Grades and tests get in the way of learning for multiple reasons, but this episode digs deeper to explore how any practices that lead students to focus on how well they’re doing in school — as opposed to what they’re doing — are bad news. Policy makers who trumpet their demands for higher standards, “rigor,” and “raising the bar” may not realize that this focus on achievement makes kids think less about learning because, like a certain bald former mayor of New York City, they’re constantly asking, “How’m I doin’?”

For details about the harmful effects on learning of overemphasizing achievement, please see chapter 2 of The Schools Our Children Deserve (AlfieKohn.org/schools-children-deserve/).

A note from Alfie Kohn:

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