ABSTRACT
Receiving feedback is a very scary proposition for many educators. For some reason, the natural evolution of the profession has precluded this from being a normal facet of daily life. Teaching has been a very private and intensely personal act for many teachers for a long time. Think about this scenario and whether it would be scary for you:
You work with students throughout a semester.
After every fifth day, the students are assessed.
You are able to research previous editions of the assessment, but each week it could change.
The assessment will try to judge and exploit student weaknesses.
While students take each assessment, many of the parents and some community members watch.
Sometimes there is even a radio transmission narrating what is occurring.
The following morning after the test, all of the relevant data is aggregated and disaggregated and posted in the local newspaper.
This is scary—and this is what a high school football coach experiences each week of the season. This is pretty much the definition of high stakes.