EdVANTAGE Blog

Incoming State Education Commissioner David Steiner has a column in the New York Post today entitled, Rx:  Common Sense.

He begins, “As I prepare to become New York’s next commissioner of education, I submit that in too many cases, we are engaged in educational practices that make little or no sense.”

Getting to specifics, Dr. Steiner says, “Common sense demands that we do more to prepare new teachers before putting them alone in a classroom, that we do more to reward, support and train excellent teachers and that our educators work together to ensure that each and every child achieves the knowledge and skills they truly need in our increasingly interdependent, information rich, global environment.”

The Commissioner-to-be is particularly pointed in discussing state tests.  He recounts a recent experience with a class of novice teachers who were convinced that using Cliff notes was the best way to prepare their students for literature tests.

He observes,

Surely rich learning is more than just jumping through the hoops. If the use of Cliff notes is the optimal strategy then we should surely reconsider our tests.

Moreover, tests only do their job if they provide accurate information: a student’s success on a test should mean that she or he is truly ready to advance to the next stage of their education.

Common sense suggests that we test the truly important knowledge and skills, that the tests are fair, the results accurate and that teachers use the results to improve what they do in the classroom.

Tough questions are being asked about our tests — about their validity, reliability and rigor, and those questions deserve straightforward answers as well as appropriate action.

The Post is an interesting venue for an opening message from the next Commissioner.  The Times has been a popular choice for state leaders.