Tony Wagner asks two significant questions about "high-stakes" standardized tests:
(1) To what extent do these state tests assess the skills that matter most for work, citizenship, and college?
(2) What is the impact of teaching to these tests on students' motivation to learn and to stay in school? (pages 90-91)
These are especially pertinent questions when considering how little standardized tests address his seven survival skills: professionalism and work ethic, oral and written communication, critical thinking and problem solving, teamwork and leadership, reading comprehension, and ethics and social responsibility. (pages 92-21)
I have been giving standardized tests for a very long time, and I have become increasingly frustrated by the amount of time we (teachers) are expected to spend preparing students for the tests. It is especially aggravating because the results of the test do not enhance teaching because we don't receive the scores until those students that we tested have moved on to the next grade level. So instead of providing learning opportunities full of rigor we are spending time hoping students will memorize facts, or be savvy enough to eliminate enough choices to narrow down possible answers to the correct one. It is not higher level thinking, which is really the skill students needs to develop to be prepared for a challenging college level course or a fulfilling career.
Wagner's second question, about the effect of this high stress testing environment on student motivation, is on target as well. Where is the motivation in learning isolated facts with no connection to what really matters to students. And even worse, what are we doing to the motivational level of students who "fail" the tests year after year? Why should they continue going to school, or participate in class when the results are so negative?
I agree with Wagner that "In today's world, it's no longer how much you know that matters; it's what you can do with what you know." (page 111). I am hopeful that with the advent of the common core standards and the changes being made to standardized testing that we are beginning to transition to a learning experience for students that will prepare them for the future in better ways than we have in the past. But I fear that society's need for "accountability" will throw roadblocks in the way. I'll check back in after I give the SBAC in May!
(1) To what extent do these state tests assess the skills that matter most for work, citizenship, and college?
(2) What is the impact of teaching to these tests on students' motivation to learn and to stay in school? (pages 90-91)
These are especially pertinent questions when considering how little standardized tests address his seven survival skills: professionalism and work ethic, oral and written communication, critical thinking and problem solving, teamwork and leadership, reading comprehension, and ethics and social responsibility. (pages 92-21)
I have been giving standardized tests for a very long time, and I have become increasingly frustrated by the amount of time we (teachers) are expected to spend preparing students for the tests. It is especially aggravating because the results of the test do not enhance teaching because we don't receive the scores until those students that we tested have moved on to the next grade level. So instead of providing learning opportunities full of rigor we are spending time hoping students will memorize facts, or be savvy enough to eliminate enough choices to narrow down possible answers to the correct one. It is not higher level thinking, which is really the skill students needs to develop to be prepared for a challenging college level course or a fulfilling career.
Wagner's second question, about the effect of this high stress testing environment on student motivation, is on target as well. Where is the motivation in learning isolated facts with no connection to what really matters to students. And even worse, what are we doing to the motivational level of students who "fail" the tests year after year? Why should they continue going to school, or participate in class when the results are so negative?
I agree with Wagner that "In today's world, it's no longer how much you know that matters; it's what you can do with what you know." (page 111). I am hopeful that with the advent of the common core standards and the changes being made to standardized testing that we are beginning to transition to a learning experience for students that will prepare them for the future in better ways than we have in the past. But I fear that society's need for "accountability" will throw roadblocks in the way. I'll check back in after I give the SBAC in May!