Last night, I was struggling to remember the name of an educator I had come across a couple of years ago. He was stressing the need for a pluralistic approach in teaching children, something that our one-size-fits-all approach to academic proficiency seems to entirely ignore–except in the special education arena.
In one of those small miracles of coincidence, NPR ran a story on Dr Mel Levine this morning.
Throughout the country this Institute is working to provide parents with the best assessment techniques and to train classroom teachers to help kids with learning differences. We strive to ensure that children receive the individualized education that will help them enhance their innate strengths and overcome difficulties they may have encountered in school.
Dr Levine’s work raises a serious question for those of us interested in the definition of “proficiency” for the purposes of standardized testing in our public schools. More to come….