EDUCATION WEEK September 27, 2000 Standardized Testing and Its Victims By Alfie Kohn Standardized testing has swelled and mutated, like a creature in one of those old horror movies, to the point that it now threatens to swallow our schools whole. (Of course, on “The Late, Late Show,” no one ever insists that the monster is really doing us a … Read More
Opposing View (editorials)
USA TODAY 2000-08 USA Today regularly invites guest writers to offer an “opposing view” to their unsigned editorials on controversial issues, although the writers are allotted only 350 words and do not get an advance look at the essays to which they are responding. 1. In “Phantom Claims Endanger New Graduation Standards” (May 8, 2000), the paper argued that “there is … Read More
In Defense of the Progressive School
INDEPENDENT SCHOOL Fall 1999 Vol. 59, No. 1 In Defense of the Progressive School An Interview with Alfie Kohn By Kitty Thuermer A former teacher turned author and lecturer, Alfie Kohn was recently described by Timemagazine as “perhaps the country’s most outspoken critic of education’s fixation on grades [and] test scores.” We would add to this list “outspoken critic of our … Read More
The Trouble With “Back-to-Basics” and “Tougher Standards”
SCHOOL BOARD NEWS September 14, 1999 The Trouble With “Back-to-Basics” and “Tougher Standards” By Alfie Kohn How can we fix our failing schools? The question is heard frequently these days, but its premise is incorrect. Once we look beyond the scare headlines, we find that students in American schools are actually doing about as well as ever on standardized tests. … Read More
A Look at Maslow’s “Basic Propositions”
Originally published in Perceiving, Behaving, Becoming: Lessons Learned Edited by H. J. Freiberg (Alexandria, VA: ASCD, 1999) A Look at Maslow’s “Basic Propositions” By Alfie Kohn Abraham Maslow was a bundle of paradoxes. After writing a popular text on abnormal psychology, he turned to — and virtually initiated — the serious study of healthy people. He apprenticed under some of the … Read More
Why Students Lose When Tougher Standards Win: A Conversation with Alfie Kohn
EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP September 1999 Why Students Lose When Tougher Standards Win A Conversation with Alfie Kohn If students are to help design their own learning experiences and if teachers are to be free to develop a curriculum on the basis of their students’ needs, schools must buck the “Tougher Standards” movement, author Alfie Kohn says. John O’Neil and Carol Tell … Read More
From Degrading to De-Grading
HIGH SCHOOL MAGAZINE March 1999 From Degrading to De-Grading By Alfie Kohn Pour lire cet article en français, cliquer ici. You can tell a lot about a teacher’s values and personality just by asking how he or she feels about giving grades. Some defend the practice, claiming that grades are necessary to “motivate” students. Many of these teachers actually seem to … Read More
Addendum to “Suffer the Restless Children”
From What to Look for in a Classroom…and Other Essays (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1998) Addendum to “Suffer the Restless Children” By Alfie Kohn I wish I could say that the article you have just read is now only of historical interest. Alas, in the decade since it was written, we have witnessed an even greater tendency to throw around the ADHD label, … Read More
Introduction to What to Look for in a Classroom … and Other Essays
San Francisco Jossey-Bass, 1998 Introduction to What to Look for in a Classroom … and Other Essays By Alfie Kohn From 1979 until 1985, I taught a course on existentialism to high school students. It was not my only teaching experience but it was far and away my favorite. Between terms, I fine-tuned the reading list and perfected the lectures, looking … Read More
Only for My Kid: How Privileged Parents Undermine School Reform (*)
PHI DELTA KAPPAN April 1998 Only for My Kid How Privileged Parents Undermine School Reform By Alfie Kohn What the best and wisest parent wants for his own child, that must the community want for all of its children. Any other ideal for our schools is narrow and unlovely; acted upon, it destroys our democracy. — John Dewey, School and Society Mike McClaren, … Read More