Laurie Pane: Any competent teacher knows how her students are progressing throughout the year.

PUBLISHED IN THE LA TIMES, Sunday August 5
Re: Teaching and testing options, August 3
Arthur Levine compares testing students once a year to having a car GPS update its position once an hour instead of constantly. In the GPS part, he forgets the driver and assumes he ignores road and street signs. In the student part, he forgets the teacher, assuming she has no idea of what her pupils have learned.
Any competent teacher knows how her students are progressing throughout the year. Standardized testing cannot determine this; only a teacher is in a position to make this assessment.
Levine says the emphasis in public education has moved from teaching to learning; it should move to educating, as only then can a child's full potential be realized.
Laurie Pane