Are Our Children Learning Enough About Whales?

On Wednesday, I spent some time with one of my district's kindergarten teachers. She was spending her afternoon entering assessment data into the computer for the state. It was one moment of about 20 hours she'll spend in the next two weeks in front of her computer moving from child to child filling in ovals on a LCD. On the board was a drawing, far better than one I could have drawn. It was a drawing of a person, standing on the pier with a fishing pole and fish swimming underneath.

Since I was visiting, rather than venting about the assessment data entry, she decided to tell me about the drawing. Apparently in class, she was reading a story and the term fishing hook came up. All but two of her five-year-olds were staring blankly at her. She described putting her finger and thumb into an "L" shape and sticking her thumb mouth as if she were being hooked. The two who "got it" had laughed hysterically, but for her other 23, she was simply building background knowledge.

I think to my youngest son. He's a big second grader now. I can't think of a pier anywhere close to us. He's never been fishing, never had a fishing hook or line in his hand. I'm not sure if he knows it. I'm not sure if it matters. I do know, he needs teachers like this one. One's who make the learning come alive, generate background knowledge through creative artistry, are willing to make a fool of themselves to ensure that children learn. That teacher creates greatness, cultivates knowledge, and makes the why fun.

I look at this new generation of assessments. Long data entry rubrics. Hours in front of stale white and black computer screens answering "rigorous" questions. I wonder, what do we want for out kids. How much basic skills and how much innovation? How much genius hour and how many hours answering digital assessments? We are the only nation that requires each of our public school students to test annually grades 3-8. Our children will spend more time on standardized assessments each year than a doctor spends each decade on their medical boards or a lawyer for their bar exam. Is our goal to have innovators or automatons? Do we want great set of standard skills or a wide range of diverse capacities? Do we need to assess everyone annually or will survey assessment data provide us with the same insight?

Simply, as The Onion critically asked in 2008, "Are Our Children Learning Enough About Whales?"