Are we driving in reverse?
Since Confucian times, China has adhered to a series of examinations that determined social and career advancement. Today, just as their predecessors did a thousand years ago, Chinese students prepare their entire lives for a series of examinations called "gaokao" that will ultimately determine their future. However, China may be moving away from that age-old model.
According to Newsweek, Chinese leaders are responding by moving education policies increasingly to focus on developing creative thinkers.
As one report points out "in the American education system, reformers are pushing the country toward a more test score-based model, with scores dictating how funds are doled out, how teachers are evaluated and more. Reformers in Los Angeles, New York City and other American cities have pressed for the "valued-added" system, ranking teachers based on their students' achievements on tests.
Newsweek reports, "When faculty of a major Chinese university asked [Professor Jonathan] Plucker to identify trends in American education, he described our focus on standardized curriculum, rote memorization, and nationalized testing. "After my answer was translated, they just started laughing out loud," Plucker says. "They said, 'You're racing toward our old model. But we're racing toward your model, as fast as we can.'"
The Bottom Line
Well-intentioned policies sometimes have unintended consequences. Perhaps it is time that we move forward instead of reinventing the past?
Learn more about this blog and "head blogger" Mel Riddile...
Comments
Yong Zhao, in his book "Catching Up or Leading the Way" went on a book tour last year and spoke to the choir everywhere but those in power don't seem to be interested. Two things he said stuck with me: (1) the US has the greatest number of Nobel Laureates and patents due to our creativity and education system and (2) the Common Core Standards will lead us straight to China's gaokao and "The gaokao has not produced citizens China wants in the 21st century." Who's going to stop the insanity?
Posted by: Joanne Robert | November 22, 2010 06:01 PM
Mel,
Your post points out the central unintended consequence of NCLB, and it's ironic impact on students and our nation's future.
While NCLB began with the admirable goal of narrowing demographic performance gaps and putting an end to sorting kids on the “bell curve,” because of its myopic reliance on standardized (we don't trust teachers) testing - it has failed. And the great irony is that while our students spend endless hours honing their test taking skills, the demand for routine skills has disappeared from the workplace. Anyone know of a meaningful and rewarding career that looks like filling out a worksheet?
What's needed to restore creativity as the centerpiece of schools? Read my suggestions at my post "As NCLB Narrows the Curriculum, Creativity Declines" http://bit.ly/c0CmbQ
Posted by: Peter Pappas | November 22, 2010 06:47 PM
This is too sad. I teach writing to college freshman in NYC, where heavy standardized testing is required to get through high school. Now in college, they're struggling with creative thinking in terms of creative presentations, analysis, and development. They can only think in terms of "correctness." They freak out about their grammar being correct, but give little thought to their own thought processes or to the deeper implications of the topics they chose to write about.
Plus, they have performance anxiety. Writing freaks them out to the point where they simply can't write. They worry about every little word being the "right" word.
When I give them assignments that are outside the box (write a blog post, respond and react, comment on a discussion board, write about your personal experience), they are often hesitant or confused. I must get asked "am I doing this right?" at least twice a week. They don't trust their own self-assessments. They are relying on a leader and a rubric to judge and guide them.
Is this what we want? Because this is what testing will get you.
Posted by: Nicole | November 24, 2010 03:26 PM