EbaeStudentAchievementConsensus

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Need for Consensus on a Definition of Student Achievement

The paper’s careful, thoughtful process for building an evidence-based system, especially, “the call, repeated in several ways, for constructive inquiry, dialogue and consensus-building among the multiple stakeholders in such a system” is good, but needs to include building consensus around a working definition of adult achievement. It especially should include discussion and critique of definitions of achievement based primarily on scores from off-the-shelf standardized tests and which are framed in terms of K-12 grade levels. “Broadly-agreed-upon definition(s) of achievement would have significant impact on the ‘Next Steps’ put forth in the paper. For instance, 1) If we intend to purposely define groups of students according to a narrow range of needs/goals, are we content to limit our understanding of their needs/goals to test scores and grade levels? 2) Our definition(s) of achievement will, and must, have an impact on our choice of tools to validly/reliably measure that achievement. So at what point in this process do we get to have what would promise to be an edgy and exciting and very important conversation about appropriately defining and adequately measuring adult achievement? ” [Message 11, Part One]