True Education is More Than the Sum of the Tests

There is a wonderful article by David Brooks entitled “Smells Like School Spirit” in the Op-Ed section of the NY Times (page A23) for Friday, July 1, 2011. It calls to mind one of the best films of the spring that was entitled “Waiting for Superman”. Both the article by David Brooks and the film point out that teaching is far more than what tests reveal and that true education is a construct of caring administrators who are adroit at risk-results decisions, classrooms staffed by dynamic teaching personalities and total school commitment to using the various subject disciplines as the means to infuse youth with quality character traits and a desire for knowledge. Only when assessment becomes a part of the learning process and not an end unto itself will both the school and the students be successful.