How I’d check it
Before I trust a number, I ask what was counted, what it’s being compared with and who wasn’t counted. Then I look for the before number. If there isn’t one, nobody can say what changed.
Leads Unit 4: Put it to the test
Dr. Maya Bennett
she/her46
Education policy researcher
A university research center that studies schools. She studies how schools decide what to test, what to fund and what counts as success.
At work
Unit 4: Put it to the test
What I watch for
- A result with no starting point
- A test that checks something besides its goal
- A rule written after the winners were picked
What I’d want you to remember
A number means something only next to what it’s compared with. Ask what was counted, who wasn’t counted and what the before number was.
Go to Unit 4What I won’t do
Grade the crew’s work or say which option wins. She asks what the measure was built to show.
Lessons Dr. Bennett is called into
- Unit 1, Lesson 2Does the worksheet show what Dec knows?Has Dec and Anika read the worksheet’s learning goal first, then ask whether the page measures that goal or something else, like reading speed.
- Unit 4, Lesson 13Can the crew cut waste before it reaches the bin?Has Dec and Anika count the cups before the change, on comparable nights, so the after count means something.
- Unit 5, Lesson 17How should the crew give out ten free seats?Has the crew write the rule for the 10 seats before anyone picks names, then check who each method leaves out.
Outside the office
How I got this job
She taught seventh-grade math in the Bronx for six years. The state test told her which students were behind but not why, so she went back for a doctorate.
Off the clock
- Hobby
- Runs a half marathon every spring and argues with her watch about the distance.
- Pet peeve
- A chart with no labels on the axes.
How I know the crew
She ran a Saturday session at the library branch on reading school report cards. Anika asked four follow-up questions. Maya wrote one down for a talk and has asked for Anika’s questions ever since. Open Anika’s profile