Children love to learn in meaningful context. I seriously question how teaching to multiple choice tests promotes the sort of learning that children love. I read that children are burning out by fourth grade.
Take a look at the huge experiment going on in homeschooling, especially among eclectic and unschooling home schoolers. Learning is fun. It is child’s play.
NCLB is one (of many) reasons my granddaughters are at home with me rather than in a government school. When they are in their teens they will take some tests and I’ve no doubt they will do very well. In the meantime their learning is collaborative, meaningful and, to a great extent, self-directed.
Could the lessons of the home schoolers be applied in some way for the benefit of children in school? Perhaps so, if the people who fancy themselves to be experts would get out of their mental ruts and see.
