The Fundamental Flaw In Education Policy
"Truly effective teaching meets each student at his or her own level and
raises that individual to a higher level."
The Fundamental Flaw in Education Policy
raises that individual to a higher level."
The Fundamental Flaw in Education Policy
By Joseph Ganem, Ph.D.
Education policy in the United States is built on a fundamentally flawed chain of reasoning. The underlying assumption is that student achievement depends on the abilities of the teachers, and that achievement is measurable with standardized tests. Therefore test scores identify successful teachers. High test scores result from high-quality teaching that should be rewarded and emulated. Low test scores mean that the teachers are incompetent. Schools with consistently low scores are failed institutions that should replace their teachers or be closed.
The flaw in this reasoning is so glaring that I am amazed that these assumptions drive national education policy. A simple thought experiment exposes the fault. Imagine two schools at opposite ends of the test-score spectrum. For example, in Baltimore where I live, there are private college-prep schools filled with students who score in the 95th percentile and above on standardized tests. There are also public schools filled with students who cannot read at grade level, and that have graduation rates less than 50%. Many of the public schools are labeled as failures because of their low test scores. Imagine the following experiment: move all the students from one of the private schools to one of the failed public schools, and all the students from the failed school to the private school. Do not change the teachers, administrators, or