As another school year ends, thoughts naturally turn to student progress. What have the students learned this year? What should be practiced over the summer? Are they prepared for the next grade level?

The answer to many such questions depends on the goal. Grades don’t really tell a story, nor does standardized testing. Is the goal memorization, acquisition of a skill, critical thinking, or extending thinking and applying learning to new situations? Learning begins with recall or memorization. Whether learning to ride a bike or read a book, you begin by memorizing the parts of the desired action or outcome. However, most learning has to go deeper in order to be meaningful. Learning has to have an application. Deep learning is applied to other situations and allows for creative and extended thinking.

Tests are given to assess knowledge. What they typically measure is memorization. Think back to a test you took in school, maybe in a subject that you didn’t like or was hard for you. Do you recall much about that subject? Did that information stay with you? Probably not. If you are lucky, you had a good enough memory to pass the test and move on… and you wanted to move on!

Now think about something you really wanted to learn. When were you finished learning? When did you decide you had enough? My guess is that you still aren’t done and are continually learning about a subject that interests you. Not only are you still learning – you are well beyond the memorization or summarization phase of learning. You are probably applying the knowledge you’ve gained to other situations, asking questions to further consider the ideas and in new contexts.

Progress is measured by an individual’s learning. What has your child learned this year?