| Read a Post for A Year in the Life of an Elementary School: One School's Experiences in Meeting New Mathematics Standards | | | | Reply to this Post | | | Was It Worth the Effort? Please Drop the Other Shoe! | | Posted By: Dick Schutz on April 26, 2006 | | | The article conveys very well what life was like during the year--Almost better than being there.
But the authors devote only a sentence to the bottom-line consequences of all the effort: "The test scores went up."
OK. But how much did they go up? Did they go up consistently for all teachers and all groups of kids? How did the results in Math compare to the results in Reading and in other subjects--if other subjects were tested? What did the "gains" mean in terms of what students were taught and learned? What foundation do next-grade teachers have to build on? What did teachers learn from the experience that they can use to improve their instruction next year? Did teachers feel that all their effort was adequately credited by the test results.
The authors have all the "data" required to answer these questions. They will make another major contribution if they go back to the well and further inform us.
Dick Schutz
3RsPlus@usinter.net |
| |
