To Test…Or Not To Test?
Sara Ebenroth - November 2014
It is the morning of the important standardized test for your little one. You make them a hearty breakfast of eggs and toast with orange juice to wash it all down. They are well rested with a full tummy getting ready to get onto the bus. This test only shows if your child is ready to move on to the next grade level. No big deal, right? Wrong! There are so many things that are wrong about this.
Stated by The National Center for Fair and Open Testing (2007),
“No test is good enough to serve as the sole or primary basis for any important educational decision.”
With that said, why should one or two tests be able to judge how well your child is doing in the 3rd grade? They don’t know your child like their teacher does. They don’t know how hard they have worked all year. They don’t know the good grades they have received. They don’t know anything, but the score your child receives on this one test.
If your student does not pass this one test, then they will be held back an entire year, no matter what their overall grades were in the class. If your child is held back and their friends aren’t, imagine the toll that will take. They will begin to flunk emotionally and academically, which can lead to lower self-efficacy and motivation to learn and read.
According to Dustin Dwyer of State of Opportunity (2013), holding students back has a negative affect on the children in the long run. He also explains in his article that holding 3rd graders back will not magically cause them to become better readers.
One newer example of a standardized test is IREAD, which was adapted in Indiana in 2011. This is the new state standardized reading test that determines if your child can move onto 4th grade or not. The goal of this test is to assure that all Indiana students could read by the 4th grade.
Scott Elliot of Chalkbeat Indiana (2014), explains that many critics argue that a multiple choice standardized test cannot accurately determine whether or not a child can read. He also states that in 2013, only 85.5 percent of students passed the test, which is only a 0.3 percent increase from 2012. That leaves 14.5 percent of students to failing and having to retake the 3rd grade. They did make an exception, however, and allows the students that failed to retake the test at the end of the summer in order to improve their score and pass. This is the only way they would be able to move onto the 4th grade. Still, many students fair again in the summer, and are forced to repeat 3rd grade all over again. Indianapolis Public Schools had the lowest passing rate in the state at only 65.5 percent. The top Marion County district was Franklin Township at 93.2 percent, which is ranked 79th in the state out of 290 districts.
How sad would it be if that 14.5 percent were your child? What would you do?
In a Common Dreams article, Michelle Chen (2014) writes about how some teachers and students are actually opting out of standardized testing. Over 25,000 kids in New York have challenged the education system, with the “Opt Out” movement. This movement has expanded in many New York schools as well as other regions around the country. Students, parents, and teachers are withstanding the standardized testing establishment that has powered a free-market assault on public education. This rebellion started in an elementary school in Manhattan, when the New York City Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña was given an open letter from a group of teachers that professed their opposition to English Language exams for third-eight graders. The letter declared,
“We can no longer, in good conscience, push aside months of instruction to compete in a city-wide ritual of meaningless and academically bankrupt test preparation. We have seen clearly how these reforms undermine teachers’ love for their profession and undermine students’ intrinsic love of learning.”
There have been reports in New York of parents being threatened with penalties because of the opting out movement. Some argue that teachers are the ones actually taking the larger risk rather than students and parents. There are a few participating teachers that have experienced intimidation and threats by other school authorities. This movement is still very new, so no major decisions have been made yet.
Even though some teachers are opting out, others only wish that they could. Prepping students for standardized tests requires a great amount of time and effort. This prepping stage typically last about a month, which could instead be used for learning.
In a paper written by the union staff of Chicago Teachers Union (????), they state that research now shows that teachers are being forced into teaching testing strategies, at the cost of teaching content and processes to qualify students to meet certain standards. Some teachers teach the strategies and help because they do not want their students to fail the 3rd grade just because of one test. One CPS teacher explains,
“Strategies like skimming for information, eliminating irrelevant answers, reading answers first then checking for content in the question. Students are not taught to think critically or deeply at this time. They are presented with so much information over a broad range of topics that is loaded into their short‐term memory to be forgotten as soon as the standardized test is completed.”
While these strategies will help the students at the time of the test, it will not teach them any long-term strategies and information. Some even argue that test prep is not always the best thing to do in preparation for taking tests. Students expand vocabulary and improve skills through History, Literature, Science, and even Math. These new skills and vocabulary will help motivate student learning and promote future independent reading. This is what will help students on tests; they need the knowledge and vocabulary. Without it, it is hard to promote and teach new learning.
With all this in mind, would you opt your child out of taking a standardized test? What if they need it to move onto 4th grade? It can be assumed that a lot of parents also have these questions lingering in their heads. This information is not to scare you or be worried, because you know how bright and talented your child is. It just gives a different perspective on things.
So…what would you do?
Genres:
Recipe:
Nutrition Label:
Poem: (Given from a 3rd grader’s perspective.)
Standardized tests are definitely stressful,
when all that’s needed is a pencil.
Will I stay or will I go?
I guess it’s up to me to know.
This huge test is required by state,
which does create a large debate.
Should I take it, should I not?
This has made me quite distraught.
All I want to do is learn.
Shouldn’t this be your only concern?
Reading, writing, math, and more,
is all my teacher wants to score.
Why do parents really care?
I can do this, I swear!
I will pass this stressful test,
and you will be so impressed.
Yes, these tests are very stressful,
but I know I will come out successful.
All of you just you wait and see,
what fourth grade has to offer me.
References:
Chen, M. (2014). Why are teachers and students opting out of standardized testing?. CommonDreams: Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community. Retrieved from: http://www.commondreams.org/views/2014/04/08/why-are-teachers-and-students-opting-out-standardized-testing
Dwyer, D. (2013). Should we flunk third graders who can’t pass a standardized test? Here’s what the research says. State of Opportunity. Retrieved from: http://stateofopportunity.michiganradio.org/post/should-we-flunk-third-graders-who-cant-pass-standardized-test-heres-what-research-says
Elliot, S. (2014). Third grade reading results tick up, IPS still worst in Indiana. Chalkbeat Indiana. Retrieved from: http://in.chalkbeat.org/2014/04/29/third-grade-reading-results-tick-up-ips-still-worst-in-indiana/#.VF-brr6zDzJ
Fairtest. How standardized testing damages education (updated July 2012). (2007). FairTest: The National Center for Fair and Open Testing. Retrieved from: http://fairtest.org/how-standardized-testing-damages-education-pdf
Stranahan, H., Borg, J., Borg, M. (2009). School grades based on standardized test scores: are they fair?. Journal of Academic and Business Ethics, Vol. 1, (38–56).
Union Staff. (Year Unknown). Debunking the myths of standardized testing: a CTU position paper. Retrieved from: http://www.ctunet.com/quest-center/research/position-papers/text/CTU_Testing_Position_Brief_web.pdf
