Engagement-based teaching may raise test scores better than test-driven coverage

Evidence

In an era of “No Child Left Behind” and “Race to the Top,” those teachers who recognize the value of “no child left inside” (Louv, 2006) are ironically likely to be most effective. In an educational environment where “achievement” has come to be defined narrowly by test scores, “covering all the material” on which students could potentially be assessed is a fool’s mission. On the other hand, engaging students’ minds and hearts, inspiring students to be active participants in local, regional, and world affairs, and giving them the analytical tools that enable them to think about issues and problems may actually result in increased test scores. — Rebecca A. Martusewicz, Jeff Edmundson, and John Lupinacci, EcoJustice Education, 1913

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to accountability-era debates across the polyad about what legitimate school ‘achievement’ means, echoing NCLB critique threads. — connects to: Learning paths must engage students’ hearts, minds, and hands to end apathy — Rebecca A. Martusewicz, Jeff Edmundson, and John Lupinacci, EcoJustice Education: Toward Diverse,…, 1910; Active learning experiences strengthen resistance more than passive reading does — Sander van der Linden, Foolproof: Why Misinformation Infects…, 972; Exam-driven schooling makes students resist learning beyond the syllabus — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk: The Collected and Unpublished…, 1671
• SHARE: Worth sending to a teacher-education colleague contending with standardized-test pressure while building community curricula.

Broader Connections

• Active learning experiences strengthen resistance more than passive reading does #corroborates (0.72) — Sander van der Linden, Foolproof, 972