Standardized Tests, K-12

Question: “What role should standardized tests play in K-12 education?”

Answer:
Quote: “Students come from different backgrounds with different learning needs; thus to hold them accountable under one spotlight does not make it equitable or fair. Standardized tests also promote the notion of teaching to test over teaching to learn. It takes away the joy and creativity of teaching for teachers and it takes away the process-oriented approach in learning and steers students toward an outcome approach.”

Quote: “I am a certified teacher and have dealt with standardized testing. I believe that standardized testing should be used as a guideline for teachers and parents. The results can be used as an aid to identify areas where a student may be struggling.”

Quote: “I graduated from high school in 2005 in New York State after years of what felt like one standardized test after another. Needless to say retention of that material wasn’t the best in the years to come. Then I experienced what college was like with no state-mandated test at the end of each semester. Syllabuses were created with rich material that was just as living and breathing as the students. That sort of creative freedom allowed us to continue learning after the course ended because we were learning for our own good, not for the standardized test.”

Comment: This question and its answers appeared in The New Yorker, in an advertisement for The University of Phoenix. I thought the answers  were worth thinking about. RayS.

Title: “The Conversation on the future of Education in America Continues.” Advertisement in The New Yorker. (I failed to note the date of publication Sorry. 2011.)