Fact or opinion?

Rachel Wise

Rachel Wise, District 3, Nebraska State Board of Education (July, 2013)

Fact or Opinion?

This month I have decided to write about the topic of my choice. The State Board of Education is not meeting in July, so I am going to take this opportunity to revisit a few items that I have touched on over the past few months. Typically, most of the articles I write will be informative and factual – free of my personal opinions. Occasionally, however, I might throw in an opinion or two, but you will be forewarned whenever an opinion is heading your way.  In fact, here comes an opinion! A major concern that I have today is that readers cannot differentiate between fact and opinion. With the wealth of text-based information at our fingertips, it seems that too often we believe that anything we read must be fact. I believe this is one of the biggest challenges facing educators today. How do we help young readers develop the skills to understand fact versus opinion?

Summer is a great time to encourage reading. Nebraska has great public libraries, so it is time to power down the computer and head to the library. This is especially important for children of all ages. One of the greatest gifts you can give your child is access to books and opportunities to read. Encourage your child to read both fiction and non-fiction. As children are exposed to both fiction and non-fiction, it helps frame their understanding of fact versus opinion. Reading is not just an activity for the school day or the school year. In my opinion, teachers across the state will thank you, if you fit time for reading in your child’s summer activities.

Reading and accountability go hand in hand for schools. In an earlier article I mentioned the Nebraska Performance and Accountability System (NePAS) which is intended to show how schools are performing. The focus of NePAS includes high school graduation rates and the academic areas of writing, reading, math and science. In the fall, the 2012-2013 results or “report card” for each school in Nebraska will be released. The report card will display NePAS rankings and a variety of “facts” about how each school in Nebraska is performing.  My concern about this system is that these “facts” do not paint the entire picture of school performance. In my “opinion” there is so much more to school success than just this report card or a set of test scores. Categorizing schools in groups of “winners or losers” like a sports team is shortchanging everyone involved in those schools. It does not fully illustrate the unique characteristics of a school or a community — characteristics that may create challenges for one school and provide great opportunities for another school. Do I believe that information about school performance and accountability is critical and should be transparent to the public? Absolutely! Do I think we have the system to do that? Again, in my opinion, not yet! Do I think we have many of the components in place? Yes!

The bigger picture of school success should include components that go beyond test scores. It needs to include factors such as: curriculum; materials, resources and textbooks; teacher and administrator training and certification; class size; school funding; technology and facilities; community involvement; and parent engagement. School success is a continuous process. It begins with the vision developed by your local community and school board. In an ideal world, the Nebraska Legislature and the State Board of Education would put into place statutes, rules, regulations and an accountability system that would help your local school grow and improve.

One final note, the Nebraska State Board of Education has launched an online survey to guide their search for the next Commissioner of Education. The survey is open to the public through 6 p.m. on Monday, July 29^th and may be accessed at:  http://www.education.ne.gov/.  The purpose of the survey is to: gather opinions regarding the strengths and challenges of the Nebraska Department of Education; well public education in the state; and to identify the characteristics deemed most important for the next Commissioner of Education. If you would like to contact me, feel free to do so at rachel.wise@nebraska.gov.