Rog Lucido: Student Learning Can Only be Described, Not Measured
Guest post by Rog Lucido.
Year after year, Mario takes district, state and national tests. Each year Mario's individual scores are combined with others in his class, school, district, and state. The scores are sent home to parents, analyzed by teachers, districts and departments of education. Decisions are made about Mario, his teachers and his school. Belief in the validity of the scores is so strong that most people uncritically accept their truth.
All high-stakes testing is based on the paradigm that learning can be 'measured' by using a device that produces a number. Tests play the role of this measuring device and the resulting numbers are translated into scores. These scores are then compared and contrasted and by selecting arbitrary criteria are used to categorize students, teachers, schools, districts and states. But what if the paradigm is wrong. What if learning cannot be 'measured'?
Under the current line of thinking we have had tests for a long time in our classrooms and schools. Every such
