Standardized Tests Creates Standardized Kids

[Panaconda]

Fact 1. Our children are tested to an extent that is unprecedented in our history and unparalleled anywhere else in the world. While previous generations of American students have had to sit through tests, never have the tests been given so frequently, and never have they played such a prominent role in schooling. The current situation is also unusual from an international perspective: Few countries use standardized tests for children below high school age—or multiple-choice tests for students of any age.

Fact 2. Noninstructional factors explain most of the variance among test scores when schools or districts are compared. A study of math results on the 1992 National Assessment of Educational Progress found that the combination of four such variables (number of parents living at home, parents' educational background, type of community, and poverty rate) accounted for a whopping 89 percent of the differences in state scores. To the best of my knowledge, all such analyses of state tests have found comparable results, with the numbers varying only slightly as a function of which socioeconomic variables were considered.

Fact 3. Norm-referenced tests were never intended to measure the quality of learning or teaching. The Stanford, Metropolitan, and California Achievement Tests (SAT, MAT, and CAT), as well as the Iowa and Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS and CTBS), are designed so that only about half the test-takers will respond correctly to most items. The main objective of these tests is to rank, not to rate; to spread out the scores, not to gauge the quality of a given student or school.

Fact 4. Standardized-test scores often measure superficial thinking. In a study published in the Journal of Educational Psychology, elementary school students were classified as "actively" engaged in learning if they asked questions of themselves while they read and tried to connect what they were doing to past learning; and as "superficially" engaged if they just copied down answers, guessed a lot, and skipped the hard parts. It turned out that high scores on both the CTBS and the MAT were more likely to be found among students who exhibited the superficial approach to learning. Similar findings have emerged from studies of middle school students (also using the CTBS) and high school students (using the other SAT, the college-admission exam). To be sure, there are plenty of students who think deeply and score well on tests—and plenty of students who do neither. But, as a rule, it appears that standardized-test results are positively correlated with a shallow approach to learning.

...

http://www.alfiekohn.org/teaching/edweek/staiv.htm

[woo me with science]

1. Subject-verb agreement

is important.

[ThomWV]

2. hope that gets fixed with an edit - giving it K&R none the less

[SidDithers]

10. Ironic, in a thread about education...nt

Sid

[Starry Messenger]

3. k & r

[Supersedeas]

16. Arne knows there is more than one way to create employable robots

[stray cat]

4. I had an employee who liked to think outside the box but he couldn't find the box

Creativity requires knowing something well enough to allow real creativity. A creative surgeon who knew nothing about medicine is probably not your best bet for surgery

[ljm2002]

13. You're right...

...clearly the study cited is trying to convince us that there is no need to master basic skills.

:sarcasm:

[LWolf]

5. Four facts that the nation does not want to address.

To our detriment. :(

[Dr Morbius]

6. Standardized tests also undermine sectional diversity,

thereby undercutting democracy itself (as diverse opinions and views are essential to the democratic process).

[CoffeeCat]

7. I am living this (and fighting it)...

I have two daughters--4th and 5th grade.

Both are highly creative and have unbelievable memories. I once watched them do a half hour of
"The Emperor's New Groove" dialog, never missing a word. They're musical and they are voracious
readers. My 5th grader won a prize for reading the most minutes in 4th grade, last year. She read
3,000 minutes more than the child who won second place. However, my child's standardized tests are in the
low 90's so she isn't even considered for the AELP (honors) program. AELP is really just extra projects
and work that is highly creative. Entrance into the program is based entirely on her standardized tests.

She begs me to get her into the program so she can do these creative projects. It's hard to deny her
this extra learning, when she wants to do it. So, we do fun projects at home.

My forth grader has trouble with math. She also has PTSD due to a traumatic childhood incident. Combine
difficulty with math and PTSD and you get poor performance. She does "get" math, but it come slowly. She knows her
facts, and does her homework with few mistakes. However, she doesn't test well and she does have problems
with new concepts, at first. Last year, the principal suggested that she be in the special ed program. There was
so much pressure for me to do this. They asked me to sign papers, without fully informing me that my
child would be in special ed. The principal said, "This just allows her to get extra services." I
asked if I could read the papers at home and he rolled his eyes. I read them fully and was shocked at how
they were hiding what I was signing! I then resisted signing, due to the PTSD which causes attention problems
and lots of disassociation (spaciness) when she gets frustrated. I wanted them to be patient. Oh no...they
wanted her classified as sped--only three weeks into the school year! They even hauled me into a very formal
meeting, with a psychologist, AEA sped person, the principal, the school counselor and her teacher. I held my
ground, expressed my concern that she was only in 3rd grade and needed some time to work out the PTSD, before we
made a sped decision.

I read so much about math disabilities and she just didn't seem to meet the criteria. Her reading was above grade
level and she has a sharp memory. At the end of this formal meeting, the principal said, "Now what is PTSD?"

Yeah, and this man wants to make major decisions about my child's education?

I didn't quite understand the pressure to get me to do this. Lo and behold--a teacher (who quit last year) pulled
me aside and told me it was all about those standardized tests. I just found this out, this week! She said that
the principal pressures parents to get kids in sped because their scores are factored differently. I don't
know if sped standardized tests are omitted from the aggregate or if they are weighted differently--but there
you have it.

I sensed that something was off. I resisted. So glad I did. The psychologist, the school guidance counselor
and the AEA sped person all sided with me, BTW. This year, she is doing SO WELL and math is really starting
to click for her. She'll never be a math professor, but it has clicked. They stressed her out last year--removing
her from her class every day for an extra hour of math tutoring. She constantly asked me if she was dumb. On top
of the PTSD, it was a nightmare for her and for our family. She's very hyper-vigilant. She needed calm and patience
last year, and didn't get it.

This year, I am sure the principal will try this again. I won't be as nice this time.

All of this---to raise test scores. It's ridiculous.

I don't sit around depressed about this stuff. I just do what needs to be done. We just made a paper mache 3D map for
my 5th grader, who is studying map directions. We did this on our own. I'll get her AELP-quality experience if they won't.
And I'll fight for my 4th grader if I they try funny business again this year. It's just sad though--that these standardized
tests have created situations that harm children.

Our family is just one example. I can only imagine the countless stories out there! And also, what about the parents
who are unaware of these circumstances? How many parents sign papers or do what the principal asks, just to be good
soldiers? How many children are hurt by this?

It's crazy.

Edited to add: The teachers are absolutely wonderful and I appreciate them so much. The principal pressured the 4th grade
teacher to go along with the sped--and he put her in a tight position. Given that, all of their teachers have been absolutely
wonderful. This is not about the teachers. It's about those tests and how they forced administrator's and principals to
make poor, rash decisions.

[Catshrink]

9. Thank you for sharing your story.

[blindpig]

8. That is the point, isn't it?

k&r

[Panaconda]

11. Oopsie

James Joyce or e.e. cummings would not fret two much about that so I won't obsess two much on the grahammer either.., Thomas Pynchon for that matter.

I had a teacher who told me two positives don't make a negative. I sardonically replied, "Yeah right."

Sea what ur up against.

[Fumesucker]

12. Mission Accomplished!!

What, you think this is mere coincidence?

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[Odin2005]

14. Which is why I'm homeschooling if I have kids.

[Maat]

15. I do ...

and it's been a great thing. We do go through a charter school, and I do allow her to take the annual tests; HOWEVER, it does not drive our curriculum.