It’s not even Noon, and nine-year-old Harvey is already back on the floor.
His three tablemates, their efforts at independent reading on hold, watch and wait for Ms. Serber to arrive and restore order. Harvey’s pear-shaped body writhes on the floor, animated by neither malice nor mischief. He chews absent-mindedly on his silver necklace and gazes at the ceiling until she arrives.
On the radio this morning, I heard three different stories about public education reform. In each story, I heard the same three words — data, testing, and accountability.
Before I get any more depressed about how uninspiring this language makes me feel, I have a proposal to make: let’s stop the madness and start identifying some new words that can more accurately describe the changes we seek for children.
Tags: hamlet, language, Learning, testing, words
4 CommentsToday’s Washington Post reports that the test scores of elementary school kids slipped this year after two successive years of growth, “a setback to Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee as she seeks to overhaul the city’s schools.” No doubt, this news is being used by Rhee’s critics to point out that her particular brand of reform [...]
Tags: balanced scorecard, Learning, michelle rhee, test scores, testing
2 CommentsIn yesterday’s Washington Post, reporter Bill Turque wrote that Michelle Rhee is seeking an outside contractor to help dramatically expand DCPS’ use of standardized tests, so that every grade from K through 12 will have some form of assessment to measure student progress and teacher effectiveness. Is this what happens when we pray too long [...]
Tags: balanced scorecard, DCPS, Learning, michelle rhee, testing, thurgood marshall academy
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