Take This Test and Find Out What You Value Most in Education

Tests have become de regueur in education over the past decade, with so many teachers being assessed on their ability to increase their students’ test scores.  I’ve developed this test (not yet standardized) specifically for teachers (parents can take it too). The objective of this test is to help educators get in touch with their own inner sense of what is most important to the learning and teaching process.  Hopefully, this can help them make important decisions about how and what to teach in the classroom regardless of their students’age or grade level.

1. Which is more important:
   1. teaching a child to appreciate beauty,
   2. raising a child’s reading level two full grades
2. Which is more important
   1. helping students achieve competency on the Common Core Standards
   2. helping students to believe in their own capacity to learn
3. Which is more important:
   1. helping a student find his/her inner voice in writing
   2. teaching a student how to write an informational/explanatory text with facts, details, and definitions.
4. Which is more important:
   1. teaching students complex high-order thinking skills
   2. instilling in students a love of learning
5. Which is more important:
   1. preparing students for college and career
   2. preparing students for the challenges and possibilities of life
6. Which is more important:
   1. developing a child’s knowledge of reading, writing, and math
   2. developing a child’s ability to get along well with others.
7. Which is more important:
   1. a challenging standardized test that a student has completed with 100% accuracy.
   2. an uniquely expressive painting that a student has created
8. Which is more important:
   1. teaching a student to love reading for the rest of his/her life
   2. teaching a student to read critically at a college-ready level
9. Which is more important:
   1. motivating a student to achieve high grades and high test scores.
   2. motivating a student to love learning for its own intrinsic joy.

For extra credit:

10. Why did you get into teaching?

1. 1. To help students realize their full potential
   2. To boost test scores.

Note:  The Answer Key is located in your own heart.

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Read my book If Einstein Ran the Schools: Revitalizing U.S. Education.

This article was brought to you by Thomas Armstrong, Ph.D. and www.institute4learning.com.

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