Teaching to the Test Harms Students
And we don’t want a society with standardized minds
Standardized tests are only useful for measuring standardized minds. However, humans are not standardized, nor do we want them to be. If you think about it, pressuring students to do well on standardized tests is a strange way to measure success. Why would we want everyone to learn the same content or take the same path? One thing that makes the world a rich and beautiful place is that we all have different strengths and ideas to bring to the table. It is misguided to create an educational system where each student is only supposed to learn prescribed content.
Sometimes the most brilliant and intelligent minds do not shine in standardized tests because they do not have standardized minds- Diane Ravitch
Hyper focusing on teaching a narrowed curriculum to improve test scores is dangerous. As the world changes and humanity faces problems never faced before, such as climate change, we need creative and innovative solutions. We need students to learn how to problem-solve, collaborate, pivot quickly when new situations arise, and we need compassionate leaders.
