Don't fear the e-word: techniques for evaluation

摘要

Moving to a new community recently, one of the decisions my wife and I was faced with was to decide where we wanted to set up housekeeping. Having elementary school-age children, it was evident that schools played a factor in our decision. We received information on the many school districts in and around the metropolitan area. Listed in promotional materials were individual schools and school districts, along with average standardized test scores achieved by their students. The realtors we visitedwith expressed their opinions about what school districts were the "best" based on the reported test scores. It occurred to me as an educator what impact the process of student evaluation has beyond the classroom; specifically on the surrounding community: property values, prestige, and neighborhood development; as if there was not enough pressure on students and teachers already!