I’m all for students mastering the topics at hand. But Moscow’s “mastery-based education” does not actually do that.
Read on. From the Moscow-Pullman Daily News:
Moscow’s mastery-based education under scrutiny
District forum takeaway: New grading system leaves parents confused, many students unmotivated and teachers in need of a voice
Parents are confused about the system and its merit; many are concerned teacher voices are not being considered and students lack incentive to excel under the new standards.
This is a big problem. If students are not motivated, they won’t work.
“One thing that I’ve certainly noticed is a bit of a problem in my math class — there is not really a system in place to encourage kids to really go after their homework,” said Max Piper, an eighth-grader at Moscow Middle School. “I’ve noticed that (homework) is not counted in our grade at all, the only thing that matters is that test.”
Piper said with no accountability, some students rarely do their homework in the first place and often are unprepared to test, causing them to have to default to taking the test a second time.
And if you can take the test as many times as you want/need to pass, that’s what will happen. And what you have mastery over is memorizing the answers, not the content itself.
Miller described the shift as a “fad” and advocated for not only halting the progression of mastery-based education in Moscow but reversing it “ until this community and your own teachers are behind it — not following along, not being taught.”
“It is not our responsibility to convince you why it’s a bad idea, it’s your responsibility to convince us it’s a good idea,” Miller said.