Today I think about testing and kids and teachers and real learning and what these state tests really measure anyway... Because we have to, being in the public school system, there is nothing to be said about it. We can complain about it all we want, argue with legislators, state and federal officials, and this will not make much of a difference. I am just curious what it does to people in a school. I can tell you that, since coming back from Winter Break, the talk has been all about state testing: what to focus on, test-taking strategies to use, short and extended responses in math and reading, test preparation, and on and on and on...Question: Has state-mandated testing forced us to cover material for the sake of coverage, or are we covering material for depth, for the sake of learning itself? When we panic to make sure that certain items are covered before the test, to make sure that kids are at least exposed to material, I can tell you that the answer to the above question is certainly not learning for the sake of learning.
There is a better way. If we want to get back to learning for the sake of learning, for the sake of creating in kids a desire to learn more, we must change the way we do things. We must offer kids opportunities to do projects, to read and write and think and talk, to play; we must offer students the opportunity to become more than just great test-takers. We must offer our students a shot at being prepared for a future that will contain jobs that have not even been created yet.
A teacher commented the other day that even he was bored.
Certainly, there is a better way.
I have the same concerns. Instead of providing an over abundance of time focusing on the "test", I recommend focusing on the best practices for delivering instruction. I am convinced that when students are actively engaged in learning with teachers who don't focus on curriculum or tests, but on students, learning will be tantamount to high scores on any exam. In WI, we need to "cover" 300+ standards before our students graduate. What would happen if we provided our students the skills to learn on their own and using only a sample of the content? How about moving from content to application?
ReplyDeleteI find it humorous that the holy grail in education is to perform well on multiple choice tests, with a page or two of constructed response questions. As a professional, I have never been given a test by my employer? How about you?
Adam,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on that! First of all, as much as we sometimes preach about best practices for delivering instruction - the stuff that will really move our schools into an era of high expectations - I worry about the "Knowing-Doing Gap." How much of this is really going on? We know we are supposed to be providing this type of instruction, but the "doing" part is a little tricky for some. And when I walk into the workroom and see people preparing ISAT practice materials, I wonder...
So what happens if kids don't "cover" the 300+ standards? Do they get held back? And who decides whether these standards have been covered?
And no, I have never been given a test by my employer.
The school where I'm doing my clinicals is actually planning on eliminating social studies and science because their language arts and math scores were so low on their standardized tests.
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