G. has consistently led his team members to complete projects on time. In the Festival Committee, he helped to organize his peers to accomplish the production of promotional videos and prepare for public speaking events. –Taken from a Verified Resume issued by Wide Angle Youth Media.
“Give me 8 sheep and then we will have an equal number” said one shepherd to another. “No, you give me 8 sheep and then I will have twice as many as you” replied another shepherd. How many sheep did each shepherd have to start with? -An example taken from the Common Core Standards for high school graduation.
Would you, dear reader, be more likely to give a job—or want in your selective college —a youngster like G., or one who did well on the test about sheep? Or, maybe you want someone who could lead team members AND count sheep. It might be even better if G. could use a spreadsheet to compose a budget and schedule for the Festival.
That is today’s education policy debate. Right now, those who favor sheep counting are winning. Doing well on Common Core exams is to become the basis for high school graduation and evaluating teacher performance.
A number of Baltimore’s community-based organizations (CBOs), however, are trying to develop team leaders. They are also issuing Verified (that is, signed by the CBO mentor) Resumes attesting to “performance” behaviors such as Responsible, Team Player, Works with Cultural Diversity, Acquires and Evaluates Information, Communicates, Creative, and Listens. G.’s mentors at Wide Angle taught, assessed, and certified these behaviors. G.’s performance was witnessed instead of being tested with multiple choice exams.
Having an informed debate about this issue would be audacious.