In what ways are the (current) traditional models in public education "proven"? Genuine question.
Speaking of ethics, it doesn't seem entirely ethical to force students to memorize a bunch of facts (chosen by whom?) and regurgitate them for arbitrary grades for over a decade, as if that has something to do with education. Certainly there is some lasting psychological damage inflicted by that methodology.
You are building strawman there. No one said anything about testing something you memorized years ago.
And also, quickly changing methodologies sux, because they change faster then teachers can really learn and become experienced in teaching that way. And same applies to students, because different methodologies have different expectations on how they should behave. So, you have constantly teachers doing something they are not fully sure how to do yet, parents who are confused about why this or that is different then last year and frustrated students who perceive the system being inconsistent and hypocritical.
I don't believe it's a strawman at all. I was a middle school teacher for years in the USA.
Modern education is overly concerned with fact memorization, since it's the easiest and most precise way to grade. In America we force (not ask) our children to attend institutions that greatly resemble totalitarian dictatorships, where they are not even allowed basic rights like bathroom use without being given permission.
Then we force them to memorize countless facts, many of which are never brought up again for the rest of their lives.
I didn't mean that students would be tested on something they memorized years ago -- I was instead saying that this "memorization + testing => grades" methodology is forced on students for many years. I don't think it's a straw man because, at least in the US, this has been the standard model in the majority of public schools for the past several decades. The article that we are discussing specifically mentions pushing back on that paradigm. The parent commenter called the ethics of applying this "unproven fad" into question, so I think it makes sense to compare this to the ethics of the standard model.
Speaking of ethics, it doesn't seem entirely ethical to force students to memorize a bunch of facts (chosen by whom?) and regurgitate them for arbitrary grades for over a decade, as if that has something to do with education. Certainly there is some lasting psychological damage inflicted by that methodology.