Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Standardized World Is Flat

  • By Deb Moore
  • 03/01/11
Not a day goes by without hearing about failing schools, the need for tougher standards, accountability and school improvement. For many, this means an increase in our focus on state-mandated standardized tests, often seen as the primary criteria for judging school success.

With administrators in the hot seat, teachers are being told to teach to the test. Kids are sharpening their number-2 pencils and preparing to take still another standardized test, hoping a good score will be their ticket to the future.

I am not alone in questioning what a standardized test really measures — the ability to analyze or the ability to memorize. Quite a few years ago, I had the opportunity to speak at the U.S. – China Conference on Education.

I will never forget the conversation I had with one of the participants from China about standardized testing. I was told, “We invented standardized testing. It does one thing, it kills all creativity.” His statements rang so true with me. How did I pass a test? Memorize.

There was very little investigation or synthesizing of information going on. Granted, it got me through school with good grades, but memorizing facts (that are soon forgotten) is not how to get ahead in today’s world.

I recently had an opportunity to attend a presentation by Thomas Friedman, journalist and Pulitzer Prize winning author of “The World is Flat” and “Hot, Flat and Crowded.” In his presentation, he talked about the convergence of technology, how the “dot.com” boom wired the world and the international competition that is now unfolding before our eyes. He talked about how globalization has progressed from countries to companies to individuals. He also talked about education, our need to nurture the right brain, how the arts help to develop creativity and the mental agility to synthesize. He talked about the need to teach our students how to connect, collaborate and compete in a flat world.

It is not a focus on standardization that will make our students succeed. It is cultivating their individuality, their creativity and their ability to look at things differently. Just knowing what everybody else knows will not cut it in today’s world.

Featured

  • DLR Group Announces New Mid-Atlantic Higher Education Leader

    Integrated design firm DLR Group recently announced that it has promoted Principal Shawn Gaither, AIA, LEED AP, to the role of higher education leader in the Mid-Atlantic, according to a news release. Gaither has served with the firm for more than 20 years, most recently as the national higher education business development leader.

  • Bradley Company Highlights Hygiene Tips for Global Handwashing Day

    In honor of Global Handwashing Day on October 15, commercial washrooms and emergency safety solutions provider Bradley Company recently released the results of its 2026 Healthy Handwashing Survey. The findings indicate simple, practical steps that facilities managers can take to encourage good hygiene on campus.

  • Montclair State University Debuts New VR Facility

    Montclair State University in Montclair, N.J., recently announced the completion of a new virtual reality learning facility developed in partnership with Dreamscape Learn, according to a news release. The 2,450-square-foot lab space is inside the College of Communication and Media building and will serve students pursuing careers in digital media, virtual reality, and content creation.

  • Carnegie Mellon University Receives $3B Gift to Launch New Campus

    Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Penn., recently announced that it has received $3 billion—the largest individual gift in higher education history—from Citadel CEO and founder Ken Griffin, according to a news release.