There is something in a policy discussion that just loves numbers. We need data. No matter if the data are fuzzy, distorting, or simply unusable. People in the social sciences suffer from physics envy, we want clear and settled facts backed up by interesting charts, slopes, regression tables. Never mind that the best physics begins to call into question the settled nature of the data, still they get to use numbers. Our holy grail is the standardized test, even though these tests have been shown to be laughable in tracking student knowledge, biased towards those with more wealth and cultural capital, and destructive in narrowing and dumbing down the curriculum as schools focus on test prep to avoid closure. Any attempt to describe what happens in a good classroom in a complex way, in a way that captures the human elements, is dismissed as "anecdotal evidence" at best and, at worst, as granola-fuzzy-hippy sentimentality.
So the learning process, that interaction between humans and between us and our environment, that complicated psychological and cultural practice, that dance of motivation and compulsion, is being handcuffed into narrow moments of transmission -- the downloading of facts. Students today are so deeply watched by security guards, teachers, administrators, and ubiquitous cameras; their acts in class are so patrolled in the search for errors, wrong answers, mistakes, missteps, and hesitations; their imaginations so hemmed in by the demands of the tests; and the brilliance, capacity, and literacy brought from home so discounted and attacked as simply a deficit; that the inspiration and curiosity for learning is being beat out of them. Those who excel, and some do, are a testament to the capacity of some children to endure boredom and persevere in doing what they are told. That is how the best of learning has become a crime. And it is time we called for a decriminalization campaign.
But we are suffering now because the narrative of reform, the framing of reform, has been hijacked by a new set of enthusiastic fixers, billionaires who command the agenda, politicians seeking to cut the public sphere, and right wing activists interested in vouchers and the privatization of education. All of these forces are far, far from the classroom.
Yes, education should be accountable, accountable to communities, to children, and to our highest aspirations. It is not simply about filling slots in the corporate structure that we have today. It is to help this generation imagine a just and positive future and to give them the tools to go out and build it. The best learning, the kind of learning that we really need over the next decades, is being squeezed out by our obsession with testing and punishment. Let's fight for what we, who are with the kids every day, know is right.
I especially like this "It is not simply about filling slots in the corporate structure that we have today. It is to help this generation imagine a just and positive future and to give them the tools to go out and build it. The best learning, the kind of learning that we really need over the next decades, is being squeezed out by our obsession with testing and punishment."
I got tired of hearing the nonsense that we are the only ones in our right mind, so I made up another one. I tell people that I never do anything right.
Let the students choose which classes they want to stay in, that is, let them go to the courses they're interested in and see for themselves how the teacher is and then decide if the class is really worth their time or not.
I teach 9th grade Earth Science, a wonderful course, and I am unable to develop any ideas and concepts. I have literally pages of standards to teach such that the pacing guide only permits me to expose students to each concept and then move to the next one. The standards should have been literaly 1/2 of what they are and we should be able to teach for a level of mastery. This approach, huge numbers of standards taught as early as possible, pervades our educational system, no wonder we have so little mastery. If we allowed our students to play with ideas, to become smitten with the subject matter, we might find we naturally get more students who develop a love for the various STEM subjects. I think typical teachers could do more with a decent curriculum that teachers had a significant voice in writing.
Best line ever on Huffpost.
So, do other developed nations give more or fewer standardized tests?
I suspect the answer is "they give more tests", and maybe we should too.
track a student from pre school to 4th grade.
there is something that profound happens during those years.
our method of teaching takes the interest to learn from most students.
yet we continue down the same road decade after decade applying the same approach to education.
we dont have a national education system like the best in the world do and we are too proud to ask for help.
after all everything american is best in the world and every one in the world wants to move here.
track who wants to move here and you will find it is third world people and those that want to be movie stars.
it is as good as it is going to get as obama is making the same mistakes as every other president. ie pay for performance. wall street and the big three and medical insurance are pay for performance. :-)
americans think they can buy their way out of everything.
it will be interesting if we can buy off the taliban. we bought off the iraqis with our printed money.