Myra Blackmon, journalist in Georgia, writes here about the testing resistance that is growing by the day,
“Despite Georgia’s ridiculous “assessment” of college and career readiness, it’s impossible to predict how the life of a first- or second-grader will turn out.
“All the tests we administer can’t predict a child’s future. The tests don’t measure real learning. They measure test-taking ability.
Research has shown that test scores are most accurate in measuring the socioeconomic level of the student.
“That’s correct. We use tests that don’t measure teacher competence or student learning to make or break careers, categorize children and place them in certain groups or pathways. We assume poor test scores mean a poor teacher, when often the opposite is true.
“We are obsessed with our ridiculous tests. The state legislature insists that test scores make up at least 50 percent of a teacher’s performance evaluation. The lobbyists for Pearson, McGraw-Hill and others fund the campaign coffers of candidates and court high-level administrators to convince them we need more testing. And more testing is exactly what we get.
“What if we spent those millions on authentic testing, that actually allows students to demonstrate mastery of content by performing an action, doing a presentation or building something that explains the concept? What if we spent some of those millions on more observation in the classroom, or gathering feedback from parents and students that actually tells us how the teacher works with children, assigns homework, provides extra help or many of the myriad other indicators of professional competence?
“Why is it so easy to say, “Every child learns in a different way,” and at the same time insist on testing them all in exactly the same way? We have become so blinded by our obsession with accountability that the testing, not the accountability, has become the priority.
“There is a growing wave of anti-testing action across the country. Some states (including Georgia) have rolled back graduation tests.
I’ve read of several dozen school boards that have passed resolutions protesting the outrageous waste of time, resources and money of high-stakes testing. Thousands of parents opt their children out of the tests each year.
“Do you see where the resistance to testing is coming from? It is from the parents, teachers and school boards who are in the trenches of public education every day. It is from those who actually teach children and study how they learn and what they need to thrive and grow.
“Do you see where the resistance hits the brick wall? In state legislatures and the U.S. Department of Education. Those are the folks who get millions in support from the Gates Foundation, the Walton Family Foundation and the testing companies. Those mega-wealthy people wouldn’t dream of subjecting their own children to what they insist is essential for all others.
“Money talks. Money wins. At least until the people who know what is right make enough noise, opt out of enough tests, and vote for people who agree with them. It is time to rise up.”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Reblogged this on Crazy Normal – the Classroom Exposé.
‘ “What if we spent those millions on authentic testing, that actually allows students to demonstrate mastery of content by performing an action, doing a presentation or building something that explains the concept? What if we spent some of those millions on more observation in the classroom, or gathering feedback from parents and students that actually tells us how the teacher works with children, assigns homework, provides extra help or many of the myriad other indicators of professional competence?’
As much as I agree with ending the misuse of testing, I do not want it replaced by more accountability that is portrayed as benign but still micromanages teachers, students, and schools. We do not need millions spent on authentic testing nor on more classroom observation or surveys to prove professional competence. Such a model still buys into the myth of failing schools and incompetent teachers. While there are many steps we can take to encourage continued professional development, such a plan ignores the elephant in the room.
We need to go back to the time when we acknowledged the societal problems at the root of most student struggles. We need to reinvest in social services and policies that encourage job creation and employment. We need to invest in subsidized housing, healthcare, and child care. We need to stop starving our public schools. More people are not sliding into poverty or teetering on the brink because they are lazy, good for nothings. What happened to a concern for general welfare and the public good?
The current preoccupation with testing in public education is not about students and learning. It’s a political agenda in the name of accountability. Standardized tests result in a type of “pictograph”.of a student’s performance compared to the norm. As a tool they are not helpful in planning and designing instruction unless an item analysis is done on the results. These results are generally sent off to parents and filed away where they gather dust. The results are often returned at the end of the year when the teacher is sending students to a new receiving teacher. Now they are being used as a club against teachers. The problem is they waste a lot of valuable time, and they are not very helpful to anybody. I am not opposed to assessment. Results can be informative in designing both large and small group instruction. Both formal and informal assessments can be helpful to teachers and students. They can guide a teacher in figuring out where to go next with students, and they don’t waste valuable instruction time since they are directly connected to instruction. They may help a teacher to better understand what parts of instruction may need reinforcement. Assessment should be a tool for teachers, not an offensive blame and shame game against teachers.
Reblogged this on Exceptional Delaware and commented:
I wish the journalists in Delaware would be this open!
There’s a saying among farmers “The pigs won’t get fatter faster if you weight them more often”. The problem ist that testing is a great demotivator. But motivation is what makes education “stick”. So the very tests that try to establish the level of education may actually lower it. But THAT they can’t measure, it’s “outside the box”.