Drive

This week’s reading proposed many challenges for me. I agree with some of the ideas: offering student autonomy over how and when to complete a task and a focus on progress instead of grades. However, I’m concerned about how the focus on improving education appears to be a bottom-up process. For example, how do we remove the emphasis on grades without shortchanging our students? College admission boards aren’t playing by the same rules. We can talk about the importance of progress over product, but at the end of the day, college entrance requirements are highly competitive. To complicate matters, more students are going to college, and that trend is likely to increase. A college education has become the equivalent of a high school diploma. So, if students’ grades slip because we they are becoming more process focused, how do we balance the equation? Colleges are setting the standards. This is why the focus on grades is so crucial to students and parents.

For me, this stood out as a real challenge. How do I help my students learn the most and still get the highest possible grades? I guess I will have to structure my assessments in unconventional ways. Contracts seem like the best route. I wonder if my future school district will allow me to assess this way? It will be interesting (when I go out into the field) to find out how progressive things are in the real world.