Are Kids Widgets?

I've been thinking about kids, schools, factories, and widgets. I believe all kids can achieve. Do they develop at the same rate? No. There are many factors influencing their development. Should we hold schools and teachers accountable? Yes. The big question for me is what do you tie that accountability to? Is a teacher a bad teacher if their kids don't do well on a standardized test? Some would say yes. Personally, I disagree, as students are not widgets.

Isn't testing just like the quality control testing in factories? What happens when factories find a widget that doesn't meet their standard? They toss it, or perhaps sell it for less as a damaged/flawed version (typical with appliances... think the ones with the small ding in the side). For schools? We tell the kids that they have failed, or are a failure, and go through stages of closing schools. This makes me think of the government closing a factory because it is polluting too much. In the case of schools, it is as though the government is saying that the schools are producing a bad product that harms the environment.

The challenge ahead is changing the climate surrounding education. We need to move away from thinking of students as widgets/ovens/vacuum cleaners/TVs/cars/candy. They can all achieve, but jumping over the same bar at the same time seems incredibly silly. Worse so is then taking out our anger on schools for this failure. Additionally, how can we change our perspective from one that is penal to one that is positive?