Dakota Writing Project

by Catherine Carlson

My husband looks for trends,
An agricultural researcher,
And when he sees a pattern,
Knows that it’s nature and not nurture.

So when education law
Demanded more accountability,
I knew that I could trust him
For statistical agility.

We look at tables, charts and graphs;
Our table talk is vigorous.
Reliability’s our game;
Our scrutiny is rigorous.

I look at kids; he looks at corn.
Our cash crops are divergent.
But when it comes to steady gains,
We’re uniformly urgent.

And so in passing talk one day,
I asked about the model.
The scientific standard
Sets researchers’ hearts a-throttle.

I asked about control groups,
And the standard deviation,
Replicative research
To move the learners of our nation.

He gazed at me with level eye;
His brow was staunch and stern.
He told me what the research in his field
Had helped him learn.

“Statistics can be great,” he said.
“They help you see the trend.
But, when it comes to growing corn,
They’re not the living end.

“If I want my plants to grow well
—My corn to stand apart—
I look at tables, charts, and graphs,
Then grow it from the heart.”

I thought about his message,
How science breaks the rules.
I thought if hunches work with corn,
What does that mean for schools?

Will testing kids like corn plants
Really help them learn and grow?
And when will they have learned enough?
How will we ever know?