Landing the Plane

Increasingly, teacher preparation and professional development have focused on standardized testing. This myopic view has pushed the true meaning of assessment aside. Assessment is about revealing what students know and can do and responding to gaps in learning. Standardized tests are one snapshot in the broader panorama. The lack of data on their long term effectiveness, coupled with an imperative to equip students with 21st century college and career skills, drives the need to incorporate other measures of learning.
Now, more than ever, students need opportunities for authentic demonstrations, applied actions, creation of products, and visible processes of learning. These activities require higher level thinking, problem solving, communication, collaboration, technology, and self direction: Skills that will enable our students to be productive citizens in a complex global economy. No doctor or pilot takes a multiple choice test to see how well they can perform surgery or land an airplane. Why should students?