Let’s get back to learning
Published 2:34 pm Sunday, July 19, 2015
How do you solve the problems with standardized tests in North Carolina schools? Add more of them.
Or, at least that’s what the N.C. Board of Education is doing.
This year the board has selected a group of 9,000 students from fifth and sixth grades to try a new testing system with three shorter exams throughout the school year along with a shorter end-of-grade test.
The new strategy is an attempt to help teachers modify lessons by looking at test results, lessen the stress a large final exam can cause students and parents and accommodate students who have trouble focusing during the hours-long end-of-grade testing.
It could be a step in the right direction, but we’ll have to wait and see how it pans out.
If the exams are used to help teachers determine how well students are retaining material and adjust lesson plans accordingly, then it’s a positive change.
But standardized tests are often ill-used when a student performs poorly, meaning that a student could be bad at test taking or learning at a slower pace, but instead of taking that into consideration, the student’s grade is crippled and teachers are put under fire by administration. The tests become more of tool for penalization than they are helpful.
Also, having four tests instead of one in a school year could likely cause more stress for parents and students. Before any exam, there are nerves and the stress of preparation. The length of the test doesn’t change how stressful it will be, especially if there are scathing consequences for performing poorly.
The public school system is now all about numbers and scores. Teachers have their hands tied as they try to teach for a test in order to meet the requirements sent down by administration. It’s about knowing how to master a multiple-choice test, not learning. Students go to school in an environment where they cope with the pressure by memorizing material to get past a test, and once it’s over, they can clear out their brains for the next round.
We need to cut our teachers a break by letting them do what they do best: teaching. Not telling students how to answer questions.
There’s no way to get around standardized testing, but if the board wants to add more, they should use these smaller exams to assess progress, not as another opportunity to penalize.