Standardized Testing...

I'm sure the sight of these morbid words makes many of you cringe, like it does me, and I blame you not because I have never once missed these horrifying exams and I know I will just always feel awful having to make my own students take them.

Some of you out there may be asking yourselves a few questions like...

Why are standardized tests still being given?

My answer to you is simple. We do not trust in the system. We do not trust our teachers that they will actually TEACH their students important life skills and knowledge and we do not rely on them to teach these necessities in the classroom. The tests that are given do nothing to support this lack of trust, however. Why do we rely on a test that is not written to accommodate our students vocabulary so that we must teach them how to read the questions instead of actually teaching them the material that is most important. Teachers now must "teach to the test" and sacrifice the wonderful learning experiences that students could be given had theynot been given the 2 week period of testing basic skills and useless information that is hardly important to our students education.

Another question I found myself asking and you may be wondering about...

Do the tests actually matter/affect the student's grades or ability to receive a diploma?

This answer is a little tricky. These tests DO NOT affect the students grades and they have nothng to do with how intelligent the student is, BUT.... yes, there is a but... some of the high stakes testing, such as the UBSCT for Utah, does affect the type of diploma the student will receive. They will still get a diploma, however, if a student from Utah were to fail the UBSCT (after 5 times of taking the test... FIVE times!!), they would recieve a diploma that had a mark on it signifiying that they did not pass the UBSCT. Hmmmmm.... Who actually cares if they pass or fail the UBSCT? NOBODY! Have you ever been to a job interview where they asked you to see your diploma or certificate of graduation? Never have I ever had someone ask to see mine. So, I ask you... What do these tests have anything to do with our STUDENTS?

The standardized tests are not mandated to help make sure our students are learning or gaining any sort of knowledge, however, they ARE making sure that schools that are struggling to pass the tests do not get as much funding, thus making it even MORE DIFFICULT for their students to succeed because they do not have the funds to hire more teachers or buy more books or newer books. What is the educational world thinking? If only they would look at their policies and see the good that they could produce from assessment. Students that are failing need MORE help, not less.

I say standardized tests are bogus. They fail to bring out the creative side in our students and they are restrictive in acknowledging any kind of intelligence that a student may or may not have. Although, they have done a really great job at pointing out our students that are good test takers. hoo-rah.