Exit Exams

Two books you should read are: Drive by Daniel Pink and The Global Achievement Gap by Tony Wagner Both books sum it up by stressing the importance of having pride and interest in what you do. Most schools ignore career-oriented approaches with combined learning on the job classroom instruction. I read a sample test question from the Common Core State Standards Initiative test that intends to ensure that all students leave high school ready for college or careers: "Give me 8 sheep and then we will have an equal number," said one shepherd to another: "No, you give me 8 sheep and then I will have twice as many as you," replied another shepherd. How many sheep did each shepherd have to start with? Write an equation or inequality that has (a) no real solutions; (b) infinite number of solutions; and (c) exactly one real solution. It is much easier to score factoring test questions than that of language arts. I personally believe that is the core problem with our standardized testing approach.

Follow up:

We test and because of scoring boundaries we miss out on really seeing what the student has learned and their true mastery levels. Schools are becoming boring for students and drop out rates are higher and no where near the 90% graduation goal set by congress in the 1990's; leaving our workforce today hurting for employees and our colleges hurting for students with soft skill behaviors that lead to success in the college years and for their career paths. Students need to meet mastery of skills but not necessarily the same skills. For whatever reason, we appear to be stuck in a cycle where our educational system believes that all students need to master the same skills no matter what their post high school path will be. I believe that this is a critical point that needs to be addressed to help more students be better prepared for college and the workforce but most importantly for students to have the opportunity to be more engaged and interested in what they do.

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In 1999, Jan Van Blarcum, Ph.D. founded Creative Tutors. As an educator, Dr. Van Blarcum understood the importance of personalized attention in a child's educational growth. Her passion for learning grew into a business endeavor that provides customized, one-on-one, in-home tutoring to children with a variety of learning needs. Every child receives personalized attention from certified/degreed educators. Jan has acquired invaluable experience through living abroad, teaching in many educational environments and has acquired business development experience. These unique experiences, coupled with her fervent desire to provide all children with the tools needed to achieve their potential in today's educational environment, led her to establish Creative Tutors and their sister organization Creative Learning 4 Kids, Inc. a 501(c)(3) company.

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