Beth McMurtry

When you teach to the test, you're basically assigning short essays, you're assigning paragraphs, you're assigning excerpts from longer books. And then students are asked to say, discern the meaning in this paragraph or talk about the writing style or the use of metaphor. And as one professor described it to me, it turns reading into a scavenger hunt.

When you teach to the test, you're basically assigning short essays, you're assigning paragraphs, you're assigning excerpts from longer books. And then students are asked to say, discern the meaning in this paragraph or talk about the writing style or the use of metaphor. And as one professor described it to me, it turns reading into a scavenger hunt.

When you teach to the test, you're basically assigning short essays, you're assigning paragraphs, you're assigning excerpts from longer books. And then students are asked to say, discern the meaning in this paragraph or talk about the writing style or the use of metaphor. And as one professor described it to me, it turns reading into a scavenger hunt.

So students were taught to read in this way, and they come into college reading this way. And then professors who maybe didn't fully understand what was happening in the K-12 system are saying, what is going on here? My students don't have critical reading skills. If you think of reading like exercise, they weren't exercising. They weren't engaging in the act of reading.

So students were taught to read in this way, and they come into college reading this way. And then professors who maybe didn't fully understand what was happening in the K-12 system are saying, what is going on here? My students don't have critical reading skills. If you think of reading like exercise, they weren't exercising. They weren't engaging in the act of reading.

So students were taught to read in this way, and they come into college reading this way. And then professors who maybe didn't fully understand what was happening in the K-12 system are saying, what is going on here? My students don't have critical reading skills. If you think of reading like exercise, they weren't exercising. They weren't engaging in the act of reading.

I think if you look at certain tests, there has been learning loss. If you look at maybe SAT and ACT trend lines, right, they've been going down a little bit.

I think if you look at certain tests, there has been learning loss. If you look at maybe SAT and ACT trend lines, right, they've been going down a little bit.

I think if you look at certain tests, there has been learning loss. If you look at maybe SAT and ACT trend lines, right, they've been going down a little bit.

Forty percent of seniors meet none of the college readiness benchmarks the fifth consecutive year. Test scores have declined. Now the question, what is to blame, the pandemic or something else?

Forty percent of seniors meet none of the college readiness benchmarks the fifth consecutive year. Test scores have declined. Now the question, what is to blame, the pandemic or something else?

Forty percent of seniors meet none of the college readiness benchmarks the fifth consecutive year. Test scores have declined. Now the question, what is to blame, the pandemic or something else?

If you talk to or survey superintendents and teachers, they might say a significant portion of their students are doing more poorly on math and on English. So there has definitely been documented learning loss in K-12 that I think has been tied to the pandemic.

If you talk to or survey superintendents and teachers, they might say a significant portion of their students are doing more poorly on math and on English. So there has definitely been documented learning loss in K-12 that I think has been tied to the pandemic.

If you talk to or survey superintendents and teachers, they might say a significant portion of their students are doing more poorly on math and on English. So there has definitely been documented learning loss in K-12 that I think has been tied to the pandemic.

This generation is very self-critical. So telling students that they're dumb or dumber than previous generations, I think just feeds this spiral of anxiety. I don't think that's a way forward for anybody.

This generation is very self-critical. So telling students that they're dumb or dumber than previous generations, I think just feeds this spiral of anxiety. I don't think that's a way forward for anybody.

This generation is very self-critical. So telling students that they're dumb or dumber than previous generations, I think just feeds this spiral of anxiety. I don't think that's a way forward for anybody.

I think we have to remember that the students didn't create this environment. We, the adults, created the environment and the system that they lived in, right? Like this is the result of our handiwork. So we kind of have to ask ourselves, if we're unhappy with...

I think we have to remember that the students didn't create this environment. We, the adults, created the environment and the system that they lived in, right? Like this is the result of our handiwork. So we kind of have to ask ourselves, if we're unhappy with...