new math

larc's recent mention of "No Child Left Behind" reminded Jennifer of something she's been meaning to share with our dear readers.

A couple of weeks ago Jennifer was having dinner with a group of people, including someone who teaches the 7th grade in a local public school system.  The teacher was telling everyone about a new school district rule that requires the teachers to "re-teach" and "re-test" any student who scores below 67% on a test.  The result is, of course, that no student ever fails.  Neat trick, eh?

Jennifer asked what happens if they fail the re-test?  The answer was that it's not entirely clear b/c it hasn't come up yet, but all the teachers assume they would have to keep lather-rinse-repeating until an acceptable grade was attained.   So, if one applies their brain to this for a moment, two things become clear:  testing no longer serves as motivation for the student to study, and the more challenging the teachers make a tests, the more work they are creating for themselves.

If we lower the bar enough, everyone can be great.  Or, put another way, if we don't go anywhere, no one gets left behind.