They capture students' imagination with a mix of primary text, software, videos and interactive activities. While a good number of their students excel, all too often the most passionate teachers burn out. Achievement scores increase as students adapt to the tests, but many students remain behind. Parents and other taxpayers continue to lose faith in the public school system, turning to vouchers and other destabilizing initiatives. In the second vision, the majority of teachers are collaborating to develop stellar lesson plans, effortlessly aligning each lesson with district learning objectives and state standards.
Teachers evaluate student work against rigorous scoring rubrics.
Parents and others give students feedback on their work as well. Students' work that meets district and state standards is placed into a portfolio demonstrating the skills they have mastered. Students whose work does not meet the standards receive extra assistance and assignments until they exhibit proficiency. In on-demand assessments, the majority of students easily communicate their knowledge and skills with a professional level of competence. VES will do for teaching and learning what the word processor did for writing.