Update 2024-03-28-review-off-the-mark.md

_posts/2024-03-28-review-off-the-mark.md

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   - Trinity College
   - technology
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-![sample](/images/2024/off-the-mark-book-cover.png){: .align-left style="width: 30%;"} Jack Schneider and Ethan Hutt have written a very thoughtful book on a perennial topic that deserves our renewed attention, titled [*Off The Mark: How Grades, Ratings, and Rankings Undermine Learning (but Don't Have To)*](https://www.hup.harvard.edu/books/9780674248410), Harvard University Press, 2023. Their book guides us through an historical overview and policy analysis of a problem that defines most K-12 and higher education in the United States, with useful comparative examples from across the globe. And they accomplish this without piling unnecessary academic baggage onto general readers. Written during the pandemic, when schools and colleges went online and struggled over how to deal with standardized testing, the authors ask deep questions about the conflicting goals and cultural norms of assessment, which in ordinary times may go unasked or unanswered.
+![sample](/images/2024/off-the-mark-book-cover.png){: .align-left style="width: 15%;"} Jack Schneider and Ethan Hutt have written a very thoughtful book on a perennial topic that deserves our renewed attention, titled [*Off The Mark: How Grades, Ratings, and Rankings Undermine Learning (but Don't Have To)*](https://www.hup.harvard.edu/books/9780674248410), Harvard University Press, 2023. Their book guides us through an historical overview and policy analysis of a problem that defines most K-12 and higher education in the United States, with useful comparative examples from across the globe. And they accomplish this without piling unnecessary academic baggage onto general readers. Written during the pandemic, when schools and colleges went online and struggled over how to deal with standardized testing, the authors ask deep questions about the conflicting goals and cultural norms of assessment, which in ordinary times may go unasked or unanswered.
 
 One aspect I appreciate about this book is how it approaches the "entanglement" problem in student evaluation. As historians, the authors ask *how did we get here?* to illuminate the multiple forces that have shaped testing and grading to make schools look like they do today. And with policy lenses, they ask *how can we reprioritize learning?* while recognizing that assessing students is "intertwined" at so many levels inside schooling and adjacent institutions outside. In this context, they evaluate several alternative models---such as time-consuming portfolio assessments, narrative evaluations accompanied by "shadow" grades, and competency-based micro-credentials---to help us understand their strengths and limitations within schooling systems.