Dear St. Andrew's Families,
In my brief talk with our students yesterday at School meeting, I emphasized that education at its best provides opportunities for displays of what Ken Bain calls “incredible feats” of student learning. These moments emerge both in artistic exhibition and performance and in athletic competition, but they also emerge powerfully within an academic program that teaches for understanding rather than memorization.
What we do at St. Andrew’s is teach in ways that will enable and inspire our students to work, think, write, argue, and problem-solve independently. Therefore, when we create assessments, as we've done this week, we often ask students to do new work: to confront new textual material, new problems, new questions. Our exam responses, therefore, become expressions of understanding and learning.
We see exams as important reflections of our approaches to teaching. As a result of the exams we read and consider, we will make changes in the way we teach, assess, and design curriculum. We have an entire semester ahead for these crucial adjustments.
The best way to evaluate the philosophy and quality of a school or college is to look at student work – our goal at St. Andrew’s is to inspire your sons and daughters to perform at heights and levels they never dreamed they could achieve.
Sincerely,
Tad Roach
Merrill M. Stenbeck Headmaster's Chair