Accountability is quite the buzz word when education reform is the topic. Teachers should teach more, teach better, and should be paid (some would argue) based on whether or not their students do well enough. Schools should be held accountable for the performance of teachers and students alike. It sounds alright. Sort of. But it’s not.
If the numbers do not match certain baselines or other pre-determined criterion, schools and teachers suffer. By extension, the students suffer. It’s a sad cycle really, and I fear no good end can come of it.
I am not suggesting our educational system does not need help, especially in economically struggling areas. But no matter what reform looks like, if the measures of success or failure rely on standardized tests and baselines alone, no one will truly know if learning is happening.
But what is learning? How learning gets defined drives the definition of success, so why not challenge the definition of learning just a little? Or, a lot? Sure, tests in math and vocabulary and history provide some evidence of learning certain materials, at least for long enough to test well. But these tests can never measure leadership, drive, or creativity. Nor can they measure interpersonal skills or even the ability to apply “learned” information to an unfamiliar situation. Yet, those are the kinds of skills that serve people well.
So much in life advances at an alarming rate—cars, computers, phones, televisions. Why does it seem that our educational system is doing the opposite?
