In the News
“Student achievement – in American parlance the term has become synonymous with ‘test scores.’ But it wasn’t always this way.”
In his latest Huffington Post column, “Achievement and Rats,” MƒA President John Ewing examines the consequences of redefining achievement for both teachers and students alike:
“Policy makers honed the new definition of achievement with good intentions—to weed out weak teachers, to close failing schools, to foster only reform that worked, and generally to make education accountable. They saw data from tests as a potent weapon to accomplish these things. But that redefinition has had unintended consequences.”
Dr. Ewing writes that if higher test scores remain the only goal for teachers, the craft of teaching itself will be greatly weakened:
“But the most serious effect of redefining achievement is this: Teachers are demoralized and the more accomplished more so. Accomplished teachers—the ones who know their subject and craft most deeply—recognize the damage done to their students by narrowing achievement’s meaning. Inexperienced or indifferent teachers may be willing to convert their classrooms into test-prep, but accomplished teachers are not. Eventually they leave. When they do, we lose not only those great teachers but future great teachers as well.”
Read more about how achievement and test scores are not the same in “Achievement and Rats.”