It finally happened, that moment I have been dreading; my students turned into numbers. Never mind their names, never mind even their initials, instead a four digit number stared back at me from the wall. The occasion? Our first assessment meeting where we already throw around numbers like we actually know what they mean.
So now I have a list of who the number belongs to and I have a chart of what the letters by the numbers mean. And all I can think of is how did it ever get to this? How can we stand by while our kids are boiled down to three scores, three snapshots, that supposedly tell us everything we would ever need to know about their struggles, their strengths, their futures? But we do and now they don’t even have a name anymore, for confidentiality purposes I am told. I can’t help but feel that it shows how far away from the child we truly are.
Pernille Ripp 
Did you see this article in the NYT today? (See link below.) Some parents are fighting against the "numbers game." They are boycotting test days, keeping their kids at home. Maybe, we need more parents to join the movement. I am wondering when, if ever, the pendulum will swing back, but am not sure if we are seeing the pendulum swings in education anymore. When students become numbers, we de-humanize education.http://nyti.ms/TRq5Qs