Democratization would enhance America’s education system

Jay Karandikar, XI
Associate Writer

We rightly honor our founding fathers for enshrining in our Constitution the process of democratization that began when Jamestown was founded in 1607. However, their work is not yet complete. They focused on the democratization of government, but there is one area of public life that still requires such a process: education. The democratization of education would entail a fundamental shift in the way that education is conceived. Moreover, it is a shift that we as a school community have the power to enact, with the cooperation of both the educators and the students.

The shift that I refer to is from course-based standards of student performance to knowledge-based standards. Note that by “knowledge,” I mean not only facts, but also procedural knowledge, i.e. knowledge of how to perform tasks. In the current educational system, the measurement of a student’s performance is primarily based upon which classes the student takes and the student’s grades in those classes. This is an imperfect method of judging students, because somebody who has not taken a class in a given subject may very well know the material just as well as somebody who has taken the class. Therefore, the system is biased against self-taught students.

The natural next question is, “For which subjects do knowledge-based criteria apply?” The answer is, “The subjects for which one can say that one has truly learned the subject when one knows and understands certain definite pieces of knowledge .” This is clearly the case for mathematics and science. Once a student learns the required knowledge and techniques, the student knows the subject.

Alternatively, the humanities require a more nuanced view. The humanities are not only concerned with the acquisition of particular knowledge, but also with the process of obtaining the knowledge, such as by class discussion. A person who memorized every word of the Odyssey without ever having a discussion about it would be lacking something crucial. Thus, it seems that the best criteria are knowledge-based for math and science and course-based for the humanities.

Since a student’s performance is more reliably judged by the knowledge that she has than the courses she has taken (at least for certain subjects), the transcript as it exists today is not an appropriate measurement of student achievement, though this is what it is often thought of as being.

A more reliable indicator would be a transcript of aptitude rather than a transcript of courses. One method of achieving this goal would be to provide students with the option of taking the final exams of certain courses in order to show that they know the material. Of course, this option would only be available for subjects with knowledge-based criteria. Allowing this option would in no way obligate students to skip courses; it would only open new paths for students who wish to do so.

Once a student has demonstrated competency in a field by passing the final exam, this can be indicated on the transcript of aptitude, something that cannot be done on the current transcript of courses. Of course, for AP-level courses, there are already ready-made final exams, the AP tests, so these could be used to assess students. For non-AP courses, teachers’ own final exams could be used instead.

There are currently options at PDS for learners whose needs do not fit into the course framework, such as independent studies. This is an excellent and rewarding path for those to whom it is available. However, the trouble with independent studies is that their availability is contingent upon finding a teacher with expertise in the appropriate subject who is able and willing to set aside some of her time to guide the student without compensation. I am not claiming that PDS is bereft of teachers who are willing to do so, but that it can be understandably hard for them to make the commitment of time and effort given the extra activities that many teachers are already a part of.

A student’s choices should not be limited by such a contingency. There are other potential options that could be considered in case independent studies do not work out. For example, some universities, such as MIT and Yale, have released free videos of their professors’ class lectures. A student who has reached the college level in a field could learn at that level from professors at accredited universities. To top it off, the College Board offers CLEP Exams, which are college level tests that allow students to prove their expertise in many subjects. By getting creative with these available resources, PDS can offer much more than the two options of courses and independent studies.

Education, especially at the high school level, is about giving students opportunities to learn about what interests them. Therefore, opening up new pathways for students to learn is always a good thing. The capability of those students who are at the appropriate level to take control of their own education is something that should be explored, by thinking about how these students can be served in addition to providing the option of independent studies. What I ultimately mean by “democratizing education” is providing the students themselves with control over the content and pace of their own education.  

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Posted by Spokesman Editors on December 21, 2011. Filed under December 2011,Opinions. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry