What's up with Whatsit

Standardized Testing

Believing we can improve schooling with more tests is like believing you can make yourself grow taller by measuring your height.

Robert Schaeffer of FairTest

We have been doing Standardized Testing this week at my school. It is a big big deal. They always send somebody out from downtown to monitor. This year's monitor was rather apathetic. She mostly sat around looking like she wished she were anywhere else. Another thing about her was that every time I would run my mouth off (something I am noted for), she would laugh. It was rather refreshing from an administrator.

Our district believes in testing. Their belief in testing is rather severe. We have bi-weekly tests by the teacher, and from the district we have mid-term tests, nine-weeks tests, semester tests, and the big end-of-the-year test, the MCT2, which is what we just finished. This amounts to district-level test around every three weeks, not counting the bi-weekly's by the teacher.

Every time our principal or the district wants the teachers to do something that they don't really want to do, they have a strategy. In order to try to get us to have a good attitude, they will say "As long as it's for the children, let's do it." Is all this testing for the children? Of course not. There are four levels: Advanced, Proficient, Minimum and Basic. Less than ten percent usually get Advanced. If there are four levels, approximately 25% should be in each level, right?

The children don't have time to absorb what they are being taught. Of course, I know that part of it is failure on the student's part, but the teachers hardly have time to cover one objective before they are required to test on it and move on to the next item. The ones who are confused will have to remain confused. This creates the "I don't care" attitude on the children's part.

I'm not sure what the solution is, but more testing does not seem to be helping these children.