Last week, a ballot referendum in Massachusetts ended the test-based MCAS graduation requirement. While remembering what went into making that requirement a reality in 2001 and kept it in place for so long, I have to wonder what comes next and whether this will become a case of be careful what you wish for, you just might get it.
Author Archives: Charlie DePascale
Dancing With Our Hands Tied
It’s a paradox that educators are drowning in test data, but at the same time they (and we) are actually dying of thirst. There’s been one NAEP data point since 2019. As we patiently await a second data point, there’s a lot that we can learn from Taylor Swift and the Eras Tour about the future of collecting data.
The Revolution Will Not Be Parameterized
Look around, Look around. Revolution’s happening the next two weeks in Denver, Chicago, Philadelphia, and perhaps even a little in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. When the dust finally settles, there may still be large-scale tests, but educational assessment will be changed forever. Work, work!
To Every Thing There Is A Season
This week gave birth to another season of professional football. It’s the 105th season for the National Football League, the second in the league’s Taylor Swift Era, and my first without my Uncle Sal who passed away in June. I cannot think about football without thinking of him.
All Kids Can Learn. Therefore, …
You spend all summer thinking about what to write for blog post #300 and then spur of the moment, ripped from the headlines post #299 becomes your 6th most read post all-time (#3 not TS or NAEP related). It’s absurd, but we embrace it and we move on.
Because it’s a new school year and all around me I see and hear “All kids can learn!” But what does that phrase really mean?
You’re Doin’ Fine, Oklahoma!?!
Not since Sen. Warren sent her sample off to 23andme, has a set of test results from Oklahoma caused as much of a ruckus as the “release” of this year’s Oklahoma state assessment results. Seriously, Oklahoma? OK.
Learning Loss or Learning Correction?
As we begin a new school year, student achievement still falls short of pre-pandemic levels. How worried should we be about that lost learning? How much of the “shortfall” is the result of intentional decisions? How much reflects a change in direction? Test scores alone cannot answer those questions.
We’ve Been Rotten To The Core
The conventional wisdom appears to be that educating the whole child is a new concept. That we’ve always focused on the 3 R’s. But that is not true. We may not have been very good at it, but until recently, we always had a more holistic view of what constituted the common core of public education in the United States.
Completing The Recipe For State Standards
Developing state content and achievement standards was a good idea, but to this point that idea is only half-baked. State standards will only reach their full potential for guiding instruction and student learning when we fill in the critical missing piece.
Writing To The Rubric: Gymnastics Edition
Order has been restored to women’s gymnastics. Team USA and Simone Biles have their gold medals. But as I watched the events unfold in Paris this week, I couldn’t help but feel that something important was missing.
Embrace the Absurd 