Data Drunk — Let’s Take the Ass Out of Assessment
by Larry Strauss
Truth — or the passionate pursuit of truth — should always be a guiding principle in the educating of our children. So we ought never delude ourselves about whether we are effectively teaching our students.
Without some means of measurement, a belief in our effectiveness can too easily be manufactured. Those of us concerned with teaching our students to think and helping them develop the skills and appreciation for pursuing truth would therefore be hypocrites to disdain data as a valid tool.
But many of us have come to be wary of the manner in which a certain kind of mass-produced data gets presented — worshiped even — as truth.
Not all data is equal. Not even close. The poorest performing Mutual Funds can find a 6- or 12-month period in which it showed phenomenal growth.
I have worked at a school that looked awful on paper but did great work luring young men and women out of gangs and despair and into the world of ideas. I still hear from many of those students thanking me and my colleagues for saving their lives.
I’ve also worked at a school that looked great on paper but wasn’t doing nearly as much for its students as it should have.
At that under-performing model school, the principal retired and a few of the teachers were invited to be part of interviews for prospective replacements. Almost all the candidates
