A Commentary on the Passing Scene by
Robert Paul Wolff
rwolff@afroam.umass.edu
Wednesday, May 13, 2020
ALERT! ALERT! ALERT!
I screwed up and had to delete the link to my Hume lectures. The new link to each Saturday 2 p.m. zoom Hume lecture is https://unc.zoom.us/j/93507717703
Professor Wolff, What are your thoughts on the overwhelming emphasis on numerical evaluations of performance in the American education system? From the youngest age, we're taught to associate our personal value with numbers. A higher test score means that you're smarter, more successful. As we get older, this translates into a fetishism for GPA, and then salary. It fosters a mentality of ranking oneself against one's peers through pure numerics - a mentality which, for obvious reasons, is deeply flawed. Are there any alternatives? Best, Tank
That is an interesting question. High stakes testing is also a way to evaluate teachers and entire school districts. One facet is that it is not at all unusual for older teachers (who are at the upper levels of pay scales) to find that the performance of their students on the tests is used to evaluate them at times when school districts are making decisions to reduce teaching staff. They eliminate older teachers now, and then pay younger teachers less later. Another facet is that it is a way for capitalists to argue that since the numbers are bad for public schools, they are failing and should be privatized, which has been a right wing fantasy since at least the days Milton Friedman. And, then, there are charter schools whose marketing often turns on the premise that the numbers suck for public schools, and so.... Then, resources go from the public schools to the charter schools, the public school kids get fewer resources, the kinds do worse on the tests, the numbers go down, and the charter school types say, "See, we told you that the public schools are swirling sewer bound...." Et cetera.... So, yes, having bad numbers sucks, but the political economy of those numbers also sucks, perhaps more.
Well I had a happy moment imagining you twirling around waving your arms like that robot from lost in space or whatever old tv show that was. Maybe it said danger instead of 'alert' now that I am thinking about it. Either way don't hurt yourself doing it :)
Professor Wolff,
ReplyDeleteWhat are your thoughts on the overwhelming emphasis on numerical evaluations of performance in the American education system? From the youngest age, we're taught to associate our personal value with numbers. A higher test score means that you're smarter, more successful. As we get older, this translates into a fetishism for GPA, and then salary. It fosters a mentality of ranking oneself against one's peers through pure numerics - a mentality which, for obvious reasons, is deeply flawed. Are there any alternatives?
Best,
Tank
That is an interesting question. High stakes testing is also a way to evaluate teachers and entire school districts. One facet is that it is not at all unusual for older teachers (who are at the upper levels of pay scales) to find that the performance of their students on the tests is used to evaluate them at times when school districts are making decisions to reduce teaching staff. They eliminate older teachers now, and then pay younger teachers less later. Another facet is that it is a way for capitalists to argue that since the numbers are bad for public schools, they are failing and should be privatized, which has been a right wing fantasy since at least the days Milton Friedman. And, then, there are charter schools whose marketing often turns on the premise that the numbers suck for public schools, and so.... Then, resources go from the public schools to the charter schools, the public school kids get fewer resources, the kinds do worse on the tests, the numbers go down, and the charter school types say, "See, we told you that the public schools are swirling sewer bound...." Et cetera.... So, yes, having bad numbers sucks, but the political economy of those numbers also sucks, perhaps more.
ReplyDeleteWell I had a happy moment imagining you twirling around waving your arms like that robot from lost in space or whatever old tv show that was. Maybe it said danger instead of 'alert' now that I am thinking about it. Either way don't hurt yourself doing it :)
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteWhat kind of watch is that? Does it do any good?