Good Grief

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Home : 2002 : December : 7

Good Grief
By S

The problem with standardized tests is not that we give them, because, as other people said, they help measure growth and inform instruction. The problem with standardized tests is that they carry too much weight. The scores
are published in the newspaper and heavily written up in articles. Politicians talk about them ALL THE TIME. A school with high scores is a "good school," while one with lower test scores is a "bad school" nobody wants to have their children at. The scores are always a reflection on the school and teachers, and everyone focuses on the end product of a test score without thinking

about the kinds of kids we started with. These scores are graded on a curve, and then elected officials comment that half our schools are "below average." At my school, and at most others I've heard about, EVERY meeting addresses the test scores ... what we're doing to improve them, what we did well, what we need to do better, how the black kids did, how the white kids did, how the rich kids did, how the poor kids did, and how we can solve all our test score problems by filling out yet another form on which we have to analyze the scores. If tests were just about assessing progress and guiding instruction, I'd be all for them. I mean, of course we all give regular classroom tests for these reasons. However, test scores have gotten all blown out of proportion, and testing preschool kids seems like the latest inappropriate incarnation of this test frenzy.