Ranking - Selecting and Sorting LO17228

Rol Fessenden (76234.3636@compuserve.com)
Fri, 27 Feb 1998 20:42:48 -0500

Replying to LO17166 --

David,

Thank you. Actually, I learned a great deal from some very far-sighted
and energetic educators. I think the net effect might well have been more
favorable to me than to them.

Your question is a critical one. What is similar and what is different
between education and business? If we approach the problem as one of
managing a factory (in either environment), then education is simpler.
But when you recognize either environment as a complex adaptive system,
with a lot of very confusing interactions going on, then education becomes
far more complex, hands-down.

One of the critical steps in our work was the recognition that while the
'moment of truth' occurs between the teacher and the student in the
classroom, the "fertility" of the students' mind -- its openness to
learning and new concepts -- is almost totally determined in the community
and the home. The teacher's sensitivity to students is also a key factor.
When you begin to try to assess these complex factors, like how do I get
meaningful parent participation in the school and with the kid around
learning, the assessment gets very difficult. Impossible in my
experience, so far.

Yes, it is very complex in business. But not that complex. Business
takes a little tiny segment of life and squeezes it in certain directions.
Education is mired in the depths of life.

Also, in business, most of the time, there is a lot of centralization,
even in the most decentralized of organizations. In education, at least
in the US, every town, every citizen, every mayor, every school board, has
their own opinion, and they are all trying to ensconce their opinions in
policy.

>The question I have. What is similar and what is different about
>assessment in education and in the business world? My guess is that
>educational assessment may be more sophisticated and widely used than in
>the business world. What is your experience?

-- 

Rol Fessenden

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