Education – Communication – Transformation
Education is one of the last cultural bastions of one-size-fits-all in delivery and assessment as we seek out students who are “average”, just as we seek those “above average” and “below average.” Our entire infrastructure is based on grading students up and down, based on how they “compare” to other students.
Consider the book, “The Years That Matter Most” during this winter break and catch up on IICE blogs before you return for the Spring semester!
In this season of thankfulness, IICE is thankful FOR YOU!
There is no such thing as a “best” tomato sauce, yet we push for a “best” student moniker throughout education.
Some potential summer, must-read books for any educator!
Here is a potential list of some great reads. Yes, you will find “learning” as a thread that binds them all, but most of these books were not authored with educators as the primary audience.
Loneliness leads to failure. Lonely students do not persist. Being alone makes a person far less likely to get good grades, stay in school, find a good job, and more. And just as we know that not every measure works for every person, success can be better predicted through non-cognitive measures than academic ones for many students.
Data has just danced around the edges of usefulness for most colleges and universities over time. We have MOUNDS of data, right? We have historical data going back decades. Granted, it’s mostly on paper, in cabinets, locked away in a storage room we only open every seven years, brushing off dust and cobwebs like an Indiana Jones film so as to cherry pick the best data to show accreditors…but it’s there.