A FIRING OFFENSE
“No matter what happens in the world, however brutal or dystopian a thing, not all is lost if there are people out there risking themselves to document it. Little sparks cause fires, too.”
― Swimming in the Dark
― Swimming in the Dark
The field of student assessments is a complex one. Its a field heavily reliant on high level math, complex algorythm, and a deep understanding of subject matter. Used properly, assessments can give great insight into student progress, where the gaps in learning fall, and effective practices. It can give better guidence on the deployment of resources and help shape policy in order to benefit kids, and ultimately society.
Unfortunately the flip side can be particularly damaging. It can lead to the prescription of unneccessary and harmful learning plans. Resources being squandered due to mis-perceptions. Mis-interpretations and mis-use can result in teachers and schools being painted in an inaccurate light, giving the public the misperception that they are failing kids, and as a result, hampering educator efforts.
For these reasons and more, great care needs to be taken in intrepetating data and creating a narrative around those intrepations. Two things that Tennessee’s Commissioner of Education Penny Schwinn failed to do when she stood in front of reporters and declared that data showed that due to the pandemic, and specifically a lack of students attending brick and mortar schools, proficency scores in literacy were expected to fall by 50% and math by 60%. Needless to say, CONTINUE READING: A FIRING OFFENSE – Dad Gone Wild