As a public school teacher in California for thirty years (1975-2005), I suffered through top-down waves of change-for-the-better (always called reform—a dirty word today) that ALL turned out to be worse for everyone but the few who profited from the false promises that never worked. Here we go again, and again, and again! You can always tell the bad ideas because most teachers have to be forced to implement them (out-of-fear) against their better judgement as professional educators.
Anthony Cody gives us an overview of the past 14 years, in which the common theme is that teachers cannot be trusted to grade or assess their students.
Having survived the onerous and intrusive NCLB and the teacher-bashing of Race to the Top, educators and a growing part of the public realize that it is not the schools that are failing, it is the “reforms” of Bush and Obama.
So with the failure of test-based accountability, the next wave of disruptive innovation is upon us. Led by former Gates executive Tom Vanderbilt Ark, the latest thing is competency based learning and competency based assessment. The idea is even embedded in the President’s “Testing Action Plan.”
Cody writes:
“We have been badgered for the past 14 years by reformers insisting on the fierce urgency of change, and they have had their way – twice! First, seven years of NCLB, followed by…
View original post 208 more words
Crazy Normal - the Classroom Exposé 