Authentic Assessment

Interesting Commentary on alternative ways to assess.

Tufts Experiment

Inside Higher Education just published an article on a project at Tufts Univ. called Kaleidescope. It basically introduces additional criteria for considering undergraduate admissions. The new criteria include creativity, practical skills, and wisdom regarding the common good. Initial findings show that its reaching underrepresented students and proving that the academic integrity of the university will indeed, remain in tact.

The last paragraph of the article does a great job of summing up why this article found its way on the DEC blog.

“In education, imagination is extremely important and the current process does not encourage creativity, imagination, courage, wondering, or civic-mindedness. It encourages gamesmanship, competition, & managing your high school career to please a dean. Tufts seems to be sending different messages."

Please post your thoughts, rants, etc.

A New Conversation

Welcome to the Democratic Education Collective. This blog is intended to be a platform for discussions in and around the topic of public education, with specific regards to its function in the creation and preservation of democracy.

Past and current attempts to commodify knowledge and distance public education from the commons are the impetus for the creation of this blog. We welcome the perspective of anyone concerned with the fate of our schools and the fate of democratic ideas worldwide. Please share your concerns, questions, experiences and knowledge as a way to initiate a new conversation about education. We welcome your expertise, creativity, and passion regarding any and all issues pertaining to education.

As a collective, we can produce and communicate a new educational conversation.