Value Added and Adding Value

 I remember sitting with them for the first time. Three of them, wearing white tops and jeans. The silver haired one looked across at me and said, "you know, what we do is important around here. Many of our kids, they wouldn't have much of anything to eat if we didn't make it. Their parents are working hard, just trying to make it. What we do, setting up breakfast and lunch, it's important. It might be the best they get all day." They were the lunch ladies. All three of them. And you know what, they were right. For many of our kids, those were the only meals they'd see that day. I'd walk in during the morning and the ladies would know each child by name. They knew what the child liked and what the child didn't. "Tommy, I know you don't like the carrots, but I have to put them on the side. Federal meal requirements." They found fun and humor with the kids. At times the kids were obnoxious or arrogant. However, most of the time they smiled. Walking forward a little brighter than they entered.

These three ladies were on the front lines. They'd all had jobs that made higher wages before this. This was a second, third, or fourth career. This was the career they weren't going to leave because it was here, serving Sloppy Joes and French Toast that they saw their legacy. Helping kids start their day on the right foot. Making them smile and helping them know someone saw them and cared.

I walked into a kindergarten room a couple of months ago and the teacher came over. She approached me about a student who had eight letters down. It was May and he had eight down. She was vigilant as she focused on what were we going to do to support the child. I looked over and asked her how many when he had entered the class. "Zero. But it's only eight now." This clearly is a child we need to support and are going to support. Lost in the battle for the future was the journey so far. The child had started at nothing and had begun the journey. How rare is it that a child truly starts at nothing? Or more worriesome how frequent is it a child truly starts with nothing? We need to celebrate the gains while being optimistic about the journey ahead. She had chipped away and begun to make the connection between abstract script and sounds. Sometimes the big hits we make are the little ones. Our work is not done, but it had begun well. It was our job to ensure the baton passed safely and the next teacher continued to accelerate the learning curve for this child.

I sat with a friend the other day. He, like many of my friends, lives in the corporate world. Dependent on bottom lines, gross margins, and corporate bonuses. He looked at his beverage and across the table and said, "you know all I really want to do is make a difference. I want to know my work has meaning and creates something valuable." I've seen him up late, running around, trying to make the next conference call. In the whole rigamarole of life, all he wants to do is create value.

Education is a changing place. During the past few years "value added" has meant a statistical measurement aggregating how children changed and performed on "valid and reliable" achievement tests. It is meant to give an indicator of how a child has grown during school and create accountability for the school and the staff to parents and the community. However, like pitcher win-loss records, the "value added" statistics are dependent on many more things than the pitcher or teacher can control. Jose Quintana is a pitcher for the Chicago White Sox this year. His record is 4 wins and 9 losses. Not very good. During his nine losses, the White Sox have scored the following runs: 1-0-1-1-1-0-0-1-1. While Quintana has not been perfect, his team has left him 3 times with no chance to win and 6 times required him to be perfect in order to win. Too often, our schools and classroom teachers are left in situations when they need to be perfect or close to perfect under the No Child Left Behind Act in order to meet achievement and growth targets.

It's time to rethink "value added." Test scores, like wins or RBIs, are some indicators but they are dependent indicators. Details that rely on a confluence of events and activities. As we look at learning and education, we need to dig deeper and cultivate metrics that provide insight towards the whole picture. Each day, there are people making a difference. What is measurable, is not always valuable and what is valuable is not always measurable. Lets add value.

Sometimes the big hits we make are the little ones