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      NOTE: I wrote the following as a tongue-in-cheek, yet serious attempt to explain the nature of proficiency testing to an esteemed member of the Ohio Senate. I am continually searching for the perfect analogy to make clear that it is the lived experience of the pupils of a school district that determines the district's performance on the OPT.
      If you have a good analogy, please send it to me and I will use it.

The Parable of the Railroads
      Once upon a time long ago, Ohio was divided up into many regional districts and was told by the State Constitution that these districts must design, develop, and fund their own railroads for public use. All the districts were also told by the State that they were required to have a complete system of railroads. In addition, they were required to use only natural resources and material from within their own districts to make the rail lines, which would be open for everyone to ride.
      Each region then created their railroad from what they had available. Some areas had all the material needed to create steel rails, some had only iron rails, and some even had to use wood for their rails. Some had good limestone for the track bedding, but others were forced use lesser materials such as sand and clay. Likewise, the railroad ties of some regions were made of hard wood and were cured with creosote. But some districts had little or no wood and were forced to space their ties great distances apart.
      After all the railroads were built, each district was provided with cars and engines to operate on the roads. Once all the railroads were in operation, the State mandated a system of accountability for all engineers and crews. The State's system of accountability was based on assessing the speeds that could be maintained on each district's railroads by using a minimum average speed set by the State.
      The vast majority of engineers and crews were very capable and very dedicated to what they did. However, when the State released the assessment data, it was clear that the average speed possible varied considerably from district to district. Many of the areas poorer in basic resources did not have the ability to meet the state's expectations for speed because their trains ran on tracks that were lacking in the characteristics needed to meet the State standard.
      Nonetheless, in all of its wisdom, the members of the State legislature insisted on holding the engineers and crews accountable for the average speed in their district irrespective of the reality that some districts were greatly disadvantaged and some greatly advantaged in the nature of the lines upon which the trains ran. Though most of the engineers and crews knew that they were being held accountable for something over which they held no control whatsoever, their unions sided with the State and agreed that accountability was in the best interests of the public.
      The legislature, the media, and the citizens of Ohio all knew that the performance of the poorer district railroads would improve if they threatened or even punished the engineers and crews. They all knew for certain that it was engineer and crew effectiveness that determined how fast the trains could run and nothing else was involved because the rich and powerful people who had all ridden on the best of trains said it was so. In a most wondrous stroke of genius, some even suggested that the railroads in the poor regions be put in the charge of the city mayors because that "would create better accountability and force changes in a railroad system that wasn't working." Everyone knew that this would make the engineers more effective in increasing the speed of their trains.
      The voices for engineer and crew accountability were so loud and numerous that even many of the engineers and crews began believing that the average speeds were indeed determined solely by them and had nothing to do with the condition of the road beds and tracks. So, the dedicated and passionate railroad employees worked harder and harder to meet the level the State had set for them... they were, indeed, dedicated professionals.
      But after several years of trying very hard to raise the average speeds, many engineers and crews became very frustrated because the districts that were slow or below average in the first year's assessments were still slow or below average in the succeeding year's assessments. At this point, many of the railroad professionals became very angry at the impossible demands of the Legislature and Governor's office.
      But, alas, the engineers and crews were doomed to be silent for no one would take the time to learn what the real cause of railroad performances. It was decided that it would be in bad taste to represent them and Legislators openly scoffed at the railroad people for being stupid. lazy, and for always voting for the wrong candidates. Besides, what legislator would have the time to try to win their votes... they were just not worth the interest or time of the oh-so-very-busy politicians who knew that doing the right thing for mindless railroad workers was irrelevant to getting elected to office. The railroad union, of course, remained silent because the union leadership liked sleeping with the legislators more than they liked working with stupid engineers and dirty train crews... It was a lot more fun for the union leadership to smoke cigars with Republicans and Democrats in Columbus anyway. They knew only too well their good buddies in the Legislature along with the good and gracious Governor could make all the State's railroads run equally effective.
      Even the public agreed because they knew what they knew from listening to the media and the words of wisdom from those who governed Ohio so well. Indeed, running trains was easy and anyone and everyone could do it because everyone had once ridden on a train. Many times it was said, "Those who can, do... and those who cannot are railroad engineers."
      As time went by, the worst of the railroads were shut down by the State, and the engineers and crews were fired. The State allowed private railroads to replace some of the failed public ones. The private ones would, of course, do what the public ones could not do and so the State pretty much decided not to assess the private ones.
      For years afterward, people still smiled as they reminisced about the days of the lazy, dumb engineers and the brilliant, noble politicians. But, no one ever bothered to ask why there were no longer any trains for the poor and working class citizens to ride... because everyone knew it was better to be without them than to have to deal with those damned fool engineers all over again. All the good citizens of Ohio had come to a greater consciousness and higher truth: Good railroads were only to be ridden by the benelvolent members of the ruling class, for they were the only ones who knew the right way to do things anyway.

©R. L. Hoover, 1999