In this article, the author profiles Charles Dickens Elementary School in Vancouver, British Columbia, a school that dares to be different from the rest. This elementary school operates on a child-centered, multi-aged framework that is based on belief in an orientation towards continuous progress, appropriate evaluation of progress, schoolwide…

Competition, in classrooms as on the athletic fields, could destroy childhood and distort an entire lifetime. In an educational institution there is no need for grading, promotion, ranking, tracking, or labeling. A tremendous burden would be removed if teachers could teach without "evaluation," if people would come to school to learn rather than…