EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP March 2003 Almost There, But Not Quite By Alfie Kohn The late educational researcher John Nicholls once remarked to me that he had met a lot of administrators who “don’t want to hear a buzz of excitement in classrooms — they want to hear nothing.” His implication was that some teachers strive to keep tight control over students … Read More
How Not to Get Into College: The Preoccupation with Preparation
INDEPENDENT SCHOOL Winter 2002-03 How Not to Get Into College The Preoccupation with Preparation By Alfie Kohn Education…is a process of living and not a preparation for future living. — John Dewey In 1981, while I was teaching at an independent school, this journal published my very first article about education. It was an ironic commentary, perhaps a tad … Read More
The 500-Pound Gorilla (**)
PHI DELTA KAPPAN October 2002 The 500-Pound Gorilla By Alfie Kohn The best reason to give a child a good school. . .is so that child will have a happy childhood, and not so that it will help IBM in competing with Sony. . . There is something ethically embarrassing about resting a national agenda on the basis of sheer … Read More
Education’s Rotten Apples (**)
EDUCATION WEEK September 18, 2002 Education’s Rotten Apples By Alfie Kohn Like other people, educators often hold theories about how the world works, or how one ought to act, that are never named, never checked for accuracy, never even consciously recognized. One of the most popular of these theories is a very appealing blend of pragmatism and relativism that might … Read More
The Dangerous Myth of Grade Inflation (**)
CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION November 8, 2002 The Dangerous Myth of Grade Inflation By Alfie Kohn Grade inflation got started … in the late ’60s and early ’70s…. The grades that faculty members now give … deserve to be a scandal. –Professor Harvey Mansfield, Harvard University, 2001 Grades A and B are sometimes given too readily — Grade A for work … Read More
The Worst Kind of Cheating
STREAMLINED SEMINAR (a publication of the National Association of Elementary School Principals) Winter 2002-03 — Vol. 21, No. 2 The Worst Kind of Cheating By Alfie Kohn My file folder on the subject is bulging: at the back is a yellowing article called “Cheating Scandal Jars a Suburb of High Achievers,” published a decade ago in the New York Times. At … Read More
Requesting Testing
RETHINKING SCHOOLS Summer 2002 Requesting Testing By Alfie Kohn One of the most disturbing educational consequences of high-stakes testing has been the diminution or even elimination of activities that are not tested. If it’s not on the exam, it doesn’t count – and so teachers feel they don’t have the luxury of holding class meetings to promote democratic decision-making, or … Read More
Fighting the Toxic Status Quo
ENGLISH EDUCATION January 2002 “Fighting the Toxic Status Quo” Alfie Kohn on Standardized Tests and Teacher Education By Deborah Appleman and Micheal J. Thompson Q.: What motivates the movement for teacher testing? It sometimes seems as if it arises from a basic mistrust of teachers. ALFIE KOHN: Well, I think we’re living through a very dark period in American education where testing … Read More
September 11 (**)
RETHINKING SCHOOLS Winter 2001-02 September 11 By Alfie Kohn Some events seem momentous when they occur but gradually fade from consciousness, overtaken by fresh headlines and the distractions of daily life. Only once in a great while does something happen that will be taught by future historians. Just such an incident occurred on September 11. The deadly attacks on New … Read More
Beware of the Standards, Not Just the Tests (**)
EDUCATION WEEK September 26, 2001 Beware of the Standards, Not Just the Tests By Alfie Kohn A number of prominent educators are finally raising their voices against standardized testing—particularly multiple-choice, norm-referenced tests; particularly tests with “high stakes” (read: bribes and threats) attached; and particularly in the context of a federal mandate to force every state to test every student in … Read More