Comments on: Which Comes First: Education or Assessment? http://www.dreambox.com/blog/which-comes-first-education-or-assessment Math Learning, Fun & Education Blog : Dreambox Learning Fri, 23 Oct 2009 16:58:17 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 hourly 1 By: Dawn@Moms Inspire Learning http://www.dreambox.com/blog/which-comes-first-education-or-assessment/comment-page-1#comment-1637 Dawn@Moms Inspire Learning Thu, 11 Jun 2009 01:56:25 +0000 http://www.dreambox.com/blog/?p=2437#comment-1637 From what I've seen in the state I live in, there are now so many standards and math topics for teachers to cover that there is not much time for proper assessments to be made. In addition, the emphasis on quantity, as opposed to quality, means that there is a lot of shallow learning going on. As a result, students are not able to see connections between topics, and are not able to develop a deep understanding of the material. There is so much talk about "raising standards," but what does that mean? To me, it means that we need to keep the "big picture" in mind, rather than just getting lost in too many details. If we want our children to become problem solvers and critical thinkers, then we need to let teachers do "more" with "less" standards. From what I’ve seen in the state I live in, there are now so many standards and math topics for teachers to cover that there is not much time for proper assessments to be made. In addition, the emphasis on quantity, as opposed to quality, means that there is a lot of shallow learning going on. As a result, students are not able to see connections between topics, and are not able to develop a deep understanding of the material.

There is so much talk about “raising standards,” but what does that mean? To me, it means that we need to keep the “big picture” in mind, rather than just getting lost in too many details. If we want our children to become problem solvers and critical thinkers, then we need to let teachers do “more” with “less” standards.

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