Teaching students to take responsibility for their own educations is huge, but not something we cover if we only look to our standards. The ability to communicate with peers may not be found in the state's guidelines, but to succeed in the world, students must gain mastery of this skill. If students learn to reflect on their learning and their work, if they are able to revise, and speak out for their decisions, we will have taught them valuable skills that cannot be easily learned in the traditional classroom.
Students who can evaluate what they need to complete a project do not need to have as tight a grasp on the content. These students will be able to research any content they need. On the flip-side, those students who have been taught only content, have very few skills they can take with them to a project about different content.
Education became too short-sighted, only looking ahead to the next testing session. We must begin to look at our students, and see what will help them long-term. In the end, we might just find out they perform better on the required state tests as well.
