"When he lectured in the United States, Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget would invariably

[elleng]

get what he called “the American question” from a member of the audience. After he had explained various developmental phases that young children go through in their understanding of concepts like length and volume, someone would raise their hand and ask, “How can we accelerate a child’s progress through the stages?”

Baffled, Piaget would explain that there is absolutely no advantage to speeding up a child’s progression. The point of knowing the stages is to be aware of what stage a child is in, so that we can create the conditions and offer the guidance to help her move to the next one.

It’s not a race.

One of the most insidious results of the testing madness afflicting education has been an emphasis on speeding toward a particular outcome—a reading level, a cut score—without taking the time to ask what is sacrificed in that rush."

Too many kids are rushed toward the level they're "supposed" to be on by the end of a given grading period, with little attention given to the path they're walking to get there.


. . .1. Focus on the path, not just the destination.

2. Honor growth above proficiency.



https://www.edweek.org/leadership/opinion-the-problem-with-hurrying-childhood-learning/2018/04?