Gallagher expresses the same frustration I feel - test scores have overtaken the importance of true learning. According to Gallagher, the government's wish to have high test scores has put pressure on states and districts to "win" with the highest scores. Educators are encouraged to attend workshops so they can be trained on how to improve test scores, teach the standards to meet those scores and give sample tests to prepare their students for the tests. This type of environment does not foster deep cognitive understanding of concepts or ideas. It does not provide students with the abilities needed to become active and informed citizens of our communities. It kills the passion to want to read.
I have seen how testing can affect students' learning and the teacher's inability to help those students due to testing. Let me explain. Bibb County recently purchased a testing program through AimsWeb. Currently, all elementary and middle schools must perform three testing sessions three times a year to see how our students are perfoming in math and reading. I am a teacher who helps students who need remediation in reading and comprehension as well as writing. I was prevented from teaching these critical skills to my students because I had to administer one of the standardized reading tests three days this past month. Testing kept me from teaching -how can I encourage reading and writing when I'm testing, not teaching?
Gallagher nailed it when he stated that when we force students to learn and memorize facts for a test we are "sacrificing deep, rich teaching" which in turn chips away our "students' motivation." Students are becoming desensitized to learning and more focused on passing state or national tests -it is our fault. Teachers are rewarded or admonished based on their classes' scores. What are educators to do? Well, as Gallagher suggests WE must encourage reading, provide reading material of high interest and find a happy medium in teaching the concepts of reading. Maybe we can help some of our students... classroom by classroom.
Sad to hear Eve. Your students need you. Testing has insidiously consumed more and more time and energy. It's not just end or year - it's pretesting and quarterly testing and preparing for testing. We need to find balance - for your students' sake.
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ReplyDeleteI love what you said. We are forcing students to learn and memorize facts rather than think deeply. I find it ironic that the new math curriculum is supposed to focus on deeper learning and comprehension and it is tested with a good old standardized fact and memorization based test.
I understand the point of standards and tests - there must be checks and balances. I just wish educators would teach their best and do whats best for the students. After all, if we all did our jobs well, we wouldn't need to be checked by a standardized test. And, then, we could help our students... classroom by classroom. Well put Eve!
I agree you with you completely. The point I want to hear everyone talk about is how to get kids interested in reading because that fell to wayside a long time before testing moved to the forefront. If a child was interested in reading, it wouldn't matter what we did in the classroom because they would want to do it outside the classroom. For instance, we have the required reading in the summer at our school and these kids do not want to do it. They were not being consumed with studying for tests at that time and had the chance to read but DID NOT WANT TO DO IT. So, if we had the freedom to teach....would they want to learn??
ReplyDeleteI would be hard pressed to find a teacher who did not agree with every word you said. If teachers were given the opportunity to teach their subjects without having to prepare for these tests, then we may just be able to teach the students what they need to know while still instilling in them the time to read. That is the first point in making them want to read. I know it sounds redundant, but how can we make kids want to read without giving them the time to do it?
ReplyDeleteI cannot find a politician who would agree with you other than paying lip service. The standardized tests allow the state to compile the statistics necessary for it to say that it is keeping up with the national mandate. Of course, if education became a purely federal matter with purely federal standards and a standardized distribution of funds based on population, we may not have this problem. Ohhh...there is the socialist in me coming out.
Hey Eve that is so aggravating. We were just handed out the testing schedule dates for our highschool this year and it is unbelievable. I always hear that there is a lot of testing but to see it all written down is scary. The fact that you are teaching remedial English to kids who are most likely at risk of failing to begin with and then having to stop for testing is silly. I guess common sense and politics don't mix well. I think people have misconception about teachers. They think teachers complain and just don't feel like teaching students the material. I have had a lot of jobs in my life and I have never been around more people who truly care about their students and work extremely hard all day. As a new eacher I feel like I have run a marathon after every school day. Maybe if it were a federal matter there would be less pandering to the pouting tax payer who does not have a kid in the public school system and sees no reason why it would be beneficial to live in a town where more people were educated. Or depending on the administration it could get worse!
ReplyDeleteI completely agree. I do think that this rigid testing program is hampering teachers ability to teach and teach in a way that the kids can relate to the material. The teachers have a certain amount of fact that they have to teach and all their time is taken teaching these mundane facts instead of showing the kids how to relate to the material. I've never taught before so I'm speaking from no experience but I can imagine it would be annoying for a teacher to lose 2 days of class time because the state wants to find out where your students are. I think we did need to reform our old practices and keep our teachers accountable but I think we have gone overboard. Teaching is an art and every teacher should be able to teach in his or her own way
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