Saturday, March 24, 2012

School Tech Connect: Today's Ed Reform Catechism

School Tech Connect: Today's Ed Reform Catechism:


Today's Ed Reform Catechism

Modern ed reform is like an obscure religion with tenets you may not have heard of but which the true believers cling to with fervor.

One of the tenets is that certain types of teachers can eliminate, no merely reduce, the impact of poverty in its test-score manifestation. This belief is carved on a the holiest of tablets. The belief actually lets you off the hook for the causes of poverty, because if you think it through, poverty is caused by teachers.

Another tenet is that pension systems inhibit student achievement because they reward longevity, and longevity is the death-knell of effectiveness. Effectiveness erodes after two years, five years, or ten years, depending on which sect you're a member of.

A third tenet is that a new type of test is coming that will actually sort out what exactly is going on inside the noggins of our young charges because that information is knowable, measurable, and directly related to specific