All Kinds of Testing: To What End?

Here are a few good resources to bring you up to speed on testing in our schools, especially the first one.

1)  NPR's “The Past, Present And Future of High-Stakes Testing” is an excellent, short update on testing. Listen to Steve Inskeep interview Anya Kamanetz, author of The Test: Why Our Schools Are Obsessed With Standardized Testing — ButYou Don’t Have to Be.
2)  Check out The Smartest Kids in the World by Amanda Ripley to learn about a test that has been given to 15-year old students all over the world, using the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA).
3)  “Ivy League’s meritocracy lie: How Harvard and Yale cook the books for the 1 percent” by Lani Guinier

“. . . the name was changed first to the Scholastic Assessment Test (keeping the handy, well-known acronym) and later to the SAT Reasoning Test. Call it what you will, the SAT still promises something it can’t deliver: a way to measure merit. Yet the increasing reliance on standardized test scores as a status placement in society has created something alien to the very values of our democratic society yet seemingly with a life of its own: a testocracy.”

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Learning to Lead

I am at a retreat about to listen to David Mead, a protégé of Simon Sinek. To prepare, I read Sinek's book Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action. I recommend it highly. 

In case you are not familiar with Sinek, here are his two TED Talks—they are so good—"Simon Sinek: Why good leaders make you feel safe" (below) and a link to "Simon Sinek: How great leaders inspire action."




If you like him, then you'll want to try Fred Reichheld's The Ultimate Question 2.0, Dan Pink's Drive: the Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, and Danny Meyer's Setting the Table. All of these books revolve around learning to lead, "good profits," caring for employees, and providing dedicated service to customers.

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A Bit of Montessori Education

Read the brief article "Why the World Embraces the Montessori Method" I wrote. Here are some of the terms and concepts discussed:

• Respect for the Student
• Teacher as Facilitator
• Intrinsically Motivated
• Prepared Environment
• Mixed-age Classes
• Three-year Cycle
• . . . and more. 

Read and see what you think.

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A First Contract for a Third Grader

When he was in third grade, he received his first contract . . . from his father and mother.
#8 on this week's NYTimes Middle Reader bestseller list, The Contract by Derek Jeter with Paul Mantell is a thoughtful book, all children AND parents should read. Here is that first contract between Derek and his parents.

1. Family Comes First.
2. Be a Role Model for Sharlee. [Derek's sister]
3. Do Your Schoolwork and Maintain Good Grades (As or Bs).
4. Bedtime. Lights out at nine p.m. on school nights.
5. Do Your Chores.
6. Respect Others.
7. Respect Yourself.
8. Work Hard.

Failure to comply will result in the loss of playing sports and hanging out with friends. Extra-special rewards include attending a major-league baseball game, choosing a location for dinner, and selecting another event of your choice.

Meet Derek's mother and father Dot and Charles in this five-minute interview.

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Middle Readers v. Young Adult Literature

Whenever I speak to a group of middle school parents, I let them know that one of the best resources for learning about their emerging adolescent child is to read books about their world. Middle readers and young adult literature (YAL) have so much to say.

For example, I just finished the book Eleanor & Park, a YAL book that takes you on a journey of a relationship between two 16-year olds.

Check out the Sunday NYTimes Book Review section to see the best selling list for both categories. Age-appropriateness is listed for each book. It is important to keep in mind that there is a definite distinction between middle readers and YAL.

If you want to learn more about the differences, read the middle reader Wonder and the YAL book The Fault in Our Stars.

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Optical Illusions - Revisited

Below is the most viewed post of all time on my blog.  It was originally posted on May 13, 2010 and since then has had 4,994 hits to date. Going back to each of the links, I understand why it has been so popular.

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I have always been fascinated with optical illusions.  Check out these two websites for more illustrations like the two at the left.  Illusion-Optical. com and NIEHS KIDS' PAGES.
     Also, M. C. Escher, a master of optical illusions, was one of my favorite artists, and I used his work often way back when I taught geometry.

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You Don't Know Jack . . .

. . . but you will after reading my interview with him that was recently published in Montessori Life magazine.  First read the article —"A Model of Will: An Interview with Jack Andraka"— then go to his website to learn more about this amazing teenager who will be a keynote speaker at the American Montessori Society annual conference this March.

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