OUR TURN: Lunoff’s homework: Get MFHS teachers revved up
Manny Lunoff has a tall order to fill.
As the new principal of Marble Falls High School, it will be up to him to turn around the unenviable ranking of academically unacceptable the high school received from the Texas Education Agency in August.
That ruling has given a black eye to the community and the Marble Falls Independent School District. Parents know the students are bright in general, and it’s a shame a standardized test says differently. However, the fact remains that Marble Falls High has received the ranking, which needs to be reversed and improved.
Of course, Lunoff can’t do this alone. He will need the cooperation of Central Office, his teachers, the students and, yes, the parents.
One word of caution to Lunoff: Be careful whom you blame for sagging test scores. When TEA first announced Marble Falls High’s fall from grace, administrators quickly pinned responsibility on tougher state standards, changes in how the tests are measured and a sub-population of students who brought scores down because they didn’t understand certain subjects.
These are the kinds of excuses offered all across Texas by school officials when rankings and scores drop and the community is demanding answers and accountability.
Lunoff himself, in talking about poor scores at one of his previous assignments, blamed the low scores on “four kids.”
While there is usually a kernel of truth to these rationalizations, a sports analogy will serve to show that blame can be equally shared, and it’s not just the students’ burden to shoulder.
When a team loses a game, much of the fault belongs to the athletes themselves. Maybe they weren’t fast or nimble enough. But in all fairness, the athletes follow the directions of a coach, and if a coach can’t instruct the players in proper technique or strategy, they are destined to lose.
The same can be said for teachers and students. If educators can’t make their subjects exciting, relevant and important, students aren’t going to care. And students who don’t care perform poorly.
MFISD officials can talk all they want about students at the poverty line or those who are at risk. They can cite subgroups, marginalized populations and language barriers. They can point with pride to a multimillion-dollar grant and new strategies at the high school to work with these academically troubled students.
But ultimately, the answer today is the same answer it’s always been: The high school must have teachers who love when children learn, who love their jobs and, most important, who love to teach.
If Lunoff can instill that kind of enthusiasm in his staff, and if he can revive, reward and retain his best teachers, then he will be well on his way to improving the high school’s academic ranking.