By Jim Studer
Imagine a game when you score a point you don’t know if it counted. There may have been a problem of which you are not aware. Whether you won or lost may not become apparent for years. Sometimes it seems as if you did win, but years later you find out you lost.
This is what the game of teaching is like. What is mostly recorded as wins or losses are scores on nationalized or state tests or as grades two to four times a year. However you know grades are not a true measure of anything. Students may cram for tests or study manuals on how to score high on standardized tests. Some mastered all of the material before the class started. This becomes a game of status rather than a measure of learning. Scores recorded as a result of cramming are not valid. Weeks, months or years later taking the tests would confirm that the students had not learned much at all. Almost all of the skills and knowledge are lost. Whether a teacher wins or loses can only be determined years later, if at all. Are the skills and knowledge retained and used? The final score comes much later.