An Alternative to High Stakes Testing. Facebook Stats - A More Effective Accountability Measure

Earlier this week I was reading a provocative thread in response to a terrific post from Joe Bowers on the topic of accountability in The Innovative Educator Group. Deborah Meier weighed in suggesting folks set up high stakes testing sites near state capitols, post testing times, publish which politician showed up and who didn't, then publish THEIR scores in the paper.   Awesome!

As I was fretting about the problem of accountability gone wrong and worthless high stakes tests, a notice came up informing me there were lots of other people who went to the same high school as I did. There was a link I could click on if I wanted to friend these people. With accountability on the mind, I clicked on the link and was struck by what I saw next.  I saw the careers of all my high school peers pop up with their names.  Interesting!  Not only that, but l could click on any of my fellow alums and see the college (if any) they attended as well as what they studied.

I got to thinking.  What do parents really want to know about their child’s school?  Would they rather know...
A) That their kids is really good at being compliant, memorizing, and regurgitating
OR
B) That this is a school that produces graduates that will have solid careers and, if necessary, attend the colleges that will lead to those careers?  

I want more »