Week Two Reading

From what I understood of the article, the argument is against standardized testing. The article claims that standardized testing changes the nature of teaching, narrows the curricula, and limits student learning. The article also makes statements such as "a result of spending more time on institutional tasks like these, teachers have less time for instruction in their own classrooms" and "standardized tests limit student learning because they focus only on cognitive dimensions, ignoring many other qualities that are essential to student success." I couldn't agree more with these statements. As a Kindergarten teacher, I do not have to deal with standardized testing, but I do have several test that I must give throughout the year such as benchmarks, beginning of year and end of year placements, acuity, and we use to do Kindergarten Inventories as well which were four times a year which have to be done in a one on one setting. Who has the time for all these tests and to provide valuable instruction to our youth? I may only have ten students, but there is also only one of me. It can take a whole week away of valuable instruction to test all of my students. As I student taught in a 5th/6th grade setting, half of my student teaching experience was prepping students on standardized test type questions. Teachers often use these questions as bell ringers throughout the year, but then really drill the students on these type of questions before standardized test time. What is the point in this? Oh yeah, as the article states "they are often used for high-stakes purposes such as determining which students will pass or graduate, which teachers are fired or given raises, and which schools are reorganized or given more funding." My teaching career depends on how well my students score on these tests. My students could learn so much from my teaching, but if they don't learn what the test wants them to learn then they are considered a "not proficient". I know as a high school student, we knew those tests did not affect our grades so do you think we gave it our bests? No. (Well besides me because I guess you could say I cared about school hence why my career path was education.) This means that our teaching careers depend on teenagers who know their scores aren't affecting them and that the information on these tests really don't apply to real world knowledge. The article even states that the curriculum can become narrowed due to teaching the skills that will be on these "high stakes tests". This even means cutting out music, P.E., library, or art which are all (in my opinion) needed within the educational day. Students need that break to express themselves in other ways. For some students, these classes could become career paths for them and we shouldn't rob them of their passions. The article even states that social studies is often cut because the standardized tests do not always test on that subject.

As for reading specialist, I cannot exactly speak on their behalf because I am not one although I am obviously in the program, I have not had experience myself in this position. I believe that they are required to teach students the skills that are necessary in order to score high on these types of tests. They make sure that they know all the tips and tricks for reading comprehension and writing the perfect essay that will be what the administrators of the tests want to see. This takes away from the students being able to express themselves through writing because they are too worried about saying the right word or adding the correct number of adjectives.

Although I do feel this way about standardized testing, I will say that even though I think this type of testing seems pointless it can have some advantages. I did learn to write a five paragraph essay because of the writing portion of the tests and while student teaching, I know the students I taught learned their prepositions and how to use them. They also learned to use "juicy" words which were adjectives that would add more detail and make your story more interesting. I won't say that the students are not learning anything while preparing for these tests, but I know that the "drill and kill" of the standardized testing can take away from great learning experiences.