Comments policy: My policy is to post a cross-section of comments, including negative feedback and plenty of ‘hater’ stuff. However, I sometimes limit comments that are very threatening or use misogynist, racist etc. language. (I’m okay with swearing.) You should not expect that every comment will be posted, or that I will include multiple ’rounds’ with an individual person. If this doesn’t satisfy you, much of my work can also be commented on at the sites where it was first published, such as TIME.com.
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I saw your article in Time ‘The Catch 22 of Obama’s Preschool Plan’ and found it interesting. Growing up I have lived in 5 different states and 3 countries. Consequently, I have seen many different styles of education including the testing based system that you mentioned and systems that are designed to focus on critical thinking and real world application. As a college student I experience first hand the benefits of the latter of the two systems when compared to many of my peers. Many of my fellow students can barely write papers, speak in public, and struggle with applying critical thinking to real world issues. Based on my experiences I firmly believe that we need to move away from the testing based system but how could our country do this? How do you effectively regulate such a system?
Many thanks for your comment. You raise a good question, but there are all kinds of “authentic assessment” systems that really work. They depend on capable teachers who really know their students and have the time to work with them on real, as opposed to ersatz, test-oriented, curriculum. The key is to commit, as a nation, to raising the quality and practice of teaching. Teachers who are better paid turn out to be smarter, more capable, and more passionate teachers. (This has been tested empirically.) And it’s those kind of people who are more likely to be effective teachers who can assess and guide learning optimally. The countries that have raised teachers’ starting salaries have seen big improvements in outcomes. I know there are many other factors – including, obviously, families – but we could go a long way toward getting out of this vortex of testing craziness if we took teaching more seriously. Everyone wants a quick fix, unfortunately, and for a while it looked like throwing lots of tests at people would do the trick.
I just read your piece on the time.ideas.com site and I must say you are wise beyond your years. I have taken the liberty of copying your article and plan to send it to educators here in Raleigh NC. You make the best sense I have read in a long time with respect to current school testing. A good friend of mine left teaching because he stated he would not be a part of “teaching to the test”.
Great work. Please keep it up. You need to be on as many TV programs as you can get on. The time has come for common sense and truth about wht our schools have morphed into.
Thank you for your words of encouragement! We need more voices speaking the truth about what’s happened to our education system. I’ll be starting work at the Yale Child Study Center this summer and hope I’ll have more opportunities to try (slowly, in baby steps, unfortunately) to move the compass needle a little bit. But the only way things will really change is if parents and teachers get much more assertive about protecting their children’s development. Thanks again!