Counting What Counts: Reframing Education Outcomes

by Yong Zhao (Editor), Kendra Coates, Brian Gearin

Overemphasizing test scores as measures of achievement is potentially harmful to education. The contributors identify key traits such as mindset, motivation, social skills, creativity, and entrepreneurial spirit that students, teachers, and schools need to acknowledge and cultivate. Educators are asked to shift the evaluation paradigm to focus on a multiplicity of skills necessary for success in the 21st century.

Genres: Education

180 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 30, 2015

About the author

Yong Zhao is a Foundation Distinguished Professor in the School of Education, with a courtesy appointment in the School of Business, at the University of Kansas. He is also a global chair in education at East China Normal University. He previously served as the presidential chair and director of the Institute for Global and Online Education in the College of Education, University of Oregon, where he was also a professor in the Department of Educational Measurement, Policy, and Leadership. Prior to Oregon, Yong Zhao was University Distinguished Professor at the College of Education, Michigan State University, where he also served as the founding director of the Center for Teaching and Technology and executive director of the Confucius Institute as well as the US-China Center for Research on Educational Excellence. His works focus on the implications of globalization and technology on education. He has published over 100 articles and 30 books.

Reviews

[Ivonne Rovira · Rating 4 out of 5]

Counting What Counts is a collection of essays from educators associated with Solution Tree, an organization that provides educational speakers and teacher training, so the quality is a bit uneven. However, Dr. Yong Zhao, who I had the pleasure of listening to at a seminar, has two five-star entries that made buying the book worth it just for those. The second chapter, “Celebrity for Nothing: The Rise of the Undervalued” by Sarah Soltz and the sixth chapter, “Globally Speaking: Global Competence” by Michael Thier were also pretty good. I would skip the other chapters.

[Carrie Froese · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great book to provide an overview of Yong Zhao's ideas presented at Whistler, October 2016 Conference at Whistler, B.C.