First off, here’s my disclaimer: I’m not a teacher. I’m not currently a student. I’m not the parent of a student. 

Now that that’s out of the way, as a self-proclaimed outsider, I would venture to say that there likely is no system currently in place to measure the impact on technology in classrooms. I was frustrated by the recent article in the Sunday New York Times titled ”GRADING THE DIGITAL SCHOOL In Classroom of Future, Stagnant Scores”. The article undermines a school district’s investment in technology because of no significant increase in standardized test results. 

How are students being tested? You can’t create initiatives and then evaluate them based on antiquated systems of measurement. A recent article in the Washington Post titled “The Myths of Standardized Testing” covers this issue. How & why did the NYT gloss over this fact? 

The political dialogue around education reform is clogged with “teacher accountability” and “success metrics”. I’m not discounting either of those elements, but I think real reform means that we need to go back to the drawing board and redefine what education means NOW. A brilliant example is the UK, non-partisan organization Purpos/ed. How can we take the US dialogue to the next level on a national front and get to the heart of the matter?