In this age of evaluating teachers by the outcomes of their students, I have been uncomfortable with the possibility or more correctly the probability that the tests that are issued don't really measure a teachers ability to teach or the long term success of our students. The focus on these standardized tests has shifted the focus in the classrooms to Type 1 teaching vs Type 2 teaching that causes valuable life long learning to occur (see Seth Godin's article on Type 1 teaching vs Type 2 teaching here) Now I realize that the Type 1 teaching that Seth writes about is essential to our schools. But if we are forced to focus on Type 1 teaching to get all of our students to a minimum level, what happens to our top students who would benefit from Type 2 situations.
The question that we all must ask ourselves is "What skills do our future leaders need to help our country continue to be the leader of the free world?" Will just being able to do well on standardized tests assure us that today's students, tomorrows leaders, will be able to make sound decisions and be able to solve complex problems that require more than just knowing facts.
In this article the author points out that some of the life skills like patience, discipline, manners, and perseverance that are measured in kindergarten testing procedures may be more indicative of future success than some of our multiple choice tests that we give our middle and high school students.
I think both of these articles that I linked to do a great job of causing educators to take a deeper look at what we teach and at how we teach it. What do we really hope to impress upon our students?
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