Not Training Seals
If there is one word that hits a nerve for me it's the word performance. Used in many of the educational circles I frequent, that one word, so popular today when discussing student assessment, seems to encapsulate all that is wrong with the so-called "reform" movement today. Humans, unlike corporations, are people. The use of the word once prompted me to interject at a faculty meeting, "We're not training seals here." Yet, the constant use of the term student performance leaves some doubt. Sure, teachers care about "outcomes" and scores and how data can "inform" our practice, but we care more and know more about people and their diverse learning styles and what motivates an individual. In a recent interview, leading education historian Diane Ravitch noted that because of the corporate assault on public education, some large American cities (Dallas, Philadelphia) might no longer have public schools. She followed that comment with t