performance zones
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Grade Inflation is a Symptom, Not the Disease (Part 2): The Specter of Grade Compression
In this subseries on the wicked problem of assessment, I am exploring the tensions between supporting the learning of every student and sorting students by levels of distinction and merit. I argued previously that: 1. Although the education system (and broader society) is more invested in sorting students, many teachers (like myself) are more invested Continue reading
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Grade Inflation is a Symptom, not the Disease (Part 1): The Sorting and Supporting Functions of Education
Amid my ongoing series on the wicked problem of assessment, I am devoting several posts to the latest controversy (scandal? moral panic?) about “grade inflation” in higher ed.(Seriously, we are talking about podcast titles like “Has Harvard Gone Soft”?). This issue is obviously assessment-coded, but its sensitivity to current events merits its own subseries. Before Continue reading
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Assessment is a Wicked Problem (Part Five): Performance Zones and Exploration Zones
As someone who has enjoyed psychologist Adam Grant’s writing on themes including epistemological humility and the benefits of generosity over selfishness, I was taken aback by his New York Times opinion piece “No, You Don’t Get an A for Effort.” In this essay, Grant resorts to tired kids these days complaints like, “In the past, Continue reading
Teaching Inquiry 