Comments on for the love of learning: The Culture of Public Education

It's heartening to see so many thinkers and te...

2010-04-02T08:37:56.561-06:00

It's heartening to see so many thinkers and teachers converging on these ideas. I agree that changes are desperately needed; just how to make those changes and how to change the culture is not obvious (though I think you are right it needs to come from the teachers). The key thing that stood out to me in your post is "trust." Administrators & legislators tend to dictate the content taught and how it is assessed. Instead they should be empowering teachers to do what they love--they need to trust the teachers. It will be difficult to let go of standardized tests simply because they yield measurable data. I don't believe it is very useful data, but the system is so ingrained in measuring and categorizing and ranking students that this drives the need for standardized tests (after all, how can we know if one school district's 88% is the same as another school district's 88%, unless we make them all take the same test?). It's a huge cultural shift to let go of all that, and I don't know yet how to convince people that it's ok to let go. Keep the thoughts coming!

Thank you for a wonderful posting. Sadly, my scho...

2010-03-30T13:42:07.396-06:00

Thank you for a wonderful posting.
Sadly, my school is now longer about teaching or even teaching to the tests... we are now TESTING to the tests.

Joe, just about everything you've been saying ...

2010-03-30T08:55:29.292-06:00

Joe, just about everything you've been saying regarding assessment/grades has been right on the money.
When I first came to the US (many years ago), I was taken aback by the culture of standardized tests, which were still in their infancy (especially with regard to the frequency with which they were used).
I came from Europe, where these types of assessments were unheard of (sadly they have emulated us). Our educational experience was not managed/assessed to death. Entering 9th grade I found myself a few years ahead of my US peers, without being inherently any smarter than they were.
Within 1-2 years, I was beginning to fit in the "standardized" mold.
I am not a classroom teacher at this point, however, I extend my sympathies to all students and teachers who find themselves in this scary, mind-numbing assessment environment, without room to breathe.
There are so many bright, inquisitive, creative young people in K-12. I wish the policy-makers/administrators would honor this budding genius with course-reversal on assessment
I recall what Elizabeth Bennett (Pride and Prejudice) said about her educational experience (paraphrase):
'In my house there are a lot of books and all of us girls were free to learn according to our initiative.'
Let's restore a culture of intellectual curiosity in K-12
Let's assess the policy makers :-)

Great post Joe. I work in the assessment office in...

2010-03-30T07:14:41.110-06:00

Great post Joe. I work in the assessment office in my district, and the conversations I get to have with teachers are often about re-establishing balance in the classroom. We've even used the phrase "put assessment in its place" - the over-emphasis on large scale testing needs to be tempered (a lot!) by reestablishing the primacy of classroom assessment (esp. formative uses of assessment data). Here's a question I struggle with: policy makers tell us they need large scale testing information for policy decisions (and there are some legit. arguments for this). Is there a way to keep this kind of assessment "in its place" and not let its influence creep into school culture? This is question is acutely relevant in our state right now (NE) - we just switched from a culture of locally developed and reported achievement tests to a system of statewide testing (and I'm still in mourning for our old system). Any advice for us during this shift? What do you all think?