March 21, 2001
“
perhaps the countrys most
outspoken critic of educations fixation
on grades [and] test scores.” —-Time
magazine
Nationally known education writer
Alfie Kohn to speak April 3
MIDDLEBURY, Vt.Nationally known
education writer Alfie Kohn will give a talk titled “The Deadly
Effects of Tougher Standards on American Education” on
Tuesday, April 3, at 7:30 p.m. The lecture will take place in
Middlebury Colleges Mead Chapel on Hepburn Road off College
Street (Route 125), and is free and open to the public. The event is
sponsored by the College and the Addison Central Supervisory
Union.
Kohn has written eight books on
educationhis most recent is “The Case Against Standardized
Testing: Raising the Scores and Ruining the Schools.” He is also the
author of “The Schools Our Children Deserve,” and has appeared on
many radio and television shows, including “The Oprah Winfrey Show”
and the “Today” show. Time magazine called him “
perhaps the
countrys most outspoken critic of educations fixation on
grades [and] test scores.”
Kohn declares, “An ill-informed
version of school reform has been embraced by politicians, corporate
executives, and journalists, all demanding
accountability, which turns out to be a euphemism for
more control over what happens in classrooms by people who are not in
classrooms.”
In his talk, he will explain what he
sees as the difference between authentic challenge and a mindless
“harder is better” mentality, as well as the difference between
standards as guidelines for better teaching and standards as rigid
lists of facts students must know.
Following the talk, a reception will
take place in the Redfield Proctor Room of Proctor Hall, across
Hepburn Road from Mead Chapel. The reception is also free and open to
the public.
For further information, visit the
Colleges Web site at http://cet.middlebury.edu/alfie/,
or contact Gregg Humphrey of the Middlebury College teacher education
program at 802-443-5116 or ghumphre@middlebury.edu.
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