Analysis Of TED Teach For Mastery Not Test Scores By Sal Kahn

Is our education system preparing us for failure? Sal Kahn, founder and twelve-year CEO of Kahn Academy, which is a non-profit organization that provides free educational material on a variety of subject to over forty two million registered users online, argues in his TED Talk “Lets Teach for Mastery – Not Test Scores” that the current system is continually building upon flaws in people’s knowledge that accumulate until they result in mistakes. With the current academic structure, Kahn argues that this result is bound to occur because while the current system identifies students’ problems through test, it fails to correct them. By doing this, even people who understand 95% of the material will be left with a gap remaining from the last 5% (Kahn). After years, this gap grows until someone
Through his logical and familiar depiction of the situation, highlighted by his use of humor, Kahn is able to translate a rather complex issue into an argument that anyone can understand and offers a solution. Even though he is the pioneer of this idea, his clear understanding and depiction of the situation lend weight to his idea, even to those who might now know who he is. Many would agree that there are problems with the education system and Kahn highlights those while also explaining why they happen. If someone then considers the success that Kahn has had with Kahn Academy, it is clear that his ideas have some merit. Perhaps the most compelling part of his argument is his portrait of what the future could be like with a better education system. With a little effort, perhaps in the not-so-distant future the education system could be improved enough to allow everyone to contribute to difficult problems facing