Do you remember what you were doing on the 22nd of June at 9.00am? I do – at least for the year 1964 because that was the date of the University of London GCE “O” level exam in Biology. I am seated in a single desk in one of many rows in a packed but … Read more
The case against grades and grading has been so clearly made that it is time to turn the tables. Why – in 2019 – with all the evidence available – Why are institutions and individuals still clinging to this pernicious practice? Why do educators persist in wasting time discussing such irrelevancies as grading standards, grading … Read more
I did not attend the NAIS Annual Conference this year – first time for many years – so I don’t have any takeaways to report like Grant Lichtman. But I was in Baltimore for an ICG (Independent Curriculum Group) board meeting and I was at the conference center to pick up a set of attractive … Read more
“The secret of quality is love,” Avedis Donabedian, a professor at the University of Michigan’s School of Public Health, expert in the field of quality measurement. That’s a rather remarkable statement from a scientist whose expertise was accountability measures and quality control. It’s from a NYTimes article How Measurement Fails Doctors and Teachers by Robert M. Wachter … Read more
I was listening to Noam Chomsky on ranking and the dangers of standardized testing. This is some of what he had to say: First of all, you don’t have to assess people all the time… People don’t have to be ranked in terms of some artificial standards. The assessment itself is completely artificial. It’s not … Read more
Test-weary second-grader asks school board: ‘Is that all that matters to grown-ups?’ Elitist parents threaten lawsuit after kids are called out for alleged test prep Two news stories from test-world: The first from The Washington Post reports the testimony of a second grader at the New Jersey State Board: Dear members of the New Jersey State … Read more
PDS student reports are not just a list of untethered numbers and letters but rather in-depth narratives that convey detailed and helpful information about emerging strengths, accomplishments, challenges, growth and progress. They are part of the on-going conversation between school and home with the student as participant, contributor, planner and goal-setter. Nevertheless – here is … Read more
We asked….They told. The High School Survey of Student Engagement (known as the Hessie) is a highly regarded survey measuring the academic, social, and emotional engagement of high school students across the United States. It is administered annually by the Center for Evaluation and Education Policy at Indiana University. Since the survey’s inception, over 500,000 … Read more
From the NYTimes Scientifically tested tests …there are few indications that the multiple-choice format of a typical test, in which students are quizzed on the specific formulas and bits of information they have memorized that year, actually measures what we need to know about children’s education. Susan Engel was also on The Academic Minute on … Read more
By now you have probably been sent a link to, or have even read, Playing to Learn – Susan Engel’s oped in the NYTimes last week. In addition to the fluttering in my twittersphere, I received notice from a teacher, an alumna, and an administrator at PDS as well as the head of a neighboring … Read more
Many years ago I wrote an article with the title The Carrot and the Cattleprod. It’s so long ago that although I wrote it on a word processor I no longer have an electronic copy. It’s buried and yellowing deep in a file cabinet somewhere in the basement. So I don’t know where it is … Read more
A colleague at a nearby school sent me this link to the NYTimes – just the latest bulletin from a world gone mad with narrow definitions of achievement and success. Test prep for pre-school no less. And a real moneymaker for the lucrative (and unregulated) test prep industry. Tips for the Admissions test – to … Read more
It’s the 21st century. So what happens when we shut children down and disconnect them from wonder, creativity, curiosity and natural love of learning? The disengagement that is epidemic in high school starts much earlier. And if we actually believe in that cliche about the importance of lifetime learning then it must take joyful root … Read more
It’s testing season and here’s a timely reminder that traditional testing for ability is not the last word in thinking about what makes for success. This is from a May edition of Education Week Robert J. Sternberg often writes about a lecture-style psychology course he took as a college freshman in which he got a … Read more
“You don’t make a hog fatter by weighing it.” Everyone went to school and that makes everyone an expert on education. And of course, truth is, education must be everyone’s business. Our future depends on it. And apparently the hot education topic on the hustings is the future of the No Child Left Behind Act. … Read more