On Monday, Nov. 30, in the Pascack Valley auditorium, Superintendent Gunderson showed parents, teachers, and students a film titled “Beyond Measure,” which told of the shifts in education for the 21^st century.

The film began by telling of the evils of continuing with the old fashioned form of education, and how it no longer teaches children about life. Rather it teaches them how to take a test and spit back information they never really retain.

It also tells individual stories of teachers and students who feel the education system must change. It goes into detail about the particular evil of standardized testing, starting with the statement “what counts cannot be counted.”

In particular, Garfield High School’s teachers refused to give the students the MAP test and succeeded in getting it eliminated.

As it progresses, however, the film shifts to potential solutions to the problems previously stated, bringing up examples to force a point: how teaching with projects and tasks rather than a teacher telling students the facts is the way to go.

One example it brings is of High Tech High School, a school in San Diego that allows for a looser, more friendly learning environment that breaks traditional boundaries.

The film travels from Kentucky to Seattle and San Diego and talks about the future of education.

After the film commenced, the students and parents who were present for the showing participated in a discussion. Many of the teachers and parents felt that this was the direction the district was moving in. They tried to come up with ideas on how to sell this to parents whose concerns lie with passing tests and getting the perfect transcript.

Students brought up how effective this method is by mentioning the success our own Mr. Matthew Morone was having with his open classroom with his Honors 2 sophomores.

“[Morone’s classroom] is something that I wished I had experienced personally as a younger student because that self-proven learning is something that prepares you for when you have to drive yourself in the future,” said senior Charlie Leppert.

“We have been making changes. Part of the movie was about standardized testing and we are not making any changes with that. We have a responsibility to do what the state wants us to do,” Mr. John Puccio said. “But we liked the changes that are being made and we are making these kind of changes at Pascack Valley to let us catch up to the 21^st century such as changes to the marking periods this year.”

Others told of how the senior project also showcased this kind of independent learning and its uses.

All in all, everyone agreed on two things: something needed to change, but it would not happen overnight.