Last week I wrote about Finland’s successful approach to educating its country’s children. I failed to mention however, that the Finns do not use standardized tests. It is ironic then, that our country’s obsession with testing is not leading to a higher level of student learning. In the U.S., standardized tests results are the primary source for determining how well a school is performing. I regularly cite test scores as comparative evidence that our students are doing well. Looking ahead, it is now probable that these test scores will be used to determine if a teacher is doing well. While on the surface, this correlation of teaching and student test scores seems logical (it is after all, fair to expect good results) I am not so sure that this move to tie teachers to standardized test scores will lead to a higher level of learning. This will be particularly true if the tests continue to consist of multiple choice or short answers.
The biggest complaint concerning testing is that it narrows the curriculum. Teachers feel the pressure of the test and focus on those concepts and items that will be tested. If teacher evaluation is to include student performance on tests, then it is fair to expect the curriclum to get even tighter. I am okay with the move to tie student performance to a teacher’s evaluation, but it must include multiple sources of student information and not the result of a multiple choice test. Six hours in April is not a tell-all event to determine teacher effectiveness.
Six Hours in April
Last week I wrote about Finland’s successful approach to educating its country’s children. I failed to mention however, that the Finns do not use standardized tests. It is ironic then, that our country’s obsession with testing is not leading to a higher level of student learning. In the U.S., standardized tests results are the primary source for determining how well a school is performing. I regularly cite test scores as comparative evidence that our students are doing well. Looking ahead, it is now probable that these test scores will be used to determine if a teacher is doing well. While on the surface, this correlation of teaching and student test scores seems logical (it is after all, fair to expect good results) I am not so sure that this move to tie teachers to standardized test scores will lead to a higher level of learning. This will be particularly true if the tests continue to consist of multiple choice or short answers.
The biggest complaint concerning testing is that it narrows the curriculum. Teachers feel the pressure of the test and focus on those concepts and items that will be tested. If teacher evaluation is to include student performance on tests, then it is fair to expect the curriclum to get even tighter. I am okay with the move to tie student performance to a teacher’s evaluation, but it must include multiple sources of student information and not the result of a multiple choice test. Six hours in April is not a tell-all event to determine teacher effectiveness.