Last night I was watching this historic debate between the leaders of the three main political parties in Britain. One very poignant question was from a high school student - Joel Weiner - who complained about the very rigorous assessment regime they have for students in the UK. He said that students were "over-examined and under taught." Gordon Brown and David Cameron really pooh-poohed his concern - obviously enraptured with the idea that high test scores are synonymous with successful schools. The phrase which they used was "maintaining the level of standards" - and of course, this word "standards" is a synonym which means various things including rigorous testing practices and personal sense of ethical conduct. It's difficult to talk sense into folks who use this kind of politically-expedient language.

This last term in my university classes, I noticed that a lot of the academic research from the USA tended to use test scores to try to prove a b or c. Test scores represent a wonderfully easy data set to look at. Scientists love this kind of data - crunching numbers always makes their studies appear more rigorous. Unfortunately, one problem with science is that the data that is most presently available isn't always the kind of data which is relevant to the thing being studied. I am adamant that test scores are not a great metric of student achievement. And many educators would agree with this standpoint to some extent.

One thing I researched during the term was the school system in Australia. I was very impressed with how wholistic the education system there is. The main goal in Australia is to prepare children with what they themselves need as human beings when they go out into the world as adults at the age of 18; they call this "Outcomes Based Education." In contrast to this, states in the USA focus on academics; they go around asking professionals in various fields what they believe children should be taught about their particular academic area.

Even as a student at a small state university here in the Rocky Mountains I felt put-off by the essentialist style of my professors. It dawned on me yesterday a way to reform at least tertiary education in the States - so that students enjoy their time more, and learn more quickly and efficiently. I think we ought to separate education from assessment. I believe that teachers ought to introduce students to all the skills and concepts which are relevant to the subject area they are studying - but in a forum where there is no assessment to see how much the students are learning. If the students have to hold down a job, or if they are taking a 25 credit courseload because of special circumstances, they wouldn't be penalized for not getting work in, over the course of the term. Then, when students feel that they have gained the relevant skills and knowledge, they can opt into a two week or a month-long assessment regime - where they demonstrate what they have learned.

The way the typical university education is set up now - it's almost absurd. At the beginning of the term - you're walking into a classroom with three to eight unknown professors - each of which will demand a certain slice of your life for the next 9 to 16 weeks. And there's nothing preventing them from asking so much of your time that you really don't have the time to get the work done properly. And this wouldn't be because you aren't able to demonstrate the skills or knowledge - it's just because of the capricious schedule which is laid upon you by all the various syllabuses of your professors.

I don't know why no one seems to have recognized this, before. It's as obvious as the light of day to me that children and young people learn a lot more easily and quickly when they are not being micromanaged. Micromanagement tends to teach children how to parrot what the teacher wants from them... and on a strict syllabus schedule, you don't have time to devote to absorbing the material in a way that you would get the most out of it. Kids who are more talented either rebel against such a regime, or they just give up on all of the other things that are important in their life - like peers and social development.

Also, yesterday, I watched a PBS Frontline program on the rise of alternative for-profit tertiary institutions in the USA. I really hope one of these businesses would see the possibility in profiting off of a new model of education like the one I propose. They could really set some progressive trends.