Abstract
This chapter analyzes the bell curve’s presence in the deep structure of school evaluation and measurement, as well as, unconsciously, in the minds of teachers and educators. The bell myth shapes a reality of worthlessness for most children. It establishes academic achievement as the only worth-scale in education, granting worth to a small and predetermined number of students while excluding the remaining majority.
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Notes
A brief critical summary of the history of the grading system can be found in the article: Durm, M. W. (1993), “An A is Not an A is Not an A: A History of Grading,” The Educational Forum, 57, 294–297 Spring.
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“The self-fulfilling prophecy is, in the beginning, a false definition of the situation evoking a new behavior which makes the original false conception come ‘true.’” Merton, R. K., Social Theory and Social Structure. New York: Free Press, 1968, 477.
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Koretz, D., Measuring Up: What Educational Testing Really Tells Us, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2008.
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© 2013 Khen Lampert
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Lampert, K. (2013). Belling the Ring. In: Meritocratic Education and Social Worthlessness. Palgrave Pivot, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137324894_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137324894_2
Publisher Name: Palgrave Pivot, London
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