Do standards really affect performance?

Whether or not you buy into the whole AYP, NCLB business,
by any reasonable measure, APS is under performing.

The simple question is;

if there were meaningful standards of competence at every level in the APS, from kindergarten to the superintendents office, and if there was honest accountability to those standards, from kindergarten to the superintendent's office, would we be better or worse off?

And what about standards of conduct, which are not measured at all?

If there were meaningful standards of conduct from kindergarten to the superintendent's office, and if there were honest accountability to those standards, from kindergarten to the superintendent's office, would we be better or worse for it?

The leadership of the APS will talk, and talk, and talk about
academic standards; in no small part because they have no choice.

They will not talk about standards of conduct.
Standards of conduct affect the atmosphere in classrooms and
on school campuses. If conduct is poor, it affects every other
aspect of school life; for teachers as well as for students.

There is a student standard of conduct in the APS.
The standard requires students to be caring and fair,
respectful and responsible, good citizens, and trustworthy.

What would be the effect, do you think, on classroom discipline,
on test scores, truancy, and bullying, if meaningful standards of
conduct were expected and enforced? What do you think would
be the effect on graduation rates if students were actually
required to be caring and fair, respectful and responsible, good citizens and trustworthy?

We will never find out.

The leadership of the APS steadfastly refuses to discuss student standards of conduct.

They cannot. If they did, the conversation must at some point come to their responsibilities as role models of those standards.

At which point they would have to admit that they have no intention of holding themselves honestly accountable to standards of conduct any higher than the law; the lowest accepted standard of conduct.

Stakeholders would find out that there is not a single senior administrator or board member, with the character and courage to step up as a role model of a nationally recognized, accepted, and respected code of ethics; even for the few hours a day that they hold students accountable to those standards.

There is not one of them with character and courage enough
to even talk openly and honestly about administrative and
executive role modeling of the student standards of conduct.

They would rather see the system fail 89,000 students, than
hold themselves honestly accountable for their conduct and
for their competence.

If you want to fix the APS, you will have to fix that first.