Does anyone else feel like their lives are dictated and run by numbers? I certainly do. We get grades in school that determine where we get in to college. Our colleges are ranked based on numerous qualities and characteristics. Then we get a job and start thinking salaries, days of vacation, hours worked each day…the list goes on. Sometimes it feels like we are living our days by the numbers and missing the point.
Measurement cannot go away, but it needs to be scaled back and allowed to mature.
School is supposed to be about learning. Test scores are no replacement for quality learning so why are we so focused on them? Well, this article does a really good job of explaining how we need to achieve a balance between strictly thinking in numbers and really interpreting and valuing what those numbers mean. There is, undoubtedly, a need for reform in the kinds of assessments that we give children, doctors, students, and other professionals. Numbers are important, but we are missing the point.
Tanya Tavassolie 