Today in the NY Times there’s an article about Obama’s proposed changes to the evaluation of success in schools. Without a  doubt, this is either at the heart of current problems in the educational system or a big symptom of the problems. How do we measure success for our students? I would argue that it goes much deeper than that question on it’s own. How do we measure the success of our teachers (and I don’t mean just in how they teach children in the classroom but in a broader way for the profession)? How do we know learning is actually occurring in the classroom? How do we track data other than test scores? Is success measurable outside the walls of a classroom?

For the first time in a long time in the mainstream media an article focuses on a different definition of academic skills and what the reality of that would look like in an elementary classroom. It describes real ways that children would fill their time and describes the real-world benefits of those activities. This is one step of many towards a plan of action, not a theoretical model.

I am encouraged and fascinated. This is, in my opinion, the kind of discussion we need to be having about our schools and our goals for our education system as a whole.

Anyway, take a look below. Thanks for the link, Kate!

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/02/opinion/02engel.html?em