Fit in. Stand out. Don't rock the boat. Be yourself. Just do what's expected of you. Make a difference. Act normal.
Can't I just be myself? With all the talk of personalizing education, shouldn't we create assessment systems for individuals?
In schools, averaging data creates concepts of "can" and "can't,""smart,""average" and "struggling." But learning isn't static, it's dynamic and contextual.
![]()
Variability within an individual is also lost with averages. Years ago, I use an Excel spreadsheet for ELA so I could assess student's assignments by the specifically targeted outcomes for each assigned task. It became clear that I could not average the outcomes for the various tasks because a) the context and form was different and b) strengths would be wiped out by weaknesses. To average would create something that didn't exist in the collected data.
Without knowing it, I had created a dynamic marking system, which allowed me to see variability and multiple pathways to the same outcome. I had created the spreadsheet because I gave students the freedom to choose their own text variables and I wanted something that would allow me to assess many different projects with the same learning outcomes.
What should we do when variable behaviour, from unique contexts, doesn't fit a system that creates a uniform "noneness" with statistical averaging? What useful data are we missing that would inform instructional practices? And how is our current system impacting learners?
I remember one student who almost dropped out because he was in danger of failing several courses. Academically, he was "performing" way below statistical average. On appearance and behaviour he was viewed by some teachers as lazy, unmotivated, disengaged and at times disrespectful. What many didn't know was that he spent many hours a day (and night) writing code, working with other coders online and assisting others with network issues. His expository writing was superb. He was going to help get the necessary software onto a school division server so I could set up a WordPress website, however, the head of the division's technical department thought it would be too embarrassing to his staff to have a grade 10 student do work that they couldn't. I didn't get the website, but I did pass on to them that their server was vulnerable having the default "admin" and "password" login.
My experiences with personalizing education were diminished by the need to produce a single mark. A dynamic approach to learning requires a dynamic way to show it. I salute those championing no marks and grades and focusing on learning and reporting in a way that reflects multiplicities. We need to figure out how to do this well.
For me, the move to personalizing education must also be focused on humanizing education. All that we do should lead to the betterment of the individual, personally, and within community.
Know any good dynamic assessment tools? Leave a comment. Check out Explain Everything.
...individuals behave, learn, and develop in distinctive ways, showing patterns of variability that are not captured by models based on statistical averages." (source)In a TedX talk, Todd Rose challenges the idea that we can use statistical averages to understand an individual. The problem of averaging is that the data reflects no one.
In schools, averaging data creates concepts of "can" and "can't,""smart,""average" and "struggling." But learning isn't static, it's dynamic and contextual.
Variability within an individual is also lost with averages. Years ago, I use an Excel spreadsheet for ELA so I could assess student's assignments by the specifically targeted outcomes for each assigned task. It became clear that I could not average the outcomes for the various tasks because a) the context and form was different and b) strengths would be wiped out by weaknesses. To average would create something that didn't exist in the collected data.Without knowing it, I had created a dynamic marking system, which allowed me to see variability and multiple pathways to the same outcome. I had created the spreadsheet because I gave students the freedom to choose their own text variables and I wanted something that would allow me to assess many different projects with the same learning outcomes.
If variability is systematically ignored, individuals become synonymous with statistical averages, and researchers lose the ability to account for the very processes that underpin the phenomena they seek to explain. (source)The assessment tool was excellent for recording what individual students did and in which areas they required further instruction. I could even add assessment of outcomes that had not been specifically asked for, but became noteworthy. Translating dynamic to static made writing report cards a nightmare though. It didn't work. I "made up" marks using the data, my professional judgment, and a criterion construct of what a particular number reflected.
What should we do when variable behaviour, from unique contexts, doesn't fit a system that creates a uniform "noneness" with statistical averaging? What useful data are we missing that would inform instructional practices? And how is our current system impacting learners?
I remember one student who almost dropped out because he was in danger of failing several courses. Academically, he was "performing" way below statistical average. On appearance and behaviour he was viewed by some teachers as lazy, unmotivated, disengaged and at times disrespectful. What many didn't know was that he spent many hours a day (and night) writing code, working with other coders online and assisting others with network issues. His expository writing was superb. He was going to help get the necessary software onto a school division server so I could set up a WordPress website, however, the head of the division's technical department thought it would be too embarrassing to his staff to have a grade 10 student do work that they couldn't. I didn't get the website, but I did pass on to them that their server was vulnerable having the default "admin" and "password" login.
My experiences with personalizing education were diminished by the need to produce a single mark. A dynamic approach to learning requires a dynamic way to show it. I salute those championing no marks and grades and focusing on learning and reporting in a way that reflects multiplicities. We need to figure out how to do this well.
For me, the move to personalizing education must also be focused on humanizing education. All that we do should lead to the betterment of the individual, personally, and within community.
Does what we do grow the person? (Thanks, Reg Klassen, for this last one.)
Know any good dynamic assessment tools? Leave a comment. Check out Explain Everything.