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Don't let anyone tell you that standardized tests are not accurate measures. The truth of the matter is they offer a remarkably precise method for gauging the size of the houses near the school where the test was administered.

Alfie Kohn

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Alfie Kohn
Age: 67
Born: 1957
Born: October 15
Author
Teacher
Writer
Miami Beach
Florida
House
Offer
Remarkably
Tell
Tests
Measurement
Truth
Size
Measures
School
Method
Precise
Gauging
Matter
Offers
Houses
Standardization
Teacher
Accurate
Standardized
Education
Near
Administered
Anyone
Test
Gauges

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When test scores go up, we should worry, because of how poor a measure they are of what matters, and what you typically sacrifice in a desperate effort to raise scores.
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Very few things are as dangerous as a bunch of incentive-driven individuals trying to play it safe.
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Saying you taught it but the student didn't learn it is like saying you sold it but the customer didn't buy it.
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Punishments erode relationships and moral growth.
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Students should not only be trained to live in a democracy when they grow up they should have the chance to live in one today.
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There are different kinds of motivation, and the kind matters more than the amount.
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If unconditional love and genuine enthusiasm are present, praise isn't necessary. If they're absent, praise won't help.
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When we do things that are controlling, whether intentional or not, we are not going to get those long-term outcomes.
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Grades are a subjective rating masquerading as an objective evaluation.
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Grades dilute the pleasure that a student experiences on successfully completing a task.
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Punishments and rewards are two sides of the same coin and that coin doesn't buy you much.
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In a word, learning is decontextualized. We break ideas down into tiny pieces that bear no relation to the whole. We give students a brick of information, followed by another brick, followed by another brick, until they are graduated, at which point we assume they have a house. What they have is a pile of bricks, and they don't have it for long.
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Those who know they're valued irrespective of their accomplishments often end up accomplishing quite a lot. It's the experience of being accepted without conditions that helps people develop a healthy confidence in themselves, a belief that it's safe to take risks and try new things.
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Sometimes we have to put our foot down, ... but before we deliberately make children unhappy in order to get them to get into the car, or to do their homework or whatever, we need to weigh whether what we're doing to make it happen is worth the possible strain on our relationship with them.
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You have to give them unconditional love. They need to know that even if they screw up, you love them. You don't want them to grow up and resent you or, even worse, parent the way you parented them.
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We can't value only what is easy to measure measurable outcomes may be the least important results of learning.
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Someone who thinks well of himself is said to have a healthy self-concept and is envied. Someone who thinks well of his country is called a patriot and is applauded. But someone who thinks well of his species is regarded as hopelessly naïve and is dismissed.
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Each time I visit such a classroom, where the teacher is more interested in creating a democratic community than in maintaining her position of authority, I’m convinced all over again that moving away from consequences and rewards isn’t just realistic - it’s the best way to help kids grow into good learners and good people.
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What can we surmise about the likelihood of someone's being caring and generous, loving and helpful, just from knowing that they are a believer? Virtually nothing, say psychologists, sociologists, and others who have studied that question for decade
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Educational success should be measured by how strong your desire is to keep learning.
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