Brian Cohen
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Is Testing Our Future?

4/3/2013

2 Comments

 
I was surprised to read Bill Gates' piece in the Washington Post this evening mostly because - while he acknowledges some of what teachers desire in our profession - he equates the measurement of student performance to getting points in a football game:
If the New England Patriots had chosen a quarterback based only on foot speed, they would have missed out on three Super Bowl victories.
One of the major issues that is often overlooked in the debates surrounding testing is that it is so incredibly difficult to measure "success." Is it attendance rate? High school graduation rate? College acceptance rate? A certain score on a test?

Many of my readers know I have certain beliefs regarding standardized tests: from what I have read and experienced they do not tell me nearly as much about my student's knowledge level than what I can glean from just talking to them. Moreover, they have many negative effects as evinced by the recent Pittsburgh Post-Gazette piece where a mother describes opting out of the Pennsylvania state test (PSSA). Negative outcomes abound for students in the form of high anxiety, a hatred of schooling, and a belief that education is the same thing as filling in bubble sheets. 

This past Tuesday I attended a workshop discussing the new wave of high school tests for Pennsylvania called the Keystones. Modeled after the New York Regents, they will be required for graduation beginning with next year's 9th grade classes. At this workshop we discussed how the questions are significantly more difficult than ever before because they are at a higher level on Webb's Depth of Knowledge meaning they require deeper thought and connection in order to answer. The problem here is that the PSSA test beforehand has narrowed the curriculum so much that students are mostly exposed to multiple choice questions demanding simple recall in isolated situations - they have no idea how to apply concepts in new contexts. 

Granted, this seems like a good goal: change the test to make it force deeper critical thought. But, it is still focusing on a few subject areas and the students are not used to these questions yet. And the new policies have "eliminated the requirement for students to complete a culminating project in order to graduate." A project that allowed students to be creative and think at a deeper level (Level 4 according to Webb) has been curtailed and a lower-quality assessment has replaced it. 

As a society we need to foment curiosity amongst our students and not reduce their learning to bubbles on a page.
2 Comments
Dan
4/4/2013 02:14:05 am

But Brian, how will you know you're successful at fomenting curiosity? If that's your measure of success, wouldn't you the math teacher love to be able to quantify it?

Reply
Brian Cohen
4/4/2013 03:01:39 am

Quantify - perhaps. Beat to death with bubble sheets - no.

It is very difficult to understand which students "get it" and which students don't unless you talk to them one-on-one. Even my tests don't always give me an accurate picture of what is going through my student's heads.

Case in point: I gave a test today and a student wrote on it "I hate this class." She is one of the brightest, most curious students in the class. When approached later, she confessed to having a "bad day." So, I'm going to have her re-test on a day she feels better.

I'm not saying that happens to every kid on testing day, but anxieties are high and the test causes an emotional/mental reaction that might dull curiosity. I don't want that to happen.

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    I am a math teacher in the New York Department of Education. I infuse technology and real-world problems into my curriculum in order to prepare my students for the future. I would love for people across the country to recognize we teachers can't do it alone. If you don't believe me, come visit my classroom!

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