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March 13, 2008

What Doesn't Get Measured Doesn't Get Done

Reassessing the Achievement Gap: Fully Measuring What Students Should Be Taught in School by Richard Rothstein, Rebecca Jacobsen and Tamara Wilder finds that important accepted goals for schools are not only not measured but students fall well short of expectations. Tape measure.jpg

Of the ten major goals of schooling (basic academic skills, critical thinking and problem solving, social skills and work ethic, readiness for citizenship and community responsibility, foundation for lifelong physical and emotional health, appreciation of the arts and literature, and preparation for work) only two or three areas are systematically assessed. We're left to guess about the rest with considerable doubt about their achievement. In addition, national measures, such as they are, show the familar gap between black and white students.

This thought-provoking double-spaced 27 page report will be a foundation for an upcoming book.

Posted by Wayne Jennings at March 13, 2008 07:50 PM

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