bComment on this chapter using the following format:
1.a salient sentence or passage, and why it stood out for you
2. a question you would like to ask the author
3. one or two key ideas you got from this reading, and why you believe it/they are important
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ReplyDeleteQuote(s):
ReplyDelete“In private conversations, many teachers have told me they can more accurately assess their students through their day-to-day interactions than through standardized tests.” (p. 173)
But then teachers follow and trust the quantitative data because of the principle for it, and the demand from schools. This is tragic to our capability as human beings, and how we treat our students. Teachers can assess for learning on the side, but they ultimately are considered through their student’s success on standardized exams, and passing those are seen as an impertinent issue in the classroom. People outside the school depend on these numbers, and repercussions they have on the surrounding community. A school that looks good based on scores ultimately sells real estate, and brings people to the area. But teachers still try, even though the outside doesn’t see it.
Question(s):
What baby steps can people in education, and outside take to transform the Education system in the United States so our focus is on our students, one individual at a time?
Key Idea(s):
Standardized tests are given and they reduce students to numbers. Sure, this makes things “easy” for those overseeing federal and local decisions for schools, but it’s wrong. The research on Standardized exams provides evidence that they do not allow a student to grow in their learning. These do not give emphasis on the pursuit of learning. They test, and if students don’t pass, they shut down, and in a lot of cases quit. The system has neglected them. But as teachers, we have to keep working towards teaching so students may pass these high stakes tests. When I have worked with teachers, and spoken to them, it’s really sad to me when I hear, “I know they tell you we shouldn’t teach to the TAKS, but…..” This is a reality teachers encounter, and it’s our decision to apply our creativity to it however we may.
"There will never be one test that measures what every kid knows." P172
ReplyDeleteI thought the TAKS test was a joke. I couldn’t imagine not passing it, but then there were schools in my district where the passing rate was horrible. I always wondered why. What are those schools doing wrong, and even in high school I wondered how cutting the schools funding was going to help. In my student teaching it was frustrating when a student did well in class discussion but failed a multiple choice test. I began to wonder what I was doing wrong. Well, I was asking the wrong question for that student. However, other students were making A’s. Multiple Choice testing seems like the only feasible way to determine if a child has learned or not, but it still sucks.
How would you suggest the state regulate schools without a standardized test? Do you think the state should have regulations and standards for schools?
Key Idea: Standardized tests are stupid. They really are ridiculous. There are the students that pass without a second thought and there are students that can’t pass to save their lives. Some students (like me) just aren’t good at testing. Where is the curve for those students? We can not measure how much a child has learned about history in a year in 50 multiple choice questions. I can’t learn how much a student has learned in a 6 week period in 50 multiple choice questions.
‘Forget about leaving no child behind; we are not only leaving kids behind, but destroying them in the process… As I’m writing this, Texas is leading the country in the current high- stakes testing experiment. But look closer at how much Texas’ dropout rate has increased since they’ve implemented the program. “In fact 7 of the 20 urban districts in the nation with the worst dropout rates are now located in Texas.”’ p. 174-175
ReplyDeleteThis is how I feel about NCLB in general, and most of the current education policies.
I want to ask Dennis how he counsels students who have been defined their whole lives by their grades and their test scores. I would think this goes in with his focus on the ninth grade year as a year of transition.
I think the main idea for me out of this chapter is the notion that we’re not producing happy, whole, or healthy human beings under the current system. As a product of a super competitive high school, where you were your GPA and your class rank, I am all aboard the no grade train.
A personally significant sentence or passage, and why it stood out for you:
ReplyDelete“Kenneth Wesson, a founding member of the Association of Black Psychologists, once said, brilliantly, 'Let's be honest. If poor, inner-city children consistently outscored children from wealthy suburban homes on standardized tests, is anyone naïve enough to believe we would still insist on using these tests as indicators of success?'” (172). This is something I hadn't really thought about before, so it caught my attention, and it is, unfortunately, probably true. If our white, middle-class kids were doing poorly, this test would not be nearly so popular. Perhaps this is the biggest reason why the testing continues despite all of its negative impact on students and schools: it keeps the powerful in power. Hmm.
A question you would like to ask the author: Is there any scenario in which standardized testing could be considered to be a valid tool of evaluation?
One or two key ideas you got from this reading, and why you believe it/they are important:
This half-chapter is basically a re-iteration of chapter eight emphasizing the inability of standardized testing to correctly measure the learning of students because of its one-size-fits-all form. As supporting evidence, the author lists nearly two pages of outside sources supporting this idea.
Question: Can you convince teachers that it is worth the extra work it would take to make an individualized test for each student?
ReplyDeleteKey Idea: There is no one indicator of success that fits every kid.
Every student is diffent and learns differently. Things might have to be explained differently for one student than the others for them to understand.
