Trying new things at our schools

Those who follow baseball closely know that analytics are playing a huge role in how professional baseball teams build their teams.

The book and movie, "Moneyball," introduced to the masses the idea that advanced statistics, much as was being done on Wall Street, could be used to better identify the value of a player. Teams that did not closely study advanced statistics were overpaying players who possessed skills that did not necessarily translate into wins. The numbers have changed the game.

There is an ongoing struggle over numbers in our educational system. Numbers can tell a lot about a school and about the students and identify weaknesses and strengths. They can also overwhelm the true purpose of the classroom, which is, of course, to teach and learn. In an effort to quantify success at schools, over-testing can get in the way of true learning. It's essential that the tests our educators come up with to analyze truly capture a child's progress and intelligence. Many baseball analytics are pure because the tests are done on the field, 162 times a year over the course of many years. The tests used to analyze students', schools' and teachers' performances are taken less frequently. It's a dangerously small sample, and a good reason why Amendment 3 was recently rejected in Missouri.

Having said that, it is important for schools and educators to use numbers to justify their programs, when at all possible.

The Southeast Missourian recently highlighted two programs that are doing just that.

The first was the Reading Plus program. The program was rolled out schoolwide at Central Academy (formerly known as the alternative school). Students take a pretest to find out where their skills are, and individual programs and goals are set. As they go along in the program, students and educators can see exactly how much the students have improved, not too different from an exercise program in which weight, body fat index and other vitals are measured to show the improvement.

Part of the program includes an eye movement recording device that tracks where the students are looking at their computers. Some students have troubles staying on task and reading in the correct order.

"It has been a really good program," said principal Scott McMullen. "Just generating the data to find out the strengths and weaknesses of our students, giving them repetition on good reading practices, what to look for -- just giving them practice reading and setting time aside to do that has been really beneficial."

Another program, about which we have editorialized before, is the ABC Today program that tracks students throughout the school year in three categories: attendance, behavior and classroom performance. Individual and collective data are analyzed. Special attention is given to students who enter into a danger zone, and those who succeed are given plenty of positive reinforcement, thanks to several community organizations that are pitching in to support the cause. Those who show to be slipping can be connected with other community programs, such as Big Brothers, Big Sisters or after-school programs to help give them guidance and support even outside of school.

These programs are using data in smart ways to address individual needs. While we will never see Brad Pitt play in a starring role in a movie about it, it's wonderful to see such innovations in our public schools in Cape Girardeau.