Standardized Testing: Turning Courses into Obstacles

Recently in Georgia, Governor Nathan Deal signed a waiver so that thousands of high school students could get their high school diplomas in spite of not completing their graduation tests.  Talk to many of these students and you find that they’re capable, intelligent people; they could probably tell you mounds of things that they’ve learned over the course of grade school.  It’s just that, when it came to a particular graduation test covering a particular data set, they weren’t able to jump through the hoop. 

Maybe they did suffer the misfortune of having that rare, inadequate teacher who doesn’t know how to convey the subject matter.  Or maybe they had transportation issues and missed out on the most critical days of teaching simply because it was the first period of the day.   Maybe they were in transition from one school to another and fell behind due to new class scheduling and other adjustments.  Maybe they hadn’t matured enough by that semester to dedicate themselves to their studies. Any number of factors could result in a student not being prepared for “the big one”.

However, test or no test, these same people could most likely go to college and perform on par with the bulk of college students, seeing as how the most successful college students tend to be the high school students who make up the middle to upper-middle of the Bell curve.  These same students could probably gain employment and function on par with the average employee; many are so itchy to get into the work force that they begin to see school as an unnecessary delay and downright interference with the real world.  Yet, because they failed that one little assessment--- opportunity is denied.  Advancement is denied. 

On several occasions, I’ve had brilliant students who simply wanted no parts of bubble-in assessments, either due to test anxiety or due to feeling that the tests were patronizing.  Now, according to NCLB, failure to perform on an assessment represents failure to master the material; yet I’ve had those same  students stand at my desk and verbally articulate to me what they couldn’t (or wouldn’t) buckle down and bubble in.  As far as I was concerned, through our conversing, these students had demonstrated mastery of the material.  The objective is not to force compliance to testing protocols (or even to the teacher’s authority); the objective is to allow them to demonstrate that they’ve learned the material.  Back-and-forth dialogue is an effective way to demonstrate this. 

“So, explain to me the significance of the Columbian exchange…  Explain to me how Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are connected…  In your opinion was the Industrial Revolution a good thing or a bad thing… Back up your argument…  What’s your argument for or against using the atomic bomb in World War II…”

If a student can really engage me by discussing topics in this fashion, then we’ve undeniably had some successful outings during that school year.  But nevermind measuring mastery of specific subjects; at this point in America’s educational development, I think there’s a larger dimension of education that needs to be assessed.  And that… is assessing education itself.

This is what I mean by assessing education:

1.                   Students who educationally excel are ridiculed by their peers; in 2015, an educated culture should instead admire those who excel, and aspire to excel likewise. 

2.                   Many students leave their educations at school, preferring to invest their time and energy into rude and ignorant entertainment and behavior; in 2015, education should not be seen as a burden to escape, but as a life-enhancer to be enjoyed 

3.                   Rather than bringing knowledge from school to their homes and communities, many students instead attempt to bring ignorance from the culture into the classrooms; in 2015, ignorance should not be seen as a thing to parade and be proud of.

4.                   Students witness the mistakes of their peers, and then proceed to make the same mistakes as their peers; this shows a failure to learn.  In 2015, incorporating new knowledge and thinking critically should be preferred over familiarity and groupthink.

5.                   When students discover their own limitations and educational struggles, they quickly withdraw from the process instead of putting forth the effort to enhance and improve.  In 2015, society should trend toward self-improvement rather than toward being satisfied with educational inadequacies.

I could go further, but I think these five are enough to make my point.  To me, these [admittedly broad] observations are more indicative of the state of education than any series of standardized tests geared toward specific subjects.  How educated can we really be if learning is not reflected in the way we think in the way we live, and in the way we behave?  Our culture itself stands as a testament to our ignorance, and it’s a far more accurate indicator than anything we can tabulate through standardized testing.

Furthermore, how relevant can any standards-based education be in a culture such as ours?  A culture that doesn't esteem education outside of the classroom reduces in-classroom education to a simulation--- a video game.  Where, with the exception of earliest fundamentals, the skills and knowledge you attain are only applicable within the classroom setting and have only classroom and assessment-based consequences.

Is it any wonder, then, that Governor Nathan Deal can waive the graduation tests for thousands of students with a pen stroke?   And what consequence will come of it?  None. 

There was no risk involved in his declaration because the tests were inconsequential to begin with.  Just think:  hwow many obstacles to advancement have we erected in our schools for no reason other than to be an obstacle to advancement--- to filter and delay young people from becoming active and involved members of society as they come into their potentials?