[NLA] Discussion: AELS and Higher Ed

[Eileen Eckert]

Carl put it all in one word,balance, but I went back to the writing of Paulo 
Friere and found this (from Pedagogy of the Oppressed, pp. 68-69):

"When a word is deprived of its dimension of action, reflection 
automatically suffers as well; and the word is changed into idle chatter, 
into verbalism, into an alienated and alienating 'blah'...On the other hand, 
if action is emphasized exclusively, to the detriment of reflection, the 
word is converted into activism. The latter, action for action's sake, 
negates the true praxis and makes dialogue impossible. Either dichotomy, by 
creating unauthentic forms of existence, creates also unauthentic forms of 
thought, which reinforce the original dichotomy."

To bring it back to the previous discussion, we can't <just> report 
experiences or results. We also need to look at their meanings, the limits 
of their meanings, and how those meanings change in different situations.

Here's an example: If a program is required to use a comptetency-based 
assessment such as the CASAS to report results, then those results will only 
be a meaningful reflection of the effectiveness of teaching and learning to 
the extent that the program's curriculum (and what's actually happening 
instructionally) match the competencies that the CASAS tests. To the extent 
that there is a difference, results will be misreported, and probably 
underreported. Teachers and students can be achieving great things, things 
that have real value and meaning to the students, but if they are not the 
same things tested for in the program's mandated assessment, if they are not 
the same things the program is required to report on, then the meaning and 
the value are invisible to those making funding decisions. To rely only on 
predetermined data and results in that situation is to negate the real value 
of the program's work, and to call the individual learner's goals 
irrelevant.

Now we see from David's message yesterday that the range of acceptable, 
reportable outcomes may shrink even further. If it went through, the new 
outcomes reporting would mean "results" and "data" would have even narrower 
meanings. This is very scary to me, and I don't think we can wait around to 
see if someone steps in to save us before mobilizing ourselves. We can take 
action immediately, and we can simultaneously keep reflecting and evolving 
our own understandings. Yes, balance.

We've got a few Connecticut people on this list, and we've got quite a few 
northeasterners. Maybe we could work on a regional effort to advocate for 
acceptance of a broad range of results that are meaningful to learners?






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