Teach Resilience, Don’t Test It
Diane Ravitch, a historian of education, is the author, most recently, of "Reign of Error: The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to America’s Public Schools."
UPDATED MARCH 4, 2016, 9:39 AM
American education has a history of falling for silly fads. The latest is the idea that “grit” can be taught and tested. Paul Tough’s book “How Children Succeed” andAngela Duckworth’s research emphasize the importance of resilience and character. These are common-sense observations.
Teachers have always sought to encourage good citizenship and good character. But testing whether children are experiencing joy or learning 'grit' is sheer nonsense.
Teachers have always sought to encourage good citizenship and good character. We don’t send children to school just to get high scores on tests, but to learn how to act responsibly in the classroom and in society.
Teaching children to persevere, to complete their work on time, to act courteously toward others, to accept success and defeat with equanimity is part of the everyday life of teaching and learning. It is not a separate subject.
Testing whether children are experiencing joy or learning “grit” is sheer nonsense. If by “grit” we mean resilience, that is best taught informally, in the classroom, at home, on the playing fields, in the hallways, in the lunch room.
Grading schools and teachers by their students’ “grit” borders on lunacy. What tests will measure “joy”? What tests will measure “grit”? Will they be multiple-choice standardized tests? How will anyone verify that the students’ answers are aligned with their actual behavior? Will students fake it?
If the tests show that students have the right amount of joy or “grit,” who gets credit? The teacher, the parent, or the student?
If the student gets a low score, will she take home a report card informing parents that she is deficient in grit and must practice being gritty at home?
Really, some things are too silly to take seriously.
Except, in this case, the federal National Assessment of Educational Progressintends to measure “grit” in future tests, as does the international test called PISA. Maybe the whole world has gone mad.Teach Resilience, Don't Test It - NYTimes.com:
Teaching children to persevere, to complete their work on time, to act courteously toward others, to accept success and defeat with equanimity is part of the everyday life of teaching and learning. It is not a separate subject.
Testing whether children are experiencing joy or learning “grit” is sheer nonsense. If by “grit” we mean resilience, that is best taught informally, in the classroom, at home, on the playing fields, in the hallways, in the lunch room.
Grading schools and teachers by their students’ “grit” borders on lunacy. What tests will measure “joy”? What tests will measure “grit”? Will they be multiple-choice standardized tests? How will anyone verify that the students’ answers are aligned with their actual behavior? Will students fake it?
If the tests show that students have the right amount of joy or “grit,” who gets credit? The teacher, the parent, or the student?
If the student gets a low score, will she take home a report card informing parents that she is deficient in grit and must practice being gritty at home?
Really, some things are too silly to take seriously.
Except, in this case, the federal National Assessment of Educational Progressintends to measure “grit” in future tests, as does the international test called PISA. Maybe the whole world has gone mad.Teach Resilience, Don't Test It - NYTimes.com:
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