“I want to be very clear: The results in today’s nation’s report card are appalling and unacceptable,” said Miguel Cardona, the secretary of education.
From The New York Times today
How many ways is this incorrect?
- The dip in standardized test scores is not appalling. It is anticipated and understandable. It’s the result of an unanticipated pivot to a wholly new method of teaching in March 2020, combined with decades of misguided educational changes that demotivate students and over-prioritize the wrong things.
- The dip in standardized test scores is not important. What’s far more important is the ongoing mental health crisis our youth are facing. This crisis predates the pandemic but was exacerbated by it. Measure that!
- Standardized tests don’t measure what’s important; they measure what’s measurable. By focusing on them, we double down on forcing teachers to focus on metrics rather than humans. By calling low scores appalling, the Secretary of Education comes dangerously close to calling educators appalling. They are doing their best to work within a losing standardized strategy.
- Even if a standardized test score were a meaningful metric, the delay in these makes them worthless. Every teacher I have talked to this school year has agreed that we are more able to teach the way we did pre-2020, more able to expect growth from students, more able to push students to succeed without them struggling with the pressure. I guarantee that the resilient youth of the country and the world are bouncing back this year from two years of incredibly different learning.
Of course we have work to do. We tried something new, with no testing or prep time, and we did successfully save lives and prevent an even more brutal first wave before we had effective treatments for COVID-19. There’s no denying we have work to do.
But to throw around words like “appalling” and “unacceptable” to describe where we are?
To me, that’s…well…appalling.