blog #3 standardized testing

The widespread use of standardized testing in public schools has created a great amount of controversy. With the implementation of NCLB act, schools are required to test students based on the states academic content standard. They are mandated to use tests designed to reflect those standards or commercially produced modified tests. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/schools/testing NCLB aims to improve schools by using such assessments to measure both student and school improvements. Advocates argue that standardized testing will hold educators and schools more accountable, in turn producing a higher quality education. Tests can provide data that show what areas in which students are lacking, as well as give educators the information necessary to alter classes to meet the needs of their students.
In my opinion, the suggested con’s of standardized testing far outweigh the pro’s. This rigid form of testing is one component of the education system that I feel very strongly against. Students are being taught to the test and missing out on crucial knowledge. Critics argue that that such testing programs narrow student learning to what is tested-and that what is tested is only a sample of what children should know (Schmidt, 2002). Furthermore, tests often focus on what's easiest to measure, not on the critical-thinking skills students most need to develop (Webb, 1999). http://www.edweek.org/rc/issues/assessment/
I currently work at a start up college prep charter school in the south side of Chicago. This is our third year in existence. There are no tests or academic requirements for students to be admitted into this high school. Our student body is made up of students that have come from a wide variety of CPS elementary schools, with an extremely varied and often low set of academic skills. Because or mission and focus is to prepare students for college entrance, our primary focus is to hit the required test scores. The students are tested in the fall and then again in the spring and if the gains are not where they are supposed to be there are consequences for the instructors in that content area. Some of my students are greatly in need of improvement in basic skills, but our time is instead spent teaching to the test. In fact, every Wednesday each teacher is required to take a break from their content and spend the day working on act skills. We teach things like how to decipher the difference between ACT multiple answer choices ex. The distracter, the extreme, the implied truth. This may be a valuable skill for students to acquire in order to be successful on their ACT but in my opinion, it would be more relevant to spend time working on reading skills of freshmen that are reading at the 4th & 5th grade level. I can understand that standardized testing is form of academic measurement, but at what cost should it be used? Are we willing to sacrifice a quality education for our youth?