"When’s the last time the deficit model of viewing student performance really irked you? Just thinking about it can be quite enraging. Here’s why:
Students end up being placed along a bell curve (hope this doesn’t induce a headache) to decipher how on target they are—how close to the “average” learner. And this is deciphered basically by looking at their test scores…then placing them along this line of doom."
The myth of average may be a new concept to you but if you listen to the short video clip by Todd Rose you will get an idea of what this issue is, and there is a link to a TEDx talk in the post (a longer presentation on 'Project Variability and the dangers of “averaging” learners.'
Additional resources are also available in this post including a new Universal Design for Learning book that may be found online. For more information click through to the post.