How Standardization is Ruining our Education System - Delanney Hight

     If standardization hasn't ruined ruined our education system already, standardization will soon destroy it....

Dan Pink reveals that the keys to unlocking and sustaining intrinsic motivation are autonomy, mastery, and purpose. Having that kind of motivation will allow for flourishing creativity, students find meaning in their learning, and teachers can be innovative.... 

 .... Current education is in the opposite direction and we use the "if-then" rewards. Our education focuses on if the students score well on standardized tests, then they move to the next grade level or graduate. This current education is extrinsic motivation, where it will work for a short period, but isn't sustainable. Test scores are looked at as the number one determinant of achievement, but for me, just like others, don't score well on test but know the material. It's called bad test takers, but knowing the standardized material. The focus on standardization creates a teaching culture where creativity, exploration, and critical thinking is non-existent. 

"This entrenched system produces students that lack creativity, are fearful or failure, work extremely hard to follow directions, and are leaving schools with undesirable skills in a post-industrial society. Schools focus more on filling the minds of students with useless facts and knowledge as opposed to learning essential skills that can't be measured with a #2 pencil." 

Students from low income and minority group backgrounds, English language learners, and students with disabilities, are more likely to be denied diplomas, retained in grade, placed in a lower track, or unnecessarily put in remedial education programs. This ensures they will fall further behind than their peers. Many will drop out, with some ending up in the "school-to-prison pipeline." On the other hand, children from white, middle and upper income backgrounds are more likely to be placed in a "gifted and talented" or college preparatory programs where they are challenged to read, explore, investigate, think, and progress rapidly. 

To lean away from the negative consequences: narrowing curriculum, teaching to the test, pushing students out of school, driving teachers out of profession, undermining student engagement and school climate, cause major stress, and evaluate student performance without considering external factors.. we can use other methods like: careful observations and documentation of student work and behaviors by trained teachers is more helpful than a one-time-test.