I believe the drama of the current moment in education is a conflict between two opposing forces attempting to take the country’s education system in two different directions.
On one side, you have the movement toward standardization—of curriculum, standards, assessments, teaching methods, and ultimately, students. On this side, testing is the way forward. It’s a way to apparently control a multitude of factors that affect teaching and learning. It’s a way to make teaching a simple matter of learning techniques to get results. It implies that success looks the same for every child, that we can count on “if…then…” scenarios to work every time, and that the arts have no value.
The movement toward standardization means lots of money is needed to fund the creation and administration of more tests, the development of test preparation materials, and stronger data tracking systems. These endeavors add up to a booming industry funded by our tax money. This movement also means less money and time is needed to prepare, support, and retain quality, professional teachers, since most curriculum and assessment decisions are made without teacher input and creativity.
On the other side, you have a powerful movement working to create a real teaching profession, something we’ve never really had—due in large part to sexism inherent in the way the teacher’s job has historically been structured. Teachers are taking on more leadership at all levels of the educational system, revealing the complexity of teaching and child development and bridging the huge divide between the ed policy world and the classroom. Parents are speaking up about the value of their childrens’ teachers and the diverse needs of their children.
Lately there are forceful attempts by the standardization movement to take control of the professionalization of teaching by defining great teaching as that which causes the greatest rise in student standardized test scores. Will professionals and taxpayers allow this false idea to guide the education of America’s children?
[image credit: familyplanting.com]
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Author
Ariel Sacks
Ariel Sacks began her 13-year teaching career in New York City public schools after earning her master’s degree at Bank Street College and has taught and coached in grades 7-9. She is the author of Whole Novels for the Whole Class: A Student Centered Approach (Jossey-Bass, 2014) and writes a teaching column for Education Week Teacher.
Ariel’s work as a teacher leader with the Center for Teaching Quality involved her in co-authoring Teaching 2030: What We Must Do For Our Public Schools – Now and in the Future. She was also featured in the CTQ book Teacherpreneurs: Innovative Teachers Who Lead Without Leaving.
She is currently working on a book about the role of creative writing in equitable, 21st century schools, and she speaks and leads workshops on the whole novels approach.
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