Thursday, May 5, 2011

Innovation Revisited

I have posted several blogs about how high-stakes testing is detrimental to innovation in education and to fostering creativity and innovation in our students. Not only are these exams a poor measure of potential, but they go a step further and displace art programs and elective programs that actually allow students to develop creativity.

When a school is not making the grade on standardized tests, the first programs to go are the arts, music and electives, which are replaced by more math and language arts classes. Those kids who struggle in core classes probably find it hard to go to school each day faced with possible failure, and electives such as woodshop or film making are what provide the motivation to attend school at all. We are not serving students, we are serving the test.

As a nation, we are concerned that our students are not globally competitive and thus we are pushing to institute a rigorous, standards-based curriculum. There is nothing wrong with this, but we then place all measures of success on a standardized test. If we do not do well on the tests, we will apparently be overrun and teased by our global competitors.

The other day I was thumbing through the May 16, 2011 issue of Time magazine. In the Economy section on page 17 was an interesting breakdown by country of the cost of producing the iPhone called “Adding Up the iPhone: How an American invention makes money for the world.” While parts and assembly generate income in Japan, China, Germany, South Korea, and elsewhere, the bulk of the profit goes to the US. The graphic states:

“While America doesn't make much of what goes into the iPhone, it’s always better to innovate than to fabricate; just see Apple’s profit.”

About Japan,

“It doesn't innovate as much as the U.S.”

And about China the article states,

“Often more of an assembly line for other nation’s wares, work here accounts for only 3.6% of an iPhone’s production cost.”

While the production of the iPhone feeds the world economy, the bulk of the money stays in the U.S. where the product was developed. So, while many supposedly better educated foreigners may be working on the iPhone, its ultimate existence is a product of good ol’ American ingenuity.

Perhaps our decline in competitive fitness is best measured by the creativity vacuum left by the slashing of inspiring arts and elective programs, all in the name of test scores.

Do something innovative, deemphasize standardized testing, reclaim your creativity, and reclaim public education! Is there an app for that?