The Animal School Redux
Does anyone remember reading that classic fable called, "The Animal School" by George Reavis? It was first published back in 1946 and is more true today than ever before. Read it below:
http://www.janebluestein.com/handouts/animal.html
Sad to say, we are still trying to standardize our students by requiring them to take standardized test on a largely standardized curriculum. Never mind that the kid are all different in abilities and interests, but grouped largely by age, as that's the only easy descriptor to measure. We'd like standardized results from them too, with all of them above average.
Did you ever stop and think what it means to have everyone above average? I don't recommend it, as it can cause an instant headache.
Since these NCLB tests we give our kids tell us little or nothing about how to help Jason with his reading or Gwen with her grammar, we have to figure out something useful to do with them. Billions are being tossed by states and feds into the test-makers' coffers annually, largely to assure us that while our students are not quite
http://www.janebluestein.com/handouts/animal.html
Sad to say, we are still trying to standardize our students by requiring them to take standardized test on a largely standardized curriculum. Never mind that the kid are all different in abilities and interests, but grouped largely by age, as that's the only easy descriptor to measure. We'd like standardized results from them too, with all of them above average.
Did you ever stop and think what it means to have everyone above average? I don't recommend it, as it can cause an instant headache.
Since these NCLB tests we give our kids tell us little or nothing about how to help Jason with his reading or Gwen with her grammar, we have to figure out something useful to do with them. Billions are being tossed by states and feds into the test-makers' coffers annually, largely to assure us that while our students are not quite