers agreed that it was necessary to conceal the truth. Those individuals have been brought to justice for their actions. However, just as the shareholders of Enron stock lost something, so did the students and families who were denied precious feedback. When the truth is concealed opportunities are lost. Allow me to explain. When it is determined that a student is not progressing in terms of their reading skills by the end of grade 3, action must be taken. Seemingly, as a result of the limited and misinterpreted data on retention, it would appear that the best thing to do would be to advance that student to the next grade while continuing to work on improving reading skills. This plan sounds wonderful. It is the plan that most schools utilize regarding reading skills. However, it is a fact that since  the implementation of No Child Left Behind reading scores have remained flat. That means that a majority of students who post low reading scores in third grade never close the gap by the time they graduate from high school. This is unacceptable! Once those reading scores were known, what were the other alternatives? We will never know because that opportunity has been lost with the passage of time.

It is my contention that truth is veiled far too often in education.  This is done with good intentions, but there is life changing power when the pure and honest truth is revealed. As a result of the lack of pure truth, the growth is not as widespread as we would like. Just recently Arne Duncan lamented that the US is falling behind in terms of graduation and dropout rates.  It will always be true that there is growth through the revelation of truth because truth is feedback. Feedback serves as a GPS. Additionally, truth demands action. Just like a GPS device, the truth will continue to  highlight the issue until the necessary adjustments are made to address the issue. And once the necessary adjustments are made, then and only then, growth can be experienced.

I don't agree with highlighting a problem without offering a solution. Therefore I offer this solution:

Decisions about student stratification and placement should never be made based on emotions and unproven beliefs. They should be made based on facts and never limited to one-size-fits-all thinking.

Breaking this pattern of behavior in our public schools is most difficult.  It takes a leader to challenge the status quo. It's not easy to question the current method of mixed ability classrooms. It's not easy to  propose a 5 day school week for chronically struggling reading/math student and 4 days for others. While these ideas seem extreme, the truth still remains and it is knocking at the door demanding action. True leaders need to stand and deliver the 100% pure and uncut truth because there is growth through truth.

MB