To clarify, the finals I am taking are globally standardized exams because I am an IB student in the diploma program. All I wanted to know was your reasoning for disliking standardized testing. I was just personally curious as to the negative aspects you see about it but never mind. Thank you for your time.
IB programs exams are a type of standardized test, yeah, but they’re still not the same as federally mandated standardized tests.
You elected to be in that IB program. You made the choice to do that program that resulted in taking those exams. Just like my students can choose to take AP classes and choose too sit for the College Board AP exams. You have the agency to take ownership of whether or not you take that test. You are also enrolled in a program that is deliberately preparing you for that test, and the data you receive from it is meaningful because it is by subject matter, catered to what you have learned.
But federally mandated tests do not allow students to take ownership or agency. They have no choice. They are forced to sit for a test that they have no investment in other than punitive measures–if they don’t pass specific measures in Indiana, they don’t graduate. If they don’t pass, they lose electives for forced remediation. With Indiana’s new standards shoved down the pipe this year, we had little time to deliberately prepare students for this punitive test.
Also, the data isn’t helpful. I cannot see the results of the standardized test other than by category (reading comprehension and writing). I cannot see if in writing Johnny’s problem was grammar or content. I cannot see if he grasps nonfiction better than fiction.
I can only know that data if I testtesttesttest Johnny myself BEFORE the main test–diagnostics that take away class time that could be better spent studying something maybe Johnny actually likes.
And then there is the whole rigamarole of that same data used punitively against teachers. I have seen students purposefully tank standardized tests. I have seen students have meltdowns because of a rough morning, or because the technology to take the test is failing. And those results can be held against teachers’ pay. The tests themselves are often written on unproven, age-inappropriate standards (I’m looking at you, PARCC.)
That’s stupid.
My perspective is not new and refreshing. I am not the first teacher to say these things. Nor will I be the last. But we are actually not much more powerful than the students themselves in these regards. Businesses are buying politicians who are legislating away public education and silencing those on the front lines–teachers–and vilifying them at every chance.
So don’t ask ME. Don’t ask nameless, faceless teachers here on tumblr. Go ask YOUR teachers. Ask the teacher you see in Starbucks grading on a weekend. Go out in YOUR community and find out how this is directly affecting the lives of those around you.
I really like this response...
