Sunday, May 22, 2005
The first step to solving a problem is admitting you have one...
From a fluffy New York Times interview w/Margaret Spellings:
NYT: ...What do assessment tests really measure, other than an ability to memorize for tests?
Secretary of Education Spellings: You hear about that kind of thing. With respect to my own children, I do think people have to have a fluency with facts. You need to know what four times four is.
Facts are only useful insofar as you have a framework for relating and understanding them -- a framework that (by Spelling's own admission) assessment tests do not survey. When you know what four times four is and you can't figure out four times five because you don't understand conceptually what multiplication is other than a table to memorize, you're guaranteed to do great in life!
Four times four has about as much to do with education as correctly naming utensils has to do with eating.
