What We Really Assess

I have recently started reading a book that I really like. How Children Succeed by Paul Tough takes a look at what critical factors make or break students in school and in life. (I'm thinking of offering a book study in the spring!) The argument is that grit and character have more to do with success than cognitive ability. In the introduction, Tough discusses the GED program in America. It began in the 1950s as an acceleration program, not a way for dropouts to gain a diploma. The idea is not all too unfamiliar with some of the programs that are emerging now. If a student can show that they have the knowledge necessary to earn a diploma, they can bypass the traditional classes through a test and in a school and skip straight to the next stage of their life.

Studies quickly emerged to track students that took this option in the 1960s and 1970s. One in particular has followed a group for over 40 years. It compares life after school with GED graduates and traditional high school graduates.  Of the group, just 3% of the GED grads continued on to a four-year university compared to 46% of traditional graduates. The study concluded that when you examine all factors that define success (annual income, unemployment rate, divorce rate, use of illegal drugs, etc.) GED graduates look exactly like high school dropouts. How could that be? Their completion of the test proves that they are cognitively smarter than high school dropouts. The thing that they have in common is a lack of perseverance and a sense of delayed gratification. They have no grit.

The exams that students take this week will show us cognitive ability and content mastery. Some students will do well, some will not, and most will do just about what we thought they would do.  Despite how they perform, remember that they are still in the game. They still show up to work, and while they do not always perform day-to-day as we would hope, they come back and give us a shot at connecting with them tomorrow. That trait gives them a better shot at success after school than quitting ever will.