“Is this going to be on the test?” For many teachers, having students ask this question ranks highly on the list of pet peeves. It really is a loaded question, as teachers worry that answering in the negative somehow means that what is being said is unimportant or inconsequential. Likewise, an affirmative response may put too much emphasis. For the most part, teachers are generally “peeved” because the question has undertones of anti-intellectualism.
I wish that I could say that students at The Beech Hill School don’t ask this question. Unfortunately, they do, and quite frankly, assessment and feedback of understanding through tests and quizzes are essential elements of learning. So, querying a teacher about the relative significance of a topic is not the worst that one could do – indifference would be much worse.
Lately, however, I have been struck by the number of ways that students engage in their education at BHS that is not formally assessed. For example, last week we held our Winter Carnival. A cadre of students, with the assistance of Mr. Holt and Ms. Marklin, planned, organized, and administered the events of the week. The students dreamt up the themes of the daily dress and they orchestrated an amazing afternoon of activities on the final day of Winter Fest. They were given the agency to own the event, and they did.
Similarly, this Friday we held our annual Invention Convention, which is the culmination of the 7th Grade Solutions class. There is nothing on our students’ transcript that says “Solutions Class” – yet every year our students put forth a great effort to develop creative solutions to their everyday projects. In the last 5 years, The Beech Hill School is proud to boast that two of our student inventors were invited to the National Invention Convention in Detroit, Michigan. This year’s inventions were, like past years, creative, unique, and a culmination of great effort. The students learned a great deal through the process, yet there was no test and no grade.
In the end, we have found a good balance between formal assessment and reporting at BHS, while inspiring our students to pursue and protect their curiosity. For far too many, middle school becomes a time when curiosity is replaced with anxiety and a perceived need to perform. At The Beech Hill School, attending to this balance is just another reason that our students thrive.