Standardized Testing

Current Educational Policies: A Dad’s Reflection

/ Douglas Wieczorek / Leave a comment

I have many professional and personal connections to the world of education. I am a former social studies teacher, Assistant Principal, an emerging scholar in Teaching and Curriculum, and serve as an administrator in the teacher education unit at a regional university. I am also married to a high school math teacher, and a father of three daughters who are in 2nd grade (the twins) and 7th grade. My perspectives on education, education policy, and the profession at large are interpreted by my multiple identities. Today I write through the lens of a Dad, reflecting on the state of affairs in education as they impact my family on a micro-level, as I am sure they are affecting many children and families across New York.
Our oldest daughter recently took the new Common Core-aligned, New York State standardized tests in Spring 2013. The state education department issued a statement regarding the exam scores, and how they anticipated a significant drop in achievement results. At the end of the statement, the commissioner assured the public that these exams are critical to determining our students’ readiness for college work and subsequent careers. It is from this point at which I engaged in some serious reflection this past weekend, confronted by the over-compartmentalized vision of preparation defined by academic success.
My daughter started running cross-country for her school team this year and participated in an open meet on Saturday afternoon. At the race my family assembled at various points along the course to cheer on the runners. These young athletes left it all on the course, sprinting to the finish- some of them physically sick after the race. Some cried, some laughed, and some gave fist bumps to teammates or opposing runners for a job well-done. There was such a spirit of camaraderie that permeated through all the participants, regardless of what school they represented. What an accomplishment, a celebration!
We arrived home after the race, and I went to check the mailbox. And there it was- an envelope from the school district (which as a parent always generates immediate curiosity). I opened it right there at the end of the driveway. The envelope contained my daughter’s 6th grade New York State standardized test score results in English Language Arts (ELA) and mathematics.
So, do we open this now and review the results and talk about this today? What does this mean? How will my daughter feel about these results? Do we call the school on Monday? Do we care? The school district said not to worry, so should we believe them? It was not until that moment, after that race, that I truly resented the changes which have consumed our school communities.
The arrival of that envelope created such mixed feelings at our house on Saturday. For the better part of the day, we saw an example of one of the best opportunities our public education system has to offer. We witnessed hard-work, determination, teamwork, school spirit, community, growth, success, and failure. After watching and cheering on these young women, there is no doubt in my mind they will be successful, contributing citizens and the leaders of tomorrow. These athletes have something inside them that cannot be found in a curriculum, or measured, and is essential for success in life.

There is so much more to the sport than the completion of the event, the athletes’ times, or what place they came in. At the end of the race, there is a certain, quantitatively measured outcome, but what are the intangibles that are not measured? The significance of the race is not based on the outcomes of the race itself, but the lessons learned along the way. These hard-working, talented, tough, resilient young women are more than a test score- more than a snapshot exam. My daughter came in 68th place in that race, and I assure you that her test scores will not determine her level of college and career readiness — or her success as a person.

Revolting Against Standardized Testing

/ Gregory Clark / Leave a comment

For reasons unbeknownst to me, a reputable news source located in Washington, D.C. has removed an article from their website in the past few days; This severely harms the blog post I prepared in response. Despite their removal of the post in question, I wish to discuss the topic. As a substitute, I quickly tracked down a Fox News blurb that gives a similar impression of the topic.

The general idea is as follows: For a variety of reasons, parents and schools are opting out of standardized tests. Parents don’t want their kids to take the tests, and schools are not stopping this from happening.

Some of the reasons parents may do this:

-Prevent child’s stress induced by taking long exams.

-Boycott a system which they believe harms the school system.

-This can be either concerns raised about narrowing curricula, or

-General negative attitudes toward standards-based policies which utilize test results.

-Among other reasons; we could probably identify a host of viable rationale.

Whatever the reasons, this revolt against standardized testing has serious consequences. Here are a few things I suggest thinking about as a response to this ‘news’:

-Do you find the reasons for boycotting valid?

-Is it to protect the children from some harm inherent in the testing administration?

-Can this be interpreted as a new form of school choice?

-Is it a political action where parents are simply using their children as weapons?

 

My largest concern is from a scientific perspective.

-If some kids are not taking the test because parents are voluntarily opting them out, what are the implications for the validity of the results?

-Is it likely that kids with parents who opt out represent a specific subgroup of the population, thus making any results obtained invalid?

-Will their absence from observation impact the integrity of the test results and, by extension, policies based upon the conclusions drawn from them?

The Broader Education Policy Conversation

/ Gregory Clark / Leave a comment

The Broader Education Policy Conversation

This is a fitting post to begin a new year of blogging about (education) policy. Good policy does not only work to solve problems; it must also be vigilant in monitoring what problems exist. This notion calls us to not merely focus our attention on one problem, but to pay attention to the larger system within which we interact.

For example: If I were to pay attention solely to the uses and limitations of standardized testing in elementary schools, I may completely overlook the recent trends of racial segregation in Southern charter schools. This might happen despite any new advances in understanding whether or not Common Core is perceived as successful.

We must always be cognizant of the larger picture, being open to integrating new considerations and concerns. A holistic approach to policy is our best bet at improving the whole of our society. For me this sentiment is true of all policy, but especially education policy.

Jack Schneider, who writes the bulk of the opinion article in the above link, offers a critique of the current debates in education policy. His argument is that those engaged with education policy are too caught up in maximizing student test scores, fixing school administrations, and improving the academic credentials of their faculty. “Where is the talk of care in policy circles? Where is the talk of teachers as role models? Those are the characteristics that actually make a difference in kids’ lives”.

While I do not wish to answer the questions professor Schneider raises here in my blog post, I do want to encourage his approach to thinking about policy. We ought to be relentless in our defining what constitutes issues worth addressing in education policy. I recognize there is a division of labor among those who study and engage in education policy, but we must not focus our attention only on one cog of the machine. In between our thoughts about how the school choice movement impacts the academic achievement among low income students (if this is your drug of choice), we should pause to learn about and consider new realities which may play a role in how education is effectively delivered to the public. Maybe you’ll notice that the kindest of teachers can improve SAT scores.