assessments should be teacher-created and student-driven. 

"McGrath and Davies argue that school needs to keep up with the times by promoting creativity, entrepreneurship, design thinking and hands on skills. McGrath’s experience teaching design problems has convinced him that the approach includes all learning styles, brings the best of project-based learning, encourages cooperation and integrates subject matter horizontally. But mostly, McGrath and Davies are impressed at the cool stuff kids design."

"As we continue to shift the paradigm of what public education needs to be, it is imperative that we consider what we value and how we present it to the students. High stakes testing doesn’t do the trick. We need to find a more inclusive approach that values many modes of learning and intelligence."

A really amazing post with practical suggestions..............

Tony Wagner:  "“Content knowledge has to be engaging to kids,” Wagner said. “If kids aren’t motivated, you can pour content knowledge in their heads and it comes right out the other ear.” 

"Wagner highlighted schools in the deeper learning network like New Tech Network, Expeditionary Learning, High Tech High and Big Picture as school models that are aiming to fulfill many of these qualities. “Students are learning many more real world skills, as well as content knowledge, through projects,” Wagner said. “They’re doing work worth doing. They’re doing work that’s interesting, and engaging.”"

"Wagner half-jokingly advocated for “Dream Directors” in schools, whose job it would be to help students identify their dreams and scaffold tasks to help students obtain the skills needed for that dream. "

That is it...........we need to be dream directors  and we need to ask the kids what they need and want more.  They do have the answers.  

"In other words, by focusing on a bogus definition of effectiveness, you actually have no idea of which teachers are great for a particular classroom. It's not just that the reformster definition of "effective" is unjust and unfair; its innate wrongness will actively thwart any attempts to make anything better. It's almost -- almost -- as if reformsters actually want public schools to fail."

This is an exciting time of change!

great point.  really great point!  Envisioning a better tomorrow in education most certainly involves educators making the decisions.

I agree from a parent's perspective second; an educator's perspective third; but mostly from someone who had one heck  of a profound childhood spent exploring the world around me.  We should be mad as hell!