Standardized testing and standards.
I learned to dislike both these things at a young age through the taking of tests and teachers venting how they skewed learning. I was fortunate to go to a private school growing up. Every year from grades 4-8, I was required to take CAT testing (California Achievement Testing). Don't ask me why we took a California test in Rhode Island, I'm still trying to figure that out myself, but I remember absolutely despising October because that's when everyone knew it was time.
It only took a week to take a test that would spit out scores on whether we were behind, average, or exceeding expectations. ONE test decided this. A test that had questions on things I had never even heard before. How can I be considered "average" when the knowledge that I'm supposed to share is being chosen for me?
Yearly standardized testing stopped when I entered ninth grade, but now public school systems told me I had to exceed according to standards. Teachers constantly complained within class that they had to teach a certain way because they were restricted by the standards.
In a way, teachers feeling restricted by the standards connects to the article "Racial Justice is Not a Choice". Within the article, it states "High-stakes standardized test also discipline curriculum and learning: they determine what knowledge and content is considered legitimate for teaching in the classroom. They also discipline teachers' pedagogy because they compel teachers to teach to the test and place restrictions on depth and breadth of subject matter."(246) Just as teachers teach to the test, they also teach to the standards. The standards tell teachers what students should be learning, which helps students stay on track, but in a way, it causes teachers to be less creative in how they present material and what material they present. Also, kind of like how standardized testing determines what is being taught in schools.
This "standardization" of learning does not cater to all students. Children learn in different ways and have different upbringings and therefor the information being thrown at them is received differently every time. So how are all students supposed to meet standards at the same time in this way?
Here is a link to an article about the pros and cons of standardized learning. I thought the writer made some pretty interesting points about how it helps students, one being the "Ease of implementation at scale". What do you think about this advantage stated? In theory it might work, but what about in practice?
Ashley- First of all, I really like the cartoon you use here. I chose the same one in my blog, so I would say that it's certainly a relevant one! I also like how you talk about your own experiences with standardized testing. Unfortunately, I agree completely. Being told I was below average in math from these scores in elementary school certainly hurt my self-esteem, and is partially a reason why I dislike it today. What if all of my scores had been low like that? How would my educational identity been affected? Lastly, I appreciate that you added the hyperlink for the article. There are definitely a lot of components to consider when it comes to standardized testing, and I'm happy that you touch on that.
ReplyDeleteI seriously appreciate the second half of your second paragraph. It pretty much captures the whole dilemma from a student perspective quite succinctly. The questions always frustrated me with how ridiculous and irrelevant they were: "Using the Pythagorean Theorem, calculate what the surface of Pluto smells like."
ReplyDeleteIn regards to your article, I really appreciate how the author behind it invites counter-agreeable discourse and gives a little ground by acknowledging some of the potential benefits behind a common core set of academic standards. That pretty much proves credibility to me. Especially in today's overly polarized political landscape.
Thank you for incorporating that cartoon as well as the "educational Standardization" pros and cons article into this. I think that you give a well-rounded view of standardized testing and curriculum here because of how well you connected those to our course readings for this week. I almost can't believe that you did a California test in RI! It's unfortunate that the results of that test as well as the ones we administer today (NECAP, RICAS, etc.) are seen as the only strong, reliable demonstrators of "student growth"- especially since we know that the tests are partial to certain students and not others!
ReplyDelete