I read an article in the LA Times about a school, that drew correlations between the fact that it had recently ripped out its concrete playground and planted a biodiverse garden, and improved test scores. It was an uplifting, positive article on education, such as are all too rare in the US media, these days, and the correlations drawn seem plausible, at least anecdotally. I'm sceptical, however… who is to say there weren't other causes for the improved test scores? There could have been demographic shifts in the school's neighborhood, there could have been curricular or staff changes, etc.
I love the story of it – the narrative – but I'm frustrated by it at the same time, because it's preceisely the type of muddle-headed thinking education is supposed to be ameliorating. Sigh. How to react? It's great to see schools tearing out ugly concrete playgrounds. It's wonderful that any inner-city school can improve student performance dramatically. But how about some actual science behind this alleged improvement in science scores?