Real Failure

Doing poorly on standardized tests is not a meaningful measure of success/failure with regard to students achievement or that of teachers. I am much more concerned with the ingredients that go into making a presentation, taking an assessment, preparing a lesson and so on.

Here's what real failure would look like. A student not attending classes or not being alert would indicate that there is a high probability of failure. Students who don't do their homework/classwork or give anything close to a full effort...that's failure. Children who don't engage with students/teachers are having difficulties which could lead to a lack of success. Those students who could care less about education, now that's more akin to failure. Also, a student who demonstrates a lack of growth...that is failure.

Teachers who are poorly prepared for the classroom and lack the great training to become a teacher are bound to fail. Those who don't provide decent feedback to students, assess growth properly or are not clear in the lessons...they are going to fail. Effort, grit, and determination might be hard to quantify but they have much to do with success.

So, if one really wants to see what failure looks like, the previous paragraphs contain more valuable insights into this situation than do standardized test results.

Dick