Imagine a restaurant. The owner gathers all the employees together.
“Thank you all for being here today for the grand opening. I just want to remind you of our big goal.”
Everyone leans forward.
“At this restaurant, we strive to… pass the state health inspection!!”
This would be weird, right?
A restaurant’s goal should be related to making great food, delighting customers, and providing outstanding service.
Sure, the health inspection is important. But it’s a requirement. not a goal.
Of course the restaurant will pass the government health inspection! That’s the minimum expectation. It’s barely worth mentioning. We have a system for that and then we move on.
Goals go way beyond the minimum.
Standards Are Not A Goal
This same situation plays out at schools when leaders say:
At our school, we strive to meet grade level standards!
Standards are a minimum, government requirement. They are not a goal.
Ok. We Met The Requirement. Now What?
What happens when a student can already meet the standard?
Some schools do not have an answer to this very obvious question.
And yet! They certainly have students who can already meet the standard! They have students who can meet next year’s standards.
But they don’t realize this because… well, no one checks! Read more about this problem here.
Sure, a restaurant can value cleanliness. But once the kitchen is clean, they’ll move onto the real goal. We don’t just keep cleaning!
We can value meeting standards. But once a student can do it, we don’t keep practicing the thing they can already do!
Goals Go Beyond The Minimum
So, schools and teachers need goals that go beyond minimum requirements.
Consider a school with this attitude:
Yes, of course we’re going to meet standards. Some students are already there! But our goal is to make darn sure every kid falls in love with one great book this year.
Now that’s a goal. Don’t you feel the difference?
Bizarre Incentives
Plus, when a restaurant focuses only on passing the health inspection, it sets up bizarre incentives.
Chefs will be discouraged from cooking because, well… cooking creates a mess! And our goal is to pass the health inspection! 😬
So let’s just use these prepackaged, microwave dishes. That way we won’t make a mess and it’ll be easier to pass the health inspection.
That sounds insane, right? Yet I hear the same thinking from teachers and principals!
Here’s a direct quote from a teacher:
This question is NOT for grade one. They are not required to add past 18 or subtract any higher than 18.
See how the minimum expectation (first graders can add up to 18) turned into a maximum (first graders are not allowed to add more than 18)?
I hear things like this:
Oh, my principal says we can’t read novels because our goal is to meet grade level standards.
Early in my speaking career, I laid out an epic unit about narrative writing. When I presented it, a teacher said:
But our state test only allows one page for narrative writing. So we can’t do all of this.
Ugh. This person believed they are not allowed to exceed the minimum.
When you obsess over a minimum requirement, people will turn that requirement into a limit. The minimum turns into a maximum.
Low Expectations Make Good People Leave
A restaurant that’s obsessed with the health inspection will quickly lose their best employees. They’ll go to a restaurant with an actual goal – somewhere that encourages greatness.
And that means the restaurant will lose their best customers, too.
If a school forbids teachers from venturing past a basic requirement, then the best teachers will just go somewhere else. Or they’ll leave the field!
And that means you’re going to lose families who care the most about their children’s education. There are just too many other opportunities now.
So, sure, your students will meet the standards. But, what then? What is your actual goal?