Houston Independent School District Superintendent Mike Miles checks on a Audrey H. Lawson Middle School student doing his class worksheet on Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2023 in Houston.
In a YouTube video last week, Houston ISD Superintendent Mike Miles talks with a middle school principal about a “growth wall,” a chart that lists students’ names with their academic gains. Although there are no scores, the chart appears to show how students measure up.
“There are a lot of double-digit gains,” Miles said. “This is really encouraging for kids. It’s great for the kids to be appreciated like this.”
I’ve read enough books by Brené Brown to know shame when I see it. For students with low academic performance, learning differences or even test anxiety, this sounds like a setup to be shamed.
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LATEST: HISD teachers call in sick to protest Mike Miles' leadership, 'hostile' environments
Brown, a best-selling author and University of Houston research professor who spent the past two decades studying shame and empathy, has said that shame can make a child feel inadequate and unlovable. It’s not what you want in a classroom.
“Data walls,” like the one Miles touted, have emerged as popular teaching tools across the nation. The other issue with them is that they actually may violate federal law.
According to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, or FERPA, student education records are protected information. That means that parents, or students ages 18 and older, must provide consent before a school can release information about an individual’s education record.
“Linking students’ names with where they are in a growth chart or a particular area of growth would be problematic under FERPA,” said LeRoy Rooker, who is one of the country’s leading authorities on FERPA and served as the director of the Department of Education’s Family Policy Compliance Office for more than two decades.
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Data walls were introduced in the late 1990s by University of Chicago education researcher David Kerbow, who used visual displays to chart students’ progress in reading. He called them “assessment walls.” They were designed as a planning tool for faculty only, and Kerbow never meant for them to be shared publicly.
There are some exceptions to the law, such as for sharing educational records when a student transfers to another school or sharing records with an accrediting organization. Directory information, such as a student’s name, address, phone number, email address and birth date, is also exempt.
Educational institutions that receive funds under any program administered by the U.S. Secretary of Education are bound by FERPA requirements. HISD receives federal funding for special education.
In response to an inquiry about using growth walls in classrooms, HISD officials said: “Schools are celebrating the gains that students are making. Their academic achievement and growth are sources of pride. We took the appropriate precautions to protect the privacy of students’ personal information.”
Rooker said he travels the country consulting with institutions about FERPA and providing best practices. He recently conducted training at University of Houston-Downtown.
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It seems some schools and organizations are a bit relaxed about students' privacy, and that’s concerning.
Rooker cited an Austin-area school district that violated the law years ago by throwing student records into the trash instead of shredding them. Another school district, this one outside Texas, did something similar and the students' records blew out of the trash and were scattered along a road.
According to HISD’s website, anyone collecting or using personally identifiable information must receive training or instruction regarding the state’s policies and procedures regarding confidentiality.
It’s up to students and their parents to enforce FERPA — violations must be reported to the federal Family Policy Compliance Office within 180 days of their discovery.
In the Miles' video, it’s unclear if there is an actual infraction, but veteran educators I spoke with who watched the video believed there to be.
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For any school district, shaming children, especially those who are not high achievers, should not be a tactic used to motivate performance, nor should violating students' privacy be the way to get there.
'Growth wall' touted by HISD leader may shame struggling students
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07.04.2024
Houston Independent School District Superintendent Mike Miles checks on a Audrey H. Lawson Middle School student doing his class worksheet on Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2023 in Houston.
In a YouTube video last week, Houston ISD Superintendent Mike Miles talks with a middle school principal about a “growth wall,” a chart that lists students’ names with their academic gains. Although there are no scores, the chart appears to show how students measure up.
“There are a lot of double-digit gains,” Miles said. “This is really encouraging for kids. It’s great for the kids to be appreciated like this.”
I’ve read enough books by Brené Brown to know shame when I see it. For students with low academic performance, learning differences or even test anxiety, this sounds like a setup to be shamed.
Advertisement
Article continues below this ad
LATEST: HISD teachers call in sick to protest Mike Miles' leadership, 'hostile' environments
Brown, a best-selling author and University of Houston research professor who spent the past two decades studying shame and empathy, has said that shame can make a........
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