Synopses & Reviews
Somewhere. . . there is a place of sanity where education is intense and substantive. . . . It's in that place that Deborah Meier has been working all these years. Her voice conveys a life of struggle in the front lines-victories and losses, hopes and disappointments. . . . It's a voice our nation needs to hear. --Jonathan Kozol, from the Foreword
Acclaimed educator Deborah Meier offers a fresh take on standardized tests. While others have criticized standards and what they measure, Meier rejects the very idea of a centralized authority that dictates how and what teachers teach. Standardization, she argues, prevents citizens-including teachers-from emerging as thoughtful, responsible adults, seriously engaged with shaping their own schools, classrooms, and communities. As a result, young people can't learn from them how to be thoughtful, responsible adults and good citizens, the primary goal of public education in a democracy.
The New Democracy Forum is a series of short paperback originals exploring creative solutions to our most urgent national concerns.
"A civic treasure. . . . A truly good idea, carried out with intelligence and panache." --Robert Pinsky
Synopsis
As usual, Deborah Meier has a fresh take on standardized tests. While other critics fault standardized tests and what they measure, Meier contests the very idea of a centralized authority that dictates how and what teachers teach. This, she argues, sets up a terrible model for students because it doesn't allow for their teachers to emerge as thoughtful, accountable adults, seriously engaged with the dynamics of their own schools, classrooms, and communities. In turn, the students can't learn from them how to be thoughtful, accountable, creative adults and good citizens. Theodore Sizer, Abagail Thernstrom, Linda Nathan and others respond.
NEW DEMOCRACY FORUM A series of short paperback originals exploring creative solutions to our most urgent national concerns. The series editors (for Boston Review), Joshua Cohen and Joel Rogers, aim to foster politically engaged, intellectually honest, and morally serious debate about fundamental issuesboth on and off the agenda of conventional politics.
About the Author
Deborah Meier is the author of The Power of Their Ideas. She is principal of the Mission Hill School in Boston, Massachusetts.
Table of Contents
Educating a democracy /Deborah Meier --No excuses /Abigail Thernstrom --Making a difference /Bob Chase --Expert opinion /Gary B. Nash --Habits of mind /Linda Nathan --Case for standards /Richard J. Murnane --Standards fraud /William Ayers --Sense of place /Theodore Sizer --Reply /Deborah Meier.