Assessment of Student Achievement and Learning, What Would Dewey Say? A 'Recent' Interview with John Dewey

The thinking of John Dewey is alive today as it was 80 years ago when he was immersed in the debate over dual or unitary educational systems. Dewey opposed the efficiency proponents of the time, claiming their plans for separate vocational and liberal studies were shortsighted and "undemocratic". Dewey's arguments for a unitary system, a system that integrates vocational and academic curriculum, are being debated today as they were in the early part of this century. Key to a unitary system is an assessment system that measures not only knowledge and facts, but also the application of knowledge as well as the impact of experiences from work and life. This article explores Dewey's view of educational assessment by means of a present day interview. Such a format permits his views to be directly linked to current issues and also allows a sprinkling of humor.

Educators today reflect on the wisdom and vision of John Dewey as much or more than they did almost 100 years ago when Dewey began his writing and speaking about the role and future of education in society. John Dewey was a philosopher and educator, a former high school teacher, Director of the Chicago Laboratory School and college professor. He was a prolific writer whose views are as relevant and discussed today as they were in his time. His thinking has profoundly affected school curriculum, then and now. In particular, his position on the emerging role of vocational education in American schools forced consideration of "learning by doing" for all students. He felt that students would experience a fuller education, and society would experience greater freedoms, if vocational and academic curriculum were unified rather than separated. Dewey argued that a separate curriculums, as we have them today, "result in a typically 'bookish' education for one group and narrow trade training for the other" ( Kliebard, 1986 , p. 147). Consequently, Dewey felt that separate vocational and academic programs further divided the social classes, a proposal he called "undemocratic". Dewey therefore regarded the Smith-Hughes Act, which initiated separate vocational curricula in schools, as symbolizing a conflict between educational and industrial ideals.