Standardized Education
Standardized Education
Moving America to the Right
Arthur Lieber
Illustrations by Carol Ruzicka
Copyright © 2011 by Arthur H. Lieber
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the written permission of the author; except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages for a review.
ISBN-13: 978-1-4566-0539-1
Published in eBook format by eBookIt.com
This book is dedicated to any student who is bored out of his or her skull because of a school’s obsession with standardized testing, as opposed to real learning.
Acknowledgments
The idea for this book probably started the first day that I was bored in school. I can’t remember if that was kindergarten or first grade.
Since then I’ve had numerous conversations about schools. It didn’t take long for me to see a connection between the way in which many of our schools are run and how we have a dysfunctional political system that serves those who least need government.
I thank the many people who have indulged me in talking about the connections between poor schools and poor citizenship. Most particularly I want to thank my wife, Gloria Bilchik, who has challenged my ideas in a supportive fashion and who has helped me refine ideas. She is also an excellent editor.
Thanks also to whomever suggested to me that I post a request for an illustrator on Craig’slist. I reviewed many responses. Carol Ruzicka’s e-mail gave me access to her terrific work and also a glimpse into her political thoughts, which seemed to be right in my comfort area—progressive and also on the irony channel. I’ve never had the benefit of art work in anything I’ve written. Carol, many thanks for making the book more interesting and also easier to read.
Thanks to those who critiqued the books, most particularly Cori Austin, Bobbi Clemons, Madonna Gauding, Mark Schusky, and Barbara Lindauer. Cori gave me the needed perspective of someone who is currently immersed in both politics and school. Bobbi “figured out” school at an early age and is now a political junkie. Her thoughts are invaluable. Mark and Barbara are rare teachers who see schools through the prism of what is happening in the broader world in which we live. That means they’re committed to enriching educational experiences for students but also can laugh at both their foibles and those of others.
Madonna gave the book structure where little existed. She is a remarkable designer and has once again utilized her skills to make a book of mine much more user friendly to the readers. Madonna also kept me focused on the need for progressives to express their thoughts as clearly as possible.
Renee Shur proofread the original manuscript and found a mountain’s worth of items that needed clarification, deletion, or addition. Her detailed corrections brought clarity and unity where it did not exist.
Lisa Fox from No Waste Publishing was once again an outstanding publisher with whom to work. Her calm demeanor and knowledge of her business made the final step of producing the book extremely easy.
When I was twenty-six, I was co-founder of what was clearly a progressive school in St. Louis called Crossroads School. So many teachers and students who passed the door brought both joy and insight to me. I am truly excited that students and staff who were at the school in the early years are now in constant communication and will have a reunion in the summer of 2012. If there is any form of evaluation of a school that might be of value, it is what the students who went there are like years after graduation. Even that is subjective, but I hope to get a better sense of what we did well and what we did poorly by getting their adult perspectives on it.
Thanks also to the many students who have participated in programs sponsored by our non-profit, Civitas (Active Citizen 360). You’ve kept me motivated, given me opportunities to try new ways to interest students, and provided me with many laughs.
Introduction
Education Is an Art, Not a Science
WARNING: Much of what you read in this book will be contrary to the perspectives of professional educators. I take the point of view that the field of education is in many ways more accurately an art form than a science. I will draw conclusions that in many cases are subjective but consistent with the following quote that has been attributed to either Mark Twain, Casey Stengel, or Yogi Berra (all born in Missouri).
It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.
Coming from any of the three, it would have merit. Coming from all three it’s gold.
There are educators who can’t accept this level of uncertainty in their chosen field. If they did, much of what they said would not be worth the dollars they are paid to pontificate. Many academic positions in schools of education and educational bureaucracies would have to be eliminated. The reason is that so many people in these positions do not acknowledge the limitations of their knowledge. I have trouble with that as well. That’s why I’m inserting this caveat to warn you to be cautious about what you read in this book and to invite you to take exception with my assertions, as well as those of others.
While on the subject of uncertainty, I should mention that much of my experience in education comes from my fifteen years as a teacher and school director at Crossroads School in St. Louis, Missouri. I was twenty-six years old when several of us founded the school. We were all young and committed to providing a combination of traditional academics with a wide range of experiences outside the classroom. In educational parlance, this is called experiential education.
Often times we were asked if we were doing a good job. We were positively assessed by an established accreditation organization, the Independent Schools Association of the Central States. We were the topic of considerable discussion, since we were the sole private, nonsectarian high school in the city of St. Louis.
Were we a good school? Did we as teachers and administrators do a good job? My answer is that it beats the hell out of me. Or to quote Barack Obama in reference to a different topic, “It’s above my pay grade.”
All I can say is that we were the sum of many different parts. These included how we interacted with students, what we tried to teach, how students responded to what we tried to do, and how students responded to one another.
The impact of much of what we did was invisible to us, the students, the parents, and any professional evaluators. What were students thinking? Were teachers satisfied with what they were doing?
We did have tests and other various forms of evaluation. They gave us slender openings into what was happening in the lives of children. The
