Enrollment vs Test Scores

When traditional education systems want to see how well they are doing imbedding knowledge into the minds of their students. They directly measure the knowledge of the students in order to determine their level of success. The US primary education system has taken that to a level through No Child Left Behind that the quality of education has been degraded. If you measure something too much the very act of measuring can adversely impact the process.

A different way to measure quality of education is through enrollment. The idea is that you make engaging with the learning process voluntary. When learning is competing with other things in life the people who prioritize it are going to take it seriously. They will engage and instead of the teacher embedding knowledge in them will absorb it as much as possible.

The benefit of measuring this way is that it is unobtrusive and really a better way of ensuring real learning. I know I have taken many tests where I prepped for the test, did well, but had forgotten most of the material by the next day. Additionally it means that the teacher doesn't need to spend all the administrative time writing, administering, and grading tests. Less time testing means more time working with the students.

This kind of shift works well for adults. Most college classes use a mix of this. You don't have to go to class, but you still have testing. A lot of continuing education classes and work training are done this way. If the student is self-motivated to pursue learning they will learn so much better than if it is mandated.

Can this model be modified for kids? There are certain things they must learn. Reading, writing, and math of course. There are lots of other things that are important, but there is a lot of flexibility. I'm thinking as I'm writing here so it might not be super well thought out.

Self-direction has to be part of it. That is the enrollment part. Kids need more guidance than an adult might.

Ok, what if instead of having traditional subjects (beyond reading/writing/math) there were pre-defined modules that incorporated any mix of history, science, and other subjects? There could be a list of them with different themes. So each kid could pick the modules with the themes that most interested them? Then they would have some choice and ownership of their education. They would have to pick something of course, but giving them some choices would make it more their own journey.

As the kids get older the structure of the modules could become looser and looser to give them more freedom to own it. The teachers would shift from teaching from the front and dictating to a role of advisor and guide. I think the set of skills and thought processes the kids would pick up in a structure like this would significantly better prepare them for life as adults than education by dictate and performance evaluation by test.