Embracing ambiguity: Why predictive metrics aren't helping
Shawn Loescher
Last year, Arizona State University alumnus Shawn Loescher presented his TED-Ed talk at the TEDSummit in Edinburgh, Scotland. Loescher, CEO of Urban Discovery Schools, was one of just 16 extraordinary innovators worldwide recognized by the TED-Ed Innovative Educator program for his leadership in advancing education.
Loescher, a graduate of the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College, leads Urban Discovery Schools, an inner-city pre-K–12 school system that embraces a design thinking-based curriculum developed with student input.
Loescher’s talk, “Embrace ambiguity! Why predictive metrics aren't helping,” recounts how the tumultuous experience of his child being born prematurely taught him to embrace ambiguity.
In the neonatal intensive care unit, each new diagnosis from a specialist came with a predictive metric for his child’s future.
“Let me tell you, it has been wrong more times than not," he said. “I was reminded how not to confuse statistical probability with human possibility,” he said.
More Arts, humanities and education
ASU professor, alum named Yamaha '40 Under 40' outstanding music educators
A music career conference that connects college students with such industry leaders as Timbaland. A K–12 program that…
ASU's Poitier Film School to host master classes, screening series with visionary filmmakers
Rodrigo Reyes, the acclaimed Mexican American filmmaker and Guggenheim Fellow whose 2022 documentary “Sansón and Me” won the Best…
Pen Project helps unlock writing talent for incarcerated writers
It’s a typical Monday afternoon and Lance Graham is on his way to the Arizona State Prison in Goodyear.It’s a familiar scene.…