The Persistence Movement: Are We Teaching Perfection as The Ultimate Goal?
The Persistence Movement: Are We Teaching Perfection as The Ultimate Goal? Eric Basilo, EdD, assistant principal at Sanford Middle School in Sanford, FL, 2018 Florida Assistant Principal of the Year Think of the perfect student. Early to school, always respectful, never an issue, and top scores in every class. If you are fortunate to know students like this, they are diamonds in the rough. Despite appearances, these students are far from perfect. Perhaps they are neurotic before each test, they have little to no social life, or they cry if they lose a point. If perfection is truly unattainable, why do we teach it as the goal? You may argue this goal is not for all students; however, in my experience, we tell students they get one chance at a perfect score on tests. If these students retake the test and demonstrate true mastery, they typically can only earn half the points back. When students struggle in a standardized test or a course the year prior, we give them ad...