Tests Don't Assess What Really Matters


	BLOG recent posts SMM Series: Blogging→ Writing Tips CSCL 2013 Evening Keynote - Connection Machines: The Role of Rapport in Computer Supported Collaborative Learning Rap Genius Education BBQ this Saturday! CSCL 2013 - Navigating Through Controversial Online Discussions: The Influence of Visualized Ratings SMM Series: Twitter Drawbacks/Solutions Tools for Knowing about Knowing CSCL 2013 Keynote - Connecting Kids: The Future of Video Apple considering bigger, cheaper iPhones New GED Testing Teachers and Teachnology in Classrooms recent comments yeh. 48 min 22 sec ago I think they use a simple 1 hour 28 min ago Thanks for these interesting 2 hours 13 min ago Hui Soo & Team Rap Stars, 2 hours 24 min ago Mable, this series is really 2 hours 34 min ago categories Blog News Design Event EdLab Seminar Education Knowledge Solutions Library Media Design Project Ideas Publishing Research Teaching Technology

Submitted by Scott Streiner on Thu, 08/02/2012 - 10:18am.

In light of a blog post by Scott K. arguing the value of teaching mathematics in high school, I decided to browse the NY Times Education section, and found this interesting opinion piece .

The writer basically describes that evaluation of teachers and students rely too much on standardized testing. She writes that there should not be such high-stake accountability on tests that are often "erratic" and "inherently unreliable". Instead, she argues that students, teachers, and schools in general should be judged on a variety of different measures, including using student profiles, peer reviews, and evaluating the conditions for an effective learning environment.

I think the writer has a point in this piece, and I think we have seen that standardized testing is not an effective way to evaluate students, especially in the 21st century structure of education. In also leads into the trap of teachers "teaching to the test", which is naturally not inquiry based. However, how can one objectively evaluate student portfolios? And what are the kind of resources would her suggestion require (is it too much)?

What are your thoughts on standardized testing, and their use in our education system? Anyone have other suggestions for effective evaluation measures?

Posted in Public | Scott Streiner's blog | login or register to post comments »

Fred Rossoff Says:
Fri, 08/03/2012 - 10:29am

I don't know why this activist from Class Size Matters is so against standardized tests, considering standardized tests are the biggest piece of evidence activists from Class Size Matters use in trying to convince people that class sizes do, indeed, matter. Maybe they feel they're losing the evidence-based argument?

Demetri Lales Says:
Thu, 08/02/2012 - 2:41pm

I'd like to throw my hat into the ring and say that one huge problem I have with standardize tests is the effect it has on teachers. Teachers are pressured so much to have their students perform well on these tests, or else they might face unemployment. There seems to be to little support from the school system for our teachers which in turn affects their teaching ability and makes some teachers resort to "teaching to the test". Which in turn affects students because our over stressed teacher would focus more on keeping their job and not on whether their students has experienced deep learning or not,

Haymar Lim Says:
Fri, 08/03/2012 - 6:27am

Additionally, teachers don't want to teach at "trouble schools" in fear of losing their jobs. It's a huge problem and keeps away potentially good teachers.

Scott Streiner Says:
Thu, 08/02/2012 - 2:47pm

Exactly Demetri. Teachers focus more on keeping their job, teaching to the exam, and worrying about the resulting scores. Instead, teachers should be focusing on engaging their students, teaching them in a hands-on way, and to help them grow as people (both in and out of the classroom).

So how can we evaluate students using this model? How can we change this?

Kate Meersschaert Says:
Thu, 08/02/2012 - 2:02pm

Scott, I am going to miss your insightful writing on the EdLab blog! I am strongly opposed to standardized testing and would like to see greater emphasis on "personalized," yet scalable assessment.

Scott Streiner Says:
Thu, 08/02/2012 - 2:21pm

I've loved being to research interesting education topics and get feedback from all of the smart people here at EdLab!

In a world where education and learning is moving farther way from the traditional school setting, I think evaluation methods should do the same. The key to learning is inquiry (as I've stated a million times over the summer). Standardized tests are incompatible with this paradigm.

Zhou Zhou Says:
Thu, 08/02/2012 - 1:45pm

Opinions on standardized testing in the U.S. is always interesting to me. On one hand it's generally accepted students should not be evaluated solely based on standardized tests, and indeed U.S. schools attach less importance to standardized tests than their Chinese counterparts do. But on the other hand there's a nationwide panic on U.S. students underperforming Asian students in math and science. Ironically, the comparison between U.S. and Asian students are based on standardized tests! Anyway, why do you expect your students to outperform other countries in standardized tests while you don't attach importance on standardized tests in your own education system?

As one (victim?) who growed out of China's standardized-tests-oriented education system, I strongly doubt the effectiveness of standardized tests in fairly evaluating students' competitiveness in math and science. In my opinion, non-standardized tests should be added to student evaluation. Give them a real project to work on. If they accomplish the project on time, they will be fine to enter college.

Scott Streiner Says:
Thu, 08/02/2012 - 2:13pm

Well, I would argue that we do in fact place a lot of emphasis on standardized tests (too much) in this country. For low-performing schools, standardized tests are often a death sentence. From this perspective, it makes you question why these tests have so much influence over whether teachers keep their jobs, schools stay open, etc. Especially because they are not necessarily accurate, and are not good reflections of learning.

What you're talking about is our STEM education in the US compared to Asia (which is a completely different topic). I will say that using standardized tests to compare the aptitude of two countries' students' intelligence is a bit short-sighted. I wouldn't characterize this as 'panic', but the US is far behind in the number of people taking STEM jobs, and our scores are lower as well.But..

The first step in the US is not to start having students outperform the rest of the world on STEM standardized tests, but to get kids exciting about the field in the first place!

Standardized tests still serve a purpose, but evaluation of schools and students needs to be a multiple facet approach, where many factors are looked at, factors that aren't always expressed in a form of a test, standardized or otherwise.

Zhou Zhou Says:
Thu, 08/02/2012 - 2:50pm

Agreed. Well, I just remember reading a lot about researchers trying to figure out why U.S. students are underperforming Asian countries in STEM (e.g. this book). Nation-wide panic may be too strong but it's indeed a concern of lots of educators. To be frank, I don't think my own country is doing anything better in teaching math. Although I can calculate faster in math I may not be able to use math concepts and strategies to solve problems any more efficient than my classmates in the U.S. That's all I wanted to say.

Rebecca Hyams Says:
Thu, 08/02/2012 - 10:33am

I wonder what's changed in education over the last 10-15 years (other than NCLB coming into existance). I remember having standardized tests in school (I was in high school already when NCLB was implemented) but they were never strongly emphasized. Our curricula included the materials covered by the tests, which were topics that I'm sure were standard for the given grade, but we covered other topics too, and test prep was maybe a few days leading up to the tests themselves. I feel like they weren't a super big deal (maybe they were, but I never felt like there was a lot of pressure other than "it's a test, do your best"). Were the standardized tests of yore (or at least, the 90s) lower stakes or less important?

Scott Streiner Says:
Thu, 08/02/2012 - 11:11am

From my experience, standardized tests were not overly emphasized. At least not to the point where our school's state of nature depended on it.

I think standardized tests are more emphasized (i'm just guessing here) in lower income, low performing schools. I suppose the main argument is that there is an over-emphasis on standardized testing in these types of schools, which often leads to teachers getting fired unnecessarily, or schools being closed down.

I would think both of our schools of our youth were fairly good, and so these tests are not as much of a focus.