By trying to guide students toward “proficiency” or “competency,” we wind up providing them with rules and strictures that cut students off from the most important and meaningful aspects of writing. In order to be judged “proficient,” students are coached to create imitations that pass muster on a test a grader may take all of three minutes to read, or even worse, a test that’s assessed by a computer algorithm on the lookout for key words and phrases.
What do we do when this is how students are being evaluated for graduation and district/teacher performance on the basis of these kinds of tests?
