The Data Dilemma

Why Standardized Tests Fail Our Students and How to Fix It

The Importance of Teaching Mindset and the Impact of Standardized Data

It is widely recognized that teaching mindset is an effective practice for high school students, in theory. Apparently, if you ask ChatGPT to take a deep breath, it does a better job with math problems afterwards. So we even have to learn to work with robots on their mindset.

But seriously, identifying a fixed mindset creates an opportunity for students to become aware and strive for a future different from their past. This requires deep critical thinking. However, we are not effectively engaging mindset with students. Why? Because of standardized testing. Starting with AP Exams for high schoolers or the Regents Exams for those in New York State, for example.

The issue lies in teachers being limited in their ability to engage in project-based work due to the insatiable demand for data from their superiors. The pursuit of data is relentless, yet the data being collected lacks any value. Do those who do well on such exams succeed in life afterwards? Hardly. We can refer to such academic data as “soft data.” Politicians can manipulate it, making graduation easier and issuing credits for minimal effort. Or a corporation can play with cutoff scores to maximize their own interests which have little to do with what is best for students. This helps their data for reelection or to sign the next contract.

What would gold standard academic data look like? We already have the answer — many elite private schools have been implementing it for over a century. Educators call it performance-based assessment. Evaluating student work through project-based methods. Brain scientists describe it as how the human brain learns naturally. It’s what babies are doing as they learn so much so fast.

We are failing to engage students at the level of their mindset because the incentives are aligned with standardized tests, rather than deep academic exploration, reflection, feedback. The only feedback they get is a number based on three hours of their frantic attempt to comply with an answer key, and those that created it.

Data is at the core of why, despite our awareness of the need to impact mindset, we often fall short. We should empower educators to fulfill their purpose and positively influence the lives of the next generation by providing academic data that satisfies administrators’ requirements, and so much more.

At hs.credit, we advocate for offering academic data designed for the digital age. This includes credits that require validation from one teacher and three paid experts. These gold standard or “hard credits” involve cycles of feedback and revision, focusing solely on the quality of student work. Rubrics are used to indicate expectations and evaluate academic outcomes.

Just like everyone else, students want to excel in front of their peers. Youth media provides them with an opportunity to become creators. If schools can offer a “live audience” for their work, including parents, officials, peers, and more, the quality of student work increases over time. An old-fashioned research paper assignment transformed into a video and showcased at an event. Just have kids read their final paper on camera. And let them edit it before a live screening with their family and friends. See how much harder they work. How their best selves show up for the day of the shoot. Video is their form of literacy, and they understand the need to master it. It also serves a powerful role in consolidating learning since editing involves review and reflection.

The era of industrial-age data resulting from STANDARDIZATION is coming to an end. In the digital age, human involvement is crucial, with creators offering high-quality digital academic assets, and academic experts publishing only work that meets the criteria, as selected by the student at the outset of their credit experience.

Follow hs.credit for more.

Please consider making a donation, no matter how small, at https://hs.credit. We are a volunteer team. We raise money to pay veteran educators to implement performance-based assessment. Each credit costs $100 for three paid evaluators, whether work is approved or denied, similar to AP Exams. However, we we never charge the children or even their schools. We desperately need donations to help us scale, and then annual subscriptions to our gold standard academic data reports once we have achieved scale (80k users). At that point we will cover the cost of evaluating new credits with customized reports for school districts, governments, and universities.

#PassionForLearning #AcademicCapital