Just say no

Editor, Gettysburg Times,

In regard to the cartoon in the Monday, Dec. 5 Times edition about standardized tests, there are at least four things wrong with standardized testing in schools: the test makers, the tests, the test takers and the costs.

What a job. Writing the tests merely requires an intimate knowledge or experience of everything every student must be able to do in each grade tested. That is the easy part. Then this knowledge needs to be comprehensively translated into a foreign language called multiple choice. The end product looks like a high stakes test, but it is actually a curriculum since all or most classroom experience must be planned to lead up to it.

If you were to take an education course in student evaluation, you would discover that multiple choice tests are only the second worst form of evaluation. The worst is form is true-false. The even bigger drawback to such tests is the idea that one size fits all. Skill at taking multiple choice tests is as important as what a student can actually do. This shows problems with test validity.

Those shocking test scores and school rankings in our newspaper and on TV all have a wonderful myth in common. They all presume that the numbers are “for real” because every student is doing her or his very best on the test. The presumption is students are like widgets, which can be inspected by applying calipers and coming up with a definite number. Anyone who has any experience with adolescents knows that passivity and cooperation are not their predominate traits. At least a few will actively fail the test to “get back” at the school. Even the best students will only make a half-hearted effort, since the test results will not affect their college admission portfolio. Apparently, these tests reflect student attitude as well as ability. The one question you will not see is “How much value do you place on the opportunity the school provides for you to educate yourself?”

What does this exercise in myth making cost? Less than it should if it were done right. The real point of multiple-choice tests is that they are cheap and easy to grade — just stick the answer sheet in the reader.

The whole reason for standardized testing is a reflection of doubt about our teachers’ ability to accurately grade what students have learned and are able to do. It is time to “just say no” to testing imposed by politicians, foundations or anyone trying to fit a business model onto public education.

R. B. Lasco
Gettysburg