Quote: "What scares me so much and makes me so angry is that in all this talk about standardized tests and consequences for "low-performing" schools, nobody is measuring whether schools are developing healthy human beings. Ask people what they want for their children, and they will answer that they want them to be happy, to show a love of learning, to be respectful, to be kind, to have real skills, to make a contribution to the world. Then look at what schools teach and how they test it. The tests are way off mark"(174).
The tests aren't helping to do what the parents want. They are only thing they are doing is helping them take tests. Not necessarily pass them.
Quote:
ReplyDelete"If poor, inner-city children consistently outscored children from wealthy surburban homes on standardized tests, is anyone naive enough to believe we would still insist on using these tests as indicators of success?" (p. 172)
I wish someone would present this question to our state legislature so we could watch them stumble all over their words. Of course they would think that there "must" be something wrong with the test, surely it's not the students. The states would be in an uproar about how to refine the tests or how to make them better. Well, why in the world don't we think like this now. Why is it that we still have students failing, unable to graduate high school because of a stupid test, yet we still fail to see the need for a change?
Question:
I assume that MET students take some sort of standardized test since you had an example of one of your students writing essays. Do you spend class time preparing your students or do you treat it like any other test or is there any emphasis at all put on the test.
Key Ideas:
Standardized testing is not efficient because one tool of assessment and evaluation does not fit every student. We are losing so many children because we are telling them that tests are more important than they are. As the MET student said in her essay, "Everyone deserves a chance in life, and NOBODY has the right to take it away from them."
QUOTE: “There is no one indicator of success that fits every kid. There can be no one set of standards for every student in the country. There will never be one test that measures what every kid knows.” Page 172
ReplyDeleteIt seems so obvious that this is true. Yet, for some ill-informed reason, we continue to try to move our educational system towards this unreachable goal.
QUESTION: Do you think that the educational system will ever move away from standardized testing on a national and/or state level?
KEY IDEA: I think this chapter is pretty self-explanatory. Standardized tests don’t actually measure much. I do think, however, that standardized tests could still be used and be effective if they were used correctly. I think they can serve as good benchmarks; something that can give us a good idea of where our strengths and weaknesses are. In no way should they be used in a high stakes situation! UGH!
"Half or more of what's tested wasn't even supposed to be taught"... pg 176. ... WHAT? You're kidding, right? How would policy makers like it if their jobs were dependant on a test that had nothing to do with thier jobs... say, a test on C++ protocol? That should be particularly fitting because I don't think many bureaucrats aren't caught up in the computer lingo ("teach an old dog new tricks" fodder) and, like a new student, would be subjected to subjects that are alien to them. Of course the only people who do well on tests are from affluent families- their the only ones with the money to pay for the tutoring that teaches whats actually on the test! Enraging...
ReplyDeleteQuestion: Can we make "lawmakers" take tests? I vaguely remember a student in Texas sending a letter full of (purposefully) erroneous grammar to a congressman... and he failed! They should be held accountable as well. Or better yet, hold them accountable for the knowledge base in every citizen in their district- inlcuding adults.
Key points- tests are bad. At least, the current ones are really bad. It closes the actual content allowed for students because of the focus on what will be on the test (and apparently, won't be on the test anyways). Not only that, but testing determines how much of an advantage students will get later on. "Gotta have money to make money" makes sense even in this situation.
Quote: "Forget about leaving no child behind; we are not only leaving kids behind, but destroying them in the process."
ReplyDeleteThe pressure on both teachers and students to perform well on standardized tests is so emmense that it is dominating a teachers lesson plans. It takes away a teachers ability to be creative and come up with new ways to keep their classroom interesting. For students, a low test school will completely overshadow their other achievements.
Question: How do we change the perception that the most important thing in our students school careers is their scores on standardized tests?
Key Idea: I think a key idea from the section is understanding that just because a student receives a low test score, doses not label them as dumb. So many times this is the case when the student could be excelling in other areas of their education. We should be praising the student's achievements not pointing out all of their flaws.
QUOTE:
ReplyDelete“There is no one indicator of success that fits every kid. There can be no one set of standards for every student in the country. There will never be one test that measures what every kid knows. Former U.S. Secretary of Labor Robert B. Reich said it perfectly when he pointed out the paradox of stressing standardized tests when everyone agrees that standardized jobs are on the way out.” (p. 172)
Standardized tests are ridiculous and don’t tell you anything about a student except if they can pass a standardized test or not. It is not a true test of a student’s knowledge. No test really is a true test of a student’s knowledge!
QUESTION:
What kind of test do you propose to replace the TAKS?
KEY IDEA:
A key idea that I found in this chapter is obviously that standardized tests don’t work. The sample writing from the Met student puts it quite well. Just because a student fails a test the first time does not mean that the student should not continue to have the same chances and opportunities as those students who passed. Personally I know I am not a good standardized test taker. I know I am a lot smarter than the tests, especially the SAT’s, say I am. If we are going to test our kids on what they are learning than it needs to be in a way where they can express what they are learning.