Since the Common-Core-based "reformy" people are dead set on measurements of student progress and teacher accountability, I naturally wonder if they ever thought to measure the damage that they cause. I think many teachers, students and parents might agree that they have already inflicted too much damage upon loads of individuals as well as the precepts of public education in general.
They start with the faulty assumption that all this "reformy" nonsense created in the face of far greater threats to society than student scores on tests engineered specifically for failure, primarily by individuals who have never been elected, funded by noneducators, is in the best interests of other people. But what if it isn't? Then, they might create a VALUE-MINUS MODEL and see where it takes them; perhaps back to the drawing board with more educators on board. They might attempt to gauge that damage.
Yet, I'm sure the thought never crossed their minds to measure student disengagement, future dropout rates, parental anguish and anger, teacher attrition rates, illness rates, etc. If a student gives up during the middle of a test, bored and stressed out of his wits, it counts toward a simple failure of that student. In reality, every student that finds himself in that position or opts out is a testament to the failure of this largely nonsensical path of reform.
Although statistically minded "reformers" will never attempt to use their junk science to measure these things, it is clear to me that damage is extreme. My only question is how extreme, and whether any of it is reversible.
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