Standardized testing: trying to measure the unmeasurable
Okay, I’m not one to tell the Queen of England who she should and should bestow knighthoods upon, but when Kylie Minogue and Pierce Brosnan are knighted, I begin to question if the honour has become a bit diluted. I do, however, commend the Queen on her choice of honouring educator and author Ken Robinson.
Robinson is a great supporter of the arts and its inclusion in public education. He believes that creativity in schools is being strangled and he points to rigid bureaucratic systems (and standardized testing in particular) as the culprits. Much of what he says is out of vogue with education pundits as he champions soft concepts such as creativity and imagination . . . things that are difficult to standardize and measure. He has delivered a wonderful TED lecture where he passionately asks that schools not be treated like fast food joints.
Take a quick look at this five-minute clip from the Bonnie Hunt Show to hear him speak on standardized testing:
Everything that can be counted does not necessarily count; everything that counts cannot necessarily be counted.
-Albert Einstein
Tags: creativity, imagination, Ken Robinson, standardized testing
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