During a 40-year career in education, I had the privilege of witnessing significant innovations and frivolous. New Math, English gradually, grammar structure, open class, independent learning packages, and homogeneous and heterogeneous grouping, advanced physics, and a buffet of non-academic courses of Design. Among these were preparation for adulthood and off-campus training programs, shop for girls and home economics for boys.

Then came the Movement Back to Basics. Presumably this meant reading writing and arithmetic, were to be shown in schools. The hypothesis is that it had not been taught. This Back to Basics Movement came standard ‘tougher’, is even talk of increases granted to teachers based on the percentage of success for their students. As it turned out, Return to General Movement and stricter regulations have simply meant more scores higher on standardized tests, tests that are themselves poorly designed.

I wrote about the excessive use of standardized tests first. Now it has become an absurdity. Accountability has been aimed at teachers. Students have played a role in that responsibility. If a student fails, the failure of the teacher or student? It could be the failure of the system as the focus wrong? Read the rest of this entry »