Michael Horn examines students with lower test scores who later outperform their peers, citing Marty Lukin's research on private school choice programs. Public schools teach to the test while private schools like classical and Montessori emphasize different values. Horn argues these anomalies deserve investigation, not dismissal, because they might reveal how to improve education.
What if I told you that while test scores do predict later life success in general, sometimes students with lower test scores actually do better in the longer run? It seems like a paradox, right? But actually, looking at anomalies like these are what help us make actual progress in education. So research shows that middle school test scores predict college and career success. But here's the twist that Marty Lukin's recent piece for Informed Choice makes. He points out that in private school choice programs, students often score lower on standardized tests, yet they go on to achieve more later in life. Now, why might that be? Well, he hypothesizes that because in public schools, tests drive curriculum, whereas in private schools, parents might value other things and the curriculum could look quite, quite different. Think about, like, classical religious or Montessori education, for example. Now, my mentor, Clay Christensen, loved anomalies. Moments that break the rules and force us to learn something different. Basically say, what's different about this case from the general cases and what can we take from that? This is one of those moments. And it sort of suggests, hey, test scores, they do matter, but not how we think, and they're not as causal as we might want to believe. Now, the real don't dismiss the anomalies. Lean into them, study them, because they can hold the key to building a better education system.
