Test Scores ≠ Student Capabilities

TITLE: Chapter 2: The Broken Model | A Short History of Public Schooling

AUTHOR: Khan | Class Dismissed 

Talking Points: 

(1) On page 70 it states, "The idea was to not produce independent thinkers, but churn out loyal and tractable citizens who learn the value of submitting to authority of parents, teachers, church, and ultimately king" I found this interesting and very slowly starting to backfire. There is a broken record that has been moving where millennials and younger generations were told "go to school, graduate, go to college, graduate, you'll get a job and it'll be great" That set back thousands of students. Although the were listening to what they were being told they all left institutions with debt in the hundreds of thousands in a job market where older generations refuse to retire from. There is a bitterness when the group who "did it right" wants to have their input on situations that won't affect them. So many missed out inventions and new ideas went into fields where they chose "stability" over "passion" because they listened.

(2) The last sentence on page 80 and continued onto page 81, Khan says, "Prussian-based public school model has come under attack from both the left and the right. Conservative complain tend to center on the alleged usurpation by government of choice and prerogatives more properly left to parents...Attacks from the left have tended to be surprisingly similar in tone, though the villain is not the government but the corporations that have the most to gain from a well-behaved and conformist population." The left view is mentioned by Laurie Couture from the Class Dismissed clip and connects to the talking point above regarding them to be "cogs". This link connects to a research study in showing how the parties view what's wrong with schooling. I find it intriguing that the right is focused on students not spending time on core subjects but also not viewing the lack of funding as an issue when they could go hand in hand. 

I fortunately have no clue who this person is however, I unfortunately couldn't contact her and politely ask what exactly history was...if not centuries of pushed politics and propaganda...I find it fascinating that she is so close to a break though.

(3)Lastly, on page 99 Khan states "The "best performing" student--that is the one with the greatest facility for catching on quickly at a certain level of understanding, and therefore the one with the highest test scores--will necessarily end up as the most accomplished scientist or engineer. That will depend on creativity, passion, and originality-things that begin where testing leaves off." This reminded me of an interview the other day with a student refugee from Afghanistan. She said in regards to the question, 'what does academic success mean to you', "I strive to be my best. I want to be able be able to understand what I am learning. I rather have a B in a topic I can understand the best of my ability than an A in the class but not understanding what I'm learning, just handing homework...assignments, not gaining anything." In her folder she did score low on her PSAT but she is striving to be a Neurosurgeon to understand her family's history of different brain traumas. She will succeed in the field because she has a passion for it and it very intelligent, but her PSAT score would do her harm.

Argument: The author argues that creativity is under appreciated and neglected from the STEM fields despite it being vital to careers and the push for test scores wears down education; the system needs to make changes.

Connections: Providence schools drill standardized testing to their students. I work in Hope High School out of our three targeted and I believe the students are so burnt out they've given up. PSAT, SAT, etc. It hurts our annual performance in Upward Bound because a student who took their first PSAT in 9th grade trying their best and now they're juniors on their 3rd or 4th PSAT before the Spring SAT they've given up. Our program needs good scores in order to receive their funding and we have bright students but they're tired of it. 

Its also interesting that although we started to 'equally" educated everyone...there's no uniform curriculum. Students have to hope their districts are providing the right information and have the resources to give thousands of students a chance into high fields. There is no equality in public education and testing alone won't fix it. 

Another issue is that this strict testing is a global problem. In Korea the government shuts down any air travel so students aren't distracted during their EXTREMELY important exam. While its very nice for the entire government to do this, it seems very unnecessary that the importance of this test affects elements outside the classroom. In China it is normal for student desk to look like this when they reach their test dates. In the United Kingdom, they have GCSE's which cause students thier own stress and A-Levels for specialized classes. Around the world testing is haunting students.

Reflection: I didn't realize how long we have been using this Prussian Model but felt like it needed to change the last decade and especially with the effects of covid. I related to the part with Nadia (pg.100) and the math placement test. There was an opportunity in middle school to take a test to learn Algebra I in 8th grade and start Freshman year taking Geometry. I always strived to "be" smart and wanted to take the test. I have never excelled in math and just barely scraped by. I just wanted to look good on paper and have a good grade but never fully understood any unit from there to my college math gen ed. In today's society there is a vast amount of opportunities for students which can be overwhelming for children and adolescents. I've seen more montessori options, language immersion, CTE schools but to districts, their numbers matter more than the benefits of these opportunities. Furthermore, there is a disconnect between students and these opportunities. In the community people are complaining that students from out of the city get bussed in to take CTC classes and that it should be reserved for East Providence students only. However, I see a lot of students NOT wanting to take the opportunity. Are they just lazy, burnt out, or coddled